Globetrotting Ventriloquist

By:  David Malmberg

In Greece recently, (no I had nothing to do with the elections) I had the opportunity to do a bit of exploring at the various sites where the ‘oracles’ resided.  Now, as a ventriloquist this was quite interesting as there are certain scholarly persuasions that connect the craft of ventriloquism to the various oracles 500 BCE. There was an Athenian priest named Eurycles, a ventriloquist famous for making the ‘dead’ speak.  At Delphi, the priestess Pythia would give ‘voice ‘ to the gods.  At Necromantia there were dead spirits who were given ‘voice’ to speak to their loved ones.  According to most authorities there seems to be little doubt that ventriloquistic diviners were prominent foretellers of the future.  For sure, the craft of ventriloquism can be found in many countries hundreds if not thousands of years ago.

Having visited many of these ancient sites I thought perhaps it would be clever to bring my own ventriloquism in to focus by throwing my voice at the various oracle sites.  I then thought better of the idea due to the sacredness of such sites.  Besides, a talking dummy at Delphi would be a far cry from ‘prophetic utterances’ from the “Diviner David!”

So it goes……

Ventriloquist David Malmberg in Greece