"All I can say is, Wow!"

"Dear Mr. Detweiler: I can't believe I found your web site. After searching for hours on the net, I was just about to give up when I stumbled upon your incredible dummies. All I can say is WOW! I first started to look for a skit for our Ladies Church Conference, which led to one requiring a ventriloquist (which I am not) which required a "dummy". After much research, I want to study the art of Ventriloquism and have a dummy of my very own to perform with at our church on future occasions. Do you think I can learn? And how long would it take? Also do you make girl dummies? I am anxious for your reply. God Bless your work and 'keep on keeping on'"! Sincerely, Donna
* * * * * *
Dear Donna: Thank you for your kind words...my first programs using ventriloquism were in my church as well. I think I gave my first program less than six weeks after I first bought the Maher Course of Ventriloquism. (Of course, I initially made certain my dummy avoided saying most words with "P's" and "B's" - Ha.) But, people were impressed, and I was hooked.I'd recommend you begin your learning using the DVD "Successful Ventriloquism" as the minimum instruction tool. Better still, the "Maher 30 Lesson Home Course of Ventriloquism" which includes the "Successful Ventriloquism" DVD. I have one female dummy ("Buffy") in my current cast of characters. See http://www.maherstudios.blogspot.com/ Scroll down until you see Buffy. I hope to add a couple other gals this Summer. Clinton Detweiler

Yumm!

I'm working on an even dozen cereal box puppets. The hardest part of the project is eating all that cereal* so I can have the empty boxes! :-)

I selected nine brands, some by request, and others of my own choosing. The boxes vary slightly in size - seven different sizes. Since I only use the box as covering into which the completed mechanized plywood unit is inserted, I have to build the puppet units in seven different sizes. To save time I cut and sand all the hundreds of parts in one session, and then assemble the units as the "puppets" are sold. Keeping all the pieces in order is a challenge in itself!

The prototype has been completed and tested. So now I'm getting down to business with this set of twelve. All will have open and close mouth and open and close eyes. Glenn, your Cocoa Puffs will be the first one I complete. I hope to have it finished over the weekend. I'll have photo(s) at that point.

*About the cereal itself. Seriously, I now have 12 full sealed bags of fresh perfectly ready-to-eat cereal without their respective boxes. If anyone has a suggestion as to who or what organization might use this as a donation, staying within food health department guidelines, please let me know. mahertalk@aol.com

Cereal Box Puppet

Well, I made good progress on the prototype today. I hope to have a working model by the end of the week. Both mouth and eyes will open and close (I hope). If all goes well, next week I plan to build several for sale. I'll try to do several progress reports here.

To those of you who have asked, I still don't know a final price. I need to build a few so I can get an idea of the time that will be required. The first prototype takes days...when I can build using "production construction" I hope I can cut the time required to build one to a few hours.

Puppet Sing-along?

While I play a little piano, I have never been able to bring music from a stringed instrument. However, thanks to a challenge from ventriloquist, Art Miller, I did spend several hours in my shop yesterday attempting to make a banjo "talk". Now, that's a challenge I can approach with some degree of confidence!

The mouth on this puppet is controlled by the thumb of the left hand, so my biggest challenge was to connect the string so it traversed the necessary route from lower "lip" to control lever and do so noiselessly. After several attempts, the task was completed successfully.

Tomorrow I hope to start work on several cereal box puppets. They, of course, come with their own unique challenges. At least I'll have plenty to snack on as I work!

Puppet Scripts

Question: Can we use your ventriloquist dialogue books such as Gramps & Granny Giggles for puppet shows? We are starting up a puppet team. If so how many puppets in some plays?
* * * * * *
Answer: Yes, most ventriloquist dialogues can be adapted for use by two puppets from a puppet stage. Gramps & Granny Giggles, however, is not a book of dialogues. Rather, it is a collection of jokes and gags written in dialogue format so performers can add one or more to their favorite dialogues. Here's just one, for example:

F: I've finally reached the METAL age.
V: How's that?
F: I've got GOLD in my teeth, SILVER in my hair, and LEAD in my pants.

The above joke was obviously written for use with a gramps or granny puppet, but if you simply change the pronoun the joke can be used by any type/age puppet when referring to someone of the senior crowd. Just as funny or even more so.

The book, Gramps & Granny Giggles - Vol. 1, is among those I have listed for eBay auctions ending this morning. I also have several Puppet Script books listed. Be sure to check out: The Puppet Show Vols.1 & 3. Click Here

If auctions have ended, go to: http://www.maherbookstore.blogspot.com/ where you will find all Maher book listings.

Details on The Puppet Show Vols. 1, 2, & 3 can be seen: Here

Script writing for ministry

It didn't take the two books, Bible Humor and More Bible Humor, long to become best sellers for Maher Studios when they were first published in 1992. Each book contains a collection of jokes (in dialogue format) based on Bible characters, incidents, and ideas suggested by the stories. Knowing ventriloquists need humor to make their routines interesting, and knowing such Bible humor was hard to find, author William Andersen set out to search possible resources and then write his own.

While he was searching, one man told Andersen the probable reason there was no such book was because we should not make jokes about the Bible. Author Andersen's response is this: "There is a difference between joking ABOUT the Bible and joking about some of the situations contained therein. I trust people will accept this effort in the spirit in which it is intended. I do not, in any way, attempt to trivialize or make fun of the Bible but I do believe we can use humor to help people get interested in the Bible. This is our purpose."

Bible Humor and More Bible Humor are among the books I have listed for eBay auction this week: Click Here.

Or, the books can be purchased outright at any time. See http://www.maherbookstore.blogspot.com/

I've often wondered how many owners of these books found the humor intended in the cover designs...when paired the two covers, with artwork by Drew Thurston, blend into a single collage representing stories from both the Old and New Testaments:

Easter Sunday 2009

As a visitor to this blog you are special to me and I want to wish you a very

Happy Easter!

Easter has always been my favorite of all holidays, and not just because of colored eggs, chicks, bunnies and (in this case) dummies. I do enjoy all such reminders of the happy events surrounding the holiday, but they are meaningless when compared to the One reason for which I truly celebrate today:

Jesus is Alive!

"Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.'"

John 11:25-26 (TNIV)

For Sale

This 8x10 glossy original photo (not a reprint) came to me from Mrs. Maher when we purchased Maher School of Ventriloquism. The photo was provided to retailers by Juro Novelty Co to secure sales for this 24" ventriloquist figure dressed in a baseball uniform. The order number for this doll was #98B and handsome little fellow sold with a suggested retail price of $7.98! Hard to believe - today the shipping only for such a doll would cost more than that! The photo was with a letter to Mrs. Maher dated March 13, 1967 so I know the picture was produced 1967 or earlier.

This rare PHOTO comes from my collection of ventriloquist memorabilia and is just one of the items I have currently listed for eBay auction. To see all my eBay auctions Click Here

Buffy

This little gal was a custom order just finished this week. She is a welcome fresh face to my mostly male dominated shop.

Hanging out...

Question: Hello Clinton, thanks for your blog. I love to read it every day. Today I saw a vent figure head upside down in the background (on the photo of the Price head). May I be a little curious and ask you who made this head? All the best, Burkhard

* * * * * *

Answer: The head you refer to is a one-of-a-kind head that was started by an individual who ran into problems trying to mechanize it. He gave up, and eventually presented the partially finished head (without ears) to Joe Gandelman as a gift, who in turn sent it to me to see if I could rebuild the mechanics so they would actually work and then complete the figure. I have rebuilt the mechanics, added ears, painted and wigged the head as a male character - but now that I can see it finished I believe the face appears more female, so I intend to change the wig and see how the character might look as a female. In the meantime it hangs around my shop patiently waiting for the makeover. Clinton

Rick Price Figure Make-Over

This figure with head of fibre glass was made by Rick Price, 1994. The figure's current owner, Cal Freeman, shipped the figure to me with specific instructions on modifications and additions desired, including the addition of raising eyebrows, new paint job, and a new wig. The intended goal was to remake the character as a surfer-dude.

Positioning the "soul patch" on the freshly repainted surfer-dude.

Before and After

Before (left)

After (below)

Go Rocky!

Our Grand-daughters, Nicole and Hannah, have been staying with us this week while their parents are on vacation in Mexico. Along with daily routines we've made it a point to find some fun special things to do as well. Last night we went to Denver's Pepsi Center where Denver's NBA Nuggets had a game with the Oklahoma City Thunder. We enjoyed the game (and the win) but another highlight was having the Nugget's mascot, Rocky, visit our section of the audience. Very fun...

Know Your Audience

By Joe Gandelman

There are different ways you can know your audience.

One of the key ways is common sense: Ask Questions. If you're doing a school assembly, make sure you ask the grade levels. Will the group be mixed at random? You would do a school show with grades 5 or 6 mixed differently than you'd do one that would be for K-3, or 4-6. Depending upon your content and style, if you have a standard prepared program for a K-8 audience, you would want to adjust your program if you were booked for an audience of 7th and 8th graders only.

When a client calls about shows for adults, ask some questions. The size. The kinds of people in the audience. Their professions. Male/Female/Mixed? I once referred an entertainer to a client who was Jewish Orthodox during the holiday of Passover. They called back later furious at the entertainer. He performed dramatic characters and one of them was eating bread on stage (a "no-no" during Passover). He also grabbed onto the hand of one woman and insisted on dancing with her (another "no-no"). I had told him about the group, but he went ahead and did his thing. They didn't want to pay him. He failed to take care to "know his audience".

If you're a vent who uses show content more "adult" than "G" or "PG", you'll be in for big trouble. A show containing "R" or "X" material is the riskiest kind of show, in both show business, and for many moral reasons. If you do a corporate show with "R" content, for example, the client will spread the word that you're too off color. I customize my adult shows and corporate shows by having the client answer a lot of questions first.

Let me tell you about my weirdest show where I knew my audience. A call came to me at 10 a.m. from a doctor requesting a surprise party at 12 noon at a hospital in Southern California. He asked for a 15 minute show because they had little time. And I had little time to prepare for the show. I quickly learned that the guest of honor was a surgeon and got a few additional tidbits about him.When I arrived, I was ushered into a small lounge. The doctors showed up in their scrubs, on a break from surgery, ready for the surprise party show. I mixed in some references to doctors and surgeons. I changed one of my characters to be aimed specifically at the guest of honor, using the tid-bit information I was given in advance. They roared throughout...and when 15 minutes had elapsed, they nodded to each other.. and all went back in the operating room. I packed my buddies and went home with that wonderful feeling of satisfaction that comes from doing a show where you’ve taken care to learn to "know your audience" in advance!

Newsy Vents 11/05

Maher Graduates

2009 JAN/FEB/MAR

HONOR ROLL
* * *
TRADITIONAL COURSE
Michael A. Stelzer (VA)
* * *
NEW MILLENNIUM BASIC MAHER COURSE:
* * *
Kevin Berry (PA)
Donald Bice (TN)
Susan Blackmon (TX)
Lou Anders (KY)
Cheryl Ann Keene (WI)
Rob Pickman (FL)
Frank Ward (WA)
Dr. Dustin Williams (LA)
* * *
NEW MILLENNIUM ADVANCED MAHER COURSE:
Lou Anders (KY)
Donald Bice (TN)
Casey E. Hall (VA)
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CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL!
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For more information, or to purchase the
Maher Home Study Course of Ventriloquism:
Click here

From Don Bice

Maher Graduate

Good Morning from Brushy, Tennessee. I want to express my appreciation to Maher Studios and the Detweilers for their assistance in completing the Maher Home Study Ventriloquism Course. Clinton also built the figure in the photo that I have named "Zeke Bonkers"(Boy Wonder).

I messed around with ventriloquism for a month or two in my classroom before discovering the existence of the Course. It's made all the difference, and with a little determination and practice really pays off. Also, the extensive library of resource materials have helped me enormously in putting together an initial ACT. Thanks Again, Don Bice.

Just completed and available now on eBay as a "Buy It Now" Item: "Scotty"

(Shown here with eyebrows in the raised position.)

Note: Now SOLD and no longer available.

For Dummies Annual Library Display Contest

From Ed Casey

I thought you'd like to check out the display I put together for the Westminster (Colorado)Library. Tobey Stabb put together a button's that the figure on top of the ladder is wearing. They are the same design as the buttons are used in the dummies books.

The 2009 For Dummies Library Display Contest is an annual contest that offers participating libraries, an opportunity to showcase their collection of For Dummies titles. The reward is increased circulation of books in this popular series and the opportunity to win For Dummies books for the library's collection, a trophy, a pizza party for library staff, and a selection of Dummies branded promotional items such as mugs, book totes, and t-shirts.

To participate, libraries build a yellow and black (the brand's signature colors) Dummies display anytime between January 17 and March 31, 2009. The Westminster display can be viewed by patrons for another couple weeks.

Maher Library "Down Under"

I had a fun project last week. A customer from Australia ordered one copy each of all the Maher Publications still in print - 147 total! Pulling that order and checking and rechecking titles was a sizable job. And shipping two heavy parcels by air post to the other side of the world was a sizable cost! You won't hear me complain about a 44 cent stamp next month! (Well, at least not for a day or two.)

(You can find a list and description of all Maher Publications here: http://www.maherbookstore.com/ )