[Tech1] Ventriloquists or 'A Gottle of Geer'

[Geoffrey Hawkes]

The original story you refer to, Mike was one I posted at least a year ago, I should think but by chance reappeared at the foot of a recent message from John.
It told of how I was working in Pres A one day in the seventies (I guess), when Ray Alan came in to do an item with his dummy (if that’s the correct term, not puppet) Lord Charles. He was sitting in the gallery chatting to one of the PA’s about nothing in particular, with Lord Charles on his knee, during which Lord Charles was looking all round just like a person would who was new to the place. I commented that that was the sign of a true professional who never let the dummy go “dead” while he was on show as I’ve seen amateurs do, as that completely destroys the illusion. I can’t remember if Lord Charles interrupted the conversation with a remark or question of his own but it would’ve been even more amusing if he had,

Geoff

> On 2 Oct 2021, at 20:13, M E GILES via Tech1 <tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk> wrote:
> For the record, I didn’t receive Geoff’s message which gave rise to Vernon's and John H’s contributions and it wasn’t included in either of their messages, so is there any chance that Geoff’s original could be re-posted, either by your good self, Geoff, or anyone who received it.
> 
> I encountered Roland Rat on a couple of occasions  ~ couldn’t stand the rat and liked his handler even less! The guy's name escapes me, but I don’t recall putting a mic on the puppet.
> 
> Mike G
> 
> 
>> On 2 Oct 2021, at 19:56, John Howell via Tech1 <tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk> wrote:
>> 
>> To enhance the illusion we used to clip a Sony personal mic onto Gordon the Gopher in 'Swap Shop'. 
>> 
>> John H.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On 12/02/2021 14:16, vernon.dyer via Tech1 wrote:
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
>>> Nice story about Ray Alan, Geoff. Another example: Ivan Owen and Basil Brush. Although Ivan wasn't a vent, as a puppeteer he made sure that BB was always 'in character' whenever he was visible, even to just the crew.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
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