Friday, September 26, 2008

Puppet Inventory


This post was inspired by my oldest son when last Sunday he asked the question “How many puppets do you have now?” My wife and I took a mental inventory and to my surprise I discovered that the answer is 16. I have 16 puppets in my ventriloquist troupe.

This includes: 4 people puppets
Calvin, a little boy; Sherman, an old man;Schnozz, the ambassador from the Island of Proboscis ; and a basketball player with long braided hair.

8 animal puppets: Cecil, the turtle; Irving, the pink fish; Eugene, the owl; Kroaker, the frog; Lanoline, the lamb; A clown fish; A flying squirrel; and a small elephant hand puppet.

Then there’s the category I call "The Others" which includes: A talking dry erase board, the Blabber Mouth puppet I created, and Amby & Dexter (both sock puppets)

Out of all 16 I have used 9 of them in public performances. Now traditionally being a ventriloquist means you sit or stand on a stage with a wooden character upon your knee and exchange snappy dialogue and punch lines. That’s not the avenue of ventriloquism I’m driving down right now. Of course I do one day aspire to being that type of ventriloquist. But the type of wooden figure I would like to have is not affordable to me right now.

I have always loved working with, what is called, soft puppets ever since I was a kid. I love performing with them. I will continue to work with them even after I get my first traditional “vent” figure.

As I was collecting the information for this post I was a little surprised about the total number of characters and voices I have in my repertoire. I’ve always considered myself very limited in my ability to create character voices. But using 9 different voices is not bad.

Again, I have to say that I’m very thankful that God has allowed me to look into the mirror of my ventriloquism ministry and see a reflection I’m very pleased with. I pray He is as well. My ministry and career as a ventriloquist is still in its infancy but it sure has grown a lot over the last 2 years.
I started out in July 2006 with just a pink fish sitting on top of a shoe box. A picture of my first public performance, in my church on July 16, 2006, is at the top of this post. Now my ventriloquist abilities include 9 characters and voices. That’s quite a lot of growth. All the glory and honor for my progress goes to God.

I’d like to conclude this post by challenging you to take an inventory of your passion or ministry and see how far you’ve come. It may help you see and appreciate the fact that God is at work in your life. If you don’t have a ministry or a passion that God had led you to I strongly encourage you inventory your life and determine where He wants you to serve Him. He has a plan for everyone and that includes you.

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