Date: Thu, 28 May 2009 18:07:45 -0700
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
From: Steve Axtell <steve-AT-axtell.com>
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Novel Ventriloquism & Puppetry Acts for India's


Terry Fator... hard act to follow for sure but some are.

Wanlu won Philippines Got Talent with a few of 
our 
puppets     http://www.axtell.com/new.html    scroll down a little bit.

Here's a video of his   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRRkRp-u5wI

There is also currently a Vent making his way up 
the ranks in Britain's Got Talent also.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YDZoLgvi_U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tZRPMai3rA

Ax

Ax


At 5/28/2009 01:50 PM, Mathieu René wrote:
>Ventriloquism has been around for a long time.
>A lot of technical tricks have been done on the ventriloquist figure since
>the time of Charly McCarthy (and Edgar Bergen).  A figure can nowadays move
>pretty much any facial feature, including ears and hair piece,  and too much
>of those options can be a nuisance more than a help. So, selecting just what
>is needed is a good idea, since performance is all that gives a figure its
>life and its charm.
>
>The usual contemporary ventriloquist act has its own specific attributes,
>that make it very different than other puppetry forms. It's based more on
>speech, interaction with puppeteer, and simple stationary movements. Perhaps
>finding a way to explore full body movements in space, like other forms of
>puppetry, would create something fresh and unique?
>How about a ventroloquist act with performer and figure running or dancing
>all the while?
>In slow motion?
>
>
>My advice would be to find his own twist on principles that already work.
>I think the most important things are good writing, and good delivery,
>whatever the technical means used. An endearing (cute, touching) character
>will augment the chances of charming the audience and the judges. An added
>advantage would be to have a truly original character that no one else has
>ever used. If you can avoid the usual popular animals and still charm
>people, you earn extra points in my book.  We've seen enough clones of
>Disney characters, and celebrity caricatures. Why do everything like the
>Americans? (no offense to my neighnbor country, which I love, I just mean to
>encourage other ways, specific to other cultures). Try something unusual.
>Something you know. You probably have fauna or legendary character or
>everyday object specific to India you could use as a character, hence maybe
>playing on the cultural or patriotic heart strings (emotions of belonging:
>"he's celebrating our culture!").  Since your son is probably a puppet
>builder too, he has an extra advantage over those who can only buy a
>pre-made figure, or pend thousands for a custom job (and the long wait for
>it to arrive).
>
>I believe Terry Fator had all these elements well figured out, on top of his
>obvious talent and well-honed skills. He used Axtell puppets, which are
>beautiful and designed as true performance tools, and I'm sure they helped
>him create his character's personalities.  Because he won on America's show,
>he helped bring ventriloquism even more back into the spotlight. He also
>probably made it VERY difficult for any other ventriloquism act to impress
>the judges enough, compared to what he achieved.  After his triumph, I
>suspect more than a few ventriloquists will try, worldwide. So competition
>will be fierce.
>
>Good luck to Satyajit!
>
>
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Steve Axtell
Axtell Expressions, Inc.
Website - http://www.axtell.com
Hands-Free Animatronic Puppets http://www.axtell.com/remote.html
International Performer's Directory - http://www.axtell.com/ipd.html
Original contents =A9 copyright all rights reserved.  
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