Magic News

Jay Johnson Back in Two and Only
Jay Johnson – Critical Hit

This morning’s edition of the LA Daily News features
renown ventriloquist Jay Johnson’s move from Broadway to Los Angeles.

Mr. Johnson is known for his high-profile gigs including a run on the classic
ABC Prime-time lampoon Soap.

The 55 year-old performer credits his friend and magician Harry Anderson for
the show’s name, Jay Johnson: The Two and Only!

The show incorporates his vent figures Bob, Darwin, Squeaky and Nethernore.

Mr. Johnson is quick to point out dummies do not like to be called “dummies.”
They consider it politically incorrect and prefer the more accurate and
less-hostile “wooden Americans.” He explains the reason for the new nomeclature.
“In the show, I tell the story about how the word became associated with
ventriloquist puppets, but it just didn’t seem like an apt description. BB King
calls his guitar Lucille. He doesn’t use some ‘dummy’ word.”

“The old term was ventriloquist’s figure. I always thought that was too long
to say, and I used to joke that the only ventriloquist’s figure I knew was Shari
Lewis’.”

Mr. Johnson has been doing what he does with the wooden American’s since he
was six. His current show received impressed the usually cynical Broadway critic
commune. The show sounds excellent in style and substance. Mr. Johnson uses an
array of characters to entertain and provide his view of history and legacy of
ventriloquism.

There are few new ventriloquists on the circuit, Mr. Johnson said. He “claims
to know most of the ventriloquists on the performance circuit, but he hasn’t
seen any new blood in a long time.”

He is undeterred, however. He’ll keep the dream of all wooden American’s
alive. “I’m sort of militant about ventriloquism anyway,” Mr. Johnson said. “In
the past, rarely has it been performed well for my taste. A lot of times, it’s
passed over as the magic trick you buy at the magic store and practice three
times and that’s it. I don’t believe that’s true of magic or of
ventriloquism.”

You can catch the show through February 19th at the beautiful Brentwood
Theatre on Wilshire in LA.

 

Jay Johnson – Critical Hit

This morning’s edition of the LA Daily News features
renown ventriloquist Jay Johnson’s move from Broadway to Los Angeles.

Mr. Johnson is known for his high-profile gigs including a run on the classic
ABC Prime-time lampoon Soap.

The 55 year-old performer credits his friend and magician Harry Anderson for
the show’s name, Jay Johnson: The Two and Only!

The show incorporates his vent figures Bob, Darwin, Squeaky and Nethernore.

Mr. Johnson is quick to point out dummies do not like to be called “dummies.”
They consider it politically incorrect and prefer the more accurate and
less-hostile “wooden Americans.” He explains the reason for the new nomeclature.
“In the show, I tell the story about how the word became associated with
ventriloquist puppets, but it just didn’t seem like an apt description. BB King
calls his guitar Lucille. He doesn’t use some ‘dummy’ word.”

“The old term was ventriloquist’s figure. I always thought that was too long
to say, and I used to joke that the only ventriloquist’s figure I knew was Shari
Lewis’.”

Mr. Johnson has been doing what he does with the wooden American’s since he
was six. His current show received impressed the usually cynical Broadway critic
commune. The show sounds excellent in style and substance. Mr. Johnson uses an
array of characters to entertain and provide his view of history and legacy of
ventriloquism.

There are few new ventriloquists on the circuit, Mr. Johnson said. He “claims
to know most of the ventriloquists on the performance circuit, but he hasn’t
seen any new blood in a long time.”

He is undeterred, however. He’ll keep the dream of all wooden American’s
alive. “I’m sort of militant about ventriloquism anyway,” Mr. Johnson said. “In
the past, rarely has it been performed well for my taste. A lot of times, it’s
passed over as the magic trick you buy at the magic store and practice three
times and that’s it. I don’t believe that’s true of magic or of
ventriloquism.”

You can catch the show through February 19th at the beautiful Brentwood
Theatre on Wilshire in LA.

 

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