Good-Bye
And now a few necessary hints must be given in regard to the management of an audience. Get your hearers seated in front of you, not around you, with the front row at a distance of at least ten or twelve feet. Politely impose silence upon them, and take care to repeat your opening question two or three times before replying in the ventriloquial voice, because this straining the attention stimulates the imagination of your audience, and makes the illusion more complete. Another important point—keep the assumed voice and the natural voice in contrast all the time, by means of a running fire of questions; finally, never use elaborate apparatus. Besides, ordinary windows, doors, and fireplaces, an old chest, a folding screen, a trap-door, and perhaps one or two “practical” dolls, will amply suffice.
Ventriloquists who employ a whole family of ingeniously contrived figures—we have seen some of these dance a jig—should get them to talk by machinery as well. There is very little artistic merit in such performances. Nor should the performer be suspiciously surrounded by scenery; it may cause misunderstanding, as the following instance will prove:—
A ventriloquist performing at a London theatre some years ago imitated a voice on the roof so successfully as to induce a man in the audience to ascend to the roof in search of a confederate. Unfortunately, however, two other men, filled with the self-same idea, also found their way to the roof in company, and mistaking the first man for the guilty person, gave him a sound thrashing.
In drawing our instructions to a close, let us point out that the proper end and aim of ventriloquism should be not to play the pranks of “Valentine Vox,” but to afford our friends innocent amusement. Of course, no manly boy would ever think of frightening little children; but he might be tempted to give older people a little surprise. It is therefore well he should know that persons altogether ignorant of ventriloquism may be wonderfully deceived.
One morning, just after a new servant had come to the house, we noticed a doll in the kitchen, sitting bolt upright and staring as hard as her glass eyes would let her. So, going up to it, in presence of the girl, we shook hands gravely, and said, “Good morning, Dolly!” To which she sweetly replied, “Good morning, sir! I have to watch Charlotte!” The effect produced on the girl was so pronounced that for days after she would hardly touch the uncanny creature.
On another occasion, at a house in Kentish Town, affairs took a more serious turn; for a young woman, upon hearing a gruff voice proceed from the chimney, astonished a company of six or eight persons by falling on her knees in broad daylight to implore the troubled spirit to unburden its mind. Upon this we at once desisted, and explained, though not without difficulty, the nature of the deception.
The ventriloquist should therefore use his strange power with caution, and mainly, as we have said, for the innocent amusement of every one concerned. At the same time he will reap from his studies certain advantages often lost sight of, viz., the training given to the ear as regards the nice discrimination of sound—musical and non-musical—and the command obtained over the vocal organs with respect to elocution.
The whole of our instructions may be summarized thus: (1) Listen to sound intently; (2) learn to analyze it; (3) experiment patiently and regularly; (4) cultivate acting. With these points in view, no reader possessing an average voice, together with some aptitude for mimicry, should fail to acquire the coveted art.