As has already been stated in Chapter II of this work, the illusion produced by ventriloquists is the result, primarily, of an acoustic phenome­non—the uncertainty of the sound's direction; and, secondarily, of a habit acquired of speaking without moving the facial muscles.

Those ventriloquists who, without accessories, seem to possess the power of throwing their voice almost anywhere, succeed therein by utilizing the principle of acoustics that has already been explained. As to the exact spot whence the sound proceeds, the ventriloquist usually takes care to show that by an expressive motion and by looking in that direction, or desig­nating it with his finger while his face expresses fear, interest or surprise. The spectator then easily persuades himself that the sound does really come from the exact spot thus pointed out to him in a seemingly unintentional manner.

Regarding the possibilities of voice throwing, there is a good deal of misconception. To those who have little knowledge of the subject and who are more than half deluded into a belief in the actuality of a voice-throwing power with which the ventriloquist is especially endowed from birth, there seems to be, judging from the ab­surd requests they sometimes make of performers, no limit to the exercise of the art. The ven­triloquist is looked upon with surprise and sus­picion by such persons when he naturally refuses to grant their request to perform some utterly impossible vocal feat, and he is usually set down as a rank fraud or as an unaccommodating person who could easily do as they desire if he only would. It is not an unusual experience in private-house entertainments for a doting father or grandfather to take one of the knee figures from the entertainer while he is getting ready to pack them away and, after placing it in the arms of one of the children of the family, calmly ask the ventriloquist to "make it talk "—an attempt which would only result in disappointment.

Then again some wiseacre who thinks "he knows all about it" and discourses learnedly of the "double throat," will walk confidently up to the performer and ask him to throw his voice to the back part of the room over the heads of the audience or to some other utterly impossible place. I have never yet heard of a ventriloquist being requested to throw his voice into the next county, but undoubtedly there are persons who think that he might do so if he wished, though just how it could be made to return to him from so long a distance they might be rather hard put to it to say.    Apropos of this:

"Did you know," asks Jerry, the Irish boy, in one of my dialogues, "that I was down to a party the other night?"
Vent. "No, were you?"
Jerry. "Yes, and there was a ventrisquealer there."
Vent. "No, no, Jerry, you mean a ventrilo­quist, a man who throws his voice."
Jerry. "Yes, that's it, but this feller threw his voice so far it didn't get back again."
Vent. "Is it possible?"
Jerry. "I dunno, but he did it all th' same."

This is probably the attitude which would be taken by the knowing ones who, while they might not believe that the voice could be heard from such a distance, might still maintain that it could be sent there and allowed to go off ac­cording to schedule, even if no one heard it.

The truth is that, with the exception of a few-feet toward the listener where the audience is well removed from the performer, the ventrilo­quist must always come between the sound he imitates and the auditor. The following diagram (Fig. 8) illustrates the limits of voice throwing. "V" represents the ventriloquist, while "A" is the auditor, and the figures 1 to 16 the extent to which the art of voice throwing is possible.

Fig. 8

From 1 to 12 the voice can be thrown until it becomes inaudible, from 13 to 16 it creates no illusion because of the fact that to throw the voice forward and not suggest a reason therefore would be unnatural, as any voice nearer to the audience than your own would be louder. The figures 1 to 12, therefore, define the real limits of the ventriloquial art, and within this field the voice may be thrown with propriety and effect.

It is obvious, however, that if you use a distant voice, it must either be subdued by the effect of distance—say as it would sound when proceeding from the points 5 to 8—or muffled as if coming from a box or trunk, from behind a wall, above a ceiling or underneath a floor. The voice may be thrown forward into a box standing between the performer and the audience if the box is nearer the ventriloquist than it is to the audience, as on a stage, for instance; in that case, the hollow, muffled quality of the sound is precisely the same as it would be if the trunk were farther back, and the illusion or effect is therefore the same.

In order to produce a muffled sound that seems to come from afar or from an enclosed place, the ventriloquist arranges his tongue in such a way that its base, upon bearing against the soft palate, shall form a sort of diaphragm that allows but very little of the voice to pass. If, then, the ven­triloquist articulates his words with a strong gut­tural voice, the sound will seem to come from the earth, from a grotto or cavern, or from a box, cask or closet. If, on the contrary, the tongue being in the same position, the ventriloquist speaks with a sharp voice, he will produce the illusion of a voice coming from the ceiling, or from some high place, such as the top of a tree or the roof of a neighboring house. But, in both cases, in order to affect the emission of this muf­fled, somewhat indistinct voice, the ventriloquist keeps his lungs distended, and emits as little breath as possible in pronouncing.

I know of no better way to attain the proper position of the vocal organs than by the ventriloquial drone practice recommended by Robert Ganthony.

To acquire the ability to make this drone, take a deep breath and, while holding it, make a retching sound at the back of the throat as if (to put it delicately) trying to be sick. As you do this utter a prolonged "Ah," exhaling slowly.

At first the "ah" will very likely be little more than a grunt, but by trying again and pro­longing the sound as you make a greater effort, the exclamation will begin to sound like an uncer­tain drone, finally settling down to a clear, sus­tained hum like that of a distant bee drone, from which it derives its name.
The farther back in the throat the sound is made the more distant will it appear to the listener, and the more forward in the throat the nearer will it seem.

You may not get the ventriloquial drone at once, but a little practice will enable you to do so. When once you hear that clear, distant-sounding drone you may know that you have your mouth as it should be for ventriloquism, but until you do produce that you must hark back be­cause, unless this foundation is laid properly, all that follows is unsatisfactory and your ventrilo quism will lack that distant quality, to obtain which is to be a ventriloquist. Practice on the bee drone enables you to sustain the vocal cords in position and familiarize them with their novel and unnatural duties. When once the drone is obtained with "ah," all the other vowels should be droned, until they become equally easy to produce and sustain.

When, in an exhibition of ventriloquism, the voice wavers about, the effect is unnatural and shows that the performer has gained his knowl­edge in a haphazard manner, for by the foregoing practice the requisite command is obtained and this uncertainty avoided, as well as that visible straining which results from ignorance of how to produce the distant quality of sound required.

The acquirement of the drone is the acquire­ment of all distant sound, but it is well to begin first with the droning of a bee, which is a con­tinued sound only altering as the insect ap­proaches or recedes, and is produced by prolong­ing the " ah " as long as you possibly can. In making the bee apparently approach from a distance, the increase in the sound must be made gradually, in fact, at the rate a bee pro­gresses.

If you can make the sound of a dog barking near at hand you have only to assume the "drone" position to make it appear outside, and the same is true of the imitation of a cock crow­ing.

The next step is to obtain a sudden transition from the drone to the natural voice. Commence by saying "Ah" in the natural voice and follow with the ventriloquial "Ah," not as a pro­longed drone, but staccato fashion, and practice this with all the vowels, as in the lip practice in Part I.

By this practice you will be enabled to givewith ease a conversation with some one apparently outside a window, where you speak in your natural voice and the reply is made in the distant voice. The change from one voice to the other must be rapidly and constantly made, and the re­quired facility is obtained by the practice described above.