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Ventriloquists' Dummies

I saw it last night - to be honest I didn't know what to make of it. Having seen her a few times on various things I do get the impression that Nina, whilst clearly a good ventriloquist, doesn't really know how to channel it into being very entertaining. Her act seems a bit disjointed, half-hearted almost - and in the film she seemed to be doing it almost in tribute to Ken rather than because she really wanted to do it for herself.

Besides, I've said it before: Ken's not dead. He's now Business Secretary. Looks like him, sounds like him, and he didn't try hard to disguise the name - I mean, "Vince Cable" indeed...
 
I can see what you mean, but I do think she's talented, and she makes me laugh a little more than some comedians these days. Anyway, we'll have the chance to see her in action on Sunday night at nine, BBC Four, where she has an hour tackling New Age treatments, with Monkey presumably taking the whole process to pieces with pointedly sarky comments.
 
Anyone see Nina back on TV tonight? First half was really funny as she tried all these therapies and Monkey commented, but once she got to the retreat the manipulative so and sos there nicked him! So she had to go through all the primal screaming alone!

She thought it did her some good, but it looked a bit too close to victimisation to me. Worth it to hear her husband's comment at the end.
 
gncxx said:
Anyone see the Nina Conti documentary last Sunday on BBC Four? I've just caught up with it, it's on iPlayer if you're interested./quote]

I watched it over the weekend & felt sorry for her hasband, as she clearly has a lot of feelings for Ken, still. Also, I found the part when she was "talking to" the classic looking dummy in her hotel room, rather disturbing. She does seem like she could use some help. I wonder if many vents use their dummy's to exocise their demon's?
I don't like vent acts as I find them really creepy, however, she clearly has a talent for it & I'm sure she'll keep popping up on t.v.
 
Anyone know of anywhere that has this documentary online that is not iPlayer. iPlayer bad for overseas viewers :(
 
An episode of Buffy nicely inverted this trope
 
Was watching the 90s Batman Animated Series recently and got to the episode which introduced The Ventriloquist as a villain. The look on Batman's face when he realises this criminal mastermind is a gangster dummy called Scarface was priceless, and the whole episode is hugely enjoyable for its sheer nuttiness.

Also, the makers of the cartoon liked Scarface because while they weren't allowed to kill off any of the human characters, they could marmalise the dummy as much as they liked, and they did. Adds a layer of dark humour.

Here's his Wiki page (great character!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventriloquist_(comics)
 
PUPPET GAGGED

SOUTH AFRICA:

A South African ventriloquist said he will challenge a gag order against his puppet. The ventriloquist, Conrad Koch, said he strongly denies allegations that tweets criticising the singer Steve Hofmeyr amounted to hate speech.

The singer said the tweets, which came from the Twitter account of the puppet, accused him of racism. He said he had obtained a court order barring the ventriloquist and his puppet, Chester Missing, from making any statements about him in public or on social media.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/world/quir ... 97253.html
 
ramonmercado said:
PUPPET GAGGED

SOUTH AFRICA:

A South African ventriloquist said he will challenge a gag order against his puppet. The ventriloquist, Conrad Koch, said he strongly denies allegations that tweets criticising the singer Steve Hofmeyr amounted to hate speech.

The singer said the tweets, which came from the Twitter account of the puppet, accused him of racism. He said he had obtained a court order barring the ventriloquist and his puppet, Chester Missing, from making any statements about him in public or on social media.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/world/quir ... 97253.html

I read that as the Ventriloquist was gagging his own dummy which would have been quite strange. Had to re-read it again.
 
Just makes me think of Franklin from Arrested Development.
 
Creepy Vintage Pictures of Ventriloquist Dummies

puppet4.jpg


http://www.eatliver.com/ventriloquist-dummies/
 
The Demonic Origins of Ventriloquism
It may not surprise you to know that the popular entertainment has some very dark roots.
by Andy Wright
March 28, 2016

Ventriloquism—altering your voice to make it sounds like it’s coming from somewhere else—is familiar to most as entertainment. Performers beguile audiences by making their voices seem like they belong to a dummy (or some other figure like Lamb Chop), chatting with their playful, inanimate partner. It was a smash on the vaudeville stage and stayed popular through the 60s. The heyday has passed, but there are still bold name acts like comedian Jeff Dunham, who tours the world and makes frequent television appearances, such as one on 30 Rock in which his character’s dummy calls Liz Lemon a “ferret-faced skank”.

http://www.atlasobscura.com/article...utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=atlas-page
 
Nina Conti is disturbingly good.... watch her 'Lydia' session.
In particular, take note of the part where she projects her own voice (her own neutral register) from Lydia, then Nina speaks with Lydia's Bronx Yiddish mum voice....my brain fell out at that point.

Nina Conti is supranaturally good as a ventrilloquist....this act is a brilliant parallel to the spooky prosthetic masks she fits to unsure stage victims.

Note that when she's working 'Lydia', she manages to convey all sorts of non-verbal stereotypicalosity into the different national accents...and to ace an accent with a single word.

Her edgy scatalogical style is a bit permanently NSFW / (NSFHome)....and her CBC session (search for Monk with Nina Conti) where she allows the Monkey to 'go nude', then be possessed by the animal....is scary stuff.

I would say this is actually beyond some form of channelled stage schizophrenia

Watch (re-watch?) & wonder....
 
How so? Is she insane?
 
I find your (Coal's; Ermintruder's) seemingly incredulous comments surprising ...

Nina is following in the new wave motif of self-consciously self-referential allusions to the act (as in 'the show') and the context of presentation - a motif some younger performers have employed since the 1970's (in my experience).

Her on-stage deconstruction and remixing of the traditional ventriloquist act is similar to (e.g.) Penn & Teller's self-conscious reworking of traditional magic acts.

In both these (plus other) cases the performer is playing games with the suspension of disbelief that was so important to traditional forms of these acts.

Catty comments and non-standard maneuvers tacitly concede the fact today's audiences know full well (e.g.) a ventriloquist is essentially performing a one-person monologue using multiple voices and a stage magician is presenting an apparent illusion caused by trickery and technique / technology.

Once you admit your (adult) audience is 'in on the presentation being a face-value illusion' it opens up a new dimension for distraction and comedy.
 
I find your (Coal's; Ermintruder's) seemingly incredulous comments surprising ...

I agree with the below. The act is mean to unsettle as a mean of building tension, and to some extent subverting a genre in an arch and entertaining manner. I don't read anything into that, other than Nina Conti is a master trickster and vent. and understands her subject and her audience. She's especially good at being surprised by the puppets' utterances.

Nina is following in the new wave motif of self-consciously self-referential allusions to the act (as in 'the show') and the context of presentation - a motif some younger performers have employed since the 1970's (in my experience).

Her on-stage deconstruction and remixing of the traditional ventriloquist act is similar to (e.g.) Penn & Teller's self-conscious reworking of traditional magic acts.

In both these (plus other) cases the performer is playing games with the suspension of disbelief that was so important to traditional forms of these acts.

Catty comments and non-standard maneuvers tacitly concede the fact today's audiences know full well (e.g.) a ventriloquist is essentially performing a one-person monologue using multiple voices and a stage magician is presenting an apparent illusion caused by trickery and technique / technology.

Once you admit your (adult) audience is 'in on the presentation being a face-value illusion' it opens up a new dimension for distraction and comedy.

However, the documentary ["Nina Conti - A Ventriloquist's Story: Her Master's Voice"] to which I referred is another kettle of fish altogether. If I was to be an arch cynic, that too may be contrived and a performance. If it is, it's very dark indeed. If it's not part of the act, the program is a little disturbing.
 
However, the documentary ["Nina Conti - A Ventriloquist's Story: Her Master's Voice"] to which I referred is another kettle of fish altogether. If I was to be an arch cynic, that too may be contrived and a performance. If it is, it's very dark indeed. If it's not part of the act, the program is a little disturbing.

Was that the BBC doc where she discussed being Ken Campbell's partner and went on an American course to "find herself" and become a changed woman, then when she returned her husband said she was exactly the same? If so, it's a great doc. She did nick the "speaking for the audience member on stage" act from Wayne Dobson, though.
 
I was amused to see in Toy Story 4 the sinister henchmen to the baddie were ventriloquist dummies, mostly silent unlike the other toys, but emitting the occasional grunt. Inspired, especially in their movement!
 
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