This amazing art - speaking without opening your mouth - was born in ancient Judea. And although three thousand years have passed since then, ventriloquism (or ventrology) amazes us no less than the ancient Jews and Egyptians
"Talking" dog
Once in a Berlin restaurant a very curious scene took place. There were few visitors. In the back of the room, a middle-aged man was sitting at a table, and a dog lay at his feet, not taking his eyes off the owner. He put in his mouth piece by piece.
And suddenly the dog clearly and loudly asked: “Why aren't you giving me anything? I’m hungry too.” “You can wait. March under the table!”- the owner answered sternly.
The dog obeyed, but from under the table continued to express its displeasure: “You always tell me to wait, and then you will throw a bare bone, and that's it. You take advantage of the fact that I am a dog. It's just shameless of you."
An Englishman sitting nearby froze in surprise. Still would! The dog spoke in a human voice! The Englishman asked to sell him a talking dog. The owner asked for a lot of money, but the Englishman was not embarrassed. The dog, sensing something was wrong, began to squeal. And when the Englishman put a collar on her and was about to take her away, she clearly said: “Well, if that's the case, then from now on I won't say another word!”.
And only then the secret was revealed: the dog was the most ordinary, and the owner, the famous German artist-Ventologist Schreiber, spoke for it.
The Latin-Greek name "ventrology" comes from the words "ventter" - belly and "logos" - the word. But speaking with your belly is actually impossible. Ventrologists, like all people, use the vocal cords.
"Dialogue" with heads
The Englishman Stephen, who surprised people with his performances about two hundred years ago, is considered the first professional ventrologist. At first he was a dramatic actor, but he could not achieve noticeable success in this field. Glory came to him when Stephen became a ventriloquist. “Dialogue with Heads” was the title of his number.
The papier-mâché busts were installed on the stage. Their lower jaw was mobile. Each bust depicted a person belonging to some class. There were court doctors, lawyers, shopkeepers, peasants, fishermen here. The artist walked between the busts and talked to them. The busts were also not silent (for them, of course, Stephen spoke); throwing remarks, arguing with the artist and with each other.
The French artist Alexandre Vattemar was also an outstanding ventrologist. He arrived in St. Petersburg in 1832, then visited Moscow and won wide fame with his unusually bright performances. The famous connoisseur of antiquity, Mikhail Pylyaev, wrote about Vattemar: “Many wonderful people told about one foreigner who came to St. Petersburg - a ventriloquist. It was said that the time had brought the guard, who stood at the clock, to the point that he began to break the booth with a halberd, believing that an unclean person was hiding in the corner. Another time, he brought a woman carrying a pile of firewood to complete despair, talking to her from every log.
God's giftPromotional video:
Probably, there was no ventrologist in the world who would not be asked the question: is it possible for any person to learn ventrology or does this require some special qualities? It used to be (and still some people think) that any person can become a ventrologist. There would be a desire. But experience suggests otherwise. In order to speak without moving your lips, you must at least have a special structure of the vocal apparatus. This is a gift from God. This can be confirmed by the fact that in the families of professional ventrologists, children are far from always capable of ventriloquism.
According to doctors, the larynx and vocal cords of a gifted ventrologist have some deviations from the norm in their device, alas. invisible to the human eye. This, however, is not enough. The ventriloquist must be able to correctly, economically use the air drawn into the lungs when speaking. Breathing is a real art for a ventriloquist. And not every person can learn it either.
In ordinary people, words are pronounced with the participation of the tongue and lips. The ventrologist must not use lips. He can apply only the so-called internal diction. It is formed through the enhanced work of the larynx, soft palate, tongue. And at the same time, a real ventriloquist must own a variety of voices: a child, an old man, a man, a woman, and find his own voice for this or that speaking-subject. The ventrologist speaks without moving his lips. But this does not mean at all that his face should be devoid of facial expressions, expression. If the actor's face is. a frozen mask, this is not a ventriloquist.
"Conversation" with John
And one more, perhaps the most mysterious quality: the ability to give voice, as ventrologists say. flightiness. An experienced ventrologist can make the sound fly in any direction, alike. to “speak” a bookcase, table, chairs. And the audience should feel that the sound comes from this particular object.
The English ventrologist Frederick Maccabey had a great master of controlling the flight of the voice. who lived in the middle of the 18th century. He went on stage and played the role of a very shy and timid person.
Embarrassed, Maccabey asked the audience not to interfere with him.
while he is talking with his friend John, allegedly sitting on the fifth tier. Looking up, the artist asked: "John, are you there?" Not hearing an answer, he asked again: -John, where are you? -. And then from the stalls someone was shouting in a thick bass: -There is no one at the top! This, of course, was pronounced by the ventrologist himself, but the sound was heard from the parterre.
Maccabey again asked the public not to disturb him. Then an angry female voice was heard from the nearest row: -Yes they are just fooling us! And at that moment from all corners of the hall exclamations of indignant "spectators" were heard, how much in vain they were scolding the artist. It is clear that these exclamations were also uttered in different voices by Maccabey. without opening your mouth. He was completely embarrassed and left the stage to thunderous applause.
Dynasty of ventrologists
The first Russian professional ventrologist was Grigory Mikhailovich Donsnoy. He was born in 1865, grew up in poverty, without a father. Like many circus artists of that time, he ran away from home, stuck to the booth and went through all the steps of the difficult path to mastery. When I was a boy, I saw the performance of a visiting ventrologist. he decided to learn ventriloquism by all means. But there was no one to learn from. I had to get to everything myself. In the end, Donskoy became a wonderful ventriloquist.
Grigory Mikhailovich usually worked with two dolls: John, a comedian in a red wig, and Paulina, a lady in brooches, evening dress and long gloves. The dolls started an argument, made fun of each other. Donskoy intervened in the skirmish.
Then Donskoy got the idea to introduce a live-talking-dog into the room. He sat her down at the table and talked to her in five foreign languages! The illusion that the dog was speaking by opening its mouth was complete. With his wonder-dog-Donskoy he traveled almost all over Europe.
Grigory Mikhailovich lived a long life. He died in 1956 at the age of 90. Of course, he dreamed that one of his children would also become an artist-ventrologist. This gift manifested itself only in one of his daughters - Mary. She became a wonderful ventriloquist. But earlier ventrology was considered only the lot of men.
Many have seen the performances of Maria Donsna with her favorite partner, the doll Andryusha. lively and mischievous -boy-. The daughter of Maria Grigorievna, Evgenia, was also a talented ventrologist. They often performed as a duet. And always with the same success.
