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I am a ventriloquist, and in the words of the late, great, Paul Stadelman;
"...........I'd like to explain to you that I'm a ventriloquist.
And a ventriloquist, as you know, is a man who talks to himself and gets paid for it.....
sometimes............." 8^)

But practicing the art of ventriloquism is something I do for my own pleasure.
Sometimes I will perform for a charitable purpose, sometimes for pay,
or sometimes just for the fun of it, but always for my own enjoyment.

    Let me first introduce the "Dickens Family";

    Hannibal Dickens / Rick Price
    Darren D. Dickens / Conrad Hartz
    Dagwood Dickens / Tim Cowles
    Dondi Dickens / Craig Lovik
    Dexter Dickens / Brown/Kimbro
    Paul M. Dickens / R.J. Scott
    Terry Dickens / Clinton Detweiler
    Scotty Dickens / Jerry Layne
    Rudy P. Dickens / Dave Boiano
    Moony Dickens / Dave Boiano (figure now residing at Vent Haven)

And here are a few picks of the "family";
(click on the pictures of Hannibal to see his own webpage)
(click on the picture of Moony & Rudy to see the MoonHead story)







Here's a group shot of the whole Dickens family;


This little guy didn't make it in until after the group shot;





When it comes to figures, I enjoy this quote by Shari Lewis;
".....you don't make a puppet talk. You allow a puppet to talk.
You can't make them talk a certain way........the trouble with many puppets is that their characters and voices have been forcefully superimposed on them by their owners.
It doesn't work that way."

The ventriloquist pictured below is Paul Stadelman, with his main figure, Windy Higgins.
It was with his book, "Ventriloquism Of Today", that I learned ventriloquism, and for me,
it is still the best instruction for anyone interested in learning the art of ventriloquism.
(click on the picture of Paul & Windy to see their webpages)


Scotty's Vent Figure Registry Is Back!
(click on Scotty's picture to go to the Registry)


Ventriloquism - A Good Excuse For Talking To Yourself.

dickensndave @ comic.com

Here's my photo album for misc. pictures; Free Photo Albums from Bravenet.com

Participate in my on-line ventriloquism survey; Free Vote Caster from Bravenet.com



Some years ago, I did a little on line article on the use of stands, which you can see here;
To Stand or Not To Stand, That Was The Question.



Here is my story of how I became a ventriloquist:

I decided to become a ventriloquist.
I learned that being a ventriloquist involves substituting certain sounds and the way they are made, and that one of the challenges is to do this and still speak clearly.
A speech therapist suggested putting marbles in my mouth and practicing speaking clearly with them there.
I bought a large supply of marbles and did this extensively, usually while I was taking my daily walk.
Of course, occassionally I would stutter or choke and have to spit a marble or two out, and often I couldn't find them.
However, I persevered and, sure enough, just about the time I had lost all my marbles, I became a ventriloquist.

Note from Dave:
At the risk of sounding like I'm bragging, Being much more advanced than others, I lost my marbles way before I learned ventriloquism.

Ventriloquism Is Just Like Life, You Spend A Lot Of Time Talking To Dummies.



My webhost offered a free webjournal, or blog as they are often called, so I figured I try it.
Although I'm not much of a blogger so there aren't many regular posts.

Free Web Journal from Bravenet.com


Updated: February 8, 1811


Copyright 1999 All rights reserved.