Who's the Dummy?

Marionnettes need bailout....

2008-12-01T22:57:00.003-06:00

Whaaa--? The headline says it all: "Forget Citigroup and Lehman, Puppet Show Needs a Bailout."

Near a freeway overpass on a decidedly scrappy edge of downtown Los Angeles is a marionette puppet theater that has enchanted children over nearly five decades, several recessions, two riots, at least four failed urban renewal plans and an earthquake or two.

The Bob Baker Marionette Theater’s shows, employing an eclectic selection of Mr. Baker’s 3,000 handmade puppets prancing about a shoebox-size theater perpetually decked out in gold garlands, are a staple of a Los Angeleno childhood. It is the cultural equivalent of the annual march by the nation’s third graders to the neighborhood firehouse.

But the struggling California economy and some bad business decisions by Mr. Baker have left the Bob Baker marionettes in a deep financial ditch, and Mr. Baker, a rather unheralded Hollywood legend, with an uncertain future. “We have all kinds of problems that have come up recently,” Mr. Baker said. “But we’re not going to close. We’re going to fight this out to the very bitter end.”

Custom muppets???

2008-12-01T18:01:00.013-06:00

Photo by Craig Silverstein

Augh! Ronnie here. it's an outrage! An outrage, I tell ya! I can't believe it, but the world is filling with mad muppets!

Or soon will be.

Check out "A Muppet That Is Entirely Your Own," by Jennifer Lee:

The drawers are full of eyeballs and noses. The shelves are stacked with Crayola-colored torsos. And the workers conduct scientific “tug tests” on their creations (if you tug and something comes off, time to add more glue).

...Last month, F. A. O. Schwarz opened a make-your-own Muppet service in its flagship store on Fifth Avenue, the “only place in the world” where you can get a customized Muppet, though it will be soon joined by an online shop. For $130 plus tax, you can walk out with a Muppet of your very own — not the Miss Piggys, Kermits and Gonzos of the Muppet world, but Whatnots, the generic everyman Muppet.

Gag. I'm already feeling suffocated. Some say, "Let the fake fur fly!" Okay, that was Fuzzy and Dookie Bird who said that. They're excited, of course. But so is a cockroach when he finds a load of bread crumbs.

Enny-hoo, just had to vent. Vent! Get it? "Vent-trikolist." Ha! Okay, back to the suitcase. I need to sulk alone. Or whatnot.

10 years, oh my!

2008-11-28T12:03:00.005-06:00

Ronnie here--can't stay long, got a temp job helping Santa as Elf Supervisor. ha!

Anyway, just popped in to announce that TODAY marks the 10-year anniversary of Kimn's Web site, KIMN.net, founded on November 28, 1998.

Although I swear she's older than that. By four times. (Oops--don't tell her I said that. You're on the honor system, 'kay?) Gotta run. Be good.

08/08/08

2008-08-08T23:48:00.007-05:00

"Hi all! Ronnie here. Just jumpin' in to show you some number MAGIC. Drumroll, please!" (thumps tabletop with thumbs) "Okay, so ya think it's August 8th, right? Heh. Watch this." (Waves hand mysteriously.) "TA DA! Look closely and you'll see it: 08/08/08 And no, I can't tell you how I did that. If I did, I'd have to--well, you know--I'd have to eat all your cookies."

"February 29"

2008-02-29T17:00:00.009-06:00

Okay, let's celebrate Leap Year today. Run to your rooms and JUMP ON YOUR BEDS! Ha ha! Psst, it's my birthday today--which is confusing since it's only once every four years. Don't bother asking how old I am. I flunked math. Well, not really. I just don't feel like calculating.

But I DO know what I feel like doing right now. C'mon, let's LEAP on those beds! Ha ha!

Enough of the white stuff!

2008-02-06T06:56:00.000-06:00

Okay, okay, enough SNOW already! Sheeesh. Kimn's out shoveling the drive, so I get the computer to vent. Ha! Vent--get it? That's also short for "ventriloquism." Anyway, here are some jokes to celebrate your school cancellations...

How do snowmen travel around ?
By icicle !

What sort of ball doesn't bounce ?
A snowball !

What do snowmen wear on their heads?
Ice caps!

What do snowmen eat for lunch?
Icebergers!

"Ronnie thinkin' out loud"

2007-08-25T20:59:00.001-05:00

Hey, folks, it's me, Ronnie. Sorry I've been away from the computer for awhile--actually, Kimn keeps hogging it for her homework so I get very little chance at it.

Anyway, I've been thinkin' about a new idea. I had so much fun making that YouTube video (ya know, the one of me as a professor), that I'd like to do a series.

Can't tell you more right now, but it'll be good. But because I need Kimn's camera, too, I might have to wait until she's done with school, which she assures me is next spring. Grrr. It's so hard to wait.

But it'll be good. Really. So stay tuned.

Ronnie on YouTube, updates

2006-12-14T17:20:00.000-06:00

Kimn here - just a housekeeping note to let visitors know there are lots of new updates on "READ MY LIPS," a fun ventriloquism Web project I completed for my Online Journalism class at the University of Iowa. It includes a link to RONNIE on YouTube, playing a professor in an Honors English class. You can also find a very old photo of me and Ronnie when we met ventriloquist celebrity Jimmy Nelson. I also added a new page called "Fun Extras" which includes part of a script.

By the way, Ronnie loved your notes! He's busy reading them. Keep 'em coming. Tell your friends. Thanks for posting comments for Ronnie to read. (That way he doesn't bug me about getting out of the suitcase so often. =wink=)

"What kind of puppet?"

2006-11-25T15:33:00.000-06:00

Ronnie here again. I've been thinking...I didn't suggest a topic for discussion. So here's one: Do you have a vent figure or a puppet? Or do you like to practice vocal effects to surprise your little brother or scare Aunt Matilda? I'd like to know! I'm especially interested if you have a GIRL puppet. Uh, scratch that last part. Kimn's heading this way so I gotta play it cool. I'll be waiting to read your posts. Describe your puppets or how you got into venTRICKolism. Yeah! Yours truly, RONNIE (p.s. - I gotta get my own account)

"Make way for handsome."

2006-11-16T19:55:00.000-06:00

Okay, MY turn. Ronnie here. I can see that this place needs a special hand--er, mouth. So here I am. Kimn's awfully busy, so send ME your questions, your comments, your chocolate chip cookies. Really. I mean it. By the way, I like those mini M&M's in the cookies. Let's talk.

No one's a dummy, if you practice

2006-11-12T22:23:00.000-06:00

Welcome to my newest blog, this one for everyone interested in VENTRILOQUISM. Over the years I've received emails from the curious, from students in elementary school to retired adults, asking a zillion different questions about dummies (the puppet kind), or shows, or books, or comedy routines--one person even asked if I could identify an old dummy (complete with digital photo!).

So here's a place dedicated to our conversations, whether newbie or pro, as we pursue our mutual interest of ventriloquism as an entertainment art. So let the posts begin!

Uh, fair warning: If you don't, RONNIE will jump in here and say something, although he and I explicitly agreed that you, dear reader, would get the first crack at posting here. Well, after this post. When I welcome you to the blog. And invite you all to converse. Oh, you get the idea. Right? Okay, so who's first?