Today we have a guest blog sent in by Mr. Puppet himself, Bob Abdou.
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I just drove back from a show where the audience has seen me perform at least 6 times this year. I created a new summer show that features some new characters and wanted to try out this new show for this audience. Half way through my show, some of the children were yelling out “Where is Cousin Joey?”, we want “Cousin Joey” ( Cousin Joey is one of my main characters and has a very polished fine tuned routine) I did not use Cousin Joey in this new show because I wanted to offer my summer audiences different characters that could be just as fun – I was wrong. After the show too many families said they missed seeing Cousin Joey.
When I first started performing full time I had an “agent” and he gave me some advise that still holds true today. He knew I had a ton of puppets and everytime I had a photograph with my puppets, it would be me and 9 puppets in the shot. He said pick one puppet and let your audience know your character. That will also help you relate to your audience. He also said using one puppet will help the audience love my show. He was right, Cousin Joey was my ticket to success.
I heard that Evan Longoria is now the “face” of the Tampa Bay Rays”. When I heard this comment it made me realize what my agent was talking about. Having a recognizable “face” will let all know what they will expect to see, as it goes for Evan Longoria, so goes for Cousin Joey.
In conclusion, Cousin Joey is now going to be a part of my summer shows to go along with other new characters. This will continue my success with Cousin Joey by making his presence known. The audience will continue to laugh along with a strong character where the new ones will be a work in progress.
Having a “face” will help my business continue to grow and succeed. Who is your “face”??
Bob Abdou
Mr. Puppet
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Bob, thanks for sharing this information with us.
Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com
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Dan Willinger is a ventriloquism enthusiast and ventriloquist figure collector. He has been collecting for over 25 years. He created the Ventriloquist Central Collection. It now has over 100 ventriloquist figures and over 50 of them are Frank Marshall figures. Because of his love for the art of ventriloquism, Mr. Willinger created the website Ventriloquist Central. For more information about the website, go to: http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com
Copyright 2010 by Dan Willinger
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Bob,
I agree with what your agent told you. What’s a Bergen show without Charlie and Mortimer? Or a Shari Lewis show without Lamb Chop?
I guess part of our job as ventriloquists is to develop and introduce interesting characters which our audience would love and remember. And once we achieve that, we need to continue giving our audience what they want to see from us.
(A Michael Jackson concert is not complete without his “Billie Jean” number and his moonwalk.)
I guess my “face” right now are my characters Mr. Parley and my boy figure Nonoy. And I continue to develop a couple more.
Nice article, Bob!
Ony Carcamo, PHILIPPINES
for all you readers that are wondering…..the answer is YES!!
that is a toupee on my head, wore one for 8 years until I moved to texas
This is a very good piece, let alone the hair piece.