No Dummies Here

Bryan W. Simon’s “I’m No Dummy” is much more than a documentary about the history of ventriloquism. Tracing the art back to the vaudeville days and putting a face and heart to many of the stars behind it, this documentary will make you want to find a puppet of your own to give life to.

On its own merits, it’s a well-told story that is made that much better thanks to candid interviews from Jeff Dunham, Jay Johnson and Lynn Trefzger, among countless others.

Needing no introduction, Dunham is the modern-day star of the art form, consistently challenging himself to come up with new and interesting characters and off the wall comedy. Through the interviews of some of the older stars, you see how much of an impact Dunham has had in the industry over the last 20 years and how pivotal he is to its continued survival. Even if you’ve lived under a rock and have never seen him perform, there are enough clips during this documentary to showcase his talent and convert you into an ardent fan.

With much of the documentary circling around the future of the medium, it’s only fitting that someone like Dunham is prominently featured. With all of his segments a complete success, it’s easy to see why “I’m no Dummy” is a quality piece of cinema.

A bit older than Dunham, Johnson, however, is no slouch either, paving the way for Dunham and others in the ’70s during his amazing run on the mega-hit sitcom “Soap.” Equally hilarious, but a bit more brash [Dunham has his moments, but Johnson’s main puppet, “Bob” is one nasty piece of oak], Johnson’s segments on the documentary prove that the art of ventriloquism possesses far more depth and charisma than most would have thought otherwise.

While Trefzger’s parts in the documentary don’t have the same staying power as her predecessors, the amount of historical content, clips and great sources drown out what could have otherwise hurt the overall product. Like any documentary, the research has to be extensive and paint a picture, otherwise the material won’t be as interesting as it needs to be. In the case of this documentary, Simon has without a doubt did his homework and made his subjects charming, thoughtful and fun, from start to finish.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to tell that ventriloquism is a form of comedy that doesn’t have the same following it used to. Nevertheless, after watching this documentary, you’ll wonder why that is exactly the case. Unlike the performers featured in this film, you’ll find it quite impossible to keep your mouth closed while watching.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

3 Comments

  1. The personality each vent gives a dummy is amazing. It’s a true talent.

    I showed it to a friend and now they love the art of ventriloquism. it’s a must buy DVD and as the article said, when you’re watching it’ll be hard to keep you mouth closed

  2. I think this review really sums up what I thought pretty well. The only reason I even checked it out was because of Dunham and as soon as I started watching and seeing some great characters from the past like Lamb Chop that I wouldn’t have even thought of when I think of Ventriloquism. It was definitely eye opening and showing a really interesting side of comedy and entertainment that seems to be underrated.

  3. This definitely shows that ventriloquism is much more than speaking through a puppet. Each of the ventriloquists on the DVD exhibit a great amount of talent. I really enjoyed Johnson’s clips from “Soap” and the vintage clips. I also never had associated Lamb Chop with ventriloquism.

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