#ventiloquist

there is the memory of a horrifying episode of some old Australian kids show in my brain that has been seared into my brain, and I can’t, for the life of me, remember what the fucking show was.

all I remember from the episode is that it was about a kid finding a ventriloquist doll at a garage sale, and buying it even though the seller got really skittish when they saw the doll and said it was free.

then he goes on to use it a few times out of boredom when it suddenly starts talking on its own.

he goes to show it to his class, but embarrasses himself at first when the doll won't talk- but then it starts spouting insults at everyone and he gets in trouble.

he goes home and has an argument with the doll (he’s still wearing it on his arm).

then he tries to pull it off, but the doll won’t budge. the doll says something ominous, and the kid lifts the fabric up to discover that the doll is literally part of him now, he doesn’t have an arm anymore.

the kid starts screaming, doll starts laughing- scene changes to the kid's mother having a garage sale and someone asks to buy a ventriloquist doll that looks like the kid.

April Poetry Challenge, 2026, Day 17: Ventriloquist

And while we're on the subject of eerie effects, who hasn't felt a qualm when contemplating a ventriloquist's dummy? The word means 'stomach speaker'. We know who's putting words in his mouth. But into the mouths of which others?

Ventriloquist

Audience eyes lock on to the cherry cheeks and blank stare

as the hinged jaw clacks and the dead eyes swivel.

Dummy pupils are big and black; the eyelids even flutter.

One could swear those cries are coming from the carmine lips

even though they’re chewing words, guillotining them –

but that must be lie; it’s a voice from elsewhere.

This is stomach speaking, the throwing of a voice

into a mannequin, or a box with a lid, or a demagogue.

Those harsh old words are still migrating,

have been regurgitated a million times.

Still, you’d have to be brave or mad to get to your feet,

point a finger, argue with the glassy-eyed front man

and keep on shouting to your peers “this is fraud!” –

they’ll sneer and ask who’s got their hand up your back.

CR 17.04.26