The term “ventriloquist” comes from two sources, a 16th Century book, “Man and Vase” (written in Arabic) and a 17th Century book written in Latin by a Dominican priest, John Tarrasco. Neither book was available before World War II and as a result, the use of ventriloquism for mass entertainment has been in use through various iterations of the past century.
In 1874, John Tarrasco set up the first ventriloquist show in Philadelphia, Penn., and he also had an early TV ventriloquist that was known as “The Big Top.”
On April 25, 1910, John Tarrasco, William Moultrie and Frank “Big B” Whetstone arrived in New York City from Chicago to attend a performance of the new play called “The Three Musketeers.” The new play was based on the life of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson.
On the night of the performance, John Tarrasco invited the three men to sit in a “vegetable booth.” He told them they were all guests of honor, and that they would be entertained that night by the Big Top ventriloquist. The three men became increasingly suspicious of what they were about to see, believing the ventriloquist to be a puppet.
According to Tarrasco, the ventriloquist would walk around the stage, making the sounds he had already created by inserting metal rods in a vase and then pulling them on. When the ventriloquist passed by, he would take one of the rods from behind the curtain and slap it with the side of his hand, producing a loud “pop.”
After hearing this, John Tarrasco asked Big B if it was possible for him to replace the ventriloquist in the vase with his puppet.
Big B replied, “I’m not sure that’s an option, but maybe you can just leave the lid off and you can keep on playing without us seeing.” At that point, Tarrasco and Whetstone left the play.
The Big Top ventriloquist is remembered on its website as being a “great performer with an amazing way with words. He is the real deal.”
A couple of years after that performance, Big B gave the ventriloquist the same treatment he gave John Tarrasco: the lid on the vase
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