As Robin mentioned in a previous thread..the legendary Bill De Mar performed for the first time in decades in our show near Cincinnati. Somehow I ended up with Bill and we had a good talk including his experiences and scars of life on the road. Like Robin I got a copy of his notes in booklet form(Gottle O' Geer Publications).
Bill De Mar( as Steve Axtell writes.."I don't know why everyone thinks Bill DeMar's manipulation skills are so great..Feldon the Frog is obviously not a puppet..he's real!"
Today I brought the notes with me for a doctor's appointment.Page 12's ventriloquial(Oxford not Webster's dictionary, Tony so there's a "u")..advises we newbies to watch a classic comedy team to see how the straight man responds. De mar asks, " Did Bud Abbot just stand there blankly while Lo Costello riffed on baseball players' names? No,of course, not. He not only acted, he REacted(sic). As should you as a proper performer"
Robin, what part of the booklet has so far resulted in one of those "oh yeah!" moments? Ron

Bill DeMar... wow there is so much I have learned from this awesome book. I bought several books but this one and " How To Vent Your Expressions" by Cliff Taylor were the big gold mines for me.
1. You want to be transported to another place -were the puppets seems alive.
(sometimes that means the audience will be in awe silent and not laughing and just looking) this one I have been doing but I am so used to the audience laughing I felt like I failed till I watched the puppet on video. Now I am ok with silence for a few seconds.
2. Munipulation is a powerful tool. A TOOL yea
3. My favorite eye opening moment-- Every time you are preforming, you are meeting the puppet for the first time- no preconceived notions
4. MY other favorite moment- Dont underestimate the extreme power of the pause or hesitatin on the part of the puppet.
5. My othe favorite- on the last page Mr DeMar talks about exam your show..
by using a piece of cardboard... I cant wait to have time to do it. But your gona have to buy the book and read that yourself. Hint watch yourself on video cover up you wirh cardboard and watch only puppet all the way though, then do the same with yourself.
Ribbons the clown

He said that this booklet were the same as his notes, plus it only cost $5.00 and have even more stuff in it. It is great!
Ribbons the clown

Sorry...dialogue from of my favourite sixties' cartoons. Robin, sorry..we have the same headsticks booklet. How do you react(P.10) to the comment from the Great Lester that that the vent and the figure should be actors portraying two strangers meeting for the first time to"vividly demonstrate the extreme diversity that should be manifested between the ventriloquist and his partner"? Okay, these truths are self evident. The one that is seeping down into me is that one should warm up the audience first before launching into one's vent routine. Axtell forum folks sorry for the vent exegesis(what, Genesis Two is older than One?) but until Fort Mitchell I had only see Ronn Lucas. Viewing so many different levels of creativity at Vent Haven opened my floodgates.And by the way even though he potshots at Canadians I also owe a considerable debt to Tony Borders. He has unselfishly shared (regardless of his great age) many strategies which have taken me through at least two of the seven veils of knowledge. Don't tell parsons I wrote this. Ron

The thought that the puppet and you have met for the first time with no assumptions is a new idea to me and helps me create dialog easier. I also can see how this can open up more areas for action and reaction. Creating personilty for each puppet gets easier as I think this way. Also the fact that we are both ACTORS makes it easier to separate me from both Ribbons and the puppet so that we can become more outrages and unique. Now I have to work on my energy level, after my nap.
Ribbons the clown