Janice is a student here on the Learn-Ventriloquism website. She took the lessons and is working on her skills, hoping to start entertaining soon.
Keep your eyes open and you may see her at the ConVENTion this year!
Video Transcript:
Who’s that little guy?
Oh, you’re introducing me? Okay. His name is… well, yes, his name is Yam Yam.
Like the vegetable?
Yeah, and also kind of like Popeye’s song — “I am what I am.”
All right, you finish it.
Good. Nice to meet you.
It’s all because of you that she’s putting words in my mouth.
Is that a bad thing?
No, not necessarily. That’s great. I love him.
What got you interested in ventriloquism?
Well, when I was a kid, I was born a night owl. I didn’t sleep at night. But I had to go to bed, and I couldn’t take any toys with me, so I played with my hands. My left arm was always a boy, my right arm a girl. I’d just make up scripts and lines.
By the time I was about eleven or twelve, I stopped. Daytime school got more intense, and I needed the sleep.
Later, after my husband and I started going out, whenever we’d go to a store with stuffed animals, I’d make them talk. I’d move their heads and arms and say “Hello,” and he would laugh.
One year for Christmas, he didn’t know what to get me, so he bought me a bunch of hand puppets. I only kept two and returned four. In exchange, I ended up with Yam Yam here.
Since then, I had an idea of the puppeteering part, but not so much the voice.
At some point, I saw Jeff Dunham on YouTube and was fascinated. I started looking up courses. I knew I could buy material like Clinton Detweiler’s stuff, but I worried I wouldn’t know if I was doing it right or wrong.
Then I stumbled upon the site that introduced your course — and here I am.
I certainly appreciate you becoming a member. Have you done any shows yet, or are you planning to?
I’m not too sure. If I got the chance, I wouldn’t mind entertaining kids at a children’s hospital. But I don’t think I’m going to make it into a livelihood. Not yet, at least.
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