Chapter LVI: Ventriloquism, and How to Acquire the Art

BY WILLIAM CROMPTON.

The etymology of the word Ventriloquism gives an incorrect idea of the art, as it is based upon the old notion that the ventriloquial voice really proceeded from the stomach. As a matter of fact, the sources of all such sounds are in the throat or mouth.

By the aid of the laryngoscope, a scientific instrument mirroring the action and vibrating changes of the vocal organ, it has been shown that tone and voice come when the cords in the larynx are excited by the breath; but a muffled vibration in the cavity of the mouth, which is caused by the action of the tongue and lips, produces _whispering_, in which the words appear as from a distance, and, thus robbed of their distinct vocal sounds, can be produced with little or no movement of the muscles of the face.

But the ventriloquist knows full well that the judgment must be led astray quite as much as the ear; therefore, in disguising the true direction of his voice--or those assumed voices which he has added to his own--he requires _finesse_ of a high order, which, while he shall be apparently unconscious of doing so, must lead his audience to certain conclusions respecting the situation of the sounds. In this he is greatly assisted by Nature, which lays the foundation of the art in the fact of the uncertainty of their _direction_ as well as _distance_.

It was formerly common on the Continent for performers on the stage to go through the dumb show of singing while persons off the stage supplied the voices. The same uncertainty as to the direction of sound is manifested at a marionette show, where the actors--wooden dolls--‘strut and fret their hour upon the stage,’ their actions leading the spectators to ally the speeches with them, and to look upon the manikins almost as veritable human beings. The illusion, if properly carried out, is very perfect.

One of the most favourite modes of ventriloquists now and for a long time past has been to have two or more wooden figures with jaws moved by strings acted upon by the hands of the performer, or by pedals. The artist then holds converse between these, and so takes attention from his own movements. Another capital device is the ‘Talking Hand,’ which it may be here well to describe. Having first provided yourself with a mitten purposely made, with a hole in the centre, and a frill round it, thus:--

and painted the side of your hand to represent Biddy the apple-woman’s face, so:

you are ready to make a nice little speech, and introduce ‘Biddy’ to your expectant audience in the back parlour.

Indian ink will give her eyes as black as Susan’s, and a little red paint, judiciously applied to the top of the thumb and that part of the hand immediately above it, will materially assist the illusion by giving her a mouth.

The annexed is a picture of Biddy with her new cap on. Her nose must be indicated by black lines, and a slight redness at the uptilted end may not be considered out of character. The chin, you observe, is painted on the thumb.

Now stitch a skirt to the lower part of the mitten, and throw a shawl round her head, and you have the old apple-woman to the life.

You must arrange a little dialogue between Biddy and yourself, keeping the imaginations of the spectators in full play, so as to draw attention from your lips and muscles, which you must nevertheless keep in as much rest as possible. Let Biddy’s sentences be short and emphatic, and in a tone as unlike your natural voice as you can assume. As Biddy speaks you must move your thumb up and down, which motion can be so made as to give the idea of the lips moving.

How the _imagination_ can be led astray even without motions at all may be instanced in the case of the imitations of Saville Carey, who often blew through a narrow chink in the corner of a coffee-room with an east-wind like whistle, whereupon the company began to shiver with cold, and some one was sure to rise and examine the windows to see if they were air-tight!

Starting, then, with these peculiarities of Nature on his side (that the direction and distance of sound are difficult to fix, and that the imagination is easily played upon), the ventriloquist, by tricks of manner, with subtle movements and actions, governs the imagination of his audience, and directs their attention to some given spot from which he desires they should think the voice proceeds, while simultaneously imitating it as closely as possible.

The ventriloquial power any one with a fair range of voice and patient practice may acquire. The rarer gift is that of mimicry, by which the illusions of change of tone, pitch, etc., are so greatly assisted. Unless endowed with this in some degree one would find the pursuit of the art a vain and profitless task, but a little will sometimes go a long way, and a careful noting of the modes of some good professors of ventriloquism will give many useful hints to the neophyte, after he has got ‘by heart’ all that has been written upon the subject.

He will notice that the jaws need never be moved, and that though the lips must be in action at times, the effect is neutralised by dexterously turning the side face to the spectators on those occasions. This standing in profile has another advantage also, as the lips can be drawn down on the hidden side, and a considerable alteration in the tone can thus be produced where required.

The vowel sounds, in various tones, may be obtained without movement by nearly closing the mouth, and resting the upper teeth on the inner part of the upper lips. Consonants are much more difficult, and are seldom or never used while facing the audience. When there is no excuse for turning the face sideways the expedient is adopted of dropping the consonants, which would make such a sentence as, ‘Mind what you are doing, you bad boy!’ sound like ‘Ind ‘ot you’re doing, you ‘ad whoy!’

The greater the compass of voice, of course the greater will be the pitch, while practice will produce elasticity in the organs. One word of advice is necessary as to practice--that is, you should _never strain the voice_. Let the power be developed naturally, or you will inevitably defeat your own object and lead to hoarseness, if no worse.

Study before a mirror. Any illusions you can there produce will be greater in effect when distance lends enchantment to the view, for the ventriloquist’s art cannot be practised with full effect in a very limited area.

An accurate ear will soon enable its possessor to imitate sounds, such as the barking of dogs, sawing wood, etc., but his difficulties will commence when he comes to attempt complete and rapid changes of voice, locality, and distance. From youth to age, from the infant in its nurse’s arms to the ‘lean and slippered pantaloon,’ the transition must be like a flash of lightning in rapidity. Dialects should also be acquired, and varieties of age and sex carefully studied.

It is after the human voice has been imitated without any apparent motion of the lips, and conversations with imaginary individuals have been carefully studied, that the higher power of the ventriloquist comes into play, and the performer has to lead the imagination of his audience from the real to the supposed source of the sounds. This is what, in acoustic illusions, is as necessary as glib speech (‘patter’) to the conjurer, who, by thus calling attention from his hands, is enabled to perform many tricks successfully which he might otherwise fail in. We have said that our judgments are very fallible in the matter of sound, and the performer’s efforts towards indicating their supposed direction is, to a great extent, the measure of his capacity as a ventriloquist.