A Review Of The "Celebration of Puppetry"

Posted on October 16, 2008 by Webmaster

Someone I know sent in a review of the “Celebration of Puppetry” put on by Steve Meltzer. This person asked to remain anonymous and though we usually don’t post anonymous reviews or comments on Ventriloquist Central, I decided to make an exception this time.

True professionals took to the stage this past Saturday at the “Celebration of Puppetry” put on by Steve Meltzer of the Santa Monica Puppetry Center, the International Puppetry Museum, the Los Angeles Guild of Puppetry, and others.

Dan Horn took the stage first and gave a top notch performance. Mallory Lewis had fun as Lambchops’ puppet! And marionette artists included Tony Urbano, Rene, and Bob Baker. Each of these performers acts were introduced by Mr. Meltzer with a video.

There was a chat session with Leslie Caron of “LiLi” fame. (this was the point to the whole evening pretty much). And a history lesson about “Walton and O’Rourke”. The creators of the puppets for the movie LiLi. This piece of history was presented by Alan Cook.

All in all it was a must see if you were even a bit curious about vent. or puppetry in general. Visit www.santamonicapuppetryfestival.com and www.puppetrymuseum.org (be sure to join and or give wherever you can to keep the art alive).

Thanks for the comments.

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

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 Puppetry | Leave a comment

First In A Series – Ventriloquist Figure Collecting

Posted on October 14, 2008 by Webmaster

I’ve written on this subject in the past, but today I’m doing a video about collecting ventriloquist figures.

[flashvideo filename=http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com/dan-collecting-01/dan-collecting-01.flv /]

 

I’ll be doing more of these videos so keep checking back.

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

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 | 3 Comments

Ventriloquists Keep The Art of Ventriloquism Alive & Well

Posted on October 11, 2008 by Webmaster

On Wednesday of this week, I was contacted by Rodney Ho, a reporter for the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Here is the email he sent me:

Hi. My name is Rodney Ho. I’m a reporter at the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Terry Fator is coming to Atlanta Saturday for a show. I wanted to get your thoughts about his work and what influence he has had on the world of ventriloquism since he won “America’s Got Talent” and nabbed that mondo deal with the Mirage.

Cheers, Rodney

 

Here was my response to him:

Rodney,

Thanks for asking. Since my world revolves around collecting ventriloquist figures I finally decided to start a web site devoted to ventriloquism because there really wasn’t anything I could find quite like this on the net. I am now approaching my 2 year anniversary and I am happy to say we are the number one site on the Internet for anything concerning ventriloquism. There are quite a few sites but none that do what this site does.

Terry Fator, well this is one Super talented fellow. Just think about this: A person decides to do impressions and if you remember Frank Gorshen or Rich Little they did impressions but had to contort their faces to accomplish this feat. Terry not only does the impression but sings and does it with ventriloquism which requires that you do not move your lips. Just think about how hard this feat actually is for the ventriloquist. Terry in my opinion is the best ventrilooquist to come along since Paul Winchell with his side kick Jerry Mahoney. His lip control was fantastic.

Ventriloquism has never died and never will. It is an art that has been around since the early Egyptians as hieroglyphics depicting ventriloquism have been found. Has the art had a boost? You better believe it. First came Jeff Dunham with his old grumpy man Walter and he has been voted comedian of the year on Comedy central now Terry Fator has taken the world by storm. I think ventriloquism is alive and well and every generation we seem to find a new ventriloquist to step up and continue taking the torch and keeping it in the forefront of the viewing public. Terry Fator has a wonderful full show and he does incorporate comedy as well as his singing and I do believe that once his show in Vegas opens it will be a sellout.

 

And, here are the two stories he wrote: Click here for 1st story

Click here for 2nd story

As we all know, ventriloquism is alive, well and growing.

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

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 | Leave a comment

These Dummies Do Talk

Posted on October 10, 2008 by Webmaster

dummydisplay

Not too long ago, Bob Abdou (Mr. Puppet) sent in information about the ventriloquism exhibit at the Puppetry Arts Institute in Independence, MO.

Here is an update and a link from the local newspaper about the exhibit.

Click here to read the story

 

Thanks, Bob for the update.

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

***************************************************

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

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 | Leave a comment

Busking, Using Ventriloquism and Kenny Croes

Posted on October 8, 2008 by Webmaster

If you have not joined the Ventriloquist Central Yahoo group you really are missing a great place to converse about ventriloquism. This past weekend, on our group, a subject came up which is called Busking (To play music or perform entertainment in a public place, usually while soliciting money).

I myself had never heard the term so I asked for clarification and low and behold Kenny Croes chimed in with a great story of his own on the subject. I was so impressed that I just had to share this with the entire Ventriloquist Central community.

Click here to read the story

The link will take you to Kenny’s blog so you can read his wonderful story about Busking and ventriloquism.

By the way, be sure to join our forum so you can get in on other great discussions.

Click here to join the Ventriloquist Central Forum

 

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

***************************************************

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

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 | Leave a comment