I have a confession..I love books! I know that’s not a big revelation, but I think it’s important to point it out, especially since this is the topic for this column.
Books have been a big part of what made me a ventriloquist, and hopefully they can help you as well. I think it’s vitally important that you start your own vent library for use at home, and now on the road thanks to Kindle and other readers.
In the old days, before technology, hard and softback books were the way to access information. I know I scoured the bookshelves to find such gems as Arthur Prince’s “The Whole Art of Ventriloquism”, and Douglas Cragg’s “The ABC of Ventriloquism”, plus many more titles. I learned the different points of view of many vents, plus their theories of how to produce different ventriloquial voices. I spent many a happy hour pouring over these books, and many more that I added to my library. Now in this new modern age you can download books, several hundred of them, and have them handy through the use of Kindle and other storage devices.
Although some books are dated and the information not always as accurate as you would hope, nevertheless you still can learn by having these as a reference to good vent learning. Sometimes you can learn by finding out what NOT to do, or by adapting bits and pieces. Little gems can be found in almost any vent book.
I encourage you to start you own vent reference library today. A well informed vent is a well rounded vent. I want YOU to be the best you can be in our world of ventriloquism!
