We have to say that working with CJ’s Puppets is a great gig to land! REDfusion has worked with CJ’s Puppets several times before and each time we’re blown away by the energy, characters, humour, music and, of course, ventriloquism.
Our first encounter at a community event actually involved us being on the receiving end of CJ’s humour; there’s nothing like a tech problem to get the adrenaline pumping in a live performance! If sound delays in mics present when a ventriloquist is at large, we don’t even blink an eye these days, having learnt a very valuable lesson. A note of caution though to all the budding ventriloquists out there. It would be wise to remember that mics are controlled by the person sitting at the sound desk and revenge is a likely outcome to messing with their nerves! CJ (who is a great sport) may have learnt a lesson too but probably not!
Out of a suitcase emerged Clive, a hearing-challenged old codger, whose present exacerbated deafness was explained in a visual, hysterical gag. Understandably, Clive isn’t all that enamoured with being transported in a dark place and he isn’t slow in conveying his dissatisfaction with this arrangement.
A blue, Spanish dog! Who would have thought of such a character? Obviously, CJ! Scratch is bilingual, although CJ declares he doesn’t speak Spanish – it just defies logic! Switching between two languages and characters, whilst tunefully singing a song takes incredible skill. Not to mention the ability to not move one’s lips when the puppet persona is at the forefront!
The fortitude and good nature of an audience member were put to the test and won the day in blazing glory. CJ has has a special torture device, umm…ventroliquist prop…whereby he is able to control the strapped on lips of his hapless victim…umm…adoring fan, whilst giving voice to this short-term sidekick. Seriously, you have to see it to believe it!
We are fortunate to have a multi-skilled, versatile crew and took the opportunity to mix things up a little. Jacob emerged from creating impressive motion graphics to take position behind a camera; Glenn, our in-house, in-family tech guru, managed the sound desk; and James put on the director’s cap and also manned a camera. CJ’s musical son, Tom, joined our band of merry film-makers for the evening and did an excellent job in the role of ‘Sound Desk 2IC’.
Enjoy watching the promotional video we produced and good luck in detecting any movement in the puppet master’s lips! CJ really is just that good!!
