How Ventriloquism Works

Series Summary

Ventriloquism is an act of stagecraft in which a person, called a ventriloquist, manipulates his or her voice so that it appears that the voice is coming from elsewhere. The act of ventriloquism is called ventriloquizing and the ability to do so is commonly called in English the ability to "throw" one's voice. However, the term "throwing one's voice" is misleading, because it implies that a sound's physical origin has changed, when really the change has been perceptual and not physical. The illusion of ventriloquism is just that, an illusion. A ventriloquist is skilled at speaking without moving his or her lips. The audience, therefore, actually detects the sound of the voice from the ventriloquist’s mouth, but sees only the mouth of the puppet moving.

So, how does someone physically perform the act of ventriloquism? In this free video series, our expert will show you what, how, and why a number of steps are taken to perfect the illusion. You'll be shown how to pronounce problem letters, how to practice your technique, and how to develop uniques voices. Soon, you'll be able to trick your friends, impress people at parties, and entertain with this historic technique.

Video Transcript

"I am Grace Fitzpatrick, and I am here on behalf of expert village. I am here to talk to you about ventriloquism and throwing your voice. A lot of people think that ventriloquism is the art of throwing your voice, actually taking your voice and throwing it across the room and making it sound like your voice is coming from another part of the room, but actually this is all an illusion. The real trick to ventriloquism is that you’re not throwing your voice at all, but actually relying on the power of illusion to do your trick. What this consists of is having a puppet that you can make move, and people will look at what's moving and think that the noise you are making is coming from that. When you make a noise and move something in one area of the room, their attention is automatically going to be pointed toward the thing moving, and they will want to believe that the noise is coming from that spot. Part of the illusion in ventriloquism is that your audience is really going to believe what is going on because they want to, and that is part of the fun of it."