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VALENTINE VOX

(condensed from Wikipedia)

 

Valentine Vox is a British born American ventriloquist and author known for his scholarly book on the history of ventriloquism, I Can See Your Lips Moving: the history and art of ventriloquism, which traces the practice back some three thousand years.

As a ventriloquist Vox’s career spanned over 50 years appearing in venues around the world in theatre, cabaret and on television. Besides English, he has performed his act in Japanese and German languages. In 1967 Edgar Bergen described Valentine as: A dishonest ventriloquist — because he doesn’t move his lips.

In 1970, Valentine returned to the UK to pursue his goal to write the first book on the history of ventriloquism. At the time of its publication in 1981, he staged the first exhibition on ventriloquism at the Victoria & Albert’s Museum of Childhood. During his tenure in the UK, he appeared on numerous TV shows, including Happy House, Zingalong and By Jeorge as well as a special guest appearance on Blue Peter. 

In 1985, he became a resident performer in a revue at the Magic Casino in Switzerland where he did his act in German. He also designed the Museum der Bauchrednerkunst (Museum of Ventriloquism), which was part of that attraction.     

In 1997 Vox became the director of the International Ventriloquist Association and organized annual conventions in Las Vegas from 1997 to 2003 where he brought together some of the world top ventriloquists which included Jeff Dunham, Nina Conti, Jay Johnson, Ronn Lucas, Mallory Lewis, and Paul Winchell.

From 1995 to 2000, he performed in his own show, More Magic on the Las Vegas strip, doing both ventriloquism and magic. 

In 2020, Valentine Vox designed a traveling exhibition based on his book: Ventriloquism: from Ancient Sages to Modern Stages. The exhibition made its debut in the USA at the Sahara Gallery West in 2021 and ran for three months (January 22 -March 14) https://youtu.be/9zv_hSU3V3Q

 An updated paperback version of his history of ventriloquism was published in the same year.