let's vent!

December 16, 2024 10:56 AM

"Dicky’s daddy’s hand was shoved somewhere near Dicky’s brain stem. My throat was in my stomach. Their hearts were in vaudeville. But we were all in Kentucky. Side by side by side, we stood near the entrance of the Vent Haven Ventriloquist ConVENTion — the annual international hajj for ventriloquists — where dummies condomed nearly every right arm. Dummies were rising from zippered suitcases, lifted from velvet-lined trunks, coffined on banquettes with protective canvas bags on their heads, like prisoners expecting execution." Mina Tavakoli's absolutely magical essay Planet Puppet.
posted by mittens (11 comments total)

That first sentence could.... have gone many ways.
posted by lalochezia at 11:38 AM on December 16 [4 favorites]

Well, there's certainly nothing creepy about ventriloquist dummy sitting cross legged on the left, nothing creepy at all.
posted by y2karl at 11:58 AM on December 16

The biggest innovation in ventriloquism that I've seen is Australian Nina Conti, who improvs with her human puppets.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 12:06 PM on December 16 [5 favorites]

my god is that good journalism.
posted by chavenet at 12:06 PM on December 16 [5 favorites]

Indeed. Windy Higgens is the name of dummy on the left, by the way, which is interesting on so many levels.
posted by y2karl at 12:20 PM on December 16

Brilliant writing.
posted by Czjewel at 2:00 PM on December 16

this is really great
posted by ginger.beef at 4:56 PM on December 16

my god is that good journalism.

Yeah this is an amazing piece of work.
posted by Literaryhero at 9:44 PM on December 16 [1 favorite]

I adore the I attended a niche event and opened new windows to the human soul form of journalism, and this is one of the best I've ever read.
posted by HumanComplex at 9:15 AM on December 17 [4 favorites]

Hilarious. Some of those two-liners kill me.
posted by ovvl at 9:51 AM on December 17

What HumanComplex said, which is, my dummy would say, Eponysterical!
posted by foxtongue at 8:18 PM on December 17