Another Vent in the Family?

A week or so ago I posted a blog entry about my daughter, who gave her first vent performance at her school.

I also have a 6 year old son, Austin, who is an aspiring ventriloquist as well.

I wanted to give him a really special gift this year, so I sent my good friend Clinton Detweiler an old stuffed toy Danny O'Day doll and asked him to work his magic to create a "pro" style puppet for Austin.

As you know, Clinton is the best in the business at modifying the Goldberger dolls, and he certainly did not disappoint with Danny!

He added beautiful blue moving eyes, raising eyebrows, hollow body, headstick and wig to Danny.

I also asked Clinton to repaint Danny to give him a more professional look. The paint job is amazing! Great blending of the colors on Danny's face. He even added eyelashes. The hand painted face really makes the puppet look more like the real Danny O'Day.



As a nice extra, Clinton also repainted the hands on the dummy.

I picked up the clothing (the tie, shirt and vest) as a set at the local Kid's R' Us store.

Needless to say (and as is evident by the picture you see) Austin is thrilled with his new friend.

We'll see where he goes with his interest in ventriloquism, now that he has this great puppet to work with. He's already been looking in some of my old joke books for material.

I'll keep you posted!

Thanks Clinton.

Making Dad Proud

Heather and Jerry - December 2006

My 11 year old daughter, Heather, gave her debut ventriloquism performance today at her school. She had a book report project to do based on a popular kids book, "The Indian in the Cupboard."

I decided to let her use the very first vent figure I ever received - a Jerry Mahoney / Little Ricky I got for Christmas in 1966 - as part of her report presentation.


Lee and Jerry - December 1966

Heather dressed Jerry (temporarily called Little Bear - the character from the book) in an Indian costume she made herself. We also built a wooden box with a door that acted as the cupboard, case and stand.

Heather and I (OK, mostly me), wrote a short script with several cute jokes.

Her teacher was impressed and her classmates really seemed to enjoy her routine. I know it was not easy for Heather to get up and perform vent for the first time - especially in front of her classmates (and mom, who was videotaping the act).

It was exciting for me to see her do a performance with my first vent puppet. (snif')

Great job Heather!

Merry Christmas!

From the whole Cornell family. (Nick Woodson, too).

Dedicated To My Dad

It's been a while since I've written, as my father (who had been ill for a couple of years), passed away on Saturday, November 25th. He was 75.

I am dedicating this blog entry to him - Richard "Dick" Cornell.

My dad grew up in the 1930's and came from humble means. But even though his family did not have a lot financially, he always had a motto to "do your best." And, that's what he did. He (along with my mom) raised 4 kids. There were times when he worked 3 jobs just to make sure we all had food on the table and a roof over our heads.

He was tall (6' 4") and very athletic. He looked intimidating if you did not know him.

But, he was in reality a quiet man, never showing or expressing much emotion to any of us in the family. But as I look back now, I know that he showed us his love by what he did for us, not by what he said.

He always "did his best" and just by watching him do that over the years, I'm sure it influenced me and helped me achieve whatever level of success I now enjoy.

Does this have anything to do with ventriloquism? Absolutely.

People ask me all of the time how long it takes to become a ventriloquist. They want me to tell them they can learn after a couple of practice sessions.

It all depends on whether you're willing to "do your best" or not. I see people who take my course (or other instruction) and "do their best," and become very good in a relatively short period of time. And they continually work to get better and better as the years go by.

But, more often I see people who fool around with learning and end up being very mediocre or very poor ventriloquists.

They blame their lack of getting better or booking jobs on other factors - "It was a bad audience," "My material was over their heads," "So and so moves their lips, so it's OK if I do." I've heard all of the excuses.

Am I the best ventriloquist in the world? Hardly. But I always try to do what my dad always told me - "Do your best." I take responsibility for how good or bad my technique, show, etc. is and I always try to do better. That would have been how my dad wanted it.

Do your best. Try it.

I'll miss you dad.