Nina Conti-A Ventriloquist's Story: Her Master's Voice

[Tigon Man]

This has to be one of the funniest, most bizarre and moving stories I've seen this year and as a lifelong fan of ventriloquists, I loved it!

Nina Conti herself a skilled ventriloquist, makes a pilgrimage to the ventriloquists convention in Kentucky taking along the bereaved puppets of her mentor, the late great Ken Campbell for company. Finally Nina takes a trip to Venthaven, where all puppets who have lost their masters go to retire.

Some of the scenes border on the surreal, as Nina takes her Granny vent for a nighttime swim in a deserted pool and stages the death of her puppet Monkey, by having him run over.

Likeable funny and completely different!

[Steve Crook]

Mad as a box of frogs, but wonderful

Some of the vents at the convention said that you have to be crazy to do it, and do it well, and Nina is very good at it.
I've seen her do the act with Granny a few times on TV, I didn't realise that it was one of Ken's dolls.

Did you see the one she did recently on "Russell Howard's Good News"?
She fitted a member of the audience with a mask, which she then controlled to make him "speak" (with her ventriloquial voice).
The difference between his body language and what she was making him "say" was freaky

Steve

[Rowdon]

Did you see the one she did recently on "Russell Howard's Good News"?
She fitted a member of the audience with a mask, which she then controlled to make him "speak" (with her ventriloquial voice).
The difference between his body language and what she was making him "say" was freaky

Steve

Thanks for hat they call the 'heads-up'. I just watched it. Great stuff.

[Windyridge]

Caught a bit of this the other night, very talented lady - very funny too.

[Marky B]

Thanks for hat they call the 'heads-up'. I just watched it. Great stuff.

Excellent. She takes after her dad for looks and voice. Hopefully,we should see more of her on television.
Ta Ta
Marky B

[Steve Crook]

Excellent. She takes after her dad for looks and voice. Hopefully,we should see more of her on television.
Ta Ta
Marky B

Your wish has been answered, she's taking a look at various therapies in Make Me Happy: A Monkey's Search for Happiness on BBC4 on Sunday 17 June at 9pm

Comedian and ventriloquist Nina Conti (and monkey) delve into the world of new age and alternative therapies in the quest for self-knowledge, enlightenment and happiness.

Nina, mostly happy, gauche and open, is unravelling a little. Life is flying by and she is fearful of what she is becoming - a flakey, stressed-out mum. She wants to feel less angst, more grounded and happy. Monkey is sceptical and the voice of her self-doubt and to him it's all rubbish - the so-called therapists are nothing but charlatans trying to make money.

In a documentary both comical and bizarre, Nina is subjected to therapies ranging from naked yoga and laughter therapy to shamanic ritual, before heading off for an unsettling three-day retreat in the wilds of Scotland to undergo primal screaming and rebirth.


She was also on Woman's Hour last Tuesday (from about 30 minutes in)

Steve

[CaptainWaggett]

Though despite her considerable vocal skills, it's fairly obvious it is that she plays two characters in Clare in the Community

[Steve Crook]

She was also on Woman's Hour last Tuesday (from about 30 minutes in)

Though despite her considerable vocal skills, it's fairly obvious it is that she plays two characters in Clare in the Community

We need more ventriloquism on the radio

Steve

[CaptainWaggett]

We need more ventriloquism on the radio

Steve

Though you might feel differently if you've ever actually heard these two

[Steve Crook]

Though you might feel differently if you've ever actually heard these two

They apparently sounded OK. It's just that he was a rotten vent and didn't even bother to try to keep his own mouth still

Steve

[CaptainWaggett]

They apparently sounded OK. It's just that he was a rotten vent and didn't even bother to try to keep his own mouth still

Steve

Something cruelly revealed when he transferred to tv (much like the way the nation discovered that Jimmy Clitheroe was a 93 year old dwarf )

[Rowdon]

Call me petty if you like, but I've shown Nina Conti's act to friends a good deal, and while looking for it the other day, I found this ... from two years ago.



Conti and Zerdin know each other professionally (I think), so I wonder if they worked on the act together too?

[Mr Sloane]

Though you might feel differently if you've ever actually heard these two

It does sound strange a vent act on the radio but I suppose it was an attempt to copy the success of Charlie Mac Arthur and Edgar Bergen. I don't suppose vents had to be too

tight lipped until the close ups of telly.


Favourite acts were The wonderful Sandy Powell, Neville King and Arthur Worsley.

My favourite vent act.