PRESS RELEASE
In Movie Theaters: March 25, 2011. Distributed by: Truly Indie. MPAA Rating: PG. Genre: Documentary. A look at the Vent Haven Convention, which bills itself as the ventriloquism capital of the world.
STORYLINE
DUMSTRUCK takes us to the Vent Haven ConVENTion in Ft. Mitchell, KY—Ventriloquism Capital of the World—where Goffman discovers five extraordinary, real-life characters straight out of a Christopher Guest film. The ventriloquists’ career paths vary from one of bare subsistence to the meteoric rise of Terry Fator, who goes from struggling performer to million-dollar Vegas headliner during the making of the film.
“Goffman has made an artful film about the struggles and triumphs of unique brand of performers. He pulls you into their unusual, sort of absurd world and shows you an unexpectedly entertaining and touchingly human story,” said Kelly Sanders of Truly Indie. “We are delighted to help bring this film to a wider audience.”
Dumbstruck will begin its five-city debut with a premiere in front of Terry Fator’s home audience in Dallas on 3.26.2011, before expanding into New York, Los Angeles and other select markets.
http://www.dumbstruckthemovie.com/ventriloquist-documentary
TRAILER
ABOVE THE LINE
Stars: Bob Ashman, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3267266/
Maria Ashman, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3267743/
Willie Brown, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3268155/
Barry Burdette, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3267372/
Producer: Lindsay Goffman, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3579841/
Director: Mark Goffman, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0324611/
BUZZ
What works great in this documentary is how the film makers found people at different stages in the same hobby/career. There is the 13-year old kid just starting out juxtaposed with the seasoned professional working on his first big Vegas act. There's the former beauty queen (who did a ventriloquist act for the talent portions) looking to move beyond small-time gigs and land a job on a cruise ship, which is a very lofty goal considering the very small amount of job slots available. And that is compared to the guy who has a sweet crusie ship gig, as well as other awesome paid jobs like flying out to Japan to teach a class, and has himself a nice ventriloquist career, but has to possibly pay for it all with his 25-year marriage, which is hurting due to his extensive amount of time "on the road"), can't really be on the road if he's on cruise ships all the time). And then there is the ventriloquist with no real professional aspirations outside of putting on little shows for kids and elderly folk and bringing a little bit of joy into other people's lives.
http://www.examiner.com/movie-in-orlando/florida-film-festival-2010-movie-review-dumbstruck
INFORAMA COMMENT
Vent Haven is a yearly convention of ventriloquists gathered from around the country. I suspect these conventioneers range from the spectacularly talented to the dreadfully pathetic wannabe. The film is supposed to follow five of the better hopefuls and takes occasional glances at a variety of others, an approach of the good, the bad and the ugly.
The second main performer is a former beauty queen who has an affinity for ventriloquism. The third performer shown in the teaser is a precocious 10 year old who has performed since he was 5 years old.
Our psychological buffs will have a field day trying to discover why a particular puppet is developed by the performer. Those who have watched puppeteer ventriloquist Jeff Dunham perform realize the diverse range of alter egos Dunham has developed. There is the crotchety old man, a jalapeno pepper on a stick, a dead talking skeleton of a Muslim suicide bomber and a whimsical purple, wisecracking puppet.
In Movie Theaters: March 25, 2011. Distributed by: Truly Indie. MPAA Rating: PG. Genre: Documentary. A look at the Vent Haven Convention, which bills itself as the ventriloquism capital of the world.
STORYLINE
DUMSTRUCK takes us to the Vent Haven ConVENTion in Ft. Mitchell, KY—Ventriloquism Capital of the World—where Goffman discovers five extraordinary, real-life characters straight out of a Christopher Guest film. The ventriloquists’ career paths vary from one of bare subsistence to the meteoric rise of Terry Fator, who goes from struggling performer to million-dollar Vegas headliner during the making of the film.
“Goffman has made an artful film about the struggles and triumphs of unique brand of performers. He pulls you into their unusual, sort of absurd world and shows you an unexpectedly entertaining and touchingly human story,” said Kelly Sanders of Truly Indie. “We are delighted to help bring this film to a wider audience.”
Dumbstruck will begin its five-city debut with a premiere in front of Terry Fator’s home audience in Dallas on 3.26.2011, before expanding into New York, Los Angeles and other select markets.
http://www.dumbstruckthemovie.com/ventriloquist-documentary
TRAILER
ABOVE THE LINE
Stars: Bob Ashman, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3267266/
Maria Ashman, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3267743/
Willie Brown, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3268155/
Barry Burdette, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3267372/
Producer: Lindsay Goffman, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3579841/
Director: Mark Goffman, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0324611/
BUZZ
What works great in this documentary is how the film makers found people at different stages in the same hobby/career. There is the 13-year old kid just starting out juxtaposed with the seasoned professional working on his first big Vegas act. There's the former beauty queen (who did a ventriloquist act for the talent portions) looking to move beyond small-time gigs and land a job on a cruise ship, which is a very lofty goal considering the very small amount of job slots available. And that is compared to the guy who has a sweet crusie ship gig, as well as other awesome paid jobs like flying out to Japan to teach a class, and has himself a nice ventriloquist career, but has to possibly pay for it all with his 25-year marriage, which is hurting due to his extensive amount of time "on the road"), can't really be on the road if he's on cruise ships all the time). And then there is the ventriloquist with no real professional aspirations outside of putting on little shows for kids and elderly folk and bringing a little bit of joy into other people's lives.
http://www.examiner.com/movie-in-orlando/florida-film-festival-2010-movie-review-dumbstruck
INFORAMA COMMENT
Whoa, back up! Now and again something unusual appears on the radar screen that warrants another look. So it is with Dumbstruck. Its atypical subject certainly piques your interest about real people in roles playing themselves.
Vent Haven is a yearly convention of ventriloquists gathered from around the country. I suspect these conventioneers range from the spectacularly talented to the dreadfully pathetic wannabe. The film is supposed to follow five of the better hopefuls and takes occasional glances at a variety of others, an approach of the good, the bad and the ugly.
In all probability, the biggest fans of this film are likely to be mental health professionals, psychiatrists, sociologists and psychologists. They can dissect and analyze to their hearts content the limitless variety of characters, jokes and the performers themselves.
The current film teaser shows only three of the main performers who could not be more different. First is an unusually tall, spinsterish fifty something lady. She may not be much to look at, but her unscripted remarks are thoughtful and insightful. She tells an unseen interviewer that being a technically proficient ventriloquist is the easiest part, anyone can do that. But when she says you have to be funny to be successful, she is dead on target.
The second main performer is a former beauty queen who has an affinity for ventriloquism. The third performer shown in the teaser is a precocious 10 year old who has performed since he was 5 years old.
Our psychological buffs will have a field day trying to discover why a particular puppet is developed by the performer. Those who have watched puppeteer ventriloquist Jeff Dunham perform realize the diverse range of alter egos Dunham has developed. There is the crotchety old man, a jalapeno pepper on a stick, a dead talking skeleton of a Muslim suicide bomber and a whimsical purple, wisecracking puppet.
Through these fanciful puppets, the ventriloquists may voice feelings and thoughts many would find offensive. But the audiences who laugh at these tasteless but funny lines seem to find a way to vent by laughing. The often tasteless jokes are the words of the puppet, not the puppeteer ventriloquist. The evidence shows that the audiences will forgive and praise the ventriloquist with approval and laughter. Too bad society can't laugh at itself instead of almost always trying to be politically correct, outraged and unhappy. These ventriloquists and their humor can help lift us out of the collective dumps everyone seems to be in these days.
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