Today I’m covering a concept that plays a major role in my life, and chances are, it affects you too. When I started the Learn-Ventriloquism on-line “How To Be A Ventriloquist” Course, the idea of daily lessons that allowed students to focus on a particular skill appealed to me. When you have everything at your disposal, you tend to pay attention to certain aspects, and neglect others.
As I sat here working on an idea for this blog, I realized that is my current problem. I’ve got so many things in front of me, that I’m not focused on the building blocks. There are certain aspects that must be tended to each and every day. When you don’t the weeds begin to grow and soon you find yourself unable to see the structure they envelop.
I’ve focused on the fun, the “bright and shiny”, and now it is time to grab the weed-whacker and start ripping into the mess. It is the penalty for not directing my focus.
What should you be focused on today? What steps will you take to get it accomplished? Let’s chat in the comments – I can’t be the only one who feels this way – can I?
my wife says I dont have a natural expression on my face, when talking to her or a doll…i find it hard to try and be natural…any hints?
Study how you appear normally and learn to imitate that. Many beginning ventriloquists tend to “emote” for the puppet, allowing their face to portray the emotions of the puppet’s lines. Another problem may be trying to hard to hold your lips still, which can also result in an un-natural appearance. I highly recommend you video your practice sessions. Watch them to visually see what she means, then work on correcting it. Ventriloquism takes practice. Observation through video allows you to shorten the learning curve.
is it a good idea to include a song in a script?
A lot of ventriloquists do, but that doesn’t always mean it is a good idea. If your puppet can’t sing, a verse is usually more than enough because it portrays the comedy without annoying the entire audience.