Vent Haven Museum

Dan Horn Revolutionizes Japanese Ventriloquism

By Tazuko Tanimoto

On February 16 and 17, Dan Horn conducted a two-day workshop in Osaka, Japan which I organized. It was his second visit to Osaka to teach Japanese ventriloquists following an earlier trip in 2006. This year's event attracted more than twice the number of participants than the previous one, with people coming from all over Japan to see Dan's highly accomplished professional skills with their very own eyes.

On the first day, 30 ventriloquists had a special opportunity to receive personal instruction from Dan. His most valuable lesson was how to use arm rods, something that everyone was very eager to understand. Standing beside each student, Dan coached them on how to operate each finger when grasping the rods. Prior to that he offered some advice on basic manipulation and was always kind and encouraging despite the students sometimes awkward movements, allowing them to relax and enjoy the event.

On the second day, 108 people attended a more wide-ranging workshop, which started with a lesson by me on lip-control technique for the 46 sounds in the Japanese syllabary. This was followed by short performances by me and eight other Japanese ventriloquists.

Finally, the moment everyone had been waiting for arrived as Dan took the stage with a round of thunderous applause. He began by introducing his buddy, Orson.

The audience was immediately hooked as the sleepy old man emerged from Dan's bag. Dan gave tips on various points such as animated figure manipulations using the mouth, head, and arms along with microphone and distant voice techniques.

Under his guidance, everyone practiced raising their hands from the wrist, which made the figures' movements much more natural and smooth, and really brought them to life. He also introduced his dog, Miles, and when the dog suddenly barked, some people nearly fell out of their seats. Dan also talked about his past TV experiences and showed some old footage of himself. This made us realize how long and diverse Dan's career has been.

The entire event was a great success, inspiring the Japanese ventriloquists to improve themselves with new ideas and skills. Having the chance to meet such a prestigious ventriloquist ,

Dan Horn is sure to be as a strong incentive and help them become better performers.

The idea of creating an illusion through animated figure movements is practically unknown in Japan, as the traditional art of puppet theatre, bunraku, still continues to hold sway over modern ventriloquism. This means that puppets are expected to look like puppets and follow a certain set of formal movements.

Since my first visit to the Vent Haven Convention in 1996, I have been trying to attain a new style of ventriloquism which was I had never before seen in Japan.

What I saw at the convention was the funniest entertainment I had ever seen in my life and I became determined to share my joy with Japanese people in my future work. Dan Horn was my original inspiration and his definition of ventriloquism as "the art of 3D animation" has charmed not only me but many other ventriloquists in Japan.

I feel that a new trend is spreading through the Japanese ventriloquism world thanks to Dan Horn's dedication in presenting such great workshops and generously imparting everything he knows. What was originally a low art featuring a talking doll saying something funny has become a respected medium of expression using a lifelike figure with a developed character. This change is making Japanese people laugh more and bringing greater respect to ventriloquism.

We are deeply grateful to Dan Horn for making such a great effort on our behalf and for literally traveling half way around the world to share his knowledge with us.

Pictures: 1. Tazuko Tanimoto performing on the International Show at the 2005 Vent Haven ConVENTion.
2. The students who attended the small group session.
3. Dan Horn teaching on stage.
4. Tazuko's daughter Mizue who interpreted, Dan Horn, and Tazuko Tanimoto who organized the event.

Thank you to Tazuko Tanimoto for this wonderful article and pictures!

I don't recall the year, but I was performing on the Saturday evening showcase with the late, great Clifford Guest. I first saw Clifford in Milt Larson's "It's Magic" show in Hollywood, CA in 1980. He was the first performer I'd seen use the baby cry and his vocal skills blew me away. After the show, I saw him driving out of the parking lot and exchanged a quick "thank you" through his open window. His performance inspired me to start learning the baby cry effect which is now one of my mainstay characters in my show.

Many years later, we were both scheduled to perform the Vent Haven Convention public show, and I was nervous to meet this phenomenal entertainer. When I told him he was a huge inspiration to my career, he gave me the biggest compliment ever by saying that I was also an inspiration to him. What a super talent, and super nice man. I miss him.

*Second picture is signed by Clifford Guest and says "Convention 1989 Really enjoyed it."

For those of you who did not attend the meeting on March 16, 2008, here is a short review of the minutes of that meeting. It was sort of a meet and greet affair at Margaret Davis’ home [Orlando, FL], and we had three new people show up to the meeting: Ed Thomas, Harry Schwab and Chuck Blakey. A few of our regular members backed out at the last minute [due to sickness]. I guess we shouldn’t have been surprised as it was Palm Sunday. We had performances by Al Stevens, Ed Thomas and Harry Schwab. Ed is a longtime performer who tells us he did his first performance in 1949. Harry is new to performing but did a great job.

Looking at the goatee collection of Harry, Chuck and myself one would think that we were about to encounter a troll at a bridge at some point during the day. Mike Palma and Michele Acquin [of Puppet Planet] were there to remind the rest of just how old were really are. They also both had figures to show; Mike had hard figures he was working on for himself and others, and Michele brought some of her wares to afford us the opportunity to find a soft figure to join each of our troop of characters. Members politely made a fuss over the chimp figure I recently finished.

Top Row L-R: Harry Schwab performing for the first time ever; he and Louie did a bit with "The Lord's Prayer." Harry Schwab, Ed Thomas, Mike Palma, and Al Stevens talking shop around the yummy snack table. Ed Thomas from Altamonte Springs, FL.

Bottom Row L-R: John Parisi with his chimp he made himself. Chuck Blakey hamming it up. John Parisi, Donald Woodford, and Chuck Blakey sharing all things vent but they really want to devour the bowl of shrimp.

Thanks to John Parisi for sending the report and Margaret Davis for her great pictures! It's great to see small groups encouraging each other in the art of ventriloquism. If there are other regional vent groups meeting around the country, please send us a recap of your gatherings!

This month's Blast from the Past is Val Hilliker from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She writes, "I was 21 when the photo of Melvin K the moose and I was taken. The puppet was designed specially for me to be signature "Canadian" by designer Sennett Dolls and Puppets. The rights were then bought out by the Gants Brothers, who still exist. Melvin K was my third puppet and this was my first promotional photo.

My first one was a Danny O’Day Sears string puppet, so it is quite an honor for me to sit on the pro panel this year with Jimmy Neilson himself.

I can still remember sitting down in a library and devouring a book on how to be a ventriloquist when I was 17. I read this book every day from cover to cover for a week and walked to Sears to purchase my Danny O’Day doll. I couldn’t think of anything else for two solid weeks as I waited for my first real vent doll. Two weeks later, I graduated High School and was hired to do my first out of town gig. After that first show I was hooked.

For 20 years while raising my children I put venting on hold, and five years ago I returned to be a full-time ventriloquist. Now I travel across Canada and do school shows, festivals and fairs and walk-arounds.

I have three children, 50 fish, 22 puppets and 1 dog. I was able to study comedy with Joe Flaherty and Judy Carter. I am now a certified world laughter leader and a Virtues Project Master Facilitator. My youngest daughter travels with me and runs my sound and audio. It sure is wonderful to be able to have a roadie now."

Val will be back at the Vent Haven ConVENTion this summer appearing on the International Show. To find out more about Val Hilliker, visit her at her website http://www.valhilliker.com/.

Each year the Vent Haven ConVENTion provides opportunities for vents at all levels to perform, from amateur to professional, through various shows and Open Mics. The Junior Open Mic is one session where everyone can see what the young, up-and-coming performers are doing. Plus these juniors, all under the age of 17, get evaluated by three professional ventriloquists, a video of their performance, and the valuable experience of performing on stage in front of 400 people. This might seem daunting to some young performers, but the 2007 Juniors stepped onstage seemingly unfazed. They all really showed

a lot of talent and promise. The Junior Open Mic wouldn't be complete each year without its emcee Bob Isaacson. Bob is a professional ventriloquist, a long time advisor to Vent Haven Museum, and on staff at the ConVENTion. Many thanks to Bob for corresponding with the juniors to collect the background information used below. We hope to see each of these young performers back in Ft. Mitchell this July. Way to go, everyone!

Hannah was an "old-timer" amongst her peers this year appearing for her 6th time at the Vent Haven ConVENTion. She has been doing vent for eight years and attending Vent Haven for the past seven. Her performances around her hometown include the Jewish Federation Rush, Veterinarian Medicine Open House, and the Annual County Sweet Corn Festival. She also has appeared at many parties including birthday parties, a magic store Halloween Kick-off Party, a Mardi Gras party, and a St. Patrick Day Celebration. As she is sixteen years old, this past July marked Hannah's last performance in the Junior Open Mic category. Now she will have to battle with the adults for one of the coveted 10 spots of the Senior Open Mic. Hannah is also a regular contributing writer on the Junior Vent University page. Click here to read her latest feature "Tips on Tips and Other Payment Questions."

Meghan was exposed to ventriloquism from birth. Her dad substituted a comical baby puppet for newborn Meghan, and when her grandma went to see the new baby and pulled back the covers, she got quite a surprise. Meghan picked up her vent skills from her "wild and crazy dad." She has been performing since the age of five and is now 12 years old. She's performed in many public venues including the Children's Museum of Denver, Denver's Aquarium, Denver's libraries, preschools, and public schools. Last summer she got a post on the internet entitled "Ventriloquist Dummy Gets the Hiccups;" the post got 6000 hits. Meghan is a member of the Puppeteers of America and uses her vent skills in many school projects. She is an excellent student with a 4.0 GPA and is a competitive swimmer on the Swim Team. Meghan started at a new school this past fall and commented, "Little do they know they will be getting two for one!" Finally, she was featured last month as our Blast from the Past. Click here to see pictures of Meghan at a younger age.

Dylan first became interested in vent when he saw Mark Wade, premier Kidshow Ventriloquist and ConVENTion Executive Director, perform at his school. He's thirteen years old now and learned ventriloquism by watching other vents on TV and in movies and teaching himself. Dylan has been coming to the Vent Haven ConVENTion for nine years now and performs at friends and families' birthdays. Last year was his first time on stage in the Junior Open Mic. Vent is a career he hopes to have one day, and he practiced every day for the Open Mic performance. Dylan said, "Since I live right down the street, it's not too much a hassle getting here."

This past summer was the second convention and second Open Mic for eleven year old Aileen. She is the youngest of four children, but the only one to follow in her dad's footsteps. Her past year performances included a summer reading program at the library and a Cub Scout Camp, plus a special Command Performance for her orthodontist. She was also the featured entertainer at the Feline Rescue Dinner where she also volunteers. Aileen has received awards from her elementary school for Achievement in Excellence; she plays the piano and recently added the flute and the oboe. Her family has many cats which she loves which is why her figure, Cloud Shrimp, is a cat.

Peter is especially well-known by one professional vent...his father, who despite being a seasoned pro was as nervous about Peter's Open Mic performance as Peter was. Peter's love of ventriloquism started at infancy. Last summer was his seventh Vent Haven ConVENTion; he attended his first at three months old! Peter loves to come the VHC every year. His influences are Paul Winchell, Jimmy Nelson, and his dad Pete Michaels. Seven year old Peter performed in the Junior Open Mic with his new figure Tommy which Santa brought the Christmas before.

Sixteen year old Jamie has only been doing vent for two years, but already he has designed and copyrighted all three of his custom Mary Ann Taylor puppets. He performed at the Junior Open Mic with six year old poodle Puppy Chow. Jamie also owns his own entertainment business called Puppy Chow Entertainment Enterprises, Inc. that specializes in children's entertaining. Prior to the 2007 ConVENTion, Jamie wrote that he couldn't wait to meet everyone.

Bryan is a freshman in high school this year who has been practicing vent for five years. This fourteen year old has been performing in local talent shows, at church, at libraries, and at home. He hopes to make vent his career one day. His figure Luke is a spunky character who thinks he's very popular with girls.

Audrey is twelve years old and has been doing vent for two years. This past summer was her second performance in Vent Haven's Junior Open Mic. She has also performed in school talent shows, charity events, and churches.

Nick learned ventriloquism from Edgar Bergen's book, How to Become a Ventriloquist and Mark Wade's video and has been performing for four years. At twelve years old, Nick has been in his school talent show three times, plus performed for the Women's Club and his family.

Thirteen year old Jacob's interest in ventriloquism began at the age of six when he obtained his first figure at the Austin City Wide Garage Sale. He then read books and rented videos to learn the art. Jacob attended his first convention in July 2006. Bob Abdou aka Mr. Puppet worked with Jacob to help improve his stage performance, and Jacob was able to perform with Bob at a comedy club in Austin in October of 2006.

Where do ideas come from? They are based on perception; not seeing something for what it is but what it can be. Creativity is looking at things in a new way. According to the dictionary, creativity is the quality of being creative. That's a helpful definition, isn't it? If you look up creative, it says the power to create...even more insightful. Sigh. Still trying to hone in on a useful meaning, if you look up the root create it means to bring into existence, produce through imaginative skill. Now we're getting somewhere. When you create, you take materials at hand and make something fresh, make it new through that elusive imaginative skill. As an artist and a performer, you want to try to cultivate that ability. It's not just important for writing material, but also for creating characters, evaluating the vent's role in the act, staging, or updating characters that have been in use for awhile. You must develop creative skills to keep your act from becoming stagnant and stale.

Tests show that children's creativity plummets 75%. Adults are only 27% creative as they were when younger. Clearly children are very creative but their skills are often undeveloped. It seems as one increases the other decreases; or as children's skills improve, their creativity diminishes. Or perhaps children try to be creative and it doesn't pay off which squelches that spark of looking at things in new ways. As adults, we have to work extra hard to be creative and recapture that natural ability we had as children.

Let's get back to ideas and where to get them. We're going to start at the end and work backwards -- IDEAS...starting with S or State of Mind. To produce through imaginative skill, you must not be negative. Get into a positive state of mind. Get psyched up and be receptive to new ideas. Get plenty of sleep, do deep breathing, and let your mind wander without limits. This will help turn you into a receptor to receive fresh inspirations and see things differently.

Next is Atmosphere or the area that you're in. This will either help or hinder getting into that free-thinking state of mind. Think about how you work best. Is it in seclusion? Do you need to lock yourself away from everyone and everything to be totally relaxed and focused, shutting out all distractions? For some this is the only way to work; for others it can be stifling and provide no spark for the imagination. Some people need a loud, noisy environment like the food court at the mall. People watching can be very stimulating, if not just downright interesting. Music can also put some into that receptive mood. Listening to favorite songs, especially instrumental tracks can be effective. Music scores from movies are especially good because there aren't words to distract and the sound is meant to accompany action on screen; it assists the experience of the movie. But when listened to by itself, often your mind will supply the images and the story. Whether loud or quiet, alone or in a crowd, put yourself in that environment that will stimulate an imaginative state of mind.

You're in a positive state of mind and in the atmosphere that's most conducive to you; now you need Effective Thinking. This means focusing your thoughts a bit, not being completely random. It's like taking brainstorming to the next level. Brainstorming is a completely random exercise simply jotting down without judgment, without rhyme or reason, all possible ideas. Once the list is generated, the next step is to organize it a bit. This is Effective Thinking. Putting similar ideas together, crossing out the totally ridiculous or unusable. It's taking the material that you've generated and working to make something fresh and new.

Working at being creative might sound a bit oxymoronic, like the two don't go together, but they do. You've got to have Determination. Creativity rarely comes easily and you must be prepared to work at it. You've got to want it. If you get in that right State of Mind and Atmosphere and nothing happens, don't give up. Stay at it and force yourself to come up with something. In Charlie Chaplin's City Lights, a blind Flower Girl mistakes Chaplin's Tramp for a rich millionaire. The problem for Chaplin was how to convey this important plot point in the story using only silent images. How does the blind Girl come to think the Tramp is rich? When he couldn't figure out how to construct the scene, he stopped production for an entire year until he came up with a solution. The scene in the final film is brilliant—and without doubt expresses the story. Chaplin's Tramp buys a flower from the girl. Before she can make change, another man walking behind Chaplin gets into a waiting limousine. The girl only hears footsteps, door slams and the limo speeding away. She believes the man who just bought the flower has departed in the limo and left her a generous tip; she assumes he is rich. The Tramp, however, is still standing there. The girl, thinking she’s now alone, empties a container of water—into the Tramp’s face. He tiptoes away. It was a simplistic idea but it took a year to think it out. Creativity takes Determination.

The final component is Ink. Write down ideas because you retain them so much better. It helps to see them and free-associate. Keep paper wherever you get ideas -- next to the bed, in your gym bag, in your puppet case, in the car. Be ready to write it down. Also keep a file of these random ideas. What may not work today, might be perfect two years down the road for a different character. If your act is getting stale, looking through these past ideas can spark something new; it can be the impetus for something completely different that you would have never thought about had you not read old notes. All these elements contribute to make a person receptive to creating ideas.

How can you go further and cultivate that creativity even more besides following the method of IDEAS? If you have a group of people with whom you can do improvisation, that is a great way to practice thinking on your feet. Like the show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, it can lead to some very funny situations, but it's not as easy as it looks. It takes some practice, but the more you do it, the better you get. Like a great stand-up comedian who can improv with the audience, it didn't happen overnight, but took lots of practice and quick thinking. Sharpening your mind will improve that thinking- on- your- feet skill. At the 2007 ConVENTion, Dan Horn brought six volunteers up on stage to play some improv games. It was tough, but once the volunteers relaxed a little and just let loose, some funny and unexpected stuff came out.

Some improvisational games to try are Single Word Story. This is where all the participants sit in a row and in order, each person contributes one word at a time to create a story. The story has to make sense and the participants have to follow the rules of grammar. The fun part is one unusual word can change the entire nature of the story. The 'lonely dog' would be very different from the 'lonely man' or the 'spastic dog' vs. the 'spastic child.' The challenge is to build on what the other participants have put in the story. Another version of this game is to have three participants and a moderator with the object of the game being the three people all telling one story but the moderator regulates the story tellers. The participants sit in a row and the moderator faces them. The moderator has a pointer and the participants have to keep telling the story until the moderator switches people. Each person gets to talk for longer, but you never know when your turn will begin or end. If the person next to you gets cut off mid-sentence, you have to continue the sentence and the story. You want to try to follow the story as each person contributes. Silent Movie is another game that is good for practicing acting and reacting. Either by yourself or with a partner, act a scene onstage silently and the audience has to guess what the scene is. Keep the scene fairly short and be sure both actors know in advance what the scene is. This takes good facial expressions and pantomiming. It can help you practice how you act and react with your puppet. If you don't have adult friends willing to engage in such frivolity, get your children to play with you. They love games like this, and since they are way more creative than adults, you might find some real golden nuggets. Also, you might investigate if there is a local community theatre group that would have improv classes or sessions.

Finding people to play improv games might be challenging but there are plenty of things you can do on your own. Try mind games like Scrabble or doodling. Doodling is a great way to free associate. Play MadLibs. This is a game book with stories on each page where some words are left out. Someone prompts you to fill in the blanks with different parts of speech like nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. Because you have no idea of the nature of the story, the result is usually pretty amusing. The skeptical side of you might think, "How do MadLibs and doodling help me write a script?" Well, you never know where funny stuff is going to come from. Remember you are trying to create something fresh and new and see material in a different, unconventional way.

Being creative isn't easy, but developing something fresh and new is what will separate you as a performer from the same old, same old that others are doing. Terry Fator on America's Got Talent is a perfect example. He told the story in an interview that he had been doing traditional vent with relative success for years. One day he was doing a Garth Brooks imitation while riding in a car with his manager. The impression was amazing and dead-on. His manager suggested he try that in his act. When Fator walked out on stage for his first appearance on America's Got Talent, the judges scoffed at "the ventriloquist," but Fator blew them away with his talent and act that was unconventional. It won him a million dollars. Creativity can be developed. Practice it, work at it, don't discount it. It can only help since it is the performers who provide fresh entertainment that find success.

Dan Horn is a world-renowned ventriloquist best known among ventriloquists for his amazing ability to manipulate puppets and bring them to life. Dan was one of five vents selected to be on David Letterman's Ventriloquist Week last February 2007. To find out more about Dan Horn, visit his website at www.danhorn.com.

This Junior Vent who has been around ventriloquism since birth is Meghan C. from Colorado. Meghan and her father Ed have attended the Vent Haven ConVENTion for many years performing in the Junior and Senior Open Mics, respectively. Meghan was even lucky enough to be photographed with Candice Bergen at the 2004 Convention. To find out more about Meghan, go to the new Junior Vent Feature on the Junior Vent University page.

Thanks to the following for submitting guesses: Bob Isaacson, Doc Lowery, Matt Bronsil, and John Hopper!

First Meeting of the Long Island/New York Vent & Puppeteers Group Held in December

Sheree Brown-Rosner writes: "Thanks to all that replied to the email sent out inviting folks to the First Gathering. Many had prior commitments and could not attend but want to see this get off the ground. We had eight people that really were interested in learning, sharing and making this group happen! We plan to meet every 3 months, 4 times a year to start.

Thanks to Steve Petruzzella for being the Kick-off Speaker. I think we could have gone on and on. We all had a great time, sharing stories, magic and learning some ventriloquism too.

Steve Petruzzella from PetraPuppets was a wealth of knowledge. We all sat
and listened, took time to play with puppets, and check out some things Steve made himself. His wife Jeanie was also along and chimed in with a few pearls of wisdom about the business
part of the show. After some Q&A we took a group photo, ate some dinner.

While waiting for Steve to arrive Herschel and I let people look at our two
Selbergs, Jillian and Jack Ash. Since one is a Living Figure and the other a Hand Carved one, plus have different head stick designs and 17 years between them, it was fun to have them side by side for comparisons.

We have our next Gathering March 31st, 2008 with a visit from Mr. Puppet
himself...Bob Abdou www.mrpuppet.com.

Thanks Sheree for sending in this report and photos! If there are other regionally meeting groups of ventriloquists, please send reports of your meetings to Annie Roberts at aroberts@venthavenmuseum.net. These small groups are a fantastic way to make connections and share ideas outside of the big Vent Haven ConVENTion!

"Music is an integral part of most entertainment art forms, and ventriloquism is no exception" (all quotes are taken from Al Stevens' copious notes that accompanied his presentation and are available on his CD-Rom). In HBO's 1978 Vent Event, all the performers used music or sang except Edgar Bergen, but Bergen did make fun of the band leader so that sort of counts. This article will cover the kinds of music a vent might use, how to actually incorporate different music into the act, do's and don'ts for novice singers, and how to use backing tracks which is how most vents will work. Most are solo performers and very few get to work with a sound man. That's a luxury. Finally, we will touch on avoiding technical difficulties and copyright issues.

For a ventriloquist who is new to using music, let's start with the easiest to add -- Entrance and Exit music. This is what plays as you hit the stage running to start your show. When you start talking, the music quietly fades away. There are three great tunes to use in this situation: Fine and Dandy, This Could Be the Start of Something Big, and There's No Business like Show Business (Songs like these suitable for entrance music are on Al Stevens' CD. Click here to find out more). The music helps you make a big entrance, and the audience can't hear anything but the music. Same thing at the end; make a big exit with lots of music and as long as the audience is applauding, the music should keep playing. You come back out, take your bows, and when the applause begins to die, let the music die.

Segues, or as Gary Owen called them in his lecture Bumpers, often are simply called transitions. This is music that is used to introduce and exit during segments within the show. A typical set-up might look like this:

This is a lot of music to organize, keep together and get played in the right sequence. You don't want to say right in the middle of your act, "George, not the right music." You want it working well for you. Also, whatever music you select to introduce your different puppets should match the character of the puppet and set the tone for the dialogue that's coming up. Mortimer Snerd had delightful music, but unfortunately nobody ever heard it. As soon as the audience heard the first two notes, they broke into wild laughter and applause because they immediately knew that Mortimer was coming out. The music can become associated with your own character, and if you own the music, your own show.