Ventriloquism today is in a slump.

I think television defeats ventriloquism.

I love anything to do with ventriloquism and magic.

Magic in cinema is a bit like ventriloquism on the radio.

I love singing - singing was basically kind of my passion before ventriloquism.

Ventriloquism kind of helped me find my voice. It's really helped me come out of my shell.

My puppets are far more liberated than I am. Ventriloquism is a useful way of expressing myself.

What has been so great out of all of the success is that I inspired so many people to take up ventriloquism, especially little kids.

Here's something you never hear: Now that I've worked through all my emotional issues, I'm free to dedicate my life to ventriloquism!

There exists a species of transcendental ventriloquism by means of which men can be made to believe that something said on earth comes from Heaven.

But the mechanics of learning to 'throw your voice' are pretty simple. Anyone with a tongue, an upper palate, teeth, and a normal speaking voice can learn ventriloquism.

That was my goal going on 'AGT,' was to keep ventriloquism alive and get it more common, to put it out in the open so kids like me who wanted to pursue it as a passion... can do it.

I'm always going to have the puppets, probably not for the rest of my life, but I'm not going to stop doing ventriloquism anytime soon. I'm just going to add singing, recording songs, and maybe playing in a TV show.

I think maybe one reason why ventriloquists are looked down on is because it's very difficult to be funny. I think what happens is that people get a dummy, they learn the technique of ventriloquism, they memorize the script, they think they're in show business.

When I was in third grade I taught myself ventriloquism... What's hard is to learn to be an entertainer and make people laugh. I was a few years out of college before I felt I had enough material. Then in 1988 I moved to L.A. and started to do some shows at comedy clubs.

It's strange because even in the vaudeville days, ventriloquists were never the main attraction. They were the guys brought out to stand in front of the curtain while sets were being changed. Ventriloquism wasn't even celebrated as an art until Edgar Bergen came along in the 1930s.

I always loved putting on shows - when you're the youngest of seven and five are older sisters, you've got to get noticed somehow! I did puppet shows and magic shows... even ventriloquism. My doll's name was 'Dan,' and I used to write these scripts, and my schoolmate hid under the table and supplied Dan's voice.

I looked into studying psychoanalysis, wrote to the governing body and was about to start the year where they psychoanalyse you, four times a week, before you get to do it yourself. I just thought I'd taken the ventriloquism as far as I could. My act is so deconstructive, and I'd made all the monkey jokes anyone wanted to hear.

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