Marian Tchaikovsky, best known by his stage name Great Leicester, was a popular American pop ventriloquist of Polish descent. He is considered the most successful and famous ventrologist of the heyday of the variety show, as well as one of the founders of such an unusual craft. The skill of this man seemed to know no bounds, and many seriously attributed supernatural properties to Tchaikovsky and his dolls.
The great-grandfather of modern ventriloquism, as it is commonly called today, could drink a glass of water, while the doll on his knee spoke calmly. Colleagues from The Great Leicester once swapped gin for water as a joke. The ventrologist, as if nothing had happened, drained a glass of alcohol, without showing it, but his doll suddenly coughed and began to shake its head, as if it was forced to drink two hundred grams of strong alcohol.
The great Lester walked between the auditoriums, and the doll in his hand talked to those around him and whistled popular tunes. Communicating with the doll, the artist managed to interrupt her, and the audience clearly heard two different voices at the same time. For such performances, always like a sold-out, the ventriloquist used a special doll, which he made with his own hands from wood and named Frank Byron Jr. By including the video below, you can see it as an exhibit at the planet's only ventriloquist museum, Vent Haven in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky.
Frank Byron, Jr. was the beloved brainchild of the Great Leicester, and it was with these props that the celebrated artist performed his most successful and surprising acts. Enthusiastic spectators whispered that there was a child, a dwarf or a radio inside the doll, and some even believed that the object was really alive, that is, the doll simply had consciousness and was able to speak spontaneously. It was even rumored that the wood from the coffin in which the witch was buried was used for its manufacture. Say, the spirit of the witch got into the toy and helped Tchaikovsky in his field.
A doll officially suspected of murder
Marian Tchaikovsky, best known by his stage name Great Leicester, was a popular American pop ventriloquist of Polish descent. He is considered the most successful and famous ventrologist of the heyday of the variety show, as well as one of the founders of such an unusual craft. The skill of this man seemed to know no bounds, and many seriously attributed supernatural properties to Tchaikovsky and his dolls.
The great-grandfather of modern ventriloquism, as it is commonly called today, could drink a glass of water, while the doll on his knee spoke calmly. Colleagues from The Great Leicester once swapped gin for water as a joke. The ventrologist, as if nothing had happened, drained a glass of alcohol, without showing it, but his doll suddenly coughed and began to shake its head, as if it was forced to drink two hundred grams of strong alcohol.
Promotional video:
The great Lester walked between the auditoriums, and the doll in his hand talked to those around him and whistled popular tunes. Communicating with the doll, the artist managed to interrupt her, and the audience clearly heard two different voices at the same time. For such performances, always like a sold-out, the ventriloquist used a special doll, which he made with his own hands from wood and named Frank Byron Jr. By including the video below, you can see it as an exhibit at the planet's only ventriloquist museum, Vent Haven in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky.
Frank Byron, Jr. was the beloved brainchild of the Great Leicester, and it was with these props that the celebrated artist performed his most successful and surprising acts. Enthusiastic spectators whispered that there was a child, a dwarf or a radio inside the doll, and some even believed that the object was really alive, that is, the doll simply had consciousness and was able to speak spontaneously. It was even rumored that the wood from the coffin in which the witch was buried was used for its manufacture. Say, the spirit of the witch got into the toy and helped Tchaikovsky in his field.
In 1924, an unprecedented incident occurred in Detroit. During the performance of The Great Leicester and Frank Byron Jr., the latter told the audience such a funny anecdote that three elderly women died laughing at once. Of course, the concert was canceled, and doctors and policemen arrived at the theater. Law enforcement officers did not find anything better than to make a doll suspect in what happened. Frank Byron Jr. was arrested along with his mysterious toy and taken to the police station.
The "living toy" was photographed, but it was not possible to take her fingerprints for a different reason. Witnesses of that mysterious event all as one said that during the speech the lips of the Great Lester did not move at all, and only Frank Byron Jr. spoke. Therefore, it was not possible to bring the eminent ventriloquist to justice - he did not tell that “fatal” anecdote. And the mysterious doll, suspected of a triple murder, had to be finally released. Needless to say, since then, Marian Tchaikovsky no longer used it.
There is a persistent rumor that Frank Byron Jr. still comes to life in the museum on full moon nights, silently opening his mouth and rolling his head, as if trying to find his master, who passed away more than six decades ago. Alas, these rumors are not supported by any evidence other than the words of the museum staff …