There's a certain magic in establishing a whole other personality for what's essentially just your hand. There's also an opening for me to make filthy jokes about it, but I'll spare you. This made me laugh because of Señor Wences's timing, and also because it's just so weird in an engaging way. I remember him still popping up here and there when I was a kid.
2 comments:
When I was young the Ed Sullivan Show was a program we watched faithfully every Saturday night and the ventriloquists were among my favoite acts. Edgar Bergen's Charlie McCarthy was wonderful and so was Shari Lewis's Lambchop, but best of all was Señor Wences because he was able to do so much using his hand as the puppet. That he would first draw little Johnny in full view of the audience was sheer delight. I'm glad to know you got to see him when you were young and that you still remember him fondly.
Edgar Bergen was a trailblazer. I think it was because of him that most people got their first view of what a really good ventriloquist can do, no doubt raising the profile of the art form. Bergen and Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd all used to spar with WC Fields in some of his movies. Shari Lewis was also great and I find Lambchop to be a really endearing character. Señor Wences was a few years older than Bergen. He may have started ventriloquism earlier, during a picaresque early life. He was discovered later, although maybe sooner in Southern Europe. The result was a seasoned and strange creator.
Post a Comment