How Does a Ventriloquist Dummy Work?
Materials How a ventriloquist dummy works depends on the materials it’s made from and the features it has. Traditional ventriloquist dummies have wooden or sculpted heads, jaws that drop, necks that may rotate, and eyes that may open and close. Edgar Bergen’s Charlie McCarthy is a famous example of this type of ventriloquist dummy. However, soft bodied puppets may also be used for ventriloquism, such as Shari Lewis’ sock style puppets, Lamb Chop and friends. Heads Traditional ventriloquist dummies contain a stick inside the body that supports the head and also serves as a neck. Rotating this stick turns the dummy’s head. The stick also houses the controls for opening and closing the mouth and eyelids. Some dummies use string mechanisms for these functions, but more durable dummies use metal levers. Soft bodied puppets generally allow performers to control the mouth directly, by placing their fingers in the upper part of their puppets’ heads and their thumbs in the jaws. Some soft bodie
