5/24/10

Ray Alan


Ventriloquist Ray Alan, known for his upper class puppt Lord Charles, has died at age 79, his agent has announced.

7 comments:

  1. Anonymous5/24/2010

    "Every man's death diminishes me, for I am a part of mankind. Never send therefore to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee."
    -John Donne, c 1600 AD.

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  2. Anonymous5/24/2010

    The loss of a great Talent! Remarkable!

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  3. Wow, I don't think I'd ever seen him before. (I recommend everyone go look up Ray Alan on youtube.) I've never been very hung up about absolute lip control--the character and the material are the thing--but his control WAS impeccable AND the act was so good. How did he make it look so easy?

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  4. Oh, and here's a trivia question--I wonder who was the first known vent figure to sport a monocle? There have been more than a few.

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  5. Fred Russell in 1922 introduced “Breach of Promise,” a ventriloquial farce involving a damage suit for 5,000 pounds for failure of the Defendant to marry the Plaintiff, and one of the many characters had a monacle. The court scene represented a fairly accurate English Court. The actors in the cast were: Judge in wig and robe; the Jury of 12 men; the Defendant, a “Dude” in the dock; defense counsel; FRED RUSSELL, counsel for the Plaintiff; Plaintiff, Mrs. Russell; policeman acting as usher; two witnesses; and “COSTER JOE” as page boy. The problem is however that Charlie McCarthy came into being that same year, 1922 in the Theodore Mack Shop.

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  6. If anyone would know the answer to that question it would be Lee Dean! Getting back on topic, Ray Alan was an incredible ventriloquist, lip control was outstanding and he had a great wit.

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  7. Glenn Pearce5/26/2010

    Ray Alan's masterful lip control was really something to behold. His clever material, keen sense of comedic timing and friendly demeanour were other admirable qualities. The world has lost another wonderful vent performer.

    Glenn Pearce

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