Making Legs for a Puppet

Does anyone have recommendations on the best way to create legs for a puppet. The puppet currently is a half-bodied rod arm puppet and I would like to make a pair of simple legs that will allow this puppet to be used as a ventriloquism figure.

The legs should allow the puppet to sit naturally and the legs should bend properly. It is trouble when the knee bends the wrong way or the feet are all twisted around. Any secrets to make the legs look right?

Thanks!

Where Everyone Knows Your Name. . .

Several years ago, one of the popular sitcoms on television was Cheers. The song that played while the opening credits ran spoke of a place where everyone knew your name and was glad you came. The program involved a local pub, but how true the sentiment that people enjoy the places where folks know them by name and are glad they came.

As a pastor of a church, helping to encourage or create such an environment is an important task in ministry. This sentiment is true in other settings as well. Colleges for instance-- some are so huge that by necessity, an individual is reduced to a number. Others, however, are small enough to offer a quality educational experience where individuals are known by name. When students miss class, professors notice and are concerned.

I was very impressed with the personal touch of Carson-Newman College on our recent visit there. Students often eat with the college President, professors call their students when they are missing and know them by name. It is a caring community where people know your name and are glad you came!

It is hard for me to believe that schools with 10,000 applications can do much more than look at the numbers and make a decision. But the smaller school can give each application the personal attention that each person deserves. Discovering that "fit" between student and school is so important. The smaller school has a way of putting together the talents of the student with the areas in the college where those talents can be used. That personal touch takes time, effort, and concern.

After our family visit to Carson-Newman College, my wife and I (with 7 degrees between us) said to each other, "Wow, this is the kind of school I would like to attend." It is a place where everyone knows your name and is glad you came!

A Talking Cane or Walking Stick?

I am interested in finding a cane or walking stick with a figure on the top that has a moving mouth. So I guess that makes it a talking stick or a talking cane. What a fun novelty ventriloquist item that could turn out to be.

Scott American Gothic

Thanks to our good friend, Trevor Ruble, we now have Scott American Gothic! Thanks Trevor! No doubt this will be a great poster for our new study on this iconic picture by Grant Wood.

American Gothic Parodies

Who can forget the Grant Wood picture of the stern faced old man holding a pitchfork with his daughter by his side? This famous 1930s picture is titled, "American Gothic" and has been the source of many parodies. Mickey & Minnie Mouse have posed in American Gothic style, as have Miss Piggy and Kermit. If you have images of American Gothic please contact me at my email address jeff@cabc.us

Where Are the Puppets?

It has been my habit to use ventriloquism figures in the church during the 11am worship service. The children seem to enjoy them and the big kids really like them. This past Christmas season, we have allowed the children to do the children's sermon instead of me, the pastor, leading them. The first Sunday of the new year, I was back doing the children's sermon. Instead of using a puppet or vent figure, I used another prop to illustrate the point. One of the pre-teens in the pews turned to his buddy and said, "Hey, where are the puppets?" There was a tone in his voice as if he had been cheated. I guess even the middle schoolers have come to enjoy a visit with a dummy when they come to church!

Happy New Year!

Maher Studios

As the year came to a close, ventriloquists around the world heard the news that after 39 years of wonderful service, the doors of Maher Studios would come to a close. Clinton Detweiler and family have given their lives to compassionate service and encouragement of ventriloquists all around the world. They will be sorely missed, not only for their products, their repair service, and most of all, the quality people that they are. All the best to the Detweilers in their well-deserved retirement years! God bless you folks!

Carson Newman it is!

We began a search for a college for my daughter while she was a junior. She took her ACT test a few times. She toured many colleges. Some she liked, others she did not. At first there seemed like hundreds of possibilities, but the list was easily narrowed. We discarded some because they were way to big. Others were out of the running because they were way to small. Some were too far away. Others were too difficult to get in-- can students really earn a 4.6? Some were not the kind of school we would want to send our daughter to. Some did not have what she was looking for in a major. With all things considered, we finally decided on Carson-Newman College.

Carson-Newman is a wonderful small college about 35 miles east of Knoxville, TN. It has 2,000 students and is well regarded by the folks who rate colleges and universities. Princeton Review calls it one of the best in the Southeast. US News rates it in the top 35 masters degree granting colleges in the South.

So Carson-Newman it is!

A Visit with the Funeral Directors

I was asked to speak to the employees of a local funeral home today on the subject of why their work is important. It was their employee Christmas appreciation meeting and they wanted me, a local pastor, to put their work in perspective. Since they knew I did ventriloquism, they welcomed me to bring one of my "little buddies" along. So I did.

Ida Clair, a sweet little old lady figure, helped me to tell them how they make a difference with their compassion and attention to detail. The employees really loved it when Ida talked about owner geting to the Metal Ages. Middle ages I asked. No, the Metal Ages she replied-- he has silver in his hair, gold in his teeth, and lead in his behind. The place howled with laughter-- something you don't often hear in funeral homes!

It was a privilege to bring a smile to a group of people who work hard in a difficult setting to help people during very difficult times.

Dummy the Last to Say Goodbye

Although I have been a pastor for 25 years or so, this is the first time I have ever been asked to include one of my ventriloquist characters in a memorial service for one of our members. Chuck Brooks, a delightful 81 year old man went home to be with the Lord. He so loved the children's sermons that I do each Sunday using my puppets and ventriloquism figures that his family insisted that one of the figures offer the final words. How is that for unusual? But then again, these figures gave him great pleasure at a time in his life when there were many challenges and disappointments. So why not!

O Christmas Tree, O Holiday Tree

Roanoke, VA began it's "Dickens of a Christmas" celebration last night with the lighting of the "Holiday Tree." The print and broadcast media have had a field day with this politically correct nomenclature. Television stations have been running polls about what area citizens feel about this. About 89% seem to be quite upset that the tree is not called a Christmas tree.

What's the fuss? Christmas trees are rooted more in folk lore than religion anyway. If you really push it, you have to admit that they were "borrowed" from the pagans long ago. They certainly are not mentioned in the Bible as being a part of the birth of Christ. In reality, there is little to commend the practice from a theological perspective.

National, state, and city Christmas trees are merely an exercise in civil religion. Civil religion, or state sponsored quasi-religious ceremonies and customs are always watered-down, least-common-denominator type of "spiritual" exercises that lack the vitality of the real thing. What civil religion brings is form without substance. It offers the outer form of religiousness without the life that true spirituality brings.

Christmas tree, holiday tree-- call it what you will. The reality of it is that you should not look to the government to promote religion. If you do, you will be sadly disappointed and will have to settle for some generic, please-all expression that falls far short of the life-changing reality of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Happy Holidays!

I read that some of my fellow preachers are up in arms because Walmart instructed it's employees to say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. I guess I march to the beat of a different drummer but as I consider the Scripture, I find that the responsibility for going to all of the world with the gospel was given to the church, the body of believers. God didn't give the privilege of sharing the good news to Walmart, to public schools, or to government. Sharing the good news is the responsibility of believers. My celebration of Christmas is certainly not dependent upon the greetings of a Walmart sales clerk. I wish my fellow clergy would pay more attention to the weightier matters like alleviating poverty, working for peace, and seeing that justice is done.

All it Takes is a Sock!

If you have a sock you have a puppet waiting to be born. Think of what a ventriloquist named Sherri Lewis did with a couple of socks. With a little yarn and a lot of creativity, they became beloved characters for children and adults alike. Lamb Chop and Hush Puppy and Charlie Horse will long be remembered for the joy and fun that they gave us.

It doesn't take much... just a sock!

Practice, Practice, Practice

Ventriloquism, like any performance art, requires practice. I find that the more I have practiced the less I have to be concerned about moving lips. If I pick up a figure I haven't used in ages and try to wing it off of the cuff, and it could be a disaster!

We are all busy but I have found that one of the most convenient times I have to practice is when I am alone, driving down the road in the car. One hand on the wheel and the other hand free to rest a finger on my lips and I can run through the host of character voices and personalities as I go from place to place. At other times, I might practice using my free hand to practice coordination of movement and syllables of spoken text. Other times, I might be using the spare hand to practice figure manipulation. You can get a lot of practice time in if you simply turn off the radio and talk with yourself.

In addition, this kind of practice can allow you to talk things out. Sometimes, things that come to you in these sessions might even become parts of a routine at a later time.

Another way to practice in the car is to allow your figure to have a running commentary on the news you might listen to on the car radio. Maybe turn to a talk show and allow your character to interact with the host or call in guests' points of view. Have fun!

The Ears of the Beholder

As a pastor, I enjoy preaching and using ventriloquism in the children's sermon each week. What struck me today as I did both was what they had in common. The goodness of preaching and ventriloquism is often in the ears of the beholder. My own evaluation of my "performance" today was that I did not "connect" with my audience. They sat in the pews still and staring at me. It sometimes is difficult to tell if they are staring and plugged-in or staring and zoned out. Today was that kind of day. Much to my surprise, as the people left the church,several said it was the best sermon ever. Hmm. . . go figure, I thought to myself. One of the parents said later this evening that my children's sermon was the discussion topic in the car after church. "I got what Pastor Jeff was saying today," said the child to her parents.

Perhaps the lesson du jour is that on the best day and on the less than spectacular day, it is all in the ear of the beholder. If God can speak through a donkey in the Old Testament story of Baalam, then He certainly can use our meager efforts to do His work.

That's the Pastor's Office-- It's where all of the Dummies Are! 

Some of the great things about using ventriloquism as a pastor are that you have a place and an audience that are continuous. Many ventriloquists never have the same audience twice so the character they develop has one or two routines and it never develops much more than that. But the pastor who uses his or her figures on a regular basis will, over time, develop a wonderfully rich character who can be placed in all kinds of seasonal and interesting situations.
The other aspect of this is that the ventriloquist who is a pastor has the opportunity to keep the figures in his or her office. Children will find every opportunity they can to drop by the pastor's office for an impromptu visit with their favorite character. What an opportunity for practice and even more important, what a chance for education and inspiration. It is the bond between pastor and child that will later be important as teens face the difficult choices of adolescence.
On the door to my office is a banner that says "Merryheart: where life is a continual feast." It announces to all who pass by that the mythical town of Merryheart, where all of my figures live, is just beyond the door. New people in the church might ask, "Where does that door go?" They will probably hear, "Oh, that's the pastor's office. That is where all of the dummies live!"

Church Workers-- Full Time Work, Part Time Pay

I have been in the ministry for 25 years and have been in a number of different church settings ranging from the big city to the country church. One thing that remains constant across church size and denominational lines is the personnel practices of churches related to part-time professionals.

You must understand that churches do not fall within the customary employment laws that larger, for-profit organizations must follow. Churches are free to discriminate on the basis of race, gender, or of course, religion. But what troubles me more than this,is the general expectation that part-time professional employees of churches are given positions with a part-time salary with the implicit understanding on the part of the church boards that the church can get full-time work from these folks while providing part-time pay. It happens almost without exception.

From time to time, there are those people who rise up to suggest the inequity and unethical nature of this practice. These "complainers" are often painted as some sort of materialistic heathen who is "in it for the money." Frankly, it is quite bizarre. If these folks were "in it for the money" I dare say they would have not chosen ministry in the first place.

I am of the opinion that the church should be the best employer anyone could possibly have. It should be a place where those working near full-time loads should be compensated with near full-time pay for their efforts. After all, doesn't the Scripture say that the laborer is worthy of their hire? Perhaps I am out of step, but it seems to me that the church should have higher ethical standards, not lower ones, when it comes to the treatment of it's employees.

Live a Longer, Happier, Healthier Life

Tomorrow, Debbie and I celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. The research shows that married people live longer, happier, healthier lives than their divorced or unwed counterparts. I believe it. One crusty old deacon pulled me aside 25+ years ago and said, "that is the best decision you'll ever make." He was right! I hope young people will learn from folks like us that marriage is gift from God and when treated properly, is meant to last for life!

A Talking Deer

A Talking Deer 

We ran into this full size, life-like 10 point buck in the Walmart sporting goods section. He is also available at K Mart. His head moves up and down and from left to right. His ears also wiggle in a very realistic way. The best part is that he comes with a microphone so that you can talk through the deer and the deer moves his mouth as you talk. Imagine the possibilities!

I am going to use this guy as a partner in the children's sermon. I'll have someone planted nearby to talk for the buck and have discussions that we can learn from. It will not only be funny, but educational as well.

Of course, those with a more sinister side can have lots of fun playing practical jokes on unsuspecting guests. Maybe I'll mount it near the door to my house and welcome trick or treaters!

There is a lot of fun out there ready to happen if you just keep your eyes open and put your mind to it!

Medicine to the Troubled Soul

I had the opportunity to perform at a sister church in our area this week. The church was mourning the loss of one of it's teenagers to an auto accident, and another teen remains in a coma.

While my visit to the church was arranged months in advance, it was clear to me that one of my purposes for being at this church at this time was to help minister to their troubled hearts through laughter and joy. Taking them out of their troubles for an evening was just what the doctor ordered. They had a ball. I am convinced that a merry heart is medicine to the soul and was glad I could deliver a full dose.

Are you bringing joy or sucking the life out of folks you encounter in your day?