"Everything goes down better with a little Perspective"... LOLOL..... something along those lines....so here we go....
As a child, I was fascinated by Ventriloquism. I even dabbled in it a little bit and just fell in love. Maybe , that was my first encounter with the industry that I have come to love so much. Who knows... I just know that I loved it. I remember watching Paul Winchell on the TV with my Grandmother.... I was truly fascinated....
Paul Winchell and Knucklehead from 1956 (Above)
Posted in Jan of 2009
Let's go back a little.... Here is some info I fund on Wikipedia about Ventriloquism in general....
Originally, ventriloquism
was a religious practice.[1] The name comes from the Latin for to speak from the stomach, i.e. venter(belly) and loqui (speak).[2] The Greeks called this gastromancy (Greek: εγγαστριμυθία). The noises
produced by the stomach were thought to be the voices of the unliving, who took
up residence in the stomach of the ventriloquist. The ventriloquist would then
interpret the sounds, as they were thought to be able to speak to the dead, as
well as foretell the future. One of the earliest recorded group of prophets to utilise this technique was the Pythia, the priestess at
the temple of Apollo in Delphi, who acted as the
conduit for the Delphic Oracle.
The shift from ventriloquism as manifestation of spiritual
forces toward ventriloquism as entertainment happened in the eighteenth century
at the travelling funfairs and
market towns. The earliest example of a ventriloquist dates back to 1753 in
England, where Sir John Parnell is depicted in an engraving of William Hogarth as speaking via his hand.[4] In 1757, the Austrian
Baron de Mengen is known to have implemented a small doll into his performance.[5]
By
the late 18th century, ventriloquist performances were an established form of
entertainment in England, although most performers threw their voice to make it
appear that it emanated from far away, rather than the modern method of using a
puppet
Now let's get back to the fun stuff ! The actual Ventriloquism... One of my favorite performers, in the Ventriloquism arena, is the very talented Jeff Dunham...who just had a Star placed on Hollywodd's Walk of fame . My husband and I had the opportunity to see Jeff in Las Vegas last year. He was taping for a new show and trying out some of his material on the audience. I will never forget when one of his famed "puppets", Peanut, fell off the stand.... There is Jeff staring down at the puppet...finally he quickly picks him up and gets him all ready again and Immediately Peanut looks up at Jeff and in that great voice says..... " What the heck was that???? " Well, I believe heck wasn't the word he used, yet it was so funny I couldn't stop laughing..... Take a look at some cool picks of Jeff here.... I love the one with the glasses tilted as I love to take pics like that !!!! Woot Woot !
With Walter on the Hollywood walk of fame....
From Feb.2015... was watching this and Peanut even says the word FASCINATING !....
Just Fascinating ....... LOL
Next we move on to Season 2 of America's got talent. Who comes in and blows the doors off .....TERRY FATOR.... Who now has a long run on the Vegas Strip. I had the opportunity to see Terry just the other night here in Atlantic City, NJ.... hew was AWESOME !
I loved how he re-counted the whole America's Got talent experience and took us on the journey with him !
From a special guest appearance on America's Got talent 2016.... 2 of my FAV's Terry Fator and Maynard as Elvis .....
So back in Sept. I was invited to the Preliminaries of the Miss America Pageant here in Atlantic City....back home where it belongs..... and to my surprise and delight I got to see the beautiful and talented Laryssa Bonacquisti perform.... Miss Louisiana !
From the Friday evening Prelims....Miss Louisiana Laryssa Bonacquisti
What a treat..... Now I get to see back on the America's got Talent stage....
12 year old Darci Lynne Farmer.....
( I then found out later that Laryssa and Darci shared some great experiences together !!! ) I fell in love with Darci from the moment she introduced us to Petunia. I loved all of her characters and was rooting for her to win America's Got Talent from that first audition..... well, first it was the Golden buzzer..... Then it was the big win and the Las Vegas Show !
Now let's see her in action.....with over 8 million views...here is Darci and Oscar on the America's Got talent stage.....
Wow... so my childhood fascination with Ventriloquism has me watching and loving this so much. I think Darci, as she so well said in the beginning, is taking this Art to a whole new generation . I feel she is so proficient at the young age of 12. I can't wait to see her performances a few years from now.....
So this post takes us through time and through the fascinating World of Ventriloquism.... I hope you enjoy this topic and we'll catch you again next week....
From your Balcony Blogger.... Enjoy !
No comments:
Post a Comment