IT’S ALWAYS NICE TO SEE VENTRILOQISTS venture beyond the cheeky boy wooden dummy to present their craft. Not that there is anything wrong with that format as witness the fame of Charlie McCarthy, Archie Andrews, Lord Charles and other stars of the up and down lip movement.

But I always admired the presentation of Senor Wences who turned his hand into a living face and of course the huge character and appeal of Jay Marshall’s “Lefty”, created from just a white cotton glove and two buttons on his left hand.

I was reminded of this when I recently saw a TV commercial advertising a Government service.  I think the ad failed, as do many, when you are seduced by the presentation and don’t remember what it is selling. However in this ad there were around three pairs of hands and a couple of ping pong balls  that were very creatively blended to portray a face that spoke the message. In the ad there were about three changes of character but the imagination behind the idea was tremendous. I don’t know if this was the work of some Eastern European puppet group but for me it was stunning and could be (if not already) the basis for a wonderful vent act. It’s always nice to spot real talent.

Filed under: Magic Ideas, Magic News