VENTRILOQUISM.
All who have heard Prof. Kennedy or Val Vose with their funny little
figures have wondered how they managed to produce such an effect upon
their audience--to completely delude them into the belief that the
speech came from the moving lips of the little wooden heads and not
from the closed and motionless labials of the ventriloquists. Both
gentlemen are thoroughly familiar with their art, and the entertainment
they give may be taken as a sample of the possibilities of
ventriloquism. The history of the art goes back to Biblical times, but
not until the eighteenth century have we anecdotes of the remarkable
performances of men endowed with the gift. The earliest notice of
the illusion, as carried out in modern times, has reference to Louis
Brabant _valet de chambre_ to Francis I. Having been rejected by the
parents of a rich heiress he wished to wed, he waited until the father
was dead; then he visited the widow, whom he caused to hear the voice
of her husband coming from above commanding her to give their daughter
in marriage to Louis, that he (the father) might be relieved from
purgatory. The widow was only too glad to comply. Now, Louis wanted a
wedding portion, so he went to one Cornu, a rich, miserly, and usurious
banker at Lyons, whom he terrified into giving him ten thousand crowns
by the old trick of parent and purgatory.
The works of M. L'Abbe La Chapelle, issued 1772, contain descriptions
of the ventriloquial achievements of Baron Mengen at Vienna; and those
of M. St. Gille, near Paris, are equally interesting and astonishing.
The former ingeniously constructed a doll with movable lips, which
he could readily control by a movement of the fingers under the
dress; and with this automaton he was accustomed to hold humorous and
satirical dialogues. He ascribed proficiency in his art to the frequent
gratification of a propensity for counterfeiting the cries of the lower
animals, and the voices of persons with whom he was in contact.
La Chapelle, having heard many surprising circumstances related
concerning one M. St. Gille, a grocer at St. Germainen-Laye, near
Paris, whose powers as a ventriloquist had given occasion to many
singular and diverting scenes, formed the resolution of seeing him.
Being seated with him on the opposite side of a fire, in a parlor on
the ground floor, and very attentively observing him, the Abbe, after
half an hour's conversation with M. St. Gille, heard himself called, on
a sudden, by his name and title, in a voice that seemed to come from
the roof of a house at a distance; and whilst he was pointing to the
house from which the voice had appeared to him to proceed, he was yet
more surprised at hearing the words, "it was not from that quarter,"
apparently in the same kind of voice as before, but which now seemed to
issue from under the earth at one of the corners of the room. In short,
this fictitious voice played, as it were, everywhere about him, and
seemed to proceed from any quarter or distance from which the operator
chose to transmit it to him. To the Abbe, though conscious that the
voice proceeded from the mouth of M. St. Gille, he appeared absolutely
mute while he was exercising his talent; nor could any change in
his countenance be discovered. But he observed that M. St. Gille
presented only the profile of his face to him while he was speaking as
a ventriloquist.
On another occasion, M. St. Gille sought for shelter from a storm in
a neighboring convent; and finding the community in mourning, and
inquiring the cause, he was told that one of their body, much esteemed
by them, had lately died. Some of their religious brethren attended
him to the church, and showing him the tomb of their deceased brother,
spoke very feelingly of the scanty honors that had been bestowed on his
memory, when suddenly a voice was heard, apparently proceeding from the
roof of the choir, lamenting the situation of the defunct in purgatory,
and reproaching the brotherhood with their want of zeal on his account.
The whole community being afterwards convened in the church, the
voice from the roof renewed its lamentations and reproaches, and the
whole convent fell on their faces, and vowed a solemn reparation.
Accordingly, they first chanted a _De profundis_ in full choir; during
the intervals of which the ghost occasionally expressed the comfort he
received from their pious exercises and ejaculations in his behalf.
The prior, when this religious service was concluded, entered into
a serious conversation with M. St. Gille, and inveighed against the
incredulity of our modern sceptics and pretended philosophers on the
article of ghosts and apparitions; and St. Gille found it difficult to
convince the fathers that the whole was a deception.
M. Alexandre, the noted ventriloquist, had an extraordinary facility
in counterfeiting the faces of other people. At Abbotsford, during a
visit there, he actually sat to a sculptor five times in the character
of a noted clergyman, with whose real features the sculptor was well
acquainted. When the sittings were closed and the bust modelled, the
mimic cast off his wig and assumed dress, and appeared with his own
natural countenance, to the terror almost of the sculptor, and to the
great amusement of Sir Walter Scott and others who had been in the
secret.
Of this most celebrated ventriloquist it is related that on one
occasion he was passing along the Strand, when a friend desired a
specimen of his abilities. At this instant a load of hay was passing
along near Temple Bar, when Alexandre called attention to the
suffocating cries of a man in the centre of the hay. A crowd gathered
round and stopped the astonished carter, and demanded why he was
carrying a fellow-creature in his hay. The complaints and cries of
the smothered man now became painful, and there was every reason to
believe that he was dying. The crowd, regardless of the stoppage to
the traffic, instantly proceeded to unload the hay into the street.
The smothered voice urged them to make haste; but the feelings of the
people may be imagined when the cart was empty and nobody was found,
while Alexandre and his friend walked off laughing at the unexpected
results of their trick.
The individual who wishes to know anything about this wonderful art
must learn to distinguish distances, and be able, by giving the proper
pitch to the voice, to make it reach exactly to the point indicated. He
must also know that the attention of the audience should be directed
either by the eyes or a gesture of the hand to the spot whence the
voice is supposed to issue. In order to cover the features of any
modern ventriloquial entertainment, I will here give the rules for the
two voices required, with an example of the dialogue in each case.
VOICE I.
The first is the voice in which Frederic Maccabe excelled. To acquire
this voice, speak one word or sentence in your own natural tones; then
open the mouth and fix the jaws fast, as though you were trying to
hinder anyone from opening them farther, or shutting them; draw the
tongue back in a ball; speak the same words, and the sound, instead
of being formed in the mouth will be formed in the pharynx. Great
attention must be paid to holding the jaws rigid. The sound will then
be found to imitate a voice heard from the other side of a door when
it is closed, or under a floor, or through a wall. To ventriloquize
with this voice, let the operator stand with his back to the audience
against a door. Give a gentle tap at the door, and call aloud in a
natural voice, inquiring, "Who is there?" This will have the effect
of drawing the attention of the audience to the person supposed to
be outside. Then fix the jaw as described, and utter in voice No. 1
(explained above) any words you please, such as, "I want to come in."
Ask questions in the natural voice and answer in the other. When you
have done this, open the door a little, and hold a conversation with
the imaginary person. As the door is now open, it is obvious that the
voice must be altered, for a voice will not sound to the ear when a
door is open the same as when closed. Therefore, the voice must be made
to appear face to face, or close to the ventriloquist. To do this the
voice must be altered from the original note or pitch, but be made in
another part of the mouth. This is done by closing the lips tight and
drawing one corner of the mouth downwards, or towards the ear. Then let
the lips open at that corner only, the other part to remain closed.
Next breathe, as it were, the words out of the orifice formed. Do not
speak distinctly, but expel the breath in short pulls at each word, and
as loud as possible. By so doing you will cause the illusion in the
mind of the listeners, that they hear the same voice which they heard
when the door was closed, but which is now heard more distinctly and
nearer, on account of the door being open. This voice must always be
used when the ventriloquist wishes it to appear that the sound comes
from some one close at hand, but through an obstacle. The description
of voice and dialogue may be varied, as in the following example:--
THE SUFFOCATED VICTIM.
A large box or close cupboard is used indiscriminately, as it may be
handy. The student will rap or kick the box apparently by accident. The
voice will then utter a hoarse and subdued groan, apparently from the
box or closet.
Student (pointing to the box with an air of astonishment): What is that?
Voice: I won't do so any more. I am nearly dead.
Student: Who are you? How came you there?
Voice: I only wanted to see what was going on. Let me out, do.
Student: But I don't know who you are.
Voice: Oh yes, you do.
Student: Who are you?
Voice: Your old schoolfellow, Tom ----. You know me.
Student: Why, he's in Canada.
Voice (sharply): No he ain't, he's here; but be quick.
Student (opening the lid): Perhaps he's come by the underground
railroad? Hallo!
Voice (not so muffled, as described in directions): Now then, give us a
hand.
Student (closing the lid or door sharply): No, I won't.
Voice (as before): Have pity (Tom, or Jack, or Mr. ----. as the case
may be), or I shall be choked.
Student: I don't believe you are what you say.
Voice: Why don't you let me out and see before I am dead?
Student (opening and shutting the lid and varying the voice
accordingly): Dead! not you. When did you leave Canada?
Voice: Last week. Oh! I am choking.
Student: Shall I let him out? (opening the door.) There's no one here.
VOICE II.
The second voice is the more easy to be acquired. It is the voice by
which all ventriloquists make a supposed person speak from a long
distance, or from, or through the ceiling. In the first place, with
your back to the audience, direct their attention to the ceiling by
pointing to it or by looking intently at it. Call loudly, and ask some
question, as though you believed some person to be concealed there.
Make your own voice very distinct, and as near the lips as possible,
inasmuch as that will help the illusion. Then in exactly the same tone
and pitch answer; but, in order that the same voice may seem to proceed
from the point indicated, the words must be formed at the back part of
the roof of the mouth. To do this the lower jaw must be drawn back and
held there, the mouth open, which will cause the palate to be elevated
and drawn nearer to the pharynx, and the sound will be reflected in
that cavity, and appear to come from the roof. Too much attention
cannot be paid to the manner in which the breath is used in this voice.
When speaking to the supposed person, expel the words with a deep,
quick breath.
When answering in the imitative manner, the breath must be held
back and expelled very slowly, and the voice will come in a subdued
and muffled manner, little above a whisper, but so as to be well
distinguished. To cause the supposed voice to come nearer by degrees,
call loudly, and say, "I want you down here," or words to that effect.
At the same time make a motion downwards with your hand. Hold some
conversation with the voice and cause it to say, "I am coming," or
"Here I am," each time indicating the descent with the hand. When the
voice is supposed to approach nearer, the sound must alter, to denote
the progress of the movement. Therefore let the voice at every supposed
step, roll, as it were, by degrees, from the pharynx more into the
cavity of the mouth, and at each supposed step, contracting the opening
of the mouth, until the lips are drawn up as if you were whistling.
By so doing the cavity of the mouth will be very much enlarged. This
will cause the voice to be obscured, and so appear to come nearer by
degrees. At the same time, care must be taken not to articulate the
consonant sounds plainly, as that would cause the disarrangement of
the lips and cavity of the mouth; and in all imitative voices the
consonants must scarcely be articulated at all, especially if the
ventriloquist faces the audience. For example: suppose the imitative
voice is made to say, "Mind what you are doing, you bad boy," it must
be spoken, as if it were written, "'ind 'ot you're doing, you 'ad
whoy." This kind of articulation may be practised by forming the words
in the pharynx, and then sending them out of the mouth by sudden
expulsions of the breath clean from the lungs at every word. This is
most useful in ventriloquism, and to illustrate it we will take the man
on the roof as an illustration. This is an example almost invariably
successful, and is constantly used by skilled professors of the art.
As we have before repeatedly intimated, the eyes and attention of the
audience must be directed to the supposed spot from whence the illusive
voice is supposed to proceed:--
Student: Are you up there, Jem?
Voice: Hallo! who's that?
Student: It's I! Are you nearly finished?
Voice: Only three more slates to put on, master.
Student: I want you here, Jem.
Voice: I am coming directly.
Student: Which way, Jem?
Voice: Over the roof and down the trap. (Voice is supposed to be
moving, as the student turns and points with his finger.)
Student: Which way?
Voice (nearer): Through the trap and down the stairs.
Student: How long shall you be?
Voice: Only a few minutes. I am coming as fast as I can.
The voice now approaches the door, and is taken up by the same tone,
but produced as in the first voice.
* * * * *
I have room to add only a few polyphonic imitations. To imitate the
tormenting bee, the student must use considerable pressure on his
chest, as if he was about to groan suddenly, but instead of which, the
sound must be confined and prolonged in the throat: the greater the
pressure, the higher will be the faint note produced, and which will
perfectly resemble the buzzing of the bee or wasp. Now, to imitate the
buzzing of a bluebottle fly, it will be necessary for the sound to be
made with the lips instead of the throat; this is done by closing the
lips very tight, except at one corner, where a small aperture is left;
fill that cheek full of wind, but not the other, then slowly blow or
force the wind contained in the cheek out of the aperture: if this is
done properly, it will cause a sound exactly like the buzzing of a
bluebottle fly.
The noise caused by planing and sawing wood can also be imitated
without much difficulty, and it causes a great deal of amusement.
The student must, however, bear in mind that every action must be
_imitated_ as well as the noise, for the eye assists to delude the
ear. We have even seen ventriloquists carry this eye deception so far
as to have a few shavings to scatter as they proceed, and a piece
of wood to fall when the sawing is ended. To imitate planing, the
student must stand at a table a little distance from the audience, and
appear to take hold of a plane and push it forward: the sound as of
a plane is made as though you were dwelling on the last part of the
word hu_sh_--dwell upon the _sh_ a little, as _tsh_, and then clip
it short by causing the tongue to close with the palate, then over
again. Letters will not convey the peculiar sound of sawing--it must be
studied from nature.