Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-10-19
CHEATING SIGHT AND HEARING.
The Only Real Ghost Ever Produced
What Ventriloquism Actually Is.

| CHEATING SIGHT AND HEARING.
The Only Real Ghost Ever Produced
What Ventriloquism Actually Is.
If ever get high enough up in the profess
sion to do Hamlet" said the ambitious young
actor to STAR reporter. 81 mean that one i'm
portant part in my support shall be better done
than is the case with any tragedy company on
the stage today. My ghost shall be q real
one"
Secured by an order on the cemetery
mo; nice clean ghost, with no obiectiona-
BILE odor of the tomb-an actual unsubstantial
phantom that can be neither felt nor heard,
but only seem"
And can such spook be summoned from
the regions below and trained to act?"
Easily enough. The thing has been done
before for the appsrition Of Banquo. The
chlef thing you want in the way of apparatus
Is huge sheet of glass stood up on its edge
| across the stage in line with the front side
scenes and inclined toward the audience at an
angle OF IS degrees"
| HOW IT rs DONE.
| "What has that got to do with ghost?"
| "Just this. Did you ever see your image
reflected in window pane at night when it was
dark outside and take notice how distinct it
| u
you under such circumstances you will see
that the reflection in the pane is particularly
ghost-hke, and that is the whole principle
| involved In the conjuring up of the stage spec
| Ter am speaking OF. But, in its case, the real
person OF whom the phantom Is the image
s.ands beneath the stage under an open trap
door near the foot lights, so that his reflection
Is thrown upon the big plate of glass which,
unknown to the spectators, is between them
and the actors on the stage. The glass is in
cllned at an angle of As degrees toward the
audience, so as to receive the image, which is
made very bright by directing upon the real
person under the trap brilliant lime light.
Just as objects in a room reflected by window
pane at night seem as if out in the street. so
the image OF the individual dressed like ghost
DeloW the stage appears actually to stand upon
the boards In plain view from the auditorium.
II the real person sits down the spook does so also
| or goes through any other motions in like man.
ner. or course the stage is darkened SO as to
make the reflection as distinct as possible"
1T must be very effective
1T is marvelously SO. You can't realize.
without seeing the thing done-and it has been
done very few times In this country-how per-
feet the illusion is. The ghost is actually seen
10 walk the boards, to sit in Banauo's chair
when Macbeth cries: Thou canst not say did
| II; never shake your CORY locks at mef And
then 1t vanishes. The most striking feature of
the specter is its palpable unsubstantiaiity It
looks like but shadow of the real-a sort of
COTpse, as the OLD Morse people de-
scribed their favorite variety of bogey, and
| without substance. Other characters on the
stage chop at it vainly with swords or pass
| through it unimpeded. OF course they do not
see any ghosts themselves, being behind the
| glass which throws the reflection, but thew
know where it appears to be from the point Of
view OF the audience, the business having been
all arranged at rehearsals and they act accord
lngly. In the same way skeleton may be
thrown upon the stage, as Prof. Pepper did it
hxyI
below the trap upon real skeleton and moving
| 1t as desired. OF course, the words for Ham
ets ghost would have to be spoken by another
actor behind the scenes''
THE ILLUSION OF vENrRILooUIsM.
"a good opportunity for ventriloquism."
"Capital; but that would be scarcely neces-
sary. Ventriloquism itself, however, is a very
curious illusion. I have studied il under the
instruction OF celebrated stage performer.
There are two erroneous popular notions re-
| garding it. One is that it is a special gift I'm
attainable by ordinary mortals, and the other
that the ventriloquist produces the sounds he
| utters from his stomach, as the word appears to
signify, and throws them this way and that, as
he pleases. As to the first point, any one can
learn to ventriloquize somewhat who is willing
to work at 1t hard and long enough, and, re-
garding the second point, the fact is that no
| man can produce vocal sounds otherwise than
with his mouth; 1t is simply matter of cheat
ing the ear. The first thing for the
beginner to acquire is facility
in speaking behind his closed teeth
and without moving his lips; the latter
| Is OF the utmost Importance. inasmuch as the
performer has learned half his art when he
can say things without seeming to be speaking
| himself. This is what takes the most time
to learn to talk distinctly without using the
lips at all. OF course, some letters and words
have to be avoided; the letter M for instance,
| can't be pronounced behind the teeth, though
N is perfectly easy, and sentences must be ar
| ranged accordingly. So much being accom-
plished, the amateur enters upon the portion
OF his study which concerns making his speech
| actually appear to come from elsewhere"
There's the rub, 1 suppose?''
"Not 80 hard one as you might think The
performers voice is already rendered alto
gether unlike his natural one by speaking be-
hind the teeth, and the rest Of the vocal bust
ness merely consists in giving to the sounds
uttered such tone or degree Of loudness that
when they reach the ears of the audience they
| will have as nearly as possible the same effect
| as the same sounds would have coming from a
| distance, from above, from below, from a
trunk or wherever you please. The trunk
affords the skilled ventrloquist one of his most
| effective results. He pretends to shut some
one up in it, and the utterances Of the victim,
becoming gradually smothered as the box is
! slowly closed and growing louder and clearer
as it is opened wide again, produces a wonder
| full illusion. A most essential part Of the VEN
| triloquists art lies in directing the expectant
| attention Of the audience to a certain point
whence the sound is supposed to come.
| The performer looks up into the
| flies and calls to an imaginary person aloft A
faint voice answers, and it naturally appears to
| the spectator as if an actual reply from above
| had been made. But the ventriloquist has not
thrown his voice upward in any way; he has
simply made the sound seem distant by utter
ing it not very loud andpitching it rather high.
like shout feebly heard. The imagination of
the hearers does the rest 1t is the same way
| with everything. The puppet on the perform
er's knee is made to wag its jaw by means Of
| a string in its back when it is supposed to be
speaking, and, inasmuch as the ventriloquists
| lips do not move the words he produces appear
to come from the manikin. The whole theory
depends, first, upon the imagination of the
audience, and secondly upon the fact that the
human ear is not able to accurately Judge the