To the left is one of the banner ads for my show. Just up the street the London company of Avenue Q is playing at the Noel Coward Theatre. With my ads and theirs it looks like the Muppets have taken over the West End.

So I was confused about the interview today. It was not a reporter who is a ventriloquist with a monkey, as previously stated. The reporter was a puppeteer and very interested in ventriloquism. The ventriloquist with the monkey puppet happens to be Nina Conti. She is quite famous here in the UK. Her father is actor Tom Conti but Nina has made a name for herself doing ventriloquism. She has a one woman show opening at the SoHo Theater just a few days before mine. She performed her show in Australia while I was on Broadway. Her show won awards in Australia. I won awards in LA and New York. I understand her show is a tour de force for an actor ventriloquist. Evidently the Monkey character remains the constant while Nina becomes many other characters.

She is really terrific and we had a grand time being interviewed together. It is very rare that I find a ventriloquist who has the heart of an artist about their work. She does. She sees it like an acting challenge, as do I. She is tired of defending ventriloquism as a "dead art" as much as me. We found much in common about how our art is interpreted. As fabulous as the afternoon was, it became a little difficult when the puppets came out,. Darwin was a little overwhelming. Her monkey, named "Monkey", is very Curious Georgeish, about one eighth the size of Darwin, quiet and nice, while Darwin is big, loud and offensive. At one point I thought Darwin was going to eat the little Monkey. At on point Darwin said, "This looks like something I threw up." She admitted to me later that Darwin scared her. She said, "It's funny. I mean being on the outside. This is what I do too, but, to suddenly fall victim to the illusion and feel intimidated by your monkey was very strange indeed."

What are the odds of two ventriloquist shows opening in London a week apart. The reporter seemed to think that we are the vanguards of some wave of new appreciation of the art of ventriloquism. I think it is wonderful. We decided that we should do a show together. Nina said, "Not a show we should do the film". That is a great idea. You heard it here first.

And it is only day two of this London adventure. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.
As you were,
Jay