Smiling broadly – and chatting with a dummy seated on his knee – a ventriloquist exercises his art with breath control and the movement of his tongue.
In order to throw his voice, and make it appear that the dummy is talking, he breathes in deeply and forms his words in the usual way. However, he retracts his tongue, moving only its tip. This lifts and shrinks the larynx (the organ in the windpipe containing the vocal cords), narrows the glottis (the opening between the vocal cords), and puts pressure on the cords. In turn, this muffles and diffuses the sound – making it seem to come from another direction.
He distracts the audience by activating the dummy’s eyes and head with hidden strings and levers, and by moving its mouth in time with the words. His broad smile – which appears to be in response to the dummy’s ‘chatter’ – allows him to talk easily without noticeably moving his lips.
Vowel sounds can easily be pronounced without moving the lips. But consonants – particularly b, p and m – are much more difficult to say. That is why ventriloquists use animal or schoolchild dummies, whose ‘voices’ can be distorted or unformed.
To suggest a voice coming from a distance, a ventriloquists presses his tongue against the roof of his mouth, allowing very little of the voice to emerge. With his tongue in the same position., he uses a deep. Harsh voice to suggest that it is coming from, say, the inside of a box – and a sharp, shrill voice to suggest it is coming from a ceiling or roof top.
The word ‘ventriloquist’ come from two Latin words: venter meaning ‘belly’, and loqui, meaning ‘to speak’. The Romans thought that vocal sounds came from the belly; and their sorcerers threw their voices when prophesying the future.
Picture Credit : Google