Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-10-19


adopt the stage as a profession. 1t hnaliy
leaked out that | was the ghost, and the
story came to the ears of Signor Bosco,
magician and mesmerist. He persuaded
me to leave the sea and travel with him.
In three months time l could do all OF
his illusions, and then started out in busl-
ness for myself. In 1874 | joined the
Rosario combination, with }. K. Brown,
the famous mind-reader, who was just be-
ginning his career, and came to New
York. Since then my professional life is
well known to the theater going public"
The entire setting on the stage is where
parlor scene is given by three life-sized
dummy figures-an old Ir shman, an old
woman and an exaggera dude-seated
around table and at an organ. A trunk
is in one corner of the room containing
two puppets, Pete, darky, and Joe, an
Irishman. A stuffed dog sits on chair
near the footlights.
"Let me tell you before l go through
with this private performance" explained
| Mr.. Kennedy, 'that these accessories are
| necessary. When the mouth of one of
these figures opens and the audience hear
| a voice appropriate 10 the dummy, they
! canrot tell by their own senses whether
| the sound comes from me or from 1t. If
YOU were to blindfold man and seat him
| in the center of a ring around which a
dozen persons were stationed, each with
| bell in his hand, he could not locate the
ring of any particular bell by his sense of
| hearing. Formerly | carried around with
me an expensive apparatus by which the
dude was actually made to play an organ.
! Now utilize the lack of location in the
sense of hearing by placing an organette
behind the scenes, which is played at a
proper time in my act.
Still another trick that illustrates fur
ther than any how easily the ears may be
deceived is the singing Of a song by the
dude, whose back is turned to the audi
ence. The song is to an orchestral accom-
paniment, and the voice seems to come
from the puppet in the corner"
The difficult feat that Mr.. Kennedy does
IS to recite poem entitled Listen TO the
Water Mill," owing to the many repeti-
tions of the letter IN" i" which is the hard
est of all letters to pronounce without clos
ing the lips The verse is regarded as the
supreme feat of ventriloquism. The verse
is as follows:
Listen 10 tQG water al lLc i've IOuS ia.
How the FLASHING of the wheels wear the hours
Languidly the water glides, flowing on and still,
Never coming back again to the water mill,
spell is cast
The mill viii never grind with the water that
has passed.
Mr.. Kennedy makes the sound "m" by
what might be likened to grunt which is
made from the abdomen. If you think
this is easily done, practice it once or
twice.
"Now," said Mr.. Kennedy, when the
performance had ended, 81 will give you
all can that will help any one who wants
to become a ventriloquist. In the first
place, the old idea that the voice can be
thrown to certain point is by no means
exploded. Every week or so some one
whispers to me, Throw your voice into
that mans ear and frighten him. As l
said before, ventriloquism is simply vocal
delusion.
"The first thing necessary TO learn the
trick is to become a good mimic. In
learning this would first advise boy to
go as far away from other people as pos
sible, otherwise he runs great chances of
making himself very unpopular.
"After he has learned to do this he can
begin with real ventriloquism. Try to
sound all the letters without moving his
lips. This requires much practice and
patience.
Here is the one secret in learning the
art. Always initiate sounds as they fall
upon your ears. II you near man halloo
in thedistance reproduce that sound so
that when it comes from your lips it is ex
actly like the distant sound that struck
your ears.
"Follow these rules, and if you have the
natural gifts you can become ventrilo-
quist.
81 have been in the business so many
years that my throat has changed its orig
inal form. My Adams apple is round,
instead of pointed, and my vocal cords are
greatly enlarged DR.. Titus, the noted
throat physician, wanted to make photo
graph of the interior of my throat for sci
entifc purposes. He says there is only
one throat of that sort in the country, and
that l have got it."
As was leaving the stage the chained
bulldog barked at my heels just around
one of the wings.
"Come back here and see him. He
won't hurt you," said the ventriloquist.
"Of course ne won't" interrupted the
stage hand. "Don't you know that Mr..
Kennedy is the dog ?"
A nd IL was even So