It is all about the Voice

One of the things that we have frequently noticed is that we have often found that a Vent can talk and then when he/she has their puppet(s) talk there is little to no difference in the voice of the Vent and the Voice of the Vent’s puppets.

Some Ventriloquists who are very rare, can sit down and without any difficulty put out several hundred voices and all of them different.  We have been blessed to know our friend Bob Rumba who has that ability but that skill is indeed rare.  Back to most of us.  We were born with only one voice and we have to master the art of making it change for each character that we attempt to do.

One way to get on top of this situation is to get out your trusty tape recorder, or better yet have a friend record you as you give a practice performance.  Then about 30 minutes later play the recording back and see if you can tell the difference in your voice and the voice of your puppet.  Don’t be discouraged when you find that the two voices sound very much alike on tape.  Now you have something to work on.

Concentrate on making the voices markedly different.  This is one of the things that will separate the novice from the true professional.  Change the tone that you use for your puppet.  Raise or lower your voice.  Experiment with several variations until you find the voice that is what you want it to be.  But you have to start by finding that they are too similar.

We will talk again next week.  There will be more new puppets up next week.  For the last 12 or 13 years, when JET comes home from conVENTion, she goes and spends several days at the beach with family as a way to relax.  Just because there was no ConVENTion does not mean that she should be deprived of her one week of relaxation and this was the week.  She has developed a hobby of doing sand sculptures at the beach.  Maybe we will share some pictures of those with you sometime. (Always the artist).

Steve and JET