This Is This

The usual schtick for a ventriloquism act is to have a normal guy, modest and charismatic, trying and failing to control an irreverent, abrasive, embittered of hyperative dummy or character.

The way it pans out is that the performer can get away with saying anything and blame it on the dummy. And that’s your gig.

I think it would be much funnier if the dummy was this calm, normal character and the ventriloquist was this nervous, edgy, abrasive and immature sociopath.

Think Rod Hull actually attacking Michael Parkinson, arms flailing, punching him in the nuts while a mortified Emu tries to restrain him.

That’s entertainment.

Or a ventriloquist taking potshots at a talk show host’s career and the other guests’ clothing, while the dummy apologises profusely and admonishes the performer.

He could insult the dummy’s lifestyle choices to disrupt the routine while the dummy tries to laugh it off and reason with the guy and finish the act.

You’d laugh, right?

The dummy could appeal to the crowd and tell them that the performer is a good person really and that he doesn’t mean it. All the while, the perfomer sould be shouting and swearing at the audience, leaving them thinking “How uncouth. What’s he like without the dummy?

“Get in the house.”

“I don’t want to get in the house.”

“Get back in the house.”

“Don’t put me back in the house.”

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 8th, 2006 at 8:30 am. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed, or you can skip to the end and leave a comment yourself.