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Magic, Mystery, And Vent
The Story of Magic and Ventriloquism
BY WILBORNE HARRELL
Acknowledgment aLJHS yj§
For the interesting facts about Vent Haven,
• The Home of Ventriloquism”, made available by wjpfPW
the cooperation of William S. Berger, the
president of the International Brotherhood of Ven
triloquists; tor the bit from the article, "The Se
erets of the Talking Dummies", by Rufus Jarman
and published in The Saturday Evening Post and
reprinted here by special permission; and for ma- Above pictured # corner of Vent Haven
terial and quotations from the Magicland Catalog ington, Ky., the home of William S. Berger, presi
, , . _ t-v i c r-v 1 dent of the International Brotherhood of Ventrilo
used by permission of D. D. Douglas ot Douglas quists; showing a few of the many ventriloquial dum-
M-a-i-nH the writer extends his prateful thanks mies that hav * found haven ther «» Borae of them the
Magicland. the w nter extends nts grateiui inangs. actual <hl|nmieß once used by famoUß performers, and
on the walls a portion of the many signed photo
graphs of great ventriloquists and magicians. (Pho
to courtesy of William S. Berger).
“Magic is an art that sometimes
instructs, often amuses and always
entertains” Wilson.
Many years ago in the old Bell’s 1
Opera House here in Edenton, a
small boy sat goggle-eyed and slack
jawed intently watching the magical
act of the famous (self-styled) Pro-i
fessor Durno, magician and ventrilo-1
quist extraordinary. It was in the
early days of Chautauqua and Pro
fessor Dumo’s act was one of the
many offerings of music, plays, lec
tures and variety acts of the week’s
program.
Professor Durno, with the assist- j
ance of a spectator from the audi- 1
ence, had placed a large red cloth over,
a bird-cage, with the bird inside, then ’
proceeding to grasp the cloth by two
of its hanging comers, he jerked the
cloth and the bird-cage from the
hands of the astonished spectator.
But the bird-cage had vanished.
Professor Durno freely displayed!
both sides of the red cloth, showing
that the cloth was empty and the bird
cage had indeed vanished, and smil
ingly took his bow as the mystified
hut appreciative audience applauded.
I was that small boy who sat so
avidly enthralled bv the Professor’s
magic. It was my initial experience!
with magic and I was deeply im- j
pressed by what I had seen, and Ii
came away from the performance de-!
termined that some day I. too. would
duplicate the feats of the famous
Professor Durno. I never became a
magician, but my interest in magic]
never waned, and many years later
after much study and research I ac
quired a working knowledge of magic
and magicians, and learned the secret
of Professor Damn's vanishing bird
cage.
Not long after this introduction to
the artistry of Professor Durno. 1
came info the possession of a cheap,
paper-bound volume, titled “The Wiz
ard’s Manual." which : purported to
tell all the secrets of magic and initi
ate one into the mysteries of ventrilo
quism. Some years and several,
paper-backed books later T ran across
the famous hooks on magic by Pro-;
fessor Hoffman, the standard works
on the subject and required reading
for anyone interested in .magic. Later |
I began reading.more modern writers.
Jean Hugard, Burlington Hull. T.
Nelson Downs, Howard Thurston and
many others. The magazines and
periodicals of magic and magicians!
were also available to me.
After a bit I accumulated a few
magical props and tried my hand as,
an amateur performer. T seriously 1
contemplated entering the field pro. i
fessioiially, hut circumstances and
conditions, coupled with a stronger
urge and a greater interest, sublimat- l
ed this ambition in other activities, j
Yet, after all these years, I am
still thrilled by a magical act or a'
ventriloquial performance. I still keep!'
my hand in with the few remaining-I :
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Page Six
: props I still possess, if only for my,
I own amusement, and still read with I
great interest books and periodicals j
|on magic and its allied subject ven-!
I triloquism. And with a nostalgic |
1 sense of having missed something
deeply satisfying by not venturing
along the magic path, I shall become
for a moment a magician, and create
I a vicarious illusion, with words, of
: magic and ventriloquism.
This, then, is the magic story.
Magic has a mythological, a Biblical
and an historical background. Myth
ology tells us that Hecate was a
mighty goddess who presided over the
magical arts, and that she had power
! over heaven and earth and sea. She
i was, therefore, the chief goddess of
;the practitioner of magic and the
i black arts. Secular and religious lit
i erature is replete with references to
wizards and astrologers, soothsayers
and magicians. Historians have re
corded from the earliest dawn of civ
ilization stories of folk-lore and leg
| end, and the ancients attributed to
their oracles and priests and graven
gods the dark powers of the super
natural.
But as history and civilization
marched on, superstition and credul
, ity gave way to knowledge and en
lightenment; religion clarified and ex
■ plained the supernatural, and the as-j
trologers and fakers and magicians.
I gave way to the now familiar conjur-j
ers, prt stidigitateurs, magicians, il
lusionists, sleight-of-hand artists and
performers of feats of legerdemain.
Where the deep and dark mysteries of
magic were once used to frighten and
mystify the minds of men. they are
now used to entertain and amuse. The
modern magician, however, still at-.
tempts to mystify hut he claims no
supernatural powers. He gives you
. credit for knowing he is out to trick ,
you. and with his tongue in. his cheek
!;•■ sets about cleverly and adroitly to
fool , you, and at the same time dares,
you to oatrh him at it.
There is a challenge and a thrill in
a magical performance; anticipation
of the unexpected and the promise of
a battle of wits excites us. As D. D.
Douglas has written, “Magic is the
very oldest form of entertainment,
known to man . . . there is a fasciria-t
tion about magic that seems to lure
all alike. Its. appeal is universal . .
! always man has delved into the Un-V
known, seeking to penetrate the veil |
that hides Knowledge from his eyes " j
From the witches and sorcerers and!
magicians of folklore and history, on
down to modern times, there has been
an imposing array of outstanding per
| formers and personalities. But this
; piece is concerned principally with 1
those famous figures of the entertain
ment world who have brought us mag- ,
lif as wp know it, with their marvelous ]
, feats of mystery, escapes and illus
ion.
■ Although the decline of vaudeville •
land variety almost killed off magic']
land ventriloquism as a form of en- T
itertainment. the talkies, radio and •
| television are reviving them. Night
clubs and dinner spots have helm'l
[also in this revival, particularly the
rejuvenation of ventriloquism, to the ,
point where it rates top billing, above
magic, in show business. Therefore
the magicians and ventriloquists, with '
ja few outstanding exceptions, men
tioned in this storv are listed among ]
the greats when the variety act was j
i in its heyday.
To list all the great names of magic
would require more space than I com
. mand, so I will limit myself to the
few performers I consider the great
|est: Alexander Hermann, Harry Kel
jlar, Ching Ling Foo, Howard Thurs
ton, Harry Houdini, Dunninger, and
the Great Blackstone. The three who
are prohahlv best known are Thurs
ton, Houdini and Blackstone. ,
Howard Thurston, the magician’s
magician, was considered one of the
world’s greatest stage illusionists, and
the only man who ever mystified the
unexcelled Professor Hermann. He
was horn the son of a minister and os
tensibly intended to enter that pro- I
session. but the field of magic finally
claimed him and he eventually rose to
the topmost ranks as an illusionist and
i magician extraordinary. Professor
j Hermann’s interest in Thurston was ■
|an inspiration to him. and gave the
i rising magician much encouragement F
THE CHOWAN HERALD, EDENTON. N. C„ THURSDAY, JUNE 17, 1954.
.in his career.
A distinguished magician, Harry
'Kellar’s greatest claim to fame lay
!in his invention and development of ]
“The Levitation of Princess Kamac,”|
a stage illusion in which a woman
slowly rises from a prone position.
and floats in the air, apparently with
out support. A large hoop is passed i
completely over her body, indicating]
the entire absence of wires or props i
of any kind. After a few minutes of
suspension the young lady floats gent
ly down to the couch and the trick
is concluded. Few among the devo
tees of magic who have not seen and
puzzled over this illusion, for illusion
it is, accomplished by trickery and
hocus-pocus.
The Chinese have always been pro-,
lific inventors of magic tricks, and
Ching Ling Foo was one of the great- J
est exponents of Chinese magic. He
made famous the Chinese Linking]
Rings, solid metal rings that link and
unlink at the will of the performer, ]
the rice bowl trick in which rice
changes to water and hundreds of,
other tricks and effects with flowers, ]
birds and firecrackers, things that are
dear to the heart of the Chinese. |
The word “houdini” has come to be
synonymous with “escape”. Harry
Houdini gained bis greatest fame as
an escape artist, extricating himself
'from supposedly escape-proof prison
j cells, handcuffs, mail bags, milk cans,
trunks, strait jackets and what have
you. But what is little known is the
fact that Houdini was also an all
round accomplished magician, and
gained his first success as such. Har
ry Houdini’s seemingly impossible
feats of extrication were accomplish-]
ed by natural means and they were;,
super—but they were not supernatur
al. The chief ingredients in his es
cape acts were tremendous strength,
an iron nerve and a great knowledge ]
of all kinds of locks, plus, at times, a,
little bit of legitimate hocus-pocus and i
J trickery.
Dunninger, equally famous as a ma-l
1 gician and illusionist, has in later |
vears achieved bis greatest fame as!
i * i
a “mentalist”, a mind reader or telep-'
athist. This particular branch of the]
magician’s art requires a prodigious
! memory, a mentality peculiarly fitted
for the work and the inevitable modic
um of hocus-pocus, without which no
] magical performance would be suc
cessful. Nevertheless, among thei
j practitioners of telepathy, some claim
a real ability to “read” or anticipate
| another’s thoughts can be achieved.
This skill in telepathy is a flair for
the work that few possess, but which;
Dunninger has developed to a high,
degree of perfection. j
The Great Blackstone may be truly!
characterized as one of the greatest
magicians of all times. He appeared j
for many years in vaudeville under]
the name of Harry Bouton, and like)
Thurston quickly became a headline’
performer. Blackstone’s specialty was
! the presentation of big stage illus
ions.
Incidentally, Rlackstone is the only
magician who ever duplicated the fa
mous rone climbing trick of the Hin
doo Fakirs; wherein a rope snakes un
supported into the air. and holds there
while a small boy climhs to the top
I disappears in a cloud of smoke, the
rone falling limply back to the ground,
i Blackstone is reported to have per
i formed this trick on a brightly lighted
| stage and under conditions that were
favorably comparable to the original
Hindoo performance.
Ventriloquism, like magic, also has
its origin rooted in antiquity. The
priesthood of ancient lands were mas
ters of the art. and the mysterious
“voices” that issued from the manv
famous oracles were undoubtedly of
ventriloquial origin. The gods of an
cient Egvpt and Greece were notably
known for their oracular utterances
and these no doubt can be attributed
to ventriloquism. Biblical reference
is made many times to “voices” that
may he traced to the art. However,
the wide gap between ancient ventrilo
quism and modern ventriloquism is so
shrouded in obscurity, the transition
to today’s “voice throwing” cannot be
sharply defined, but a few points of
interest are outstanding and note
worthy.
Ventriloquism, in the manner we
know it today, was first practiced by*
Louis Brabant, a valet-de-chambre ini
the court of Francis I. A Baron de!
Mengen of Vienna, in the eighteenth j
century, was believed to be the first!
to construct and successfully operate j
a dummy with movable lips, a great
stride in the development of ventrilo
quism in the modem entertainment
manner. Valentine Vox, a great En
glish ventriloquist who flourished
around the latter part of the nine
teenth century is believed to be one
of the forerunners of today’s vents.
Edgar Bergen and his two famous
dummies, Charlie McCarthy and “not
so dumb” Mortimer Snerd, is un
questionably the dean of today’s ven
triloquists, with Paul Winchell and
Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead
Smiff following a close second. Fol-|
lowing close on their heels (to name|
a few) are many other famous figures |
in ventriloquism, the Great Lester,
Monsieur Brunard, Richard Haldane,
Senor Wences, the Spanish vent, and
Max Terhune, of movie fame, with!
laughable, lovable “Elmer”.
There is an interesting parallel that
may be noted between Bergen and
Winchell. Bergen’s young daughter,
Candice, or “Candy", and Winchell’s
daughter, Stephanie, are both accom
plished ventriloquists, Candy having
already made her debut in radio. But
only time will tell if these two talent
ed young vents are to follow in the
• footsteps of their famous fathers.
The mecca of all ventriloquists is
sVent Haven, located in Covington,
| Kentucky, the capital of the ventrilo
quial world and the headquarters of
the president of the International Bro
jtherhood of Ventriloquists, William
Shakespeare Berger.
William S. Berger, son of an old
!time Shakespearian actor, author and
playwright, with this theatrical back
ground was destined to become tops in
some form of entertainment. Today
he is at the pinnacle of ventriloquism,
one of the world’s recognized authori
ties on the subject, and the custodian
of the world’s greatest collection of
ventiana. Vent Haven, as Berger’s
beautiful home of gardens and pools
' and walkways is named, houses his
I huge ventriloquial collection and it is
| still growing. Its great guest book i=
I signed by all the world’s prominent
'vents, some names appearing many
] times.
I Vent Haven also contains one of the
largest libraries on ventriloquism,
] each volume indexed and including
1 books in Spanish, Italian, French and
.German. This exhaustive collection
contains many rare volumes, and the
library is still growing, as Berger con
itinues to seek out the rare and un
usual and out-of-print pamphlets,
books and tracts on ventriloquism. As- j
fectionately called the “Rogues’ Gal
lery” is Berger’s collection of hun
dreds of signed photographs of ah
present day greats in ventriloquism.
Outstanding are two huge oil paint
ings of the Great Lester and Frankie
I Rvron. J' .. and Edgar Rergen and
Charlie McCarthy.
I Last but not least is Berger’s im
mense collection of ventriloquial fig
in t—s. or dummies, many of them the
(actual dummy once used by some of
the great masters. Every conceivable
i tvne of figure is represented, and it is
[difficult to walk about Vent Haven
j without stepping on a dummy.
By the way. a ventriloquist never,
never speaks of his stooge as a dum
my. He endows the little figure of
[wood and wire; and paint with a def.
1 init» personality, and thinks of the
11ittle fellow as an actual person, -vs
indeed, in the hands of an expert he j
really becomes. Edgar Rergen oncej
had a complete room, built to scale, ,
outfitted tor Charlie McCarthy.
Surprisingly, ventriloquism today
i pas tv,.-., njaced. in many instances,
upon n higher plane than as a modi-"
um of entertainment. Writing in The;
Saturdov Evening Post in a recent ar
ticle, “The Secrets ot the Talking I
j Dummies”. Rufus Jarman, speaking of
iPaul Winchell has this to say: “Him
self a victim of infantile paralysis,
|Winchell has started experiments ini
a New York hospital teaching ven- 1
triloquism to victims of polio who ]
j cannot speak because of the weaken- j
I w ® e ks l
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■ CHAMBER of COMMERCE I
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led throat muscles. Knowing that ven
; triloquism, which emphasizes use of
| the diaphragm, has benefited certain
! speech difficulties in the past, a staff
jof polio specialists is supervising Win
chell’s experiment in the hope that
speech can be restored to some vic
tims.
“Ventriloquism has lately been
adapted to other noble purposes. Lt
Lee Estes, of the Kentucky Highway
Patrol, an amateur ventriloquist, uses
a dummy to teach safety to Kentucky
school children. One prominent New
York ventriloquist, between profes
sional engagements, gives lessons in
citizenship and Americanism, through
four dummies, to public-school chil
dren. Several Sunday-school teach
|ers use dummies to expound their les
|sons. Ventriloquism has even inva.ded
| the sedate pulpits of England; the
Rev. E. P. Schofield, of London,
1 preaches through a dummy.
“Ventriloquist Stanley Bums, a well
(known entertainer in cabaret circles,
took up ventriloquism when he was
twelve, as a cure for stammering, and
Jimmy Nelson, now twenty-four, had
it prescribed ten years ago as a cure,
for his shyness ..."
So, indeed, there is more to ven-1
eji giQj—innricif*
IR. Elton Forehand, Jr. I
Handle Your
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As entertainment and as a hobby
ventriloquism is growing in populari
ty in leaps and bounds, probably top
ping magic. Kids and grown-ups alilt+
have adopted a hobby and the
ranks of the professionals are being
augmented day by day.
I have experimented with magic and
ventriloquism for many years but I
still remain an amateur, and adjhough
a member of the Intematiif" Bro
therhood of Ventriloquists, iNSo not
presume on that fact as indication of i
any great ability. I prefer to remain
an amateur, and in the mysteries of
magic and the wonders of ventrilo
quism turn back the hands of time
in its flight—and live for awhile the
wonders and myeteries of boyhood.
CHRISTIAN CHURCH SERVICES
Services at the First Christian
Church have been announced as fol
lows by the pastor, the Rev. E. C.
Alexander:
Bible School, Sunday morning at 10
o’clock; morning service at 11 o’clock;
young people’s meeting at 6:30 P. M.,
evening service at 7:30 o’clock. Wed-
I nesday Evening Bible Class meets at
7:30 o’clock. Everybody is welcome to
all services.