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I<\/span>t is the greatest duet, performed solo. Ventriloquism acts became a popular entertainment in the 18th century and have flickered in and out of favour ever since, with a particular heyday on TV in the 1970s and 80s. Now a new generation of performers are reimagining the practice of \u201cthrowing your voice\u201d to a puppet or dummy \u2013 and they are doing so not just in cabaret and comedy clubs but also on social media feeds.<\/p>\n The art form has such a rich history that its modern-day practitioners can be \u201cperceived as just doing an old thing\u201d, says 25-year-old Max Fulham, who is in Edinburgh with his debut fringe show, Full of Ham. Fulham fell in love with ventriloquism when he was nine, absorbing everything he could find about the craft online. \u201cI watched really old-school stuff like Ray Alan, Arthur Worsley and Terri Rogers \u2026 I have a massive appreciation for them.\u201d<\/p>\n As a \u2018vent\u2019, you can say what you want. It\u2019s not you, it\u2019s that little fellow sitting on your knee<\/p>\n Despite learning his trade with conventional puppets, Fulham now uses more unusual tricks in his act. \u201cI think what a lot of ventriloquists are doing now is trying to modernise,\u201d he says. In Full of Ham, this means audiences will be treated to sketch comedy, ventriloquism with objects, and some ventriloquism without anything that resembles a puppet at all. \u201cIt is very stripped back. That\u2019s why it feels fresh,\u201d Fulham says.<\/p>\n \u201cThe stuff without puppets feels like a new path,\u201d he continues. In the show, Fulham uses his voice to become characters that exist only in \u201cthe audience\u2019s imagination\u201d while being \u201can extension\u201d of himself. \u201cIt has been a lot of fun to play with \u2026 it is the first time I\u2019ve felt I\u2019ve been truly alone on stage.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span>\u2018You must believe in the bear\u2019 \u2026 Roger de Courcey and Nookie in 1976.<\/span> Photograph: Chris Capstick\/Rex Features<\/p>\n Fulham is not the only ventriloquist trying to push boundaries. The Australian David Salter, who performs the show An Evening With Dame Granny Smith, uses an apple as his puppet. \u201cThe idea is that I\u2019m having an interview with Australia\u2019s most famous apple of screen and stage,\u201d he says. All he has to do to prepare his onstage companion is bite a face into the fruit \u201cand leave it in the fridge for a couple of days\u201d, he says. \u201cIt is that simple. But there\u2019s something very whimsical about a puppet that sets out a childlike imagination.\u201d<\/p>\n Salter learned this firsthand. He began his career performing with a sock puppet at children\u2019s parties, before branching out into work for older audiences. He cites his early inspirations as Nina Conti and fellow Australian Shari Lewis. While the content of his shows has shifted dramatically, one thing has remained constant. With ventriloquism, the audience are \u201chaving a shared hallucination\u201d, he says. \u201cYou have to leave your sense of disbelief at the door.\u201d<\/p>\n Believing in the puppet is essential for performers, too. Lachlan Werner\u2019s first show, 2023\u2019s Voices of Evil, was created for his witch puppet, Brew, which he had saved up for weeks to buy from a toy shop in Worcester when he was seven. \u201cWe\u2019re like old friends,\u201d he says. \u201cI will talk to her off stage, and before a gig I\u2019ll be like, \u2018Are you ready?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n For Werner, this relationship makes his performance. \u201cIt feels different to being on stage with someone else, but I do feel as if I always have backup,\u201d he says, specifically mentioning the moments his puppet has \u201csaved him\u201d from a flop. \u201cThere is a strange thing where, if I think I\u2019m not going to be funny today, I can look at Brew and she seems to say, \u2018I\u2019m good, we\u2019ll be OK.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The relationship between performer and puppet has always been central to ventriloquism\u2019s odd allure. At the peak of his career, the now 80-year-old Roger De Courcey appeared on the 1976 Royal Variety Performance and made regular TV appearances with his sidekick, the growly teddy Nookie Bear. \u201cYou always feel there are two of you. You must believe in the bear,\u201d he says. De Courcey came up during ventriloquism\u2019s golden age, when it dominated variety shows, primetime TV and children\u2019s programming. He credits his success to strong comic timing. \u201cI was lucky because I was funny,\u201d he says. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to be able to think on your feet, just like a comic.\u201d What drew him to ventriloquism was the licence it offered. \u201cAs a \u2018vent\u2019, you have a freedom because you can say what you want. It\u2019s not you, it\u2019s that little fellow sitting on your knee.\u201d A puppet can get away with saying what a person can\u2019t.<\/p>\n <\/span>\u2018A visual hook that stops people scrolling\u2019 \u2026 ventriloquist Max Fulham with his puppet, Grandad.<\/span> Photograph: Murdo MacLeod\/The Guardian<\/p>\n The art form still thrives on provocation. In Werner\u2019s new show, WonderTwunk, he performs alongside a \u201creally horrible puppet\u201d that is nearly lifesize. \u201cHe\u2019s like the villain of the piece, just a really icky character \u2013 the only puppet I have that I don\u2019t like to be around.\u201d For Werner, as with many ventriloquists, the key lies in building a full, believable persona.<\/p>\n But which comes first: the puppet or its personality? For Fulham, the puppet he has used most over the years \u2013 Grandad \u2013 is rooted in old ventriloquist tropes. \u201cI\u2019m fully aware that a lot of ventriloquists in the past, and still now, will have an old man character,\u201d he says. \u201cIt is sort of the archetypal puppet.\u201d<\/p>\n One of Werner\u2019s most recent creations came from a \u201chorrid boss character\u201d he used to portray at gigs. \u201cI was playing him with my own body and voice, and then wanted him in the show,\u201d Werner says. Now, a version of him is in WonderTwunk too: a full-sized dad character, designed by puppeteer and prop-maker Freddie Hayes. \u201cHe\u2019s a puppet that feels like he\u2019s been grown out of me \u2026 he\u2019s like a mix of Donald Trump, Cruella de Vil and Liza Minnelli,\u201d says Werner.<\/p>\n <\/span>\u2018I knew her voice before I got her\u2019 \u2026 Steph Ventriloquist with Kaylee.<\/span> Photograph: Kaleid.me<\/p>\n The performer known as Steph Ventriloquist, meanwhile, specifically ordered and designed one of her puppets, Kaylee, to be a parody of the Kardashians. \u201cI knew exactly what her voice was going to be before I even got her,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n No matter how surreal the act, things ultimately always come back to the performer and their hand. Good technique matters \u2013 even though De Courcey insists throughout our conversation that he \u201cgot away with\u201d not having much of it. Still, most ventriloquists will have spent hours in front of the mirror, learning to keep their lips perfectly still. Steph first picked up a puppet during lockdown, and dedicated months to mastering the subtle arts of mouth control and hand movement. \u201cI had all this time on my hands, so I thought, \u2018OK, let\u2019s learn how to do this,\u2019\u201d she says. It took her around nine months to \u201cget good\u201d, she estimates, and she talks me through the fine details that made the difference: keeping the jaw relaxed, placing the tongue precisely, knowing which letters are most challenging. \u201cI spent more hours than I\u2019d like to admit looking at myself. You have to, so you can see which words work.\u201d<\/p>\n Such precision is more important than ever in the age of social media, where tight camera angles leave no margin for error. Steph now has more than 22,000 followers on TikTok, where she regularly posts clips with her puppets. \u201cYou see quite a few ventriloquists on TikTok,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd I think those videos are making people stop and go: \u2018OK, that\u2019s actually quite cool.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Fulham believes ventriloquism\u2019s growing visibility online is key to its resurgence. \u201cIt has a bit of a visual hook that stops people scrolling,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s probably something most people haven\u2019t seen before.\u201d The short-form content mirrors the quick bursts of performance that audiences would see from ventriloquists on old variety show bills, too. \u201cA ventriloquist would do, like, one minute of something on a TV show \u2013 that was all the time they had,\u201d says Werner. \u201cTikTok feels like that very old-school variety thing, where you see a tiny gimmick and then they go off again.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span> A bad apple \u2026 David Salter and Dame Granny Smith. <\/span> Photograph: Murdo MacLeod\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Salter is confident that anyone who puts their mind to it can become a ventriloquist. When he began, he took out a book from the library and binge-watched YouTube videos. \u201cIf you watch the best people do it, you\u2019ll really get a sense for the craft,\u201d he says. \u201cBut you have to really love it, because it does take a lot of time and effort.\u201d<\/p>\n For those who do put in the hours, the reward is a kind of magic: the ability to bring a character to life with only your hands, your voice and a great deal of imagination. \u201cIt is a wonderful thing,\u201d says De Courcey. \u201cWith Nookie Bear, I could tell anyone to fuck off and it didn\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n Will the art ever regain the heights of De Courcey\u2019s television heyday? Fulham isn\u2019t so sure. \u201cThings have moved to the internet now,\u201d he says. \u201cThere isn\u2019t that same culture of late-night TV any more.\u201d Salter thinks it is a possibility: \u201cIt is still a niche act. But look what happened with Drag Race \u2026 the underground can just pop on to TV and become mainstream.\u201d Whatever happens next, it is clear that a whole new generation of ventriloquists have begun to find their voices.<\/p>\n Max Fulham: Full of Ham is at Pleasance Courtyard until 25 August. Lachlan Werner: WonderTwunk is at Pleasance Dome until 24 August. An Evening with Dame Granny Smith is at Underbelly George Square until 25 August. Steph Ventriloquist is on TikTok.<\/p>\n