I adhere to a very strict
definition of ventriloquist doing ventriloquism or ventriloquy, the
art or skill of producing vocal sounds that seem to come from
somewhere other than the speaker, as follows:
- One who recognizes and calls puppets as
figures or mannequins (little men), or other appropriate names for
personable wooden dummies, not inanimate, impersonal dummies,
lending voice and hand to bring spirit puppets to life in wood
form only, however sculpted, with few slots other than for head
and mouth to honor history of the art form and well-made dummy as
a work of art itself;
- One who recognizes and uses the right still
lip and jaw method, namely does not clinch teeth which interferes
with articulation and labials, mutes sound and forces undue
pressure on the throat, but freezes the jaw by locking jaw,
pulling jaw down and back for taut jaw muscles, and uses diaphragm
for pressure voice and tongue tip to back of upper lip and teeth
for labials; and,
- One who recognizes and performs both
distant and double voice, and throat whistle, by controlled vocal
disorders of ventricular phonation and diplophonia, including
mimicry of birds, animals, or other sounds called polyphony, a
word of art, interspersed in a simple routine of banter, patter
and bits of business, not only jokes alone as done by comic vents
not accomplished in the art.
W.S. Berger, ventriloquial historian, Frank Marshall, ventriloquial
figure maker, and The Great Lester, vaudeville ventriloquist, all
referred to "figure" in any serious discussion of the ventriloquist
dummy and both Berger and Marshall deferred to "Lester method" for
still lip and jaw and distant voice technique.
Ventriloquial sounds are best defined and explained from the
standpoint of vocal disorders in speech. The distant voice is
"ventricular phonation". The double voice is "diplophonia".
Ventriloquial mimicry of birds, animals and other sounds by common
usage over 100 years or more came to be called "polyphony", that
stemmed from music in the early Church, involving sounds not from a
single source but multiple sources, and when harmony was at first
considered pagan and demonic.
My freshman year in college and speech class professor called on me
to do demonstration. I did distant voice, professor remarked "that's
ventricular phonation", then did double voice, again remarked
"that's diplophonia", and I never forgot these terms, my major being
speech. I had learned distant voice from Harry Lester in 1955,
missed seeing Fred Ketch the following year, but year after that was
doing what is now called a walk-around for grand opening of Winn
Dixie in Louisville. A man dressed in farm clothes walked up, said
come here I want to show you something, took me aside and began
singing in distant voice "When the Saints Go Marching In" song in
double, triple, quadruple harmony. In driving home 2 hour trip I
sang it and sang it over and over until throat was raw, but I
figured it out, and in process found the throat whistle.
If you want to do the double voice and throat whistle, next time
lifting something heavy with a grunt, try singing "When the Saints
Go Marching In" song a la Satchmo with a growl, or better yet the
drone sound of a buzzing bee or bees then raise the pitch level
until you get a gnat sound. The bee or bees sound is from the vocal
cords and gnat sound is from the false vocal cords or vocal folds.
And there you have it, with a grunt and a growl one can achieve the
double voice, and by practice reduce drones to a single drone,
remove bee sound from gnat sound then increase the force level to
achieve the throat whistle that is used in bird mimicry, very high
pitched and modulating.
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