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Ted E. Bare Talks
Editorial ReviewEditorial Review
How long have you and Ted E Bare been performing together?Teddy came on the scene in 1986: I'd been working with Chuck for about 15 years and I needed a character to offset Chuck's brash rudeness and so Ted E. was born.
Why do you think you are such a great team?
People love puppets - we love miniatures of ourselves, especially when they mimic our emotions. Chuck gets to say the things we all wish we could say. Ted E. Bare is the shy, insecure, unsure, emotional part of all of us - we empathise with his slowness and his mistakes. I love the art of puppetry and making these inanimate objects move in a way you think they're living and breathing.
Why did you decide to become a ventriloquist?
I didn't - I was offered a class in year seven and I took it for the easy grade. I started making really good money - $50 a show - at kids' parties. I then studied acting and started busking on the streets. It wasn't until the late '80s, when I actually quit, I got the idea to use robotics to get Chuck to move by himself. I was then able to turn all the elements and the acting training into a variety art. Now I have a full production show.
How do you learn to talk without opening your mouth?
You articulate with your tongue instead of your lips - to do the plosive letters. The trick is to create the voice in the back of your throat which allows you clearly speak those letters.
Is that something you taught yourself to do?
No, I had a teacher.
So there are ventriloquist teachers out there?
Well there was in 1971 when I learned from a ventriloquist who had a local kids TV show in Chicago. Now I can't find him anywhere: I wanted to thank him.
You've been dubbed the world's greatest ventriloquist. Why do you think that is?
What I've done is brought the art form out of the cruise ship and birthday parties and into legitimate theatre.
So there's a lack of competition?
There are only about four or five of us on the planet and only two who I consider are good. I have wonderful effects and robotics in my show, which takes it to the next theatrical level of this very basic art form.
Where does David Strassman end and the puppet start?
They start the minute the curtain rises and end the minute the curtain drops. I didn't put my hand in the puppets until opening night on this current tour, after memorising for 6 weeks. I've been doing them so long that they are autonomous on my hands.
The audience sees the puppets as being alive - is that something you need to believe in?
You have to see me believing they're alive (by) my body language and their body language. It's uncanny and spooky! I give my puppets nuance, character and movement that makes you think they are living, breathing entities.
Ted E. Bare has brought much joy into people's lives and as an audience we are concerned with the welfare of the shy, loveable, bear. What will happen to him when goes into retirement?
Ted E's farewell tour is very touching - and weird! It's really about the journey and not being happy with one's place in life. Then there's all this friction created from his announcement and puppets scrambling to take his place. Ted E has his own quite shocking announcement. It's hilarious.
How about you - do you think you might need teddy therapy to deal with his loss?
No, in the show he says he needs to find his purpose and I say, “it's time I let you go.”
What advice would you give to those budding ventriloquists out there?
Get a real job!
Judith Hatton, Arts & Events Editor, Citysearch
David Strassman and Ted E. are touring Australia on Ted E Bare’s farewell tour. See them this year in Canberra and Sydney.
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