Reunited!

Mr Devane stopped by to pick up Milko this Friday. He was all ready to go and missed home.

I repaired all that needed repair and added a tongue (there had been something there but it was gone. I assumed it was a tongue..... What else would it be?

I seperated theopenings in the ears and usd a fabric adhesive. (BEACON, it's the best there is in my book.) I repaired the neck separation and the mouth fabric which had come unattached to his jaw. I used liquid leather and matched up the color for his toes and finger tips to conceal the green wires that were exposed due to wear.

Irepaired his little smock which had it's ties broken and added new straps and gave him a good dry cleaning. I touched up his nose and glossed his eyes. He is ready to perform.

Mr Devane was pleased with the results and plans on putting Milko in a glass display.

I enjoyed working on him and learned alot about the animated puppets of the 50's through researching him and working on him. I also made a new aquaintance. Mr. DeVane is a professional speaker and voice over artist. One of the bennefits of repairing figures and puppets as well as making them are meeting the interesting people who own them. Good luck Mr. Devane! Take care Milko!

Working on Milko

I have been really busy at the paper. The advertisements are heavy for the next few months as the holidays approach. I squeeze every waking minute I have in to working in my shop.

My wife and I have added ther YMCA to our routine now. Can't make puppets if I'm not healthy I guess...........) :

I spent most of Friday working on Milko. There were alot of little repairs that needed to be done. The neck was coming away from the head, the ears (both of them) were split and separating from the head. The legs which are stitched in were loose, the living mouth material had detached from the bottom lip, the eyes were dull and the nose needed to be touched up.

Milko also needed a bath. I dry cleaned him.

There was also a lack of a control to move his mouth. The inside of the head has no access so he couldn't be taken apart. These puppets were primarily made of cloth and leather and everything is stitched together. There is an existing lever to move the mouth up and down but it is very difficult to utilize. I added a finger control sleeve made of paperclay (that's what milko's hard features were made of) to the ridge of the inside of the lip. Now he can be manipulated with ease. I thought about a spring attachment but the tension would pull against the cloth and eventually just pull out. This is a much more permanent solution.

As I said. I wanted Milko to remain unchanged. With the exception of the control sleeve (which is not visible) He looks exactly the same as when he arrived, with the exception of his repairs and sprucing up. Thank you for this opportunity Mr. Devane, I got a chance to glimpse into the past and learned a lot about the larger hand puppet controls of this early era.

A surprise from down under!

I had a visit to my shop on Friday morning. He brought along a Koala Bear with him.

Mr Devane and I have been in contact for several months and just weren't able to find a good time for both of us. I finally got the chance.

He has asked me to restore this puppet. His name is Milko and was on the Rootie Kazootie show. He was made by one of the greatest puppet makers of all time, Paul Ashley.

We decided to keep him just the way he is and touch up some places that need touched up and reattach his neck and ears. Fix his fingertips and give him a good cleaning. Paul Ashleys puppets are all of museum quality and are kept under lock and key by collectors. Chuck McCann and Paul Ashley teamed up together for the Chuck McCann show in the 60's. Wow, what memories..... Here are some pictures of him. He is operated like a hand puppet with your fingers controlling the arms, but he has controls on the inside of his head for his mouth and his eyes. They blink! I am looking forward to this project and will keep his before and afters along with the pictures of others I have restored in a place of honor. a tribute to Paul Ashley can be found on Bob Albano's website www.mercurye.com/ventriloquism under makers of hard figures.

There are two heads in this other picture who have been very patient with me. I have kept putting them down due to orders or family emergencies and I have promised them I will finish them before the end of this month. The shop is moving along well again. My wife gave me a "personal day" to get cleaned up and organized so i can start preparing for the Holiday seasons. Here are some of the figures you will be seeing on ebay. If any interest you, or you have any questions about figure making or ventriloquism as always, email me at gepettosworkshop@yahoo.com t My entire reason for this blog is to help beginners and novice ventriloquists with their conundrums.

Back to the shop

I have spent the last few weeks with family. I haven't had much time to be in my shop. For all those who have orderes pending, I completed them this weekend and they are ready to go.

I apologize for the wait. Family comes first.

I have been working on several stage figures for different people. Two are finished and the third and fourth are still in the works. When they are completed, I will havve pictures for you.

I will be contacting all those people who have asked questions and are looking for work to be done this week. I haven't had any time to get back to everyone because i was finishing up some birthday gifts. (no one should be late on a birthday gift!)

Fall season is coming and I have done a few harvest shows and I am looking forward to my favorite time of year HALLOWEEN!

Here is a figure I made for a fellow New York native with a holloween theme.

A very draining week.

I have been spending most of my time with my father. He lost his soul mate and he is lost now himself. They say grieving is something that takes time. I want to make sure he knows someone cares about him so this month, I won't be working in my shop. I have several projects I will finish up. One is a stage figure for Trenon, another is a stage head for Actor/magician/ventriloquist Dean Atkinson of Australia and a figure I am working on for Dan Willinger, the creator of http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com/

I have alot of conversion figures that are ready so i will be selling them on ebay, but most of my time will be spent with my family. It is sobering moments, like the loss of a loved one, that makes you realize how precious little time we have on this earth. Thank you all who have contacted me with your prayers. They mean alot to us. My father, my wife and myself all thank you. It is wonderful to know that we have been blessed with good friends. Attached are some pictures of the stage figure heads I am working on. The one with the big ears is for Dean, the one in the middle is for Dan, the one on the end is the resukts of my first casting. As i said in earlier blogs, I prefer to do each one by hand and not continually make the same figure. Thanks again. Please keep in touch. You can email me at gepettosworkshop@yahoo.com

Grieving

My apologies for not adding to my blog these past two weeks. My stepmother passed last Saturday and I have been spending all my time with my father who is grieving and having a hard time of it. I ask that all of you who believe in God, in whatever name or form, say a prayer for him and his wife when you have time. To help her cross over and to help my father recover from his loss. Thank you sincerely.

TOO BUSY!!!!!!

I took a few days off from the newspaper to catch up in my shop. (work for work!)

I got alot done but not as much as I wanted to. I think I saw daylight about 6 hours in the last 5 days!

I am finishing up some more orders and in between, I am making several stage figures. I have never made a casting. I always take a wooden hat rack head, cover it with tinfoil or saran wrap and make the initial head shape. After it dries, I start sculpting the face onto it.

I then cut the mouth, eyes and back of the head out so I can start assembling the inards.

It is a slow process. One of the reasons I don't make alot of them. I have started to sculpt out three faces which I can alter (my specialty) so I can cast them and make building them alot faster. Hey, everyone does it now. So much for uniqueness. Thats why i want to make them stck faces so I can do my magic and make them all unique.

Heres a couple of pictures of the slow process, and Mrs. Gepetto sculpting out a pixie.

Great Turnout!

I want to thank everyone who sent in their fears of performing in front of an audience. I have posted several of them for everyone to enjoy. We can all relate to these can't we!

Trenon's reply. "Once I was afraid when I did a church vent service of 200 or more people, but once I landed my first line, It was great!!!!!!

Rebecca's reply. " My first audience was a group of students. I was doing an anti-drug routine in front of some "tweens" which is usually a very volatile age. They got right into it and made me feel comfortable and it turned out great!"

Lisa's reply. " I was doing my first birthday party and my figure was a clown. I had him laughing so hard that I pushed a little too far on the head post and his head fell out!

I panicked! But when I looked around, everyone was laughing hysterically and I just made it look like part of the act and said "Look! He laughed himself to pieces!" At the end of the show, the parents were all telling me what a great act it was, especially when the head fell off!" (:

Larry's reply. "I was really nervous in front of my class. It was the first time I did it in front of a group. After they heard the first couple of jokes and they all laughed, I felt better and got a big round of applause when I finished."

Mark's reply. " Hi Steve, you know as well as I do that the feeling never really leaves you. The butterflies are always there when you get there and work themselves out after you get them warmed up. My biggest fear has always been, and always will be not being able to warm them up!"

So there you have it Charlie, No one can really say that they have never been afraid. Some ventriloquists who have been performing for years still get scared. I have a secret for you that might help. The next time you go out to perform in front of people and you feel scared, look for the biggest smile in the audience and concentrate on that one person while your doing your act. It makes the group feel smaller. and the biggest smiler is always the biggest laugher too! There's nothing like a good belly laugh at your jokes to give you the confidence you need to help you get through your act successfully!

Ever been afraid?

Good Morning all.

I received several e-mails from Charlie who owns P.J., a figure that we made here at Gepetto's Workshop. His father, a very nice man, ordered P.J. for Charlies birthday.

Charlie asks if I have ever been a ventriloquist and if I was afraid the first time.

I emailed him back but thought it would be a good topic to discuss.

I have been doing vent acts for many years and it never changes. I always have butterflies before I start. Once I start and get my first smiles and laughs, it goes away.

There was a time that I dreaded different groups to perform in front of. I finally picked a certain group that I felt most comfortably working with. The audience I prefer is children. I have never been comfortable doing adult comedy although I have done it. Children receive ventriloquism in wonder and become mesmerized while they watch. That's what brings me joy, therefore, they are the group I prefer. Their laughter is addicting and their energy levels are great for ad libbing.

Don't ever be afraid to entertain Charlie. It is the greatest feeling in the world when you bring laughter and smiles to others. You'll get over the butterflies and want to do it all the time.

Anyone else have a story they would like to share about entertaining in front of their first audience? If so, email me at www.gepettosworkshop@yahoo.com I will share them with my readers. Thanks!

Bruce arrives safely in U.K.

Today I received a letter from a happy father and his son. It is letters like this that I treasure the most. In his letter, Andy, (Olivers father) tells me that Bruce arrived safely and that Oliver takes him with him everywhere! He learned the practice dialogue I put in the instruction booklet immediately and has since taken Bruce to school with him where he did his first public vent act! Your on your way to being a professional ventriloquist Oliver!. Thank you both so much for the letter. It put a big smile on my face!

Oliver asked me what the hardest part of making a ventriloquist dummy is. I told him the hardest part is sending him off to someone wondering if he will get a good home and be taken well care of. In Olivers case, I know Bruce was one lucky dummy!