Hello and welcome to the third edition of the LRGS Ventriloquist's society webpage, the first school Ventriloquist society of its kind ever, anywhere, ever, I imagine.
In meetings of the society, yesterday,in Room 11, Mr Gorse read passages from the ventriloquist bible, 'Ventriloquism made easy' He also instructed the students on how to best substitute letters for the tricky sounds and that although it is not really, at this stage, an accurate likeness, our homework was to practise in front of the mirror on a regular basis. The clue, perhaps, to successful ventriloquism is how to distract the audience from seeing your mouth move...and a variety of techniques can be used, from shock, movement of the dummy, and other such methods.
We are going to watch videos of successful ventriloquists next week if he can find some.
Have a look at Hugo here
Also, in next week's class, we will be listening to the radio and the history of radio ventriloquists. We are all waiting excitedly for that, I can tell you. And we hope to interview the society's president, S Umar, a legend in his own lunch time. more from me, anon.
Well, this week's meeting has taken place and what a meeting it was!! Attended by five senior school ventriloquists, amongst whom President Shahid Umar and his sidekicks, Will Ryder, Michael Thistlethwaite, William Riley and Jack 'cut your throat' Brunton. There was a guest appearance by Miss Rucastle, who came all the way from the hall to Room 11 to explain the derivation of the word ventriloquism. (Speaking from the stomach). She also managed to say 'Can you say that's my bottle of beer without moving my mouth')which impressed the boys present.
Mr Gorse then told us of the three secrets to successful and indeed unsuccessful ventriloquism: firstly, find a 'voice' for the dummy, secondly, distract the audience and thirdly, er, I can't remember.
We then all tried to strangle a dummy in front of the others while trying to scream or whine or complain on behalf of the poor dummy. In other words, we tried our hand (ha ha) at ventriloquism. It appeared that President Umar was the best although Michael made a good effort before dropping the dummy onto the floor. It should be said at this point that despite many furious bidding plurges on ebay, the society has still not acquired a dummy and any contributions will be gratefully and desperately received. The dummy, at the moment, is a cardboard box and is a poor substitute for the real thing. The society only has five pounds left in its coffers at the moment and can only buy a set of five or so finger puppets.
The meeting today, Thursday the 18th of November 2004 was up to its usual fine scratch. All the members present at last week's meeting displayed their prowess and progress at pronouncing the alphabet wihout moving their lips. Some were particularly adept at adopting stiff lips posture or adapting the alphabet to suit the purpose, but it was generally agreed that much work had been done.
The new members today, the number of whom was difficult to ascertain for certain, were thoroughly imprssed, rendered speechless as it were, by the throwing of the voice and by the voice in the cupboard and assured the president that they would be keen to rty the new techniques in front of the mirror.
We then all sat down in the amphitheatre to watch a section of 'Dead of Night', an old British film that features the most famous of ventriloquist cinematographical scenes, that of Michael Redgrave an his dummy. We were spellbound, entranced, horrified...but most of all motivated and inspired.
Thank you Mr Gorse for your guiding light.
We learned today that there are only 15 professional ventrioquists in the United Kingdom, despite the good work that they do whether it is in entertainment or in counselling. This seems a shame and corporate sponsorship is desperately needed to harness this LRGS energy.
Also, today, we heard from Will Ryder that his little brother or it may have been sister was scared to go to bed in the evening because of nightmares about dummies coming to life. This rang a bell with Mr Gorse who told us scary stories about his own father's imaginary evil brother who lived behind the curtain. The sinister side of ventriloquism was being hinted at there!
The homework today was to say BETTY BOTTER BOUGHT SOME BUTTER in front of the class with as little movement as possible of the mouth. Michael Thistlethwaite
and his fixed grin was undoubtedly the best performer.
This week, the one that has just ended, saw Mr gorse and his troubadours marching into the Tech Block at lunch time. The president, of course, was late and he will bring in a letter of apology soon, but Michael and Will, and some other hanger on, Balshaw, maybe, were there. Mr Rands, the techie, granted us an audience and showed a lot of enthusiasm for our plans. He arranged a meeting for next week when we will have a go and constructing a wooden pole and levers for the mouth piece. We can barely wait.
Horatio Hobliqua
