User:Induramanath/sandbox

1. Indushiree, i started learning “vent” when i was 12 after watching one on TV and it became my passion ever since. How did you get interested in India? I was in class 2 when a magician, our family friend, happened to visit my house. As the evening wore on he presented an impressive coin trick. While the rest of the family stood in awe, I quietly took the coin and reproduced the trick with élan. That sowed the seeds of a budding magician in me. By and by, I began performing magic on stage and duly attended a magic convention where a monkey puppet caught my eye. My dad bought the puppet and I soon started grappling with the rudiments of ventriloquism. I sought the help of a ventriloquist in this regard but he said that Ventriloquism is a strict no no for girls. That set the ball rolling for a determined me. In those days there were no videos in India and I had to rely totally on textual descriptions and commentaries in audio cassettes of Edgen Berger, Paul Winchell et al. I practiced long and hard before the mirror and slowly but surely came to grips with the rudiments of the art.

2. Were there many ventriloquists on TV for you to see growing up? I have only heard of Ramdas Padhye & his son Satyajit Padhye, do you know these? Not many but I had seen handful of them performing. Monkey giri and Uday Jadugar were a few forerunners of that era but the beaming of those too were very few and far between.

3. India has a wonderful history of cultural entertainment including puppets such as shadow, stick & marionette puppets, is this still as popular today? Puppetry is on the wane. Marionettes are performed by a handful. Stick puppets too are a rarity. But shadow play is a different ballgame altogether. A good friend of mine, Mr. Prahlad Acharya, has excelled in the art and is a treat to watch.

4. Where do you perform your act? Right from birth day partied to death anniversaries; I have performed shows for all categories. Birthdays, family functions, corporate events, schools, colleges, public events, government sponsored gala functions, public awareness programs, you name it and I have performed that. Some of the social causes that spurred me on were educating kids about traffic rules, epidemic deceases, HIV, and H1N. 1 have also performed for cancer patients, terminally ill people etc. We have loads of festivals in India and my performance, viewed as a standup comedy by the common man, has been well received by the audience since the past two decades.

5. You appeared on “India’s Got Talent” what was that experience like sharing your talent with the whole Country? Well, it was quite challenging I must say. They didn’t seem to understand the nuances of the art form. For instance when I performed four dummies act on IGT, they definitely appreciated but did not get the intricacies. I controlled two puppets by hand and two more by my legs. For the leg control, I had a controlling pedal placed at my feet and the organizers, thinking that that pedal was some sort of an instrument, asked me whether they needed to place a mike before the pedals! They probably thought that it was an accompaniment as in any music concert! They kept changing my scripts too and I had to go back n forth rehearsing those. I even forgot a dialogue while performing and thought I would surely bomb but, luckily, as I have performed so many stage shows and have excelled in repartee, my presence of mind kicked in and voila! Came up with a dialogue which convinced everyone as though it was part of the flow. Of course, it was a great feeling to have performed on national television channels. The reach, the accolades and the adulations are simply astounding.

6. You originally wanted to be a Scientist. Could you have a scientist dummy? Then you will fulfill all your goals? My dummy has played many roles on tv. I used to perform live on zee Kannada (a channel in my mother tongue) every weekends. Dinku, my favourite and the first hard figure to which I am emotionally attached, was portrayed and dressed up as different characters of the society, we used to take up current issues and come up with comedy scripts ( my uncle Ramanath used to help me with scripts). The conversation with the online callers was a huge challenge. I had to think on my feet and come up with an answer which would not hurt any ilk. I used to face different challenges in each episode. The election time specials were the rage of the masses. Being non-partisan, our political comments were accepted by one and all. Dinku was dressed up like a police, politician, astronomer, doctor, nurse, teacher, love adviser, lover boy, old man, god himself etc....

7. You work 4 dummies at the same time, is this a difficult part of the act? It is not a part of the act but the act itself. The entire act has many difficult parts. One is the script. To stitch together a dialogue (or is it a pentalogue?) that would evoke awe or laughter is more or less the easier part. Remembering to attribute each dialogue to the respective puppet is a tough ask. As one puppet speaks, the others should not be idle. Thus I have to concentrate on the movements of the other three puppets. Also, I have to show an entirely opposite emotion on my face to the dialogue uttered through puppets. I deliver an invective directed at myself through, say, doll A. The expression on my face should be outrage and not anger. Similarly, while the puppet cries (or my voice produces a sad note) I have to pose a calm or derisive mien. While all this is going on, I have to remember which control to operate when and how. Right control, right dialogue, right expression or body language of the doll, a counter expression on my face, quick wit to react to the judges or the audience.... I end up performing around 32 simultaneous actions. I am sure you would agree that it is a bit tough!

8. I found you by researching to see if any ventriloquists have broken records? And there you were with a ten foot ventriloquist dummy! How big is the suitcase? just kidding This character can’t be used at “every” show so at which shows do you use it? Yes, it is pretty difficult to perform with a big, biiiiiiiiiggggggggg puppet. I performed it only twice. It was very difficult to transport the dummies. We initially needed assistants and had to travel by a mini truck. Due to logistics I couldn’t work on it any further. My dad designed the dummy for me. I give him ideas and he designs puppets for me.

9. I also have been researching a large dummy idea for a big show coming up and saw you recently already have done this. it was also performed on a Morecambe & Wise Comedy Show in the UK in the 1970’s. It’s hard coming up with new ideas. But how do you create your material/ideas? I have a good rapport with many humourists, magicians and ventriloquists. We discuss a lot ‘out of the box’ and come up with many ideas. some are weird, some are outlandish and of such ideas, some become a reality. After all, perusal of the unthinkable is the cradle of innovation. In this regard, my good friends Mr. Srinivas and Mr. Janardhan, both from Hyderabad, have helped me a lot. Mr. Janardhan, especially, is a man with an ear to the ground. A snatch of conversation in a milieu or a sudden burst of thought ala ‘Eureka’ by Archimedes, too helps in conquering un-trodden territories.

10. I read that you would love to Tour America and the UK. Maybe we can swap countries for a few months? I would love to try new venues too. What is your biggest dream as a ventriloquist? Wow! I too would love to swap places. But to work on the scripts for it, that is a big challenge. And I would love to be challenged. Interacting with different sets of audience is a great opportunity. Biggest dream? To be the best of all times! But then, I am sure that is your biggest dream too. In reality, my biggest dream is to perform till my last breath and set such lofty standards which shall be worthy of emulation by the succeeding generations.