Wallace & Ladmo
Featured Clip of the Month
from the personal video collection of
Dan Horn

Title: The Ventriloquist Contest

Description: Ladmo and Dan face-off in a duel of dummies.

Date: 1982

Comments:

It was Wallace’s idea to pit “Ladmo & Spunky” (a mock vent act originating early in the show’s history) against Orson and me. Wallace wrote the bits and the gag became the theme that ran through that day’s taping.

Pat maintains his wooden persona in true puppet fashion, and Ladmo’s ventriloquial skills (when Ladmo and Spunky’s lines overlap) are summed up by Wall’s off-camera comment, “Amazing!” Spunky’s “Elephant Man” reference at the end of the clip is a call-back to a bit with Craig Dingle just before this sketch (which, by the way, I don’t have—but is available on Craig’s DVD, Wallace & me).

It’s quite evident here that my inexperience using the teleprompter spoils what could have been an amusing bit. The thing I find interesting is: how come I stumble several times over lines—but Orson doesn’t? I guess he was just better at reading the prompter than me. This bit also shows how Wallace could really be cheeky—he wrote the word “zipper” into the script no fewer than three times! Just try saying zipper without moving your lips.

Dan Horn
2008

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