I can very easily imagine this booklet as a physical object, the slightly greasy feel of the cheap paper used to print such pamphlets, the faded red border motif commonly used in their production. Jon Padgett has recreated this with his fictional volume, 20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism. In recent years French researchers have pointed out that magic, being as it is a temporal and performative art, is by its very nature a mercurial and elusive topic for study and so have turned their attention towards magic’s ephemera playbills, advertisements, and instructional pamphlets. This brings us to another interesting point about “20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism”. One act that has always caught my interest is from the English fairs of the Middle Ages where the magician was famous for having a skull on his table that through his clever use of ventriloquism would harangue and harass him bitterly throughout his cups and balls routine to the uproarious delight of his audience. The finale to my act was the cups and balls, one of the oldest magic routines for street performers. This caught my interest when I first read it in The Grimscribe’s Puppets as I was making my living as a street performing magician in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. The centerpiece of The Secret of Ventriloquism is “20 Simple Steps to Ventriloquism,” both as a short story nestled within the heart of Jon Padgett’s book and as a small, self-published pamphlet containing instructions for those in search of Greater Ventriloquism and finally Ultimate Ventriloquism. I often feel as if I’ve paid for a book two or three times over by the time I’ve read the thing. The problem with collections of course is by the time they arrive you’ve in all probability read a solid chunk of the material within. Experiencing Jon Padgett’s creation cold, unprepared and without any forewarning of what awaits is the best way forward in my estimation. I intend to speak quite frankly about a few of these and I encourage you that if you are going to purchase The Secret of Ventriloquism that you bookmark this review and return to it after reading the book. You know as well I like to avoid revealing the secrets that await you within the volume in question. You and I have been at this long enough that I do not feel as if I’m giving away any secrets in saying that if I’m writing about an item for Lovecraft eZine it’s to spread the word about a work I enjoyed and think you would as well. I highly doubt you need my encouragement to do so, the Internet is awash with well deserved praise. I do not wish to waste your time so if you’re reading this with a question in mind, unequivocally go buy Jon Padgett’s The Secret of Ventriloquism. Purchase a copy of The Secret of Ventriloquism here.
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