Exactly how long should a ventriloquist script be?
That is a great question that came to me in an email recently. I’m going to paraphrase the email here:
I’ve looked on the forums and online but can’t find an answer to this:
I’m finding that a script topic (in this case a school script) can be too long. The script needs to run 30minutes, but it feels too long on the subject of school. I need to change the theme, but not the length.
What’s the ideal length of a topic I should be aiming for before changing it?
I responded:
There is no ideal length – the goal is to hold the audience’s attention.
I tend to write in “chunks”.
A chunk is about a 2 to 5 minute segment that can be joined with other “chunks” to create a full show.
Shorter segments allow you to fine tune them faster and get to the laughs. (Assuming laughs is what you are going for.)
Short segues take you from chunk to chunk – could be you or the puppet asking a question or having another thought.
I recommend you check out programming your target audience watches.
How long do they discuss a specific topic?
Does it take different tracks to get to the outcome?
For example, you could be talking about:
• the morning routine to get ready for school,
• something that happened on the school bus,
• a test in math class,
• a project in arts class,
• how gym went totally wrong,
• what they served at lunch,
• recess activities,
• etc.
This way you cover your topic, but the direction changes to hold interest.
Hope this helps!
