 The Week in Rear View Mirror is Taylor's blog - but we make no promises that it'll be updated every week....
|
|
Written by taylor
|
|
Wednesday, 28 July 2010 |
It takes place the middle of July every year, at a non-descript hotel in an obscure suburb of Cincinnati on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River.
It is a convention of ventriloquists.
Go ahead and start making your own jokes. There are approximately 422,397 “ventriloquist convention” punch lines, and almost 7 of them are funny. I’ll pause as you explore your psyche for some hilarious monologue material. Yes it’s funny.
And yes, the “art” of ventriloquism is beyond random. It doesn’t scale. It’s just odd. The shy guy with a puppet, and all these facets of his personality come out as he makes his sidekick talk.
Uh, not quite. The modern ventriloquist is a comic, a musician, a director, an actor and a writer. He (and she – there are lots of excellent female ventriloquists – check out Lynn Traefzger http://lynntrefzger.com/ ) works in movies, theatrical productions, television commercials and on television, often having to work as part of a team or company or revue. The quirky weirdo with the goofy alter ego has been replaced by a slick professional who knows as much about story and character arc and improvisation as any Hollywood player.
Ventriloquists headline shows in Las Vegas, in London’s West End, in comedy clubs and on cruise ships. The single most-popular live entertainer in the U.S.A. for 2008 was a ventriloquist named Jeff Dunham – yes, you’ve seen him - he has the “dead terrorist” which was one of the first viral YouTube sensations. The truth is that there are more people making more money than ever before as professional and semi-professional ventriloquists.
Sit down. This will come as a shock. We’re living in “The Golden Age of Ventriloquism.”
So a few hundred “vents” (as they call themselves) gather every year in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, and throw themselves a kind of puppet party. They network. They have classes in writing and acting and performance tricks. They perform for one another and for the public. One of the great things about ventriloquism is that there are no six degrees of separation. The “stars” of voice-throwing (there is no such thing as “throwing your voice,” by the way) are accessible and friendly and are often sincerely giving of their time and advice.
Yes, there are icons in the field. The afore-mentioned Mr. Dunham; Terry Fator of “America’s Got Talent” fame (after he won, Bill Maher opened his TV program with the joke, “A ventriloquist won America’s Got Talent. Proving that America doesn’t have any talent.” The real joke: Fator does better numbers on his website than Maher’s TV show does!); Ronn Lucas does a world-class show in Las Vegas; Jay Johnson (from “Soap”! Remember?) has an award-winning show that played off-Broadway and in London; Dan Horn and Kevin Johnson are two of the most popular cruise ship acts in the business; Mark Wade is perhaps the most successful children’s show ventriloquist in history. The business is expanding. The convention gets national media coverage. So many people are getting into the business it can truly be said that it is one of the few “growth industries” in the country today!
The convention features the most un-heralded members of the community, although they’re the most important: the dummy-builders. The puppet-makers. It’s a small group, an eclectic group, and a very, VERY busy group. You might have to wait months for a new, custom-made figure. If you’re a ventriloquist? It’s worth it!
The business is changing. I never thought I would say this, but it’s true: ventriloquism is “hip.” It’s cutting-edge. They’re had a convention last month for pete’s sake!
Wish I could have been there…
|
|
|
Written by taylor
|
|
Wednesday, 28 July 2010 |
|
Out in Utah, 32-year-old Ronald Charles Dallas was ordered not to contact his wife as part of a domestic violence case. Mr. Dallas took the next step and wrote some letters. To his estranged spouse’s cat. Yes, he wrote to the cat. The problem came when the letter included directions telling the cat to use her bed as a litter box. Fortunately, the feline handed the correspondence over to authorities, in return for cans of tuna.
|
|
|
Written by taylor
|
|
Friday, 23 July 2010 |
|
“The Barefoot Bandit ,” a teen-aged boy who had picked up fans and notoriety over the past couple of years via his criminal exploits and Facebook, was captured by police in the Bahamas this week. The big break came when a smart Bahamian detective realized that the fugitive might be wearing shoes.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Written by taylor
|
|
Tuesday, 01 June 2010 |
|
Hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend. Summer is here! And from the halls of Taylor Mason Headquarters, we’ve got the best way to start the season!
You probably had bar-b-que and burgers and hot dogs all weekend, right?
You are worried about the old waistline, huh? Feeling like you need to
drop a couple of pounds?
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Written by taylor
|
|
Tuesday, 25 May 2010 |
|
This is a true story: The United States Congress, with the lowest approval ratings in history, voted to make today (May 25) “National Tap Dance Day.” Thank goodness those guys are working hard on the issues that matter most to all of us. Here at Taylor Mason Headquarters, we think it’s to honor British Petroleum’s efforts to stop the oil leak.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Written by taylor
|
|
Thursday, 20 May 2010 |
|
The Week-In-Rear-View-Mirror has been dormant for two weeks. We apologize! Things have been absolutely insane.
Did you watch The Miss America Pageant on Sunday? The judges asked the contestants what they thought of the anti-immigration bill in Arizona, the new 1070. Miss California said, “Too much talk; not enough rock!”
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Written by taylor
|
|
Tuesday, 27 April 2010 |
|
Did you see that all eight of Kate Gosselin’s children will appear on her new reality show, “Kate Plus 8?” We’ll be watching for the crying and whining and childish behavior we all know is coming. The kids, on the other hand, will probably behave very well.
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
|
