I was contacted last week by Bob Albano, the creator of "A Tribute to Ventriloquism" He sells this as a book by the way. I was lucky enough to aquire three of them for fathers day!

He pointed out to me that there are many other sources for beginners to use that will hone your skills as a ventriloquist. Edgar Bergens Lessons in ventriloquism and Jimmy Nelsons Instant Ventriloquism, which came out on records and booklets back in the heyday of ventriloquism are available on Bobs website http://mercurye.com/ventriloquism They can be downloaded for FREE!!!!

Bob has an amazing website with lots of information pertaining to this wonderful art and is definitely worth a visit. You'll get hooked just like I did!

It's been almost two weeks since I have added to this blog. Fathers day weekend was a very busy one for me. I didn't get much of a chance to do anything but eat hot dogs and hamburgers and lay around in the pool! (:

As I said, I will be taking on three personal endeavors this summer. One is rebuilding this poor old woman vent figure I acquired from ebay. No one wanted her, and I cannot let that happen to a figure that someone put a lot of their time and effort into to create. Here is a picture of what I am starting with. Here head was made from wood putty. She has ping pong balls for eyes. Her mouth, which is the only thing on her that moves, is hooked to the back of her head with a brass hinge and kept in position by a spring with a cord attached for movement.

Her body is made of a stiff paper board which is reinforced with a wooden slat that runs down her back. There are holes on either side of the slat which allows the vent to access the string and to hold the vent figure to move her from side to side. The maker of this figure did that because her neck is connected to her head and cannot turn, so this enabled her to look at the ventriloquist and the audience by turning her entire body, using the wooden slat as a handle.

She has a hand carved wooden led. The other is missing, so I will have to make her another one in the same fashion.

I plan on separating the head from the body and putting it on a post. I will then add moving eyes and eyebrows, a new hairdo and a complete over hall of her face. I will widen the mouth to make it more visible during an act and give her a pair of arms which she was missing when she arrived. She will have a new lease on life and will hopefully go to someone who will cherish her and keep her happy so she doesn't return to the state she was in when she arrived at my shop!

Here are some pictures of her. I will show you each step as I complete her transformation.

Well, time to get back to the shop. I've got an order for France I have to finish this weekend. Have a great day!