Happy Holidays & Thank you Greg Claassen & Mike Brose !

First off, I just wanted to wish Happy Holidays to everyone! Also, I wanted to express my thanks to both Mike Brose (Puppets & Props) and Greg Claassen for the time and help for which they have also offered in helping to further along Abhijeet's desire into make a ventriloquist figure a reality. Which just goes to prove how much of a class act both Mike & Greg truly are!
As you know, in keeping with a previous blog posting on Abhijeet, he hails from India, and is incredibly interested in Ventriloquism, as well as learning to make his very own Ventriloquist figure. Unfortunately, Abhi does not have the same sort of means available to him in India with which to make a vent figure as we do here in the United States. Where both you and I are concerned, if we need to purchase a spring or new power tool (for example) to further along our own figure building projects, the hardware store is most likely just down the street. But in Abhijeet's case, he does not have these same sort of luxuries with which to purchase much needed supplies, nor the figure building resources we share here in the States.
As a result, armed with the creative knowledge provided by both Mike & Greg, Abhijeet is now on his way and I find this incredibly exciting. I cannot wait to see what he creates!

Keep building & keep venting!

Ken

Elroy's 4 Sale !!!

Greetings to you all and Happy Holidays! I just wanted to drop you a quick hello and let you know that elroy is currently completed and up for auction via ebay. I believe his number will be up by tomorrow morning. So, if you are interested and have as yet to bid, then by all means--don't wait!

I have snapped some current pics for your viewing pleasure. I replaced the black wig with a much better quality dark brown one. Also, I went in and fine tuned everything, so all of the mechanics work quietly and smoothly--especially the self-centering eyes, which are very responsive.

As for what's next, I will begin work on a Joe Smith casting I received from Joe not long ago and I also have plans to begin work on a Finis inspired tribute figure. So--Stay Tuned!!!

A letter from India...

...or an email atleast. I just received this from a young gentleman who is very taken with Ventriloquism and especially with figure making. As you will see in his message (below), he is hungry for information on figure building. Naturally, I am always excited when I receive a message like this from somone who just wants to know, and especially from India, too! very cool to know that Ventriloquism is alive and well in the world.
As a result, I am working on a small manual based upon what I know and have learned from others in order to help him along the way. After all, I have nothing to hide with regard to information on my mechanics or what works best for me. I really feel that it's infinitely more important to help others along the way who just want to know with regard to this wonderous craft of Ventriloquist figure building.
So, once I get me little guide together, I will send it out to him and assist with any further questions he may have.
And anyone else who has any questions, please feel free to contact me and I will do my best to help you in any way I can. I don't pretend to know everything there is to know about making vent figures, but what I do know thus far may be of assistance to someone who is just starting out.
Two of the gentleman who have been very kind and helpful to me in the past, Joe Smith & Mike Brose, were both like creative beacons. So, this is my way of saying thanks by assisting others who may need help.
As for Elroy, I will have some more pics soon and will let you know when he goes up for sale.

Until then, be well & keep venting!

Ken



Abhijeet's email:

Dear Sir,
Myself Abhijeet, a resident of India (Age 22). I'm an amature ventriloquism student, performing since last 4 years. I'm crazy about everything which is related to ventriloquism. While searching on Net on this subject I came across to your blog. Now I want to try my hand in vent figure making. Will you please help me? I have aleready made a hard figure with only mouth movement from paper mache and a soft monkey figure. But, I want to make a figure which contains eye movement, blinking eyes, raising eyebrows. Will you please give me details of mechanism of these movements and info on different types of controls on headstick?
The latex or fiber for making mould and shell is not available in my town. Can I use these animations in paper mache figure? The material for making soft figure is available in my town. How can I make soft figure, will you please give me detailed info on this also?
I'll be thankful if you help me. Sorry for asking too much questions. I apologise for mistakes.
Waiting for your response. Thank you. Regards.
Yours
Abhijeet Deshpande

Spring is here & so is Elroy...

Greetings everyone and Happy Spring to you! The weather here in Califonia is quite pleasant at a nice 78 degrees or so today and with such nice weather out I am confined to my little workshop indoors working on Elroys new hair! But don't get me wrong, it was a pleasure to cut & fashion Elroys mop into a nice little hairdo. I found the wig in a local 2nd hand shop and it will serve for right now. If (once I complete the body) a nicer one shows up, then I will swap it out. But for the time being I could have done a lot worse, especially since I am not a barber.

The funny thing about locating decent wigs around here is that they are VERY scarce. There was a time when one could locate them quite easily at the local thrift shops, but those days are long gone. The shortage all has to do with the fact that most of these 2nd hand shops now donate these old mops to the Cancer Assocation for folks who really need them after undergoing chemotheraphy, which is a great cause. Unfortunately for me, I will have to start looking elsewhere online. Oh well.
As for Elroy, the new pics here feature him with his new hairdo. The mechanics are completed and all work VERY smoothly (especially the self-centering eyes). I am now at work on his body. I am planning on sculpting the lower legs/feet out of balsa wood and the uppers will be made from the usual stuffed muslin. The reason for the lower legs being made from wood will be to avoid that spindly-doll-leg syndrome when using the figure; it doesn't look natural when one is performing with a figure and the puppet's legs are doing odd things when one is handling the figure during a performance. So, I am hoping that the lightweight wooden lower legs will remedy this problem.

Once Elroy is completed, I will start on a clay model for a new creation and I will also begin work on creating a Finis tribute figure from some of my odds and ends.

Stay tuned and keep building !

New acquisitions

Greetings all! by the looks of these pictures, one might think that I recently returned from some sort of archaeological dig, where I unearthed a mini collection of ancient "belly-talking" artifacts.
In actuality, I recently acquired these from ventriloquist, Charlie Horner. Not too far back, Charlie secured what once was the Finis shop. It seems that he has been gradually making some of the shop's odds & ends available.
In this set, I acquired a rather rough looking Finis face, which looks to be made of an old wood dough formulation. The face itself, looks like it might make a nice ventriloquist figure head with a bit of work.
The head stick is solid wood and will lend itself for the sculpting of future clay heads and the mouth appears to be solid wood, as are the nicely carved hands.
With regard to the hands, I will also use these at some point.
All in all, this is really old stuff, but still useful. What's old might just prove to be new again!

until next time...

Happy New Year...

... and greetings to everyone! In keeping up with one of my new year's resolutions, which was to provide a long over-due blog entry, here I am with some recent pictures of Elroy. Unfortunately, I am afraid that most of the latter portion of last year kept me extremely busy with many non-ventriloquist figure building pursuits. So, I am starting up the new year with some new progress with regard to Elroy and I also have plans for the building of a newer figure from some castings which I purchased from Joe Smith. Also, I have just put in a new order for some more Klean Klay in order to start sculpting a new head for a brand new offering which I hope to have available for sale by the end of the summer of this year.
As for Elroy, this past month I have constructed the free floating eye mechanism, installed the eyes, repainted the head in more of an orange flesh color, and tinted the areas above the eyes for a retro 1950's Frank Marshall look. The reason for this was due to my feeling that my original paint job was just too pale and seemed to me that he would be washed out on stage by any over head lighting. So, I have decided to break away from my lighter toned skin color and mixed a large batch of my own orange blend of flesh color which I will use from now on.
With regard to the eyes, they are wood with gloss white laquer and hand painted acrylic irises. It took a very steady hand to paint these, but in taking my time, I was able to come up with a nicely painted set. I also applied a few coats of acrylic clear gloss to the irises for some extra added detail.
And those ears--he's got them. I chose to make more of a cartoonish rendering of ears rather than carving something more realistic.
So, the only thing left to do is to run the eye control rod, construct the body, which I plan to make out of wood, with wire ribbing, and wig him. Once Elroy is completed, I may put him up for sale on Mike Brose's site first and possibly E-Bay next. But, I would love for someone from the vent community to snatch him up first, which is why I will post him up for sale on Puppet & Props first at a special price.

So, for the time being, Stay tuned & keep building !

News Flash !!!

Up for adoption on E-Bay is one of my figures, "Julian." He really is a rare & wonderful figure which was made from a Joe Smith development casting.

He is 40" and sports a slot jaw mouth, self-centering eyes, and an upper lip sneer. This figure also includes the clothes seen in the photos and a black, foam lined case.

He is currently up for auction and with NO reserve price!

So, if you are in the market for a nice custom looking figure that doesn't look like he was made with a cookie cutter, then place your bid!