Ventriloquist Central - A Tribute To Ventriloquism

Edgar Bergen was without question one of the greatest ventriloquists to ever perform ventriloquism and he was also a fantastic innovator. He was continually updating his act and finding new ways to appeal to all audiences.

I happened to come across this wonderful video of Mr Bergen and in it he introduces a beautiful young girl by the name of Candice and also introduces an old Charlie McCarthy. I always new that Old Charlie, as a figure existed, but I had never seen him being used so this was great to see.

I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did.

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

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Dan Willinger is a ventriloquism enthusiast and ventriloquist figure collector. He has been collecting for over 25 years. His collection of ventriloquist figures now numbers over 100 figures of which there are over 50 Frank Marshall figures. Because of his love for the art of ventriloquism, Mr. Willinger created the website Ventriloquist Central. For more information about the website, go to: http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com

Copyright 2008 by Dan Willinger

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Regular contributor to Ventriloquist Central, Mr. Puppet himself, Bob Abdou, sent in this email and pictures about his latest ventriloquist figure:

Hey Dan,

Here is a photo from last nights banquet show with my new dummy from Dan Payes, I call him “Gutters McGee”.

I thought if Bill Boley, Johnny Main, Dick Weston and other famous vents can have a “hobo” type dummy, why not me???

He is great, Dan did his magic, once I got him I found great clothes at the thrift store and last night he was in the show.

One of the many highlights of the night is when “Gutters McGee” told the audience (which were church going seniors) that you should always be quiet in church, I asked “why is that?” - and “Gutters McGee” replied - cause people are sleeping!!

The pastor in the audience laughed so much he had to stand up to catch his breath!!

Bob/Mr.Puppet

Bob, thanks for sharing.

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

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Dan Willinger is a ventriloquism enthusiast and ventriloquist figure collector. He has been collecting for over 25 years. His collection of ventriloquist figures now numbers over 100 figures of which there are over 50 Frank Marshall figures. Because of his love for the art of ventriloquism, Mr. Willinger created the website Ventriloquist Central. For more information about the website, go to: http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com

Copyright 2008 by Dan Willinger

NOTE: You may use this blog article provided you run it with the bio box intact. Please email a copy of your publication with the blog article in it to:
webmaster@ventriloquistcentral.com

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

One of our contributors Lee Dean asked me a great question about the sizes that Frank Marshall ventriloquist figures came in so I decided to take out my ruler and see just how many sizes I had in my collection. I was surprised at the out come.

The smallest figure is of course the Tommy Knotts figure which stands a full 18″ tall. One is pictured in my Frank Marshall figures pages.

Next I have a really cute boy figure which comes in at 28″ tall. I can see this size being used as a dummy’s dummy although this one is not set up for that usage.

Then I have a Ricky Tik figure and also a figure used by Roy Douglas and those are both 33″ tall. These can both be seen on my Frank Marshall collection pages.

The next step up are the full size figures and they range in height from 40″ tall to 44″ tall and a lot of that is dependant on the length of the leg material. Most of mine are 40″ tall but a few are longer.

I also have 2 walking figures by Frank Marshall and those figures are 50″ tall .

So there you have it down to the inches for the Frank Marshall figures. I am sure that there may be others that have figures with different heights but I think this will give you an idea of the different sizes that Mr Marshall created.

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

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Dan Willinger is a ventriloquism enthusiast and ventriloquist figure collector. He has been collecting for over 25 years. His collection of ventriloquist figures now numbers over 100 figures of which there are over 50 Frank Marshall figures. Because of his love for the art of ventriloquism, Mr. Willinger created the website Ventriloquist Central. For more information about the website, go to: http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com

Copyright 2008 by Dan Willinger

NOTE: You may use this blog article provided you run it with the bio box intact. Please email a copy of your publication with the blog article in it to:
webmaster@ventriloquistcentral.com

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

It has been my pleasure this past week to have had a visit here in Boston from the extraordinary Ventriloquist Dummy Builder and repair man Lee Dunn. He arrived here last week and spent the Thanksgiving holiday with Helen and me.

He was like a kid in a candy shop being able to pick up and handle any of the figures and even open some of the heads and inspect the inner workings. I too was thrilled because it was my chance to get a few things repaired that had been sitting for a while.

If you look at the Frank Marshall collection you will find the figure (Theodore F. Peckerwood) that looks almost like Frank Byron Jr. used by the Great Lester.

This Marshall figure happens to have wiggling ears but on one side the cord had slipped off of the pulley and was caught behind it causing the ear to not really work quite right. I certainly knew what was wrong but had no way of opening the head because the paint is all original and I did not want to have the paint spoiled by this procedure.

Lee said he could do the job. It took him quite some time and he was successful in replacing the cord onto the pulley so that the ear works fine now. All I could think of was that the figure had a dental appointment. So look at the pictures and just imagine trying to do this repair!!

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

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Dan Willinger is a ventriloquism enthusiast and ventriloquist figure collector. He has been collecting for over 25 years. His collection of ventriloquist figures now numbers over 100 figures of which there are over 50 Frank Marshall figures. Because of his love for the art of ventriloquism, Mr. Willinger created the website Ventriloquist Central. For more information about the website, go to: http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com

Copyright 2008 by Dan Willinger

NOTE: You may use this blog article provided you run it with the bio box intact. Please email a copy of your publication with the blog article in it to:
webmaster@ventriloquistcentral.com

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

There are some figure makers today that are throw backs to a time gone by and Conrad Hartz is one of those few. He still makes his figures using basswood and hand carves them just like the old makers.

I am happy to present to you all this fine little fellow which was crafted by Conrad earlier in his career. This creation was done in the early manner of Frank Marshall’s earliest style figures. The head was made in two halves, front and rear, they separate on the sides of the head with the carved ears being part of the back half. Conrad supplied side to side non self centering eyes with the teeter totter cross bar and slot jaw. His controls back at this time were made of brass. He now uses plastic. He cut out on the head stick for the mouth controller.

I find that this cheeky style boy is very much in the style of Frank Marshall. I also feel it is one of Conrad’s better renditions. I was not able to see a date inside the head but I am assuming it is from the late 70’s or early 80’s. His wig and paint are all original as well as the very cartoony style hands. A very fine figure indeed!!

Click here to see the Conrad Hartz Ventriloquist Figure

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

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All writings here are copyrighted by Dan Willinger and Ventriloquist Central. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.

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