Senor Wences No Longer Shopping The Pig
kpar...@nova.org
By POLLY ANDERSON
NEW YORK (April 20, 1999 4:19 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) -
Senor
Wences, the ventriloquist extraordinaire who delighted "Ed Sullivan
Show"
audiences by bantering in a comic Spanish accent with his
puppet-in-a-box
Pedro ("S'OK?" "S'awright!") and his falsetto-voiced hand puppet Johnny,
died Tuesday at 103. The Spanish-born Wences, whose real name was
Wenceslao Moreno, died at his home in New York City.
During the Golden Age of television in the 1950s and '60s, Wences
bickered
and bantered with his puppets while he drank, smoked and juggled.
One of his puppets was gravelly-voiced Pedro, who consisted only of a
head
in a box. Pedro was born out of necessity when Wences' ventriloquist's
dummy was damaged and only the head was spared.
Another puppet was Johnny, whose comeback line was: "Deefeecult for you,
easy for me." Wences created Johnny by scrunching up his fist, drawing a
mouth where thumb and index finger met, and draping a blond wig over the
top.
Wences would talk to his puppets with his face right in theirs, as if
daring the
audience to watch his lips, which, of course, never moved.
Pedro's voice would become clearer as the door to his box opened, and
muffled as it closed. Audiences forgot the sound was really coming from
outside the box.
Wences would stuff a hankie in Johnny's mouth and have the puppet speak
with a muffled voice while he himself smoked a cigarette. Then he would
give
Johnny a drag, and the puppet - that is, Wences' hand - would somehow
emit
perfect smoke rings.
"Most of us were in awe of Wences," ventriloquist Jimmy Nelson once
said.
"He could get laughs just by saying, 'S'awright!' And I still don't know
how he
got those smoke rings out of Johnny."
There were no jokes, just what one writer has described as "bizarre,
farcical,
Spanish-accented patter."
"The main thing he taught me was it's not about the joke," said
twentysomething ventriloquist Michele LaFong, who became friends with
Wences and inherited his original Pedro and Johnny puppets. "Even though
you know what's coming, you laugh anyway. That's the difference between
someone who relies on a punch line or someone who's just plain funny."
In between his many Sullivan show appearances, he entertained four
presidents, toured with Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis, did a Broadway show
with
Danny Kaye and played every casino in Vegas.
He had a precise, economical act: 19 minutes with a one-minute encore.
He
would ask the promoter for only a card table and a glass of water.
He continued touring into his early 90s.
Wences was born in Penarada, Spain, and discovered his gift for mimicry
amusing his classmates in grade school.
In 1934, when he came to the United States, Wences was conventional -
"another ventriloquist with a dummy," as he put it. But two years later,
en
route to Chicago, his act was transformed when his dummy, Pedro, was
crushed in a baggage car accident. Wences bought a box, stuck the head
inside, and - on stage that day - inquired if he was OK.
Pedro replied: "S'awright!"
A memorial service and burial will be held in Spain this weekend.
Baranduyn
I LOL every time I see that phrase, but I'm curious as to where "no longer
shopping the pig" came from.
mslinda
Linda C.
JVanwyk
>
> I LOL every time I see that phrase, but I'm curious as to where "no longer
>shopping the pig" came from.
>
Perhaps the subject line should be:
"Senor Wences No Longer "S'awright""
Tanya
"The ability to quote is a serviceable substitute for wit."
W. Somerset Maugham
Jeg7777
I would have if I knew he were 103!!!
--
Joe
********************************************************************
Daffy: "Listen, how's this for a new team name--The Ducks!"
Bugs: "Please. What kind of Mickey Mouse organization would name
their team The Ducks?"
mslinda
>
> mslinda wrote:
> >
> > kpar...@nova.org wrote:
> > >
> > > Master ventriloquist Senor Wences dies at 103
> > >
> > Anybody pick him in the Death Pool?
>
> I would have if I knew he were 103!!!
>
> --
> Joe
>
couple of years.
Linda C.
mslinda
>
> mslinda <msl...@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> >Jeg7777 wrote:
>
> >> mslinda wrote:
>
> >> > kpar...@nova.org wrote:
> >> > > Master ventriloquist Senor Wences dies at 103
> >> > Anybody pick him in the Death Pool?
>
> >> I would have if I knew he were 103!!!
>
> >Maybe, but several people lost Dead Pools by picking him in the
> previous
> >couple of years.
> >Linda C.
>
>
> Kris
Paging Billie! Have Don Pardo tell Kris what she won! ;-)
Linda C.