The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-11-17
Mr. Marshall Montgomery, Clever Ventriloqust Tells Dolly He Eats Real
 Food on the Stage Without Tasting
By DOLLY DALRYMPLE

N ery'S clever VentrllOQulSl act rounu at -A the Lyric this week where he is pug zling as well as entertaining vast audi ences, and notice how he eats perfect good square meal on the stage, at the same time throwing his voice wherever he pleases as if it were just the easiest little thing in the world to dol think you'll agree with me that the stunt is mar veous.
 It was just before the matinee yesterday when MT. Montgomery rushed into the theatre, that l had chance to ask him some questions.
 He's tall and good looking, beautifully groomed and well dressed, and very at tractive young man, and he has lot of interesting things to say.
 "Is it real food?" l asked him, mean ing, of course, the things that are set be- fore him on the stage.
 Absolutely" he smiled in return Real coffee, real ice cream, real roast beef, everything is real except the cocktail, as this is prohibition town-and yet I never taste any of it."
 You mean-er-er-" I stammered.
 Just what said, MT. Aontgomery re- peated. II never taste it. You see, my ventriloquistic work. My mind is on my art. The food is merely one of the stage properties; it's the setting as it were, for my act-just to make it differ ent from other ventriloquical acts. and also to demonstrate what l can do.' Tn that case, you don't have to bother about changing the menu every day, suggested.
 But l do,' he said quickly. T get tired looking at the same food three times a day, so one day l have roast beef and another lamb chops, and another ham. Imagine eating ham F times a week. Why it would be awful even if l don t taste it."
 You'll be good housekeeper before it's all over," I suggested, blandly. Not needing my facetious remark, MT. Montgomery said quickly: T eat just like any other human being three meals day, off of the stage. must confess that I get a bit surfeited With food however. as long as l have to eat it six times day, even if I don't taste it-half of the time. But, you see, I'm paid to eat three of those meals each
 
 pie can't say for themselves Does it affect your appetite, so much food?" I asked.
 Sometimes he replied. Lots of times, in fact, I sit down. to dinner or luncheon in my hotel and I haven't a | particle of appetite'' Tell me about your work" asked, pleasantly. "Is it gift-ventriloquism, and have you cultivated your talent for it1St voice or playing the piano?" Eight years ago you might have called me a debutante on the stage in this particular line" Mir. Montgomery told me. T was working with my fath- l CT in New York and I used to do a lot of piano tricks and trick bicycle riding. My brother and I under the name of | the Bedell Brothers won the six-day bicycle race in the Madison Square Garden back in 1903. Then somebody y suggested to me to go into vaudeville With my trick piano stunt, which I did interpolating a bit of ventriloquism 1 Soon l found that took better than the piano stuff, and so I began to concen- trate on the ventriloquist act, and since l then l have been sticking to 1t pretty | closely"
 "Is 1t trick, or what?" I asked. "Ventriloquism is merely an illusion '' l MT. Montgomery said. Ut is initiating sound; that's all"
 "Is it very hard on the throat?" I in- quired. "and isn't it terribly nerve racking?'
 My throat does not suffer at all from the use I make of it, he said, land nothing is -racking that is a pleasure"
 Mr. Montgomery is really very ac- complished young man, and very un- usual one
 l His father was Spaniard and his