3.—PRACTICAL RULES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.
The first voice a student of ventriloquism will strive to acquire is what is called “The voice in the closet.” To acquire this voice, which we so name for distinction’s sake, speak any word or sentence in your own natural tones; then open the mouth, and fix the jaws fast, as though you were trying to hinder any one from opening them farther, or shutting them; draw the tongue back in a ball; speak the same words, and the sound, instead of being formed in the mouth, will be formed in the pharynx. Great attention must be paid to holding the jaws rigid. The sound will then be found to imitate a voice heard from the other side of a door when it is closed, or under a floor, or through a wall. To ventriloquize with this voice, let the operator stand with his back to the audience, against a door. Give a gentle tap at the door, and call aloud in the natural voice, inquiring, “Who is there?” This will have the effect of drawing the attention of the audience to a person supposed to be outside. Then fix the jaw as described, and utter in the “closet voice” any words you please, such as, “I want to come in.” Ask questions in the natural voice, and answer in the other. When you have done this, open the door a little, and hold a conversation with the imaginary person. As the door is now open, it is obvious that the voice must be altered, for a voice will not sound to the ear when a door is open the same as when closed. Therefore the voice must be made to appear face to face, or close to the ventriloquist. To do this, the voice must not be altered from the original note or pitch, but be made in another part of the mouth. This is done by closing the lips tight and drawing one corner of the mouth downwards, or towards the ear. Then let the lips open at that corner only, the other part to remain closed. Next, breathe, as it were, the words out of the orifice formed.
Do not speak distinctly, but expel the breath in short puffs at each word, and as loud as possible. By so doing you will cause the illusion in the mind of the listeners that they hear the same voice which they heard when the door was closed, but which is now heard more distinctly and nearer on account of the door being open. This voice must always be used when the ventriloquist wishes it to appear that the sound comes through an obstacle, but from some one close at hand.
The description of voice and dialogue may be varied, as in the following example:—
“The Suffocated Victim.” This was a favorite illustration of Mr. Love, the Polyphonist.
A large box or closed cupboard is used indiscriminately, as it may be handy. The student will rap or kick the box, apparently by accident.
The voice will then utter a hoarse and subdued groan, apparently from the box or closet.
Student. (Pointing to the box with an air of astonishment.) What was that?
Voice. O, let me out!
Student. Why! there is some one in here, I declare (to box). Who is it?
Voice. I won’t do so any more. I am nearly dead.
Student. Who are you? How came you there?
Voice. You know very well who I am. Let me out! Let me out!
Student. I tell you I don’t know you.
Voice. O, yes, you do.
Student. Tell me quick. Who are you?
Voice. Your old school-fellow, Tom ——; you know me.
Student. Why, he’s in Canada.
Voice. (Sharply.) You know better; he’s here; but be quick.
Student. (Opening the lid.) Perhaps he’s come by the underground railroad. Hallo!
Voice. (Not so muffled as described in direction.) Now, then, give us a hand.
Student. (Closing the lid or door sharply.) No, I won’t.
Voice. (As before.) Have pity (Dick, or Mr. ——, as the case may be), or I shall be choked.
Student. I believe you are a humbug.
Voice. Why don’t you let me out and see, before I am dead?
Student. (Opening and shutting the lid or door, and saying, the voice accordingly.) Dead! not you. When did you leave Canada?
Voice. Last week. O, I am choking!
Student. Shall I let him out? (Opening the door.) There is no one here.
Conversations can be held with pedlers at the door, or with some one in the cellar or basement; and as a rule the lower notes of the voice will be best for voices in the basement, and formed as low in the chest as possible.
The second kind of voice, or voice No. 2, we will call it, is more easy to be acquired. It is the voice by which all ventriloquists make a supposed person speak from a long distance, or from or through the ceiling. In the first place, with your back to the audience, direct their attention to the ceiling, by pointing to it, or by looking intently at it. Call loudly, and ask some questions, as though believed a person to be concealed there. Make your own voice very distinct, and as near the lips as possible, as that will help the illusion. Then, in exactly the same tone and pitch, answer; but, in order that the voice may seem to proceed from the point indicated, the words must be formed at the back part of the roof of the mouth. To do this, the lower jaw must be drawn back and held there, the mouth open, which will cause the palate to be elevated and drawn nearer to the pharynx, and the sound will be reflected in that cavity, and appear to come from the roof. Too much attention cannot be paid to the manner in which the breath is used in this voice. When speaking to the supposed person, expel the words with a deep, quick breath.
When answering in the imitative voice, the breath must be held back, and expelled very slowly, and the voice will come in a subdued and muffled manner, little above a whisper, but so as to be well distinguished. To cause the supposed voice to come nearer by degrees, call loudly, and say, “I want you down here!” or words to that effect; at the same time make a motion downwards with your hands. Hold some conversation with the voice, and cause it to say, “I am coming,” or “Here I am,” each time indicating the descent with the hand.
Let the voice, at every supposed step, roll, as it were, by degrees, from the pharynx more into the cavity of the mouth, and at each supposed step contracting the opening of the mouth, until the lips are drawn up as if you were whistling. By so doing, the cavity of the mouth will be very much enlarged. This will cause the voice to be obscured, and so to appear to come nearer by degrees. At the same time care must be taken not to articulate the consonant sounds plainly, as that would cause the disarrangement of the lips and cavity of the mouth; and in all imitation voices the consonants must scarcely be articulated at all, especially if the ventriloquist faces the audience. For example, suppose the imitative voice is made to say, “Mind what you are doing, you bad boy,” it must be spoken as if it were written, “ind ot you’re doing, you ’ad whoy.” (It is rarely a ventriloquist shows a full face to his audience, unless at a great distance from them. It would help to destroy the illusion if the jaws were seen to move.) This kind of articulation is made by forming the words in the pharynx, and then sending them out of the mouth by sudden expulsions of the breath clean from the lungs at every word. This is often illustrated by a ventriloquist pretending to talk to a man on the roof.