I attended the Ventriloquist Convention this year and had a blast. I have not attended a convention for over 15 years, and it was great to go back to see a few old friends and meet new ones. The sessions were outstanding this year. I attended a great session on Character Building and as a group we improvised a Librarian Puppet, and we bounced off ideas for her looks and character attributes. After we were finished a puppet maker went to his room and created the puppet that we all visualized. It was amazing. I also took a comedy writing course that was an extra fee, and it was worth every penny. I’ve already used several structural ideas and written a few bits that got big laughs during my two shows yesterday. Meeting my heroes like Willie Tyler, Jay Johnson, Dan Horn and so many others was a big bonus. If you can make it next year, I highly recommend you attend.

I am so looking forward to celebrating 50 years at the Ventriloquist Convention. I have not been at a convention for almost 20 years. I am always working but this year I asked the theater for the week off and believe it or not he said yes. So I leave for the airport in a few minutes. I will send you all a report and pictures. Talk to you all soon.

Recently, at many of my shows, a child or adult will approach me with a puppet or ventriloquist figure. They are often shy and hesitant to ask how I do what I do—or how they can learn to become a ventriloquist. I usually tell them to do what I did: visit the library and find a book about becoming a ventriloquist. I also encourage them to watch both classic and current ventriloquists on YouTube to learn techniques and gather ideas for their own routines. If they want a coach or instructor, I usually recommend places where they can receive more formal training. About 40 years ago, a ventriloquist named Bill Hart inspired me to return to ventriloquism. When he gave me his old ventriloquist figure, he asked me to promise that I would inspire others as well, because we need to keep the art of ventriloquism alive for generations to come.

Has anyone ever dealt with hecklers? May Wilson has gone to battle several times with hecklers. Once we were doing a show in Las Vegas and a woman got onto a fight with May, stormed out and demanded her money back because “the puppet was rude.” (Yup, facts). Anyone else?

I perform for both family and corporate events. I recently was asked by a regular client if I could perform a dinosaur show. At first, I said no than I talked with a few of my entertainer friends and they said why not give it a try. I started to do some research and purchase some new characters, magic tricks and now I have a real cool family fun dino show. Not only that the one client has turned into 30 new clients who wanted a dino show for their library or special event. The old saying "build it and they will come" is so true. The key is to find out what clients are looking for and fill the need. Happy Summer