In the final part of our interview, Neale shares stories about his career as a ventriloquist. He also shares advice for anyone who wants to perform walk around ventriloquism or close up ventriloquism.

Video Transcript:

Walk around is more of a thing I do at fairs and festivals, although I have done that for churches too where they’re doing a community event. That’s a lot of fun because a lot of people will tell you that you can’t do vent up close. It’s a big source of debate, and I’ve had that discussion with people many times at the convention. It’s just not true.

When I walk up with a puppet and the children start talking to the puppet, I’m not even there as far as they’re concerned. So there’s nothing that says you can’t walk up and do walk-around vent. A lot of guys do it in the ministry.

I’ve done everything from Sunday School, Vacation Bible Schools, children’s rallies, to actually coming in on a Sunday morning and taking the whole service—delivering the message along with my friends, but also doing the message itself.

When I was performing part-time, I had a regular job. I worked for the Salvation Army at a drop-in center on Skid Row in Vancouver, which was connected to an alcohol treatment center. I had done shows there, and it got to the point where I wasn’t allowed to go if I didn’t bring one of the guys with me. The men in the treatment center loved the puppet.

Those who do ministry will understand—when you’re in a place like an alcohol treatment center with a lot of really hardcore guys, you can preach in a way you can’t preach anywhere else. I call it “cut the crap preaching.” You get right to your message. It’s funny to watch people realize it’s okay to laugh in church. God’s not going to strike you dead if you laugh in church.

It presents the message in a unique way that a lot of people have never seen before. Even though it’s the same message they’ve heard before, they listen. One of our favorite stories is telling David and Goliath with Horton. Horton wants to be David because he hears David is a brave guy. So he jumps in wanting to be part of the story. Then he finds out what he’s actually up against, and that’s where the fun begins.

Not too long ago, right before we taped this, there was a discussion in the forums about doing walk-around vent. People were afraid of someone pulling on their puppets. I saw it in more than one place—on yours, in the Magic Café forum, and I think even in one of the Facebook vent groups. They were talking about people punching the puppets, pulling arms and legs, general puppet abuse.

When I got that question, because I don’t usually do walk-around, I naturally came to you because I know you do a lot of it. Could you share the advice here, even though you posted it in the forums?

It really comes down to having control of the puppet at all times. If you’ve got a group of kids gathering around and one or two start being abusive, the biggest mistake you can make is to have the puppet say “Ow!” or “Don’t do that.” Because now you’ve created a game: “Let’s make the puppet say ow.” I learned that the hard way.

Sometimes, if it goes too far, you actually have to get security involved if there is any on the grounds. Most of the time, though, I just turn away from the group and walk off to visit someone else. If they don’t want to have fun, if they’re going to be abusive with the puppet, I’ll just say, “Well, I think we’re going to go visit some other folks,” and we walk away.

That’s good advice. Just remove yourself from the situation. It’s the quickest and easiest. Even though you feel like it, you don’t want to yell at the kids or say, “Get away from him, you little—” because that ruins your reputation. You want to handle it professionally.

I’ve even talked directly to parents. I explain, “This is how I earn my living. These are my tools, and they’re very expensive. I can’t afford to have children ripping their arms off.” I’ve actually had parents tell their kids to stick their fingers in the puppet’s mouth. I’ve never understood that. I’ve had to pull the puppet away, and sometimes the kids are persistent. I’ve gone to the parents and very nicely said, “Please ask your child not to do that. I don’t stick my fingers in their mouth. I’d appreciate it if they didn’t do that to the puppet.”

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