Ventriloquist Central Blog

Ventriloquist Pete Michaels and Woody D Uptown

Posted on August 18, 2009 by Webmaster

Our good friend ventriloquist Pete Michaels sent us this video link that was from the FOX TV Show “Uptown Comedy Club.”

I have to tell you Pete is a great manipulator of his ventriloquist figure Woody D. We always talk about all the functions in a figure but just watch Pete work with his figure Woody which has moving mouth and side to side eyes only. He really comes to life under the control of Pete proving that all the different functions in the world really make no difference. If you know how to manipulate less is more.

Here’s Pete’s email:

Hi Dan;

Here’s a video of Woody D. in all his glory!
This was from the FOX TV Show “Uptown Comedy Club.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2qdD433qKE

Here is a perfect example of Manipulation at its finest. Woody only has a moving mouth and moving eyes, but the manipulation is the key.
I actually had some audience members swear they saw Woody breathing, LOL!

Notice in the video, Woody does nearly ALL the talking and moving. Manipulation lessons I learned from my friends Johnny Main, Alan Semok, and many others.
Even the camera guys focused on Woody and followed his movements and “expressions.” And the Lip Control ani’t bad either!

Please share this with your members!

Cheers!

Pete Michaels
www.petemichaels.com

If you have never seen Pete Michaels perform then you are in for a treat he is really terrific.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2qdD433qKE

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

NOTE: You may use this blog article provided you run it with the bio box intact. Please email a copy of your publication with the blog article in it to: webmaster@ventriloquistcentral.com

Posted in Ventriloquism/Ventriloquist, Ventriloquist Central | 1 Comment

Ventriloquist William "Pretty Bopp" Franklin and June Bug

Posted on August 17, 2009 by Webmaster

Back in the late 1970’s until the early 1980’s there was a ventriloquist who worked the Chicago area named William Pretty Bopp Franklin. Unfortunately most of us have never heard of him because he passed away of a heart attack on Nov 22, 1984 while performing in a west side night club in Chicago.

Franklin was from St. Louis Missouri and was born on Oct.12, 1931. He started out as a comic and was with the Larry Steele “Smart Affairs Show” and arrived in Chicago with them. Black promoter Pervis Spann discovered Bopp and put him to work in all the top black clubs in Chicago. He became the house emcee at the Club Checkmate. He alternated with Tommy Brown in this position.

Pretty Bopp also traveled and was a regular performer at the Apollo in New York. He appeared with such greats as The Jackson Five, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles. He also recorded 3 comedy albums and was working on a fourth album at the time of his passing.

Pretty Bopp decided to do ventriloquism in 1976 after seeing a black vent who called himself Alan & Wall Eyed. Bopp was self taught and purchased his first figure from Magic Inc. He called his side kick June Bug and this figure was made by Danny baker and then reworked by John Arvites. You could see Bopp and June Bugg working the streets of Chicago especially on the State Street Mall.

Unfortunately William Pretty Bopp Franklin passed away at the young age of 53 and even though he worked tirelessly with the city of Chicago in Human Resources and later with the Belmont Police in the task force to deal with fire, rape and crime victims he remains for the most part an unknown vent.

I decided to give this history of Pretty Bopp because one of his ventriloquist figures has become a part of the Ventriloquist Central Collection (more about this in a future blog).

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

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NOTE: You may use this blog article provided you run it with the bio box intact. Please email a copy of your publication with the blog article in it to: webmaster@ventriloquistcentral.com

Posted in Ventriloquism/Ventriloquist, Ventriloquist Central | 5 Comments

Ventriloquist Roger DeCourcey's Nookie Bear

Posted on August 16, 2009 by Webmaster

I decided that I had to share pictures of this cute vent bear with everyone. Roger DeCoursey, a very well know ventriloquist from England, … made a name for himself using a stuffed teddy bear named Nookie. He even had his own TV show.

Ventriloquist Roger DeCourcey

That bear became very popular and in the mid 1970’s and Roger put his bear on the market for sale. Today they are a bit hard to come by especially in the US as they were not exported as far as I know.

The bear stands 24″ tall and has moving mouth and crossing eyes which are operated by a pull string. For the mouth your hand goes inside. I just think he is the cutest and wanted all to see him.

Click here to see Nookie Bear

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

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NOTE: You may use this blog article provided you run it with the bio box intact. Please email a copy of your publication with the blog article in it to: webmaster@ventriloquistcentral.com

Posted in Dummy Collecting, Ventriloquism/Ventriloquist, Ventriloquist Central, Ventriloquist Figures | 1 Comment

Ventriloquist Figure Maker – Cecil Gough

Posted on August 15, 2009 by Webmaster

With collecting I must mention that some other builders of relatively lower priced figures are also out there. Cecil Gough produced so fine figures in both slot jaw and English mouth design.

He was even contracted by W.S. Burger to produce a copy of a McElroy figure and he did a rather fine job of it too. There is a great article about Cecil Gough in the Popular Mechanics Magazine of December 1954 called “Look Inside A Dummy’s Head”.

His figures although not plentiful today are not priced very high. You can find them from $400 to $1000 depending on the type and functions.

Cecil seemed to gravitate to the English style of controls and in his article he even shows a whole page of figure heads which are actually Len Insull heads. No where does he say this but on the opposite page are pictures of his heads. Quite different.

So if you are looking for something a bit different but don’t want to break your piggy bank, look for a Gough dummy.

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

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NOTE: You may use this blog article provided you run it with the bio box intact. Please email a copy of your publication with the blog article in it to: webmaster@ventriloquistcentral.com

Posted in Dummy Collecting, Ventriloquism/Ventriloquist, Ventriloquist Central, Ventriloquist Figure (Dummy) Makers, Ventriloquist Figure Building, Ventriloquist Figures | 9 Comments

Leather Neck or Wedge Design

Posted on August 14, 2009 by Webmaster

A good question was presented to me asking if I knew when Marshall stopped using the leather under the chin on the neck and went to his wedge design. This I think is a very good question but it may be one of those questions without a definitive answer.

Marshall used the leather under the chin on the neck exclusively through at least the late 1940’s. I have one Marshall that is dated inside the head 1948 that has the wedge design.

I don’t know any earlier figures that had the wedge design. Now Marshall did in fact use the leather on the neck up into the 1950’s because my friend Colin from Australia confirmed that Gerry Gee , Ron Blaskett’s Marshall figure, was carved in 1955 and that figure has the leather on the neck.

The figures that Marshall produced after 1950 all seem to have the wedge design but I am sure upon request the leather may have been used.

I would love to have some of you write in and give some light on this subject.

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

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NOTE: You may use this blog article provided you run it with the bio box intact. Please email a copy of your publication with the blog article in it to: webmaster@ventriloquistcentral.com

Posted in Dummy Collecting, Frank Marshall Figure (Dummy), Ventriloquism/Ventriloquist, Ventriloquist Central, Ventriloquist Figure (Dummy) Makers, Ventriloquist Figure Building, Ventriloquist Figures | 4 Comments

Ventriloquist Pete Michaels and Woody D Uptown

Ventriloquist William "Pretty Bopp" Franklin and June Bug

Ventriloquist Roger DeCourcey's Nookie Bear

Ventriloquist Figure Maker – Cecil Gough

Leather Neck or Wedge Design

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