Friday, Feb. 14, 2003 | 3:19 a.m.
If your bowl of soup suddenly starts to talk, look around for ventriloquist Ronn Lucas.
The 48-year-old comedic amazes with his ability to give a voice to anything under the sun -- not to mention a trunk full of Muppetlike dummies.
Lucas recently completed his first year at The Rio and has signed a two-year contract that will take him through 2004.
During a telephone interview he discussed his career, his philosophy and the state of ventriloquism.
Las Vegas Sun: Ventriloquism was popular in the early days of television, but not so much now. What happened?
Ronn Lucas: I like to say it's a dying art, and I'm helping to kill it.
Sun: Who was your mentor?
RL: The first person to influence me was Edgar Bergen, with Charlie McCarthy. He was state-of-the-art in the '30s and '40s. But by the time I came along in the mid-'50s he was not that popular. My actual teacher was Jimmy Nelson (whose dummy was Danny O'Day). When I was 8 I got his record, "Instant Ventriloquism," for Christmas. I retired to my bedrooom with a record player and didn't come out until I was 15.
Sun: Have you ever met Nelson?
RL: Many times. He is semiretired, selling real estate in Florida.
Sun: What does he think of the changes in ventriloquism?
RL: He wasn't sure about me. He's a fan of wooden puppets, the older style. I have the Muppet look in my puppet show.
Sun: Ventriloquist David Strassman has another style. His dummies use four-letter words and sometimes can move without him. Have you seen his show?
RL: Not yet. I'm keeping my distance, out of respect. A show in Las Vegas isn't like Broadway, where you are expected to open with a bang and be perfect. Here, there is a cold opening. You wait until the wrinkles are ironed out. I want to give David some time before I see his show.
Sun: How is your show different from his?
RL: There is no strong language in my show, not a lot of technology. My show is based solely on skill, wit, good puppetry -- everything a ventriloquist show should be. My emphasis is on comedy. It's the strongest thing I've got going. I want people to laugh.
Sun: It must be gratifying to know that you have a showroom for the next couple of years. You have spent most of your career touring. Have you had any other long-term contracts?
RL: I was at Harrah's in Laughlin for a year, in 1998. And I was the original ventriloquist in "Sugar Babies" on Broadway (1979-82) for almost three years.
Sun: Comedian George Carlin is working on a one-man Broadway show. Do you ever think about doing something like that?
RL: Actually, Jay Johnson and I have been working on a Broadway show off-and-on for a couple of years. Jay was the ventriloquist on the TV show "Soap" (in the '70s). Our working title is "Read My Lips." It would be sort of like (the 1993 Tony-Award-winning) "Fool Moon," starring Bill Irwin and David Shiner, who play two clowns who are always competing. There's no set story line, it's just funny.
Sun: How far are you from completing the project?
RL: Honestly, I've been too busy lately to spend much time on it.
Sun: One of your most entertaining talents is making virtually anything talk.
RL: Once I got the distance voice down, I could put it in a basketball or a toaster. I could run my finger across a magnetic strip on a credit card and make it speak. I have taken a radio that is hallow and listened to a ball game. It's a lot of fun. I once threw my voice into a pregnant woman, who became deeply disturbed.
Sun: What's the secret?
RL: There is a trick that does work. It's a great illusion that goes back thousands of years. Loosely translated, "ventriloquist" is Latin for "belly talker," to create sound from deep within you and make it sound deep into something else. Some come by it naturally. There was a guy in 15th century England who was an attendant to King James. He was called the king's whisperer. He helped the king play practical jokes on people in court.
Sun: You've been entertaining for a number of years. What keeps you going?
RL: I have friends in business who may wait a year to make a sale. But I get gratified every single day.
Sun: Who are your biggest fans?
RL: I get the strangest mix of crowds, from the most liberal to the most conservative, from kids to drunken rednecks. I'll get Sunday crowds where some people have just come from church and some are just too inebriated to drive back to San Francisco so they sit in the showroom and sober up. I bring them together into one cohesive group.
Sun: Have you any advice for budding entertainers?
RL: Magician Mercer Helms, a former son-in-law of Phyllis Diller's, told me a cool thing. He said a professional entertainer can do an adequate performance under any circumstances. Every amateur can look fantastic given perfect lighting and sound, but a professional can pull a show together under any circumstance.
Another thing I've learned is that there are three stages of performing. The first stage is when you say, "Gee, I really hope they like me." The second stage is when you start feeling your own power and say "They will like me." I try to go to the third stage, which is Zenlike -- and that is to show how much I like them.
The entertainers we really love are those who feel, "God, I love these people." You have to care for and nurture your audiences.
