THE SECRET OF VENTRILOQUISM

New Zealand Times, Volume XLX, Issue 8163, 15 August 1887, Page 7

THE SECRET OF VENTRILOQUISM

A boy writes to the editor of the children a .column in an -English journal, asking forthe -secret of and is follows If Robert T. is thinking of yen triloquism as an occupation, he may be to at once, and plainly. :not tha£ it is a bad thing to learn—for ic is not had m itse but that it is a useless thing. If, howe e , it is his desire simply to know something of fhe art of it! so that he may amuse his friends nothing can be said against his getting all the knowledge on the subject that is «h£inahle At the same time he must know ttff “to b. Sid -•» 11 ' a "°“S h tb • column, it cannot-be looked upon as a secret. To describe and strange thing in public is to make it public.property, and that is the condition of ventriloquism at the present time. At first sight it seems a very wonderful gift, .and no doubt some men can use it m such a way as to make it very amusing, but it is simple enough. The secret of it is just the secret of success in any line of study or in -any business in which we may engage. In ventriloquism, as in nobler aims, the victory -is won by practice and perseverance. To ■ excel in it one must give up more time to it than the art is worth. Still, anyone may be a ventriloquist in a small way. They do best who are good talkers to begin with. 'The first thing to da is to study the difler--ences in human speech and in the voices of • bea't and birds. When anyone can speak so that he may be mistaken for some one else, he has already learned the first lesson in ventriloquism, and he should not find it difficult to add to the number of voices or sounds he can imitate. As soon as he finds that he can bo alter his mode of speech as to represent a . conversation amongst four or five different persons,, or when he can imitate the sounds -of a farmyard, he may safely pass to the next stace That stage may be troublesome at fiSt, but it is not really so difficult as the other. It is simply to speak without moving the lips or the jaw. A few attempts will - make this easy-; but it is well to keep practising at it in private until it can be managed ..as naturally as the ordinary mode of talk. The only thing to do after this is to entertain the company ; but here two hints are needed. The deception ip the first place is greatly helped by indicating the source from •which the mysterious sounds are supposed to ■proceed ; and, having done this, be careful to keep the full face as much out of view as possible. Ventriloquism is a very old art. The ancients knew something about it, and •it is said that some of the Strange oracles they had were made to give advice to the .people who consulted them by some process akin to ventriloquism.