If the student has faithfully followed the pre­ceding instructions he should by this time have attained considerable facility in the imitation of near articulate sounds as employed with figures, and have developed considerable capacity for creating the distant sounds that form the art to which was originally applied the term Ven­triloquism. In fact, he should now be able not only to imitate near voices in caricature, but also to " throw " his voice into a box or closet, to the room above and the cellar below, and to cause it to appear gradually to ascend from a level or the basement to the floor or roof above (by simply reversing the method given for making it seem to descend), and even to approach from a distant point on a level until it sounds close at hand, or recede until it is heard no more.

He is therefore now ready to amalgamate these accomplishments to produce a natural effect, or what is a humorous travesty of nature, for enter­tainment purposes. The utterance of sounds with an unmoved countenance is one step toward this end, and the requisite subtlety and device neces­sary to ventriloquial acting, is again another, as is also the proper selection of a ventriloquial vocabulary.

The importance of a right vocabulary can easily be seen by trying to say without moving the lips a sentence containing a number of "p's" or "b's" like "the persistent pertinacity of the priesthood," and though you try for a century the effort will not be fully satisfactory. If, on the other hand, you attempt such phrases as "Hullo, down there," "Yes, I'm here," "Good­night to you," you will find no difficulty. Avoid, therefore, as much as possible those words in which occur labial sounds, or letters which can only properly be pronounced by aid of the lips. By substituting for such sentences as trouble you those which may be pronounced without aid of the lips, you have the key to the prevention of any difficulty of this kind which you may expe­rience. Arrange such sentences as do not require labial pronunciation and practice these before a mirror until yon can employ ventriloquism, either "Near" or "Distant" without change of countenance.

A nice little point of procedure which may be taken advantage of to help conceal the limita­tions of the art may be mentioned here, to wit: when you speak in your natural voice, employ, if you can without rendering your speech stilted and absurd, words that are impracticable in ven­triloquism; also make your utterance as far for­ward in the mouth as possible, and exaggerate a little the unrestrained motion of your lips. When you cease to speak naturally, your countenance changes as if you had really ceased, although you are still sustaining a conversation. After a time, when you drop the natural voice the face changes by habit from animation to repose, and the vocal organs mechanically adjust themselves for the effect required.
In speaking ventriloquially it is not necessary to close the teeth, unless you find, as I do, that this helps you to better control the facial muscles; but it is always best nearly to do so, as this gives a natural and pleased expression to the face. If you close them, do not press them together in a manner that will give you the appearance of a Russian Cossack in a cavalry charge at Liaoyang, and above all things don't grin like the fierce villain of the play when he hisses through his set teeth, "Ha, ha, I have you now!" If the mouth and teeth are too much open the movements of the tongue are likely to be seen; if the lips are closed the sound cannot leave the mouth, so a middle course must be adopted. At times during the entertainment the "business" may allow you to turn your head away from the audience, and your dialogue should be so arranged that these occasions may be seized upon for the vigorous utterance of any proscribed words you are obliged to use.

Although the characters are many which the ventriloquist may imitate, they are after all limited as to kind. You cannot, for instance, ventriloquize with a woman's voice nor with that of a little girl. In fact, even in near ventrilo­quism the old woman's speech must be common, and the child's will not be the voice of an aristo­crat, although it is the least vulgar of all the Voices. It is impossible successfully to imitate the voice of the aristocrat or man of culture, for such a person habitually uses the front of his mouth and speaks with refined accents, whereas the ventriloquist must speak at the back of his mouth as the so-called lower classes do. The man who affects a super-refinement of speech forces his words almost against the front teeth and in the salutation, "Howdy-do?" screws up the upper lip and contracts his lower until he could say "plum" very easily. The laborer's "How are you?" is uttered with loose tongue and lips. The former is therefore not for the ventriloquist, while the latter is.

In bidding your oral friend farewell always say "Good-night" even if you are performing at a matinee, for, as already stated, the other forms, including "Good-bye," must be tabooed on ac­count of their difficulty. "What do you say?" is a useful form of enquiry, and it arrests and secures attention for your ventriloquy. "I have got a ladder" is good, for "ladder" is very easily made clear. "All right," "I'm here," "He is down below," and "Have you got a quarter?" are all useful. Long conversation in the ventriloquial voice is exhausting and not so effective as short remarks; your natural speech should take up most of the time. Break up the dialogue as much as possible with amusing side remarks, changes from one voice to another, grotesque noises, such as coughing, sneezing, etc., if you can do them well, which allow no time for criti­cism and amuse much more than a sustained dialogue, which may become tiresome.

People do not look for great thoughts, pretty phrasing and literary finish in a ventriloquial entertainment, and the dialogue has to be written for special requirements and to fit special limita­tions. Don't use three words where the same effect can be conveyed in one, as ventriloquial dialogue must be brief and interruption should form a strong part of it. The wit and humor of the vaudeville theatre is sometimes criticised and ridiculed by the more discriminating theatre­goers, but variety performers aim to supply what experience has taught them will succeed with the masses, and so with ventriloquism you must use such dialogue as you have found to be most effective and amusing.

It has been stated in a previous chapter that the better actor the entertainer is the greater will be his success as a ventriloquist. This is true because, like the negative adjunct of speaking with still lips, the histrionic art is an important aid to the real work of entertaining and the sus­taining of an illusion while carrying on a conver­sation with an imaginary person.    Although the ventriloquist is the real speaker, the listener's thoughts and emotions are the only ones he is permitted to give outward expression to.

It is ventriloquial acting when the performer places Tommy in the chair he has just vacated and, after putting Jerry in a box at the back of the stage, apparently forgets all about Tommy and sits down upon him, whereupon Tommy cries out indignantly just as a real negro boy would do under like circumstances. Another in­stance is when the ventriloquist, with a worried expression of nervous enquiry, examines the me­chanical arrangements of his figures, while the old man follows his movements by turning his head, and apparently catching the entertainer's anxiety, says in a low voice—yet sufficiently loud to be heard all over the house—"Is my string broke, guv'nor?" or when the exhibitor while acknowledging the applause by a bow, causes the old man gravely to inform the audience that the figures are only made of wood.

Always listen to your figures or to the voices of invisible persons as if their remarks were heard by you for the first time. At appropriate points assume an air of anger, surprise, pleasure or con­sternation  in response to your ventriloquy, in order to accentuate and bring out its full sig­nificance.

In using figures you should imagine that they speak and you furnish them with characters and humor them, reprimand them, and think, hear and see for them. Do not imitate the performer who comes on to the stage, bows and explains that he intends to give a ventriloquial entertainment, but try to have a more artistic introduction. Acting as if the figures were real to you, appear sur­prised or pleased to find the stage already occu­pied, shake hands with the old man if his arm moves, and have him give an amusing recital of his troubles on the train or elsewhere, then mix yourself with the other automata and get to work.
Voice throwing may be effectively introduced by letting the old man call to his pal on the roof, or by having the performer, at the old man's re­quest, give a few illustrations of ventriloquism, when the old man interrupts, praises, and criti­cises the performance.

Where figures are not used, due care must be taken to make the effects you produce possible to the eye. It would be sufficiently illusory to carry on a conversation with a little girl supposed to be back of a piano, as she would be too short to be seen if she were there, but it would be absurd to do so with a man, who would naturally be too tall to be hidden. Never attempt ventriloquism un­less you have such surroundings as will make it effective ; after a time you can tell at a glance just how to throw your voice to suit the place in which you are performing.

All rooms are not suitable for ventriloquial effect. Rich draperies kill the sounds as they do in singing, the position of the doors, windows, etc., the irregular seating of the audience and their proximity make drawing-room ventriloquism very difficult and more of an improvised char­acter, as the dialogue and business must some­times be altered to a great extent to suit existing conditions. Under such circumstances it is better to rely almost wholly upon figures, which make one independent of the surround­ings.

Any unforeseen incident that happens during an entertainment may be taken advantage of by the ventriloquist and commented upon if he is quick witted enough. For instance, if an umbrella is dropped or a chair knocked over the performer may stop his set dialogue and make the most of the occurrence in some such manner as this:

Old Man. I say, Guv'nor, that feller's broke one of the chairs.
Vent. Silence!
Old Man. Yes—and then you'll take it out of my salary the way you always does.
Old Lady. He is picking it up now.
Vent. Will you go on with the entertain­ment?
Old Man. Not while the brokers—I mean the breakers—are in.

If you are good at polyphony, ventriloquism may be effectively amalgamated with it by caus­ing an imaginary mosquito or bluebottle fly to buzz around the old man's head, and considerable amusement can be raised by your efforts to cap­ture it. Or you can cause the old man to say: "I say, can you crow like a cock?"

Vent. Yes, sir.
Old Man. So can I.
Vent. I should be delighted to hear you.
Old Man. You have never heard me?
Vent. No.
Old Man. I thought not, or you wouldn't ask me to. Here's mine. (Crows.)
Vent. And here is mine. (Crows.)
Old Man. (Crows again.)
Vent. When are you going to stop?
Old Man. Not afore you does. (Crows,)