Vent Haven Museum

Ad-libbing is speaking or performing without previous preparation. In any type of standup comedy act such as a vent act, it's a performance technique that's simple to attempt, but difficult to do well. This article will act like a coach and give the knowledge, the tips, the tricks, but it's up to the player, or in this case the performer, to practice and practice, little by little, until good ad-libbing skills are developed.

Since ad-libbing can be tricky and not really needed, one might as why even attempt it in the first place? Why take a chance? Why not stick to the script? Straying from tried and true material can lead you into dangerous territory, and it's no substitute for making sure an act is solid, funny, and entertaining. BUT...Ad-libbing done well adds the element of unpredictability to the show. It raises suspense and interest from the audience because they know the performer is in uncharted waters. It helps keep the set fresh, and makes the show seem completely new. If done well, it shows the ability of the performer to get off the page.

Before you rush into ad-libbing, however, you should consider that there are some good reasons to NOT attempt the feat. First off, you might stink at it. Great ad-libbing will make your act better. Bad ad-libbing can kill it. Understand your own abilities. Your comedic strengths might be crafting jokes ahead of time, getting the timing and the nuances just right, not throwing out dialogue off the top of your head, hoping it will end up funny. Bad ad-libbing can slow down the show or it can look like you're padding and killing time. If you put a stopwatch on a good, solid comedy act, there should be an average of six laughs a minute. That's 10 seconds per set-up and punch line. If there are long stretches without laughs, the audience will become nervous for you, afraid that the act is failing. Crafting a really tight, laugh-packed act should come first, before launching into ad-libs. You have to cut the fat, getting rid of lines that slow down the pace or that seem extra and don't make the joke any funnier. This isn't easy. But it's painful to watch a vent who has good ventriloquial abilities but never gets laughs. The audience wants funny. Start with a great act that's proven: LEAN and FUNNY.   THEN learn to ad-lib.

Remember that the goal is to entertain the audience. A question often posed to us these days is, "Why is vent dead?"    It's not dead, but no one is interested in a vent act if it's not funny or not entertaining. The most important thing is to make the folks laugh. Why are there so many 'bad' vents?   Potential performers learn the techniques of vent -- still lip, good manipulation -- and then they think, "I'm in Show Business!" Okay. Sort of. But you're not GOOD yet. You have to learn to write jokes and entertain. You have to be funny. Ad-libbing is a great way to make an act funnier. It's an added spice on a hopefully already good dish.

Next, just what really is an ad-lib? Are all ad-libs truly ad-libbed? Some lines pop into your head spontaneously and really are ad-libs. This happens more easily when you're on stage because you're more 'on' as a performer than when you're simply practicing at home. The adrenaline is pumping and things seem to fall together just right. (Well...For some performers anyway...) Funny lines really do pop into your head if you are comfortable enough on stage and know the act well enough.

On the other hand, some ad-libs are not spontaneous but seem like it to the audience... They're actually recalled jokes, but come off as reacting to the moment.

Also, you can classify most ad-libs into one of two categories: First is the Standard Ad-lib which is reacting to the unexpected: A baby cries, a heckler shouts, a guy gets up and walks out, etc.

The second kind is the Trolling Ad lib where the performer asks an open-ended question like, "Where're ya from? What do ya do?" When you go this direction, you'd better be ready to be funny. The audience will wonder what's going to happen and it may make them a little uncomfortable, but they're looking for comedic genius or at least something amusing. This kind of ad-lib is dangerous because it's a true test of your spontaneity. You really have to be quick-witted and practiced at how to take whatever answer is given and make it funny. It's best to do this without truly humiliating the audience member.   An audience can turn on a performer easily if he or she is too mean.

The best environment for ad-libbing is when you're at a stress-free, relaxed place during a performance. But try practicing your ad-libbing when you are rehearsing at home. Then sometime when you are comfortable and relaxed on stage and the act is going well, give it a try.   One or two little lines. And don't work on ad-libbing the same night you're performing new material. You need the freedom to think clearly. Plus you need to know the scripted material like it's second nature. You need to be able to jump right back where you were in the planned material without an extra thought.

Here are a few ways to practice ad-libbing:

ask and answer questions out loud
ask and answer questions from the newspaper
watch the news and have your figure comment

If 5% of the answers are funny, you're becoming a comedy writer and a comedian. One joke can be worth $75 from a comedy writer. A good joke is an asset to a vent. To test your comedy writing abilities, try doing straight stand-up. Figure out what makes the audience laugh. With just you, 'naked' on stage with no puppet, you figure out what material works and doesn't. Vent makes it easier because it's a dialogue; you get two voices for the set-up and punch.

Being a good ad-libber means being able to write jokes. If you can't do it on the page, you can't do it on the stage. Keep a joke file on your computer. Clearly not all ad-libs are random, so write them down. Review them periodically. After awhile of accumulating your ad-lib experiences, you'll be able to pull jokes from your files instantly. Try to take notes after each show or write down funny lines as soon as you get off-stage while the material is still fresh in your head.

Some ad-libs work and others don't. Jay Leno does 30 new jokes a night. After a while you get a better sense of what's good. It's like golf; you'll never perfect it but you'll be better than most if you practice.

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November 2006

International Convention Traveling

by Doug Price, South Africa

For a number of years I have been making plans to go to Convention, but being so far away, something has always cropped up so as to stop me going. During the year 2001, I made the decision that I would go to the Puppeteers of America National Convention in 2003. You might say why so early in the planning stages? The simple reason being that the trip is half way around the world from where I live and that the earlier one books, the better the airfare that I would have to pay. The second reason is that I have a full-time job and would need to get leave at the right time of year, and thirdly, the most important component is the MONEY.

Once having made the decision, the next step was to be able to get the dates of the convention out of the convention organizers, which let me tell you is not always that easy. This time I was lucky and received the dates, but when I received the price for airfare, I soon realized that to come over for one week was not a very good idea. So I made it two weeks. I then found a second convention...I-Fest [International Festival of Christian Puppetry and Ventriloquism]. And what do you know...the Puppeteers of America ended on a Saturday and I-Fest started on the following Monday. This was great, two festivals one after the other. I would now be away two weeks and would then make the spending of the airfare money worthwhile.

I discovered the Vent Haven ConVENTion when I was looking in one of the I-Fest web pages, where they advertise the different events on a calendar. I followed the link from there, and I opened the Vent Haven web page and gave it a thorough once over. What impressed and enticed me was the write-up and pictures on the previous years' events [click here to see the 2006 ConVENTion article]. In addition, the hotel web page, the Drawbridge Inn, gave an in-depth write-up on the location. I also noted that for 2005, the convention fit into my plans, and for very little extra travel cost I could add another week to my schedule. Then all the conventions would be following one after the other with a travel day in between each convention. For an international traveler, this is very important as this saves unnecessary extra hotel accommodation costs.

Having decided on the three conventions, I now started planning in earnest. The airline booking was made in such a way that to save on extra hotel bills, the attendees' arrival in the USA was the day before the conference starts. Then leaving at the end of the first conference, there was a day before the start of the next, and this was used for travel.

When organizing your travel times, make sure that you arrive the day before the start or leave the day after the conference closes. My mistake was to plan to leave on the last day, but the problem is that one needs to leave four or five hours before the plane departs, and you miss out on the last day of the conference. Needless to say, I did not make the same mistake again.

Next was the major job of getting an American Visa, which was extremely expensive, but the good thing was that the Visa was now issued for ten years. If I decided to attend further conferences, then this would be very useful.

How to pay for the registration as well as any other fees that would be required was not a battle as I was in possession of a credit card. The only conference that proved to be a problem as far as payment went was Vent Haven. The suggestion from Vent Haven was that I wait until I arrived at the Kentucky airport and go to the money changers. [There is an international bank, Fifth Third Bank in the Delta Concourse that can exchange currency. See the FAQ page for more information.] This would have been a good idea had I arrived during the day and not at 10:00pm at night when the bank was closed. For all other charges, I paid with a credit card and for this I would be able to pay all my expenses before I left home. If possible, exchange currency before you leave your own country.

With Vent Haven being held in a hotel, make sure that you have a reference number [Confirmation number] for your booking. I am glad I did because I was arriving after 6:00pm, and I was told by the hotel to submit my credit card number. In case I did not show, they would have charged my card for the first night. Now to send this detail in a secure manner, I split my card number into three sections and sent these sections in three different emails which apparently didn't work with the Drawbridge. When I arrived late that night, after flying for twenty-four hours, I found out my room had been given to someone else. After this very long flying time, I was not in any mood to be told that. They now had to find a room for me, so I was upgraded to a very expensive room. Then who was I to complain? I made it very clear that I would not move out of this room until I scheduled to check out at the end of the convention period. I also asked to sign a document confirming my daily rate at my original agreed upon rate. This was done, I took my copy, and I could now enjoy the comforts of my new upgraded room at my budget room price.

Thank goodness the Vent Haven ConVENTion dress code was casual. I brought a number of t-shirts, shorts, jeans, and one smart casual set, in case I needed such. The second suitcase was empty, as this I would use for all my purchases from the Dealers' Tables. I made sure that I was underweight for the aircraft; otherwise I would need to pay an excess weight baggage charge. I noted that if you travel around the US, the weight is about twenty pounds less than the weight allowed when traveling internationally. [Check out the Greater Cincinnati Northern Kentucky Airport website for more travel specific information. From the Travel Tips page you can link to all airline carriers that fly into CVG to verify weight and luggage restrictions.]

I must compliment Mark Wade on running a very good and tight shift ConVENTion. You could set your watch with his time schedule as each event started at the advertised time. Nothing was allowed to run over time, and nothing started before the advertised time. The second star is for the fact that there was time between each session to gather your thoughts and make some of those very important notes.

On my first morning in the Drawbridge after a good night's sleep, I made my way down to breakfast about 7:30am. I only left the restaurant at close to 9:00am, this being due to the service being extremely slow. Thank goodness the coffee was bottomless. I must have drunk about four mug-fulls before they then came to take my order, and another two mug-fulls before the order arrived. The following day the ConVENTion would be in full swing so as I paid for my breakfast, I asked the cashier at what time should I get in if I wanted to have breakfast at a reasonable rate without huge delays. She told me 6:00am would be a good time. The following day I was in for breakfast at 6:00am, and what a pleasure! I was in, served, completed, read the complimentary daily paper, and paid before the rest of the ConVENTioneers arrived. Thank goodness I have always been an early riser. I must say the hotel food in the restaurants, and the sandwich trolley at lunchtime outside the lecture halls was really top class.

Things I learned...

I prefer to have a single room with bathroom facilities, and I will pay the extra single supplement to get this. When I attended I-Fest, one of my biggest irritations is that the bathroom facilities are communal (undergraduate accommodation), and the only privacy was the toilet stalls. [Each room at the Drawbridge provides a bathroom in the room; there is no additional charge for this.] The rest was all out in the open, like on a large football field. I am no prude, but I enjoy my privacy.

Get your airfare monies worth, but do not be greedy and try to fit in three conventions one after the other. Do a maximum of two because by the time you get to the third convention, you are tired and you do not get the full benefit of what is being taught and the knowledge imparted.

I have made many wonderful friends with whom I keep in contact by my new best friend, email.

I will use a Dictaphone after the sessions in the future so as to ensure that whilst I am making notes I do not miss what the lecturer was saying. [Note: Audio or video recording devices of any kind are strictly prohibited during sessions. However, they may be used when a lecture has concluded.]

Finally...I do hope to return to the Convention Circuit in 2007...the old story being if the money is available. But what the hell? I can live on bread and water to save enough money, (we lose a lot on the rate of exchange) to again be a ConVENTioneer!

Pictures:

1. Doug Price, South Africa

2. Drawbridge Inn Outdoor Pool

3. Drawbridge Inn Standard Room

4. Phillip Jones, David Fleming, Chris Donahoe, and Mark Donahoe in their casual ConVENTion wear.

5. Mark Wade running a timely ConVENTion.

6. Chaucer's.

7. Bill DeMar and Bob Abdou at the 2005 VH ConVENTion.

Prior to the 2005 ConVENTion, Doug Price emailed me, Annie Roberts, with lots of questions which I did my best to answer to help him get ready for his trip. Following the ConVENTion, I asked him to write about his International Traveling experience to help others getting ready for the exciting and sometimes daunting journey. I appreciate his willingness to write this article at my request for the ConVENTion website.

When asked about his background, Doug writes: "I have a full time job and am 56 years of age, so all my talents are used in my spare time or at weekends. I have always said that if I ever lost my job, or the day I retired, I would then go into my current hobby full time. I am a glove puppeteer first and foremost, and I do a bit of Vent, Balloons, and Magic, that I can use during my act, hence the great interest in attending the Vent Haven ConVENTion. This really was a great inspiration to me, an injection to do better than what I had done to date. I started as a Puppeteer as the age of ten years. As the years have gone by, I added Balloons, then Magic, then Punch and Judy, and lastly Vent. The problem in South Africa is that funding is very hard to get and not really available, so hence the full-time job keeps the wolf from the door. The other problem is that we are in a backwater where the arts information is concerned, and do not have the driving force that is available in Britain and America."

"The other thing that I meant to say as well was that even if people have Vent as a hobby or have never done Vent and want to learn, they should not stay away from Vent Haven. Use this method of instruction and be amongst other people who are as mad as they are!"

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October 2006

Judy Buch &

Liz Von Seggen's

Preparing and Rehearsing Your Act

Written by Annie Roberts

"Today's preparation determines tomorrow's achievement!" This couldn't be more true when it comes to getting ready for a live performance. As you rehearse, do you hope for the best or just prepare for the worst? Actually the work you do behind the scenes before you ever bring your vent partner to the platform does make a big difference in your confidence and the success of your presentation.

First, you've got to have a game plan for your act. This is also known as a script. Developing a good script will probably be the hardest part of the whole job. Good material is hard to come by. Practicing lip technique and manipulation is much easier and more fun, but these elements will matter little if the material is not good. For help with developing your script, consult Killer Standup by Steve Roye or Comedy Writing Step by Step by Gene Perret. Start by writing out the script completely, choosing your words and flow carefully. When you get it tight on paper, now you've got to commit it to memory. The technique you choose to help remember your routine may also help how you craft it.

Here are some memorization techniques:

Repeat the first few lines over and over, and continue to repeat adding one or two lines at a time.
Record the routine and listen to it as many times as it takes until it is memorized. If you are a visual learner, read the script while you listen to it. Then read the script out loud while you listen to it. Eventually, try to not look at the typed copy and repeat it along with the tape.
Divide the script into smaller sections, and master one section at a time. Having your act grouped in chunks can be nice if you need to switch things up at the last minute or something unexpected happens. You can quickly switch to a new section.
Create two-color cards for use in memorization and later review. After you have created a routine, write the script with two different colors of ink, one for your vent pal and the other for your part. If you write them on 3x5 or 4x6 index cards, they are easy to tuck into a pocket or purse. You can pull them out and review the routine whenever you have a few minutes, especially on the way to the performance. Full sheets are too obvious and harder to carry. If you do many different routines, it helps to refresh