1. PERFORMANCE & MAGIC
Drew Hagen- Art 402

2. MAGIC AND
PERFORMANCE IN
POPULAR CULTURE

3. VENTRILIQUISM
 Definition of VENTRILOQUISM (Webster’s Dictionary)
 1: the production of the voice in such a way that the sound seems to come from
a source other than the vocal organs of the speaker
 2: the expression of one's views and attitudes through another; especially :
such expression by a writer through a fictional character or literary persona
 Or in other words…Performance

4. HISTORY
 Ventriloquism first noted in a historical context in ancient Greece, and
thought to be a religious, mystical practice (they thought it was the voice
of the undead speaking through the mystic)
 Seen as a kind of witchcraft during the middle ages
 Now seen as a kind of comedy or vaudeville act with creepy
undertones…

8. C E L E B R I T I E S, V E N T R I L O Q U I S M &
THE ART OF THE PUPPET
Charlie
Chaplin
With
puppet

9.  In the early 20th century, ventriloquism and magicians became
quite fashionable, especially with the Hollywood crowd
 Interestingly about the same time that American and European
interest in mysticism and séances also became very trendy.

10. Edgar Bergan and Charlie McCarthy Paul Winchell and …??

12. CINEMA & THE CREEPY
FACTOR
 With Movies, the ventriloquist theme was always used to play on
audience fears (and still is a reoccurring theme)
 TV shows like the Twilight Zone, and films like the British horror
film Dead of Night and many more kept this performance art in the
public consciousness through fear.

13. Images from the Twilight Zone TV series

14. Dead of Night (1945)

15. Magic (1978)

16. C H A N G I N G FAC E O F T H E
A RT ? ?
 Thanks to more kid friendly entertainers like Jim Henson, the
Muppets, and many other children’s shows, the art of ventriloquism
and puppetry have at times combined and flourished under this
relationship.
 Jeff Dunham is considered by most to be the most commercially
accepted and financially successful ventriloquist artist of all time.

17. Jeff
Jim Dunham
Henson

18. Fin