Ventriloquism, like Magic, is about deception because of the great illusion that is presented by the ventriloquist. When the illusion is perfect the figure is alive and that is without question as good an illusion as any women that has been cut in half. This brings me to talk about the use of magic tricks in ventriloquism. Many performers incorporate magic. Bill Boley was one and today Steve Taylor uses magic throughout his show as well as many others.
Ray Goulet, the owner of the Magic Art Studio in Watertown MA (http://www.magicartstudio.com/), and also the owner of the Mini Museum of Magic, actually it is one of the world’s largest collections of antique magic, produced a number of magical items over the years and among them were a few ventriloquial items. He produced a talking cane, a Toby Jug and also a Mandarin Head in a box. All were made in limited edition numbers of only 12.
The Mandarin head is great for a ventriloquist because not only is it a head in a box but you can actually perform a real card trick with him. Just picture this: You have a spectator select a card and remember it, Then you take the deck and put the selected card back in the deck and place the deck inside the box with the head. Close the door and ask the Mandarin if he has found the card. After a bit of ventriloquism banter you open the door and the selected card is in the mandarins mouth. The card is removed and shown to everyone to be the selected card. This is great visual magic and you incorporate the ventriloquism as well. Two illusions packed together.
We are fortunate to have one of these rare items for sale on the Marketplace. Take a look!!
Click here to see the Mandarin Head
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. His collection of ventriloquist figures now numbers over 100 figures of which there are over 50 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 2008 by Dan Willinger
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