January Newsletter

"Happy New Year 2011"

Another year has passed and although the economy is not what it used to be I believe that all of us in the ventriloquist community as a whole have survived very well. Attendance at the Vent Haven ConVENTion was off only slightly showing we all are still very active and want to participate.

And with our Ventriloquist Central Birthday Bash coming this year on October 8th, we too have already had quite a few sign up to attend. Make sure you do as well (space is limited).

The Ventriloquist Central Collection has grown a lot faster than I ever imagined it would with both purchases on my part and donations as well. I think it is great that some folks have decided that the Ventriloquist Central Collection is where they want their pal to reside. I hope it continues in the next year on the same pace. That would be great.

Steve and I have worked diligently at bringing you the best we can in information concerning our great art form but please remember we need YOU to make it happen so any tid bit of information you may have send it in to us and we will get it posted.

PLUS, we have new ideas for the VentriloquistCentral.com website this coming year so stay tuned for much, much more.

So....let's go out and make 2011 a VERY GOOD YEAR!!

 

Enjoy the rest of the newsletter.

Learn the "Secrets of Ventriloquism"

Now YOU can learn the Art of Ventriloquism with this truly remarkable new course, “Secrets of Ventriloquism.” This course combines the secrets of the past by one of the great ventriloquist with current thoughts and ideas of modern day ventriloquists.

www.SecretsofVentriloquism.com

This video was donated by Ray Guyll. It’s a video taken from an old 8mm film and converted to VHS by Les Lamborn. It’s a short video showing both Glenn & George McElroy at Vent Haven.

RJ sent me an email and told me that he knew Ken Spencer. He has been gracious enough to send in “installments” of his experiences with Ken Spencer.  This is the last installment.  Great stuff!

I was going through some archives and found this great article by one of our regular contributors, ventriloquist Bob Abdou (AKA Mr. Puppet). It’s such a good article, I thought I would share it with you again.

I was asked about Frank Marshall’s raising eyebrows and how he was able to make them raise in a horizontal position as compared to the windshield wiper style. I wanted to help so here's a blog about it.

 

Keith Suranna has been gracious enough to send in pictures of the ventriloquist figure that Scott Bryte is building for him. This is a link to part 3 in the series with links to part 1 & 2.

December Archives

“The ULTIMATE Guide To Building Your Own Ventriloquist Figure, Volume 1”

 “The ULTIMATE Guide To Building Your Own Ventriloquist Figure, Volume 1” is a step-by-step system from start to finish, so you can create your very own ventriloquist figure.  Now you can become a ventriloquist figure builder. This guide will answers all your questions, show you all the short-cuts, and give you a quick and easy paint-by-the-numbers way to making your own ventriloquist figure-- even if you don’t think you can do it.

“The ULTIMATE Guide To Building Your Own Ventriloquist Figure, Volume 1”

Ventriloquist Marketplace

The Best Ventriloquism Birthday of 2011

The Ventriloquist Central
Birthday Bash

For more, go here:

Ventriloquist Central Birthday Bash

Bill Bernstein's Ken Spencer Ventriloquist Figure
 

This a wonderful Ken Spencer figure which was created for and used by Bill Bernstein from Florida.

One of Frank Marshall's most popular face was called Nosey in his 1931 Catalogue. This was the face that Paul Winchell used to create his famous character Jerry Mahoney. This one is a bit smaller standing only 36" tall.

Ken Spencer Original Ventriloquist Figure

Here is a very nice Ken Spencer figure which has been a member of the Ventriloquist Central collection for a while but I had not yet got him photographed for the web pages until now.

For Those Interested In The Art Of Ventriloquism

“The Ventriloquism Historical Information Collection, Volume 1.”

This past holiday season a Christmas card arrived address to me and my wife Helen. I did not recognize the senders name nor address on the envelope so I asked Helen if she did but she didn’t either.

Helen proceeded to open the envelope and there was a plain Christmas card saying Merry Christmas and peace. It was unsigned. Inside the card was a folded letter addressed to us and it was SO special I had to share it with everyone.

Before you read the letter let me tell you that my son Jason is a professional magician and works nights performing close up table magic at restaurants.

He also does parties and weddings and corporate functions and magic is his life. He started doing magic at age nine and never stopped ever and always said he wanted to be a magician and this is what he is. He is now thirty years old and I can call him a magician.

Here is the letter:

December 10, 2010

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Willinger,

Once in a while, we meet a really special person who is a conduit for sunshine and goodness. My family has had this experience repeated each time we take our kids and grandkids to watch your son make magic before our eyes. More than his enormous skill which makes us laugh and fills us with wonder, we are impressed each time with his true kindness and great gentleness. He is a wonderful example for the children. Every action is deliberately executed. This turns into that, or something else disappears and reappears. For a few moments, even we who are in our sixties become little children. And yet, your son’s performance cannot hide his beautiful nature. He exudes peace and warmth and our grandchildren’s childhood has been made richer because of him.

l heard something Elizabeth Edwards said before her death when she was asked how she wanted to be remembered. She quickly stated that she wanted to be remembered as having produced good children. lf that is your hope, you can rest assured that it is fulfilled. Thank you for adding goodness to our faltering world.

Job Well Done!
Patricia Byrne


 

This was the best gift a parent can ever receive.

Till next time,
Dan

©2011 VentriloquistCentral.com