Mark Wade is America’s #1 Kid’s Show Ventriloquist and the Executive Director of the VentHaven Ventriloquist ConVENTion. Today we start an nine part interview that will feature highlights of the 2013 conVENTion!
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Click here for part two of my interview with ventriloquist Mark Wade!
Video Transcript:
Mark Wade you are without a doubt one of
the best known ventriloquists around um
you were a Jeopardy question how did
that how did that come about well you
know what I didn’t even know I was
driving home from Michigan doing shows
up there my son’s in college Brett he
calls goes dad you’re on Jeopardy I said
no I’m driving in the car I’m not on
Jeopardy he said no you were a question
on Jeopardy and I guess what it was they
had a a category called puppet heads
people head of things and the question
came out it was a Celebrity Jeopardy
show and the question was America’s
number one children’s ventriloquist and
executive director of the enel was
convention kind of a combined question
and Chris Matthews says who is Mark Wade
he’s the guy from Hardball okay I said
gosh I said they must have given some
cheat sheat somewhere along the line to
know that kind of obscure answer but but
they they gave him sample and I was that
was a question it was Jeff was one of
the questions Edgar Bergen senior wences
myself and it was I think Paul Winchell
or Jimmy Nelson Jimmy Nelson was the
other one so I was lucky to get in that
nice mix of people you that that’s funny
and you’ve never had any dealings with
Chris Matthews no never have I don’t
even know the guy I see him on
television occasionally I tried to get
the clip and I found out they filmed so
many shows that they didn’t have the
clip any longer they get rid of them so
I had Kelly Asbury and other people out
in California looking for me but we
couldn’t get it oh that’s a shame been
nice so Mark uh when did you how did you
get involved in ventriloquism what was
your interest in it when did you get
started well I got started back in high
school days uh actually even before that
I had the Danny O day doll when I was a
kid grown up and then of course I had a
Charlie McCarthy doll as well and and
you went through that and you went
through Cycles on and off with it but I
got more interested in performing while
I was in high school so um later on in
and when I was going getting ready to go
to college a friend of mine was a
magician amateur magician he bought out
a magic store and then the magic store
he bought out was one of the original
mimeographed maher courses so I got it
he gave the whole thing to me and I went
through it Lesson by lesson and
practiced it but I didn’t know that I
thought well this is obscure nobody’s
doing this anymore you know Fred mayor’s
dead and the address was in Michigan
then lo and behold I found out that the
course were still active out in in
Colorado with Clinton Detweiler so I wrote
out there and got the course I took it
actually twice one that didn’t count the
first time which I learned a lot from
and I even learned more the second time
and I graduated from the Maher School of ventriloquism
in those days so yeah it
was kind of a double thing I did that
back in the
early uh late 60s early 70s and then um
I taught Elementary School I have a
teaching degree from Ohio University
taught Elementary School it worked out
well I liked it but I was had some
spring break time so I went out to some
other schools and neighboring District
districts did some school shows and did
some things that way and the guys goes
you know you’re better than the guys who
have been hiring youve ever tried to do
it full-time so it took a year off from
teaching and this is my 35th year doing
it full-time fantastic.
Next Article: An Interview With Mark Wade – Part 2
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