boren@randvax.UUCP (Pat Boren) (08/06/85)
> So, is Jay Johnson a for-real ventriloquist...
Yes, he is. About 5-7 years ago he used to appear regularly
at a nightclub in Santa Monica called The Horn. Many people
"started" out there and got their breaks there, being seen by
the right people in the audience. Jay was one, as were Skip
Stevenson ("Real People"), Johnny Yune ("They Call Me Bruce?"),
and years ago, Jim Nabors and Ronnie Schell (both discovered
by Andy Griffith) and Vikki Carr (among others). Rick Ricardi
was the owner -- he used to be vocal coach at 20th Century Fox
in the 50's, and he wanted a club for performers to train.
Only the best appeared in his club. Sigh, it closed a few years
ago...
Jay is fantastic in person. My favorite routine is when he
and Squeaky (not Bob, but a different dummy) sing Figaro very
fast. In general, his best lines are the ones where he mocks
himself: Squeaky stops singing, and Jay asks him what happened --
Squeaky says, "You ran out of air."
Oh, for the good old days of The Horn... If you can ever see Jay
(who's a Texas boy, by the way), DO!!!
--
Patricia Boren
decvax!randvax!boren
boren@rand-unix.arpa