Ventriloquism
VENTRILOQUISM
Ventriloquism has had a bad rap in the last few decades. And that’s because the dolls or dummies are thought of as creepy. And they are creepy. Almost every ventriloquist’s off-sider is a vile homunculus whose likeness to the form Homo sapien sapiens is a leering parody of our humanity.
Obviously I don’t include Shari Lewis’s Lamb Chop in any of this. Lewis wasn’t a quote unquote ventriloquist, much like Edgar Bergen wasn’t and Nina Conti isn’t. And that surely was and is their charm. This whole “speaking without moving your lips and pretending to throw your voice shtick” is so fifteenth century.
It is the very creepiness that some revile, that we love, here at Mr Trivia. The more vent dummies take that stroll down ‘uncanny valley’ the more we are here to celebrate this disquieting journey.
