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April 26, 2007

Ronn Lucas Show
Dan @ 10:15pm (Las Vegas Time)

Went to see the Ronn Lucas show at the new Aladdin/Planet Hollywood hotel and casino and his show is terrific. He has some of the best lip control of any vent working out there today. His comedy is also infectious and you laugh non stop. His routine with the Ventrilo mask is just the best and when you see the person watch his own video at the end it is really the terrific. Entertainment for the entire family the way variety used to be. It is a show that is a must for anyone who goes to Las Vegas. It is an afternoon show and you can usually get a comp ticket to see him so for the price of a drink you see a terrific Las Vegas show.
 

Comments welcomed.

~Dan

Comments

1 Comment > > >

 

  1. Gee Dan it sounded like a good show wish i could of seen it Ronn is a great ventriloquist.

    Comments by Christian Morse - May 5, 2007 @ 10:20pm

 

 

 

April 25, 2007

A Rarely Seen Video
Dan @ 1:29pm (Las Vegas Time)

Hello from Las Vegas. So far, we’ve had a good time. Tomorrow we’ll be seeing Ronn Lucas’ show. I’ll have more to report after that.

On Sunday, Janice McElroy posted on the McElroy list that Betty McElroy (Glenn’s wife) passed away. Our condolences go out to the family.

Today, we are posting rarely seen video. This video was donated by Ray Guyll. It’s a video taken from an old 8mm film by and converted to VHS by Les Lamborn. It’s a short video showing both Glenn & George McElroy at Vent Haven. I hope you enjoy it.

Click Here For Video

Stay tuned for more from Vegas.

Comments welcomed.
~Dan

Comments


1 Comment > > >
 

  1. I believe the 8mm film was dated 1975 during the Puppeteers of America meetings in Cincinnati, Oh. with a side trip to Vent Haven.

    Comments by Les Lamborn - April 25, 2007 @ 9:35pm

 

 

 

April 22, 2007

Cy Leonard's Hortense - UPDATE!!!
Dan @ 9:15pm

As I am preparing to leave this week for Las Vegas,  I received a phone call from Barbara Leonard. She told me that her son Bruce does in fact have Hortense back in his possession. All the legal wrangling was done so they returned the figure to him this morning (Sunday, April 22nd).

This is GREAT news!!!

Dan


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Off to Vegas
Dan @ 6:03am

It appears that Steve , my webmaster, is going to win our bet. I thought for sure that in a week we would have at least 50 people with their favorite figure or puppet posted on the Ventspace Gallery. I was wrong but I will make a last ditch effort to get all of you to send those pictures in!! PLEASE add yourself to the Ventspace Gallery and save me from the fate of my bet. Steve is going to win and I can't let that happen. Come on we all love to show off or we wouldn't be into ventriloquism so do it now, have your significant other, your mother, your father, sister, brother SOMEONE take that picture and send it in to me to post. I implore you!!

I will be journeying west to the city of lights , Las Vegas , this next week so I will be reporting to you from there any news I can find concerning our great field. I do have plans to go see Ron Lucas at his new venue at the Alladin/Planet Hollywood hotel. I have seen him quite a few times at the Rio but this will be the first time at his new spot. I am sure he will be great. I know that John Pizzi was also performing in Las Vegas but I don't know if he will still be there when I arrive. I hope so as his show is very funny.

Don't forget that our forum is waiting for you comments and thoughts and it too has been quite active so please take part. Thanks and stay tuned.


Comments........Please
~Dan

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SPECIAL REPORT - From The Police Blotter

The Travels of Cy Leonard's Hortence
Dan @ 8:45pm

On the morning of April 19, 2007 I was doing my usual scouring of eBay for vintage ventriloquist figures when I happened upon this very special figure being sold in Ontario Canada. Here is the item number so that you can go back and look at the listing. 110116718232 . When I opened this listing up low and behold I saw a familiar ventriloquist figure. It was Hortense the Len Insull figure Cy Leonard had redone as a female figure. It was even still dressed in the original gold lamee dress with white feather boa and Tierra in her hair.

Needless to say I was shocked to think that Cy's son would be selling this great piece of ventriloquial history. I watched it and thought I would wait a while before bidding. It had a starting price of $29.00 with a reserve. Not long after that I noticed that it had received a bid and in fact it had met the reserve at $129.00. That really made me suspicious. I knew Bruce Leonard would never sell this figure for such a small amount of money.


I then gave Barbara Leonard a phone call and asked her why her son was selling Hortense on eBay. I told her I certainly would have been a buyer for a substantial amount of money so that Hortense could join Happy in my collection. Barbara told me she could not believe Bruce was selling her but she would check it out and get back to me.

About a half hour went by and I got a phone call back from Barbara Leonard and she explained to me that Bruce had had his apartment robbed and Hortense was among the items that had been stolen. He had made out a police report but nothing had ever come of it. He could not tell him mom about the robbery as he didn't want her to feel bad. Now they had a lead and knew the figure was still in their area and had a chance to get her back.

I told Barbara I would get back to her in a bit.

I contacted the high bidder, PM 1, who happens to be Phil McConkey from Canada who I know very well and told him the story and asked that since he had already bid on the figure would he please get the contact information on the seller so that I could give this information to Barbara Leonard. Phil complied with my request and within minutes I had the sellers name town and phone number. I called Mrs. Leonard and gave her all the information on the seller so she could give it to the police. She told me she would let me know when anything happened.

A few hours went by and I got a phone call from a very excited Barbara Leonard who informed me that the police immediately were able to get the exact street address for the eBay seller and were off and running. They went to this address and confronted the seller who then told the police that he was selling this figure for a friend who did not have a computer. He gave the police that person's address and the police then went to this person's address and there they found Hortense. They took Hortense and she is now in the protective custody of the police.

I guess there is a little bit of legal wrangling that the Leonard's must do but Hortense has been found, the crook caught and as the saying goes alls well that ends well.

Dan Willinger the dummy police.

Comments


6 Comments > > >

  1. Great Job Detective Dan, Your site is great!

    Comments by Chef Jim - April 21, 2007 @ 7:45am


     

  2. What a fascinating story. Very interesting! Nice work.

    Comments by Matt Bronsil - April 20, 2007 @ 10:54pm


     

  3. Dan, You would make a great detective. As a retired law enforcement officer, I like to read about people getting involved. Maybe some on could fine the one stolen years ago from www.newsyvents.blogspot.com on Clinton Detweiler cite. Thanks Lonnie

    Comments by Lonnie Cox - April 20, 2007 @ 4:33pm

     

     

  4. Check this out, who would have figured 7 years later this dummy would be stolen and found by YOU. You should be the new Columbo.

    Comments (& pictures) by Bob Abdou www.mrpuppet.com  - April 20, 2007 @ 11:53am
     



     

  5. What a DUMMY!
    Thank you for looking out for all ventriloquist everywhere. It is a good thing that you recognized the figure and were able to help recover the valuable item.
    God bless you all.

    Comments by Jan Halford-thepuppetlady.org - April 20, 2007 @ 7:29am


     

  6. Thank goodness for that. You were there to help make things right.

    Comments by Bill DeMar - April 19, 2007 @ 10:20pm


     

 

April 17, 2007

The VentSpace Gallery
Dan @ 10:15am

Big News at Ventriloquist Central.... I want you to be a part of this website. After receiving numerous emails and talking with friends, I’ve decided we need a picture gallery of ventriloquists. We are calling it the "VentSpace Gallery" (the name was actually suggested by my son, Jason).

It doesn’t matter if you’re a pro, amateur or just interested in the art of ventriloquism, we want your pictures. Here’s how you can be a part of the VentSpace Gallery:
 

  • Send us your favorite picture (only one please) of you and your dummy or puppet (or group picture of all your characters).
  • Name that you would like to appear under picture (ex: John Doe & Jerry or Jane Doe and Friends, etc)
  • If you have a website, send us the link and we'll add that, too.


Send this information to Steve (the webmaster) at: webmaster@ventriloquistcentral.com .

He’ll post your picture and information…it’s that simple.


So, please send in your pictures and be a part of the VentSpace Gallery.

Click here to check out the VentSpace Gallery.

 

Thanks (comments are always welcomed).
~Dan

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April 14, 2007

Collecting Today
Dan @ 7:13am

So you decided you just can't wait to find and old figure that suits your needs but is still a collectible , well then wait no longer. There is a puppet maker nestled in Burbank California that just may fill your bill. Jay Johnson found him and his character Bob became an overnight hit with his big eye sassy look.

I am talking about Rene products. Rene has produced puppets of unparallel quality for decades and these puppets have been used by professional puppeteers the world over. His figures have been used on stage and screen and TV in all sorts of shows and commercials.

Rene produces a full line of ventriloquist figures and each one is hand crafted for you on
order. They are made of Neoprene and will last a lifetime. His painting his fabulous and wigs are perfect. We are all familiar with Jerry Layne figures and this is where Jerry Layne got his start. His figures are actually a retooled Rene face.

I am including the web site for Rene for you to go to and see these great figures. http://www.reneandhisartistsproductions.com/


Rene is now in his 80's so he will not be producing figures for much longer ( I hope he goes at least another 50 years) so you may want to contact him for that special figure. His prices are actually very reasonable and are well under the $1000.00 price. When his figures come on eBay ( I have seen 2 in the past 4 years) they always sell for around $600.00 which is right around what he sells them for direct to you. So all I can say is here is a collectible ventriloquist figure which you can still purchase so why wait??

Comments welcomed........

~Dan

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April 11, 2007

The Ventriloquist Marketplace
Dan @ 8:40am

I decided one of the first pages to put up on my site was the Marketplace and to date it has been doing just OK. We have had a number of figures that have been listed and sold and also some that didn't sell but that is to be expected. There have also been some other items that were not figures that have also sold so all in all it has been a success.

I wanted to make the cost for this service as nominal as possible and so a listing of a figure is only $5.00 for a 30 day listing with multiple pictures and text. In my mind I think this is a bargain price. You receive all the money and the transaction is strictly between you and the customer. No middleman or fees to pay.

I must admit that I love eBay and of course scour the pages looking for those great figures but I do check other sources for figures as well and believe me so does everyone else so I think you should give the marketplace a try and see if you have any luck. For this price you can list here and on eBay at the same time.

Those that have sold a dummy off my marketplace have thanked me and have said they will be back and I do hope that all of you will take advantage of this great section of Ventriloquist Central.

Comments.........

~Dan

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April 9, 2007

Reader's Comments...
Dan @ 9:50am

Hi Dan, I just finished listening to the interviews with Frank Marshall and Glenn McElroy. Thank you so much for making those available. Your ventriloquist central site is fantastic! I can't thank you enough for taking the time that you do in maintaining the site. I love it! It is so interesting and filled with so much good information for ventriloquists. I look forward to hearing from you regularly through your newsletter. Great work!

By the way, Happy looks fantastic! Ray is going to give my McElroy figure a make-over this summer. I'm excited to have that done. I was very fortunate that Jerry McSafety was in incredibly good shape when I acquired him in January of 2002. But I do use him extensively (100 plus shows a year) so he does need to be maintained. Plus, I am eager to restore him back to his original look-- like he just came out of the McElroy workshop.

Thanks for all you contribute to our vent community. I appreciate you very much!

Your Vent Friend,
David Pendleton

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Dan, I love the audio interviews you have been posting recently. Thanks again for a great service. Chris Johnson


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Dan; Fantastic site! Very colorful and informative. Keep up the great work!

Pete Michaels


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Fascinating Interviews Dan. Thanks for making them available.

Ax

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Thanks, Dan.

Keith Singleton


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Dan: Am thoroughly enjoying the site! I think this is really going to be THE place for vents to congregate on the web. I really love the links and the opportunity to read about and/or see other vents.

Thanks so much for doing this!

Bob Baker

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First off- LOVE THE SITE! Fantastic and enjoyable! So happy that Dan has decided to "share" his collection and knowledge! As a "dummy builder" myself, the mechanics & technical stuff really interest me so it would be nice to have more of that. Keep up the great work!

Jerry - The DummyMaker




Thanks for all your comments!

~Dan

 

Comments

1 Comments > > >
 

  1. Dan, You and Steve are doing an amazing job on the site for sure. This is much more enjoyable than WorldVents. My goodness you even have had some of the best of the best in Pete Michaels and Dave Malmberg contribute with some great material. Cheers.


    Comments by Larry Harris-ComicVent - April 9, 2007 @ 6:52pm


 


 

 

April 7, 2007

The MASTER Collector - W.S. Berger
Dan @6:58am

I have been so influenced by W.S. Berger I just can't tell you. He was the master at collecting ventriloquist figures and I only wish that I had his wonderful talent for getting folks to will their figures to me. When his collection started to really take hold he would go and see performers and would always make sure he invited them back to his home and would always give them the royal treatment. Hence in the long and short of it when they would retire what better place would there be for their figures to rest.

He too was an avid business man and he would sell to purchase and he even sold a McElroy figure and then bought it back. When he commissioned the McElroy brothers to build Jacko he made payments to them. Even back then their price was high enough that it had to be paid out. I have been contacting vents for quite some time now and have been emulating W.S.'s technique to make sure people know I want their figures. I don't ever think I will be able to come close to the number of figures he amassed but I sure am going to try. I believe he put his collection at around 550 items before he passed on and now there is around 750. A truly remarkable achievement .

I will be watching the countdown counter on my own website knowing that I too will again be in the mecca for ventriloquists and will be able again to go and peruse the vast collection of ventriloquism figures that reside at Vent Haven. It is such a wonderful collection and I just hope that one day my collection come close.

Comments......

~Dan

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April 2, 2007

More Audio Interviews - Cy Leonard & Glenn McElroy
Dan @ 9:11am

I again want to thank each and every one of you who have helped to make Ventriloquist Central the great web site that it has become. I would not have been able to do this without your help. Even though it is my web site I want you to feel as if it is your website. I am making all the information I can gather readily available for you. So please continue to email me and let me know what information you may have that I can post for all others to view.

I am super excited because a dear friend of mine decided to dig into his files and gave this wonderful audio interview to me to let you all listen to. It is Cy Leonard interviewing Glen McElroy back in 1977. This interview is 15 minutes in length and covers everything you have always wanted to know about these fine figure makers.

Again as the last time we are requiring you to be signed up for our email newsletter, which of course is free, to get the link to listen. Also like before let me mention that our email list is not available to anyone. We do not give out your information or sell the mailing list. It is strictly for me to be able to contact you when I have something I feel is worthy of a note to let you know about, such as this fabulous interview.

So if you haven't already, sign up for the email newsletter and then listen to this very rare recording of 2 of the most famous people in the past vent community, Cy Leonard and Glen McElroy!!

Click Here To Sign Up For The Email Newsletter List



Comments always wanted.......

~Dan


Comments

2 Comments > > >
 

  1. Since we are on the topic of audio interviews, there are several interviews with Paul Winchell that were made in 2004. These are available on the Winchell site:
    http://www.paulwinchell.com/media.htm   If you are a Winch fan and haven't heard these yet, then you'll definitely want to pay this site a visit.

    Comments by Bob Albano - April 3, 2007 @ 8:39pm



     

  2. Dan, Great piece of McElroy history! It was interesting to hear Glen say how many figures they created as this has been topic of discussion for many years on the vent boards. Thanks again for a great service.

    Comments by Chris Johnson - April 2, 2007 @ 11:47am

 

 

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