I used to do a question and answer video program over on Learn-Ventriloquism.com. The number of questions slowed down, so I stopped.
No reason I can’t answer questions here.
I purchased several of the Maher Ventriloquism Course Kindle books and love them. I have a puppet but can’t come up with a script. I bought some old dialog books on eBay but they seem pretty dated. Do you have any recommendations?
Yes I do!
The old dialog books published by Maher were beginner oriented. Basically practice scripts and honestly, very few were well written.
Sorry, but it is true!
Clinton needed products to sell. People would buy cheap scripts. He would reach out to all levels of ventriloquists to get material. Many of those booklets were written by amateurs and part-timers.
In most cases, you get what you pay for. I’d often hear vents say if they got one line out of it, it was worth $5.
After closing Maher Studios, Clinton had so many script books left he sold them on eBay. He once lamented it cost more to ship them and he lost money on some orders.
Writing scripts is difficult.
You could spend a lot of money on books or courses and be no closer to writing a script than before you started.
The script writing course I created featured multiple interviews with a number of ventriloquists. The beginning videos seem pretty basic. Between releases of the lessons, email follow ups give you tasks and ideas. This is an important part of the process. Later in the course we gave you solid tools and techniques to launch your writing.
But it is difficult! Ask anyone who writes their own scripts.
I don’t want to gloss that over. It is challenging to write well. It requires dedication and practice. And everything you write won’t be good. You just have to write.
When Mark, Ken & I revived Maher, we decided to write some scripts too. Each starter script took us hours. We didn’t just throw out common jokes. We wrote original material that we would consider using professionally.
The Dialogs Plus script series has four different types of scripts. Each type gives you three scripts AND videos of how we put them together. We actually teach you how to write. Plus you get to see how an idea develops into a finished script.
Well, not finished. Because we encourage you to make it your own. Build on it. Take it somewhere new.
And no script is finished once written. It has to be tested in front of audiences. Laughs stay in. Weak parts switched out for something stronger.
So my advice – check out the Dialogs Plus. Consider reading a book or two. If you specifically want ventriloquist script related material, check out my Script Writing Course.
I also put together a blog on my techniques for writing comedy scripts. You can find that article on the Learn-Ventriloquism blog.
Or, consider hiring someone to write a script for you. In fact, I will talk more about that in an upcoming article…
