C2—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 31,1981
Her dummies
are no dummies
BY SALLY BAIR
Staff Correspondent
Debra Harnish loves people and really enjoys making
them happy For twelve years she has been fulfilling her
goal of entertaining people with several close ‘friends”
who are actually dummies Debra is quick to point out,
‘ ‘My dummies aren’t dumb - they’re pretty sharp ’ ’
If you’ve been going to many farm banquets in this area
chances are you may have met Debra and her friends
because she has been busy on the banquet circuit
The daughter of Mr and Mrs. Raymond Harnish, Debra
is a ventriloquist and has perfected a performance which
is both unique and entertaining With the aid of her
principal dummies - Kelly, a boy, Coconut, a monkey,
and Huggie Hug ‘Em, a thing of uncertain lineage - Debra
can make audiences forget their troubles and have a very
good time.
Debra, 22, tailors her performance to the group, which
makes her one-half hour show a lot of work for her, and
great fun for the audience She says, “I like to read the
audience. I ask the person who calls for names and a little
about the group I do have a good memoiy When I use
people from the audience I get people with me right off the
bat ”
Ask where she gets material, Debra states, “I collect
jokes I have a whole trunk of jokes and sometimes I come
across real gems ”
Despite her volumes of material, Debra does not work
from a script She said, “I do better if I don’t My program
is me AH my dummies are exaggerated parts of me
People notice that and feel it I have a general framework
of my best material but half my program is ad-libbing ”
She stresses, “You need to be unique Thai’s what
makes it different and that’s what makes it successful
I’m in control, and I’m in contact with people That’s what
I like You learn a lot about yourself ’’
Debra’s program changes with the audience, but there’s
one message she always includes “I always have
something Christian in it. That’s because my programs
are personal, and an extension of myself.’’ A member of
Rancks United Methodist Church, Debra says she turns
down groups who don’t want the Christian message along
with the program
Debra learned ventriloquism when she was 12 years old
and requested a Charlie McCarthy dummy for Christmas
Despite her parents’ skepticism, Debra recalls, "I
One of the audience's favorite, Huggie, Hug 'Em,
is doing just as his name suggests. Though she
says it’s of uncertain lineage, audiences seem to
respond favorably to the cute little guy.
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Debra Harnish, New Holland, uses Kelly (left)
and Coconut the Monkey to help her in her ven
practiced all day and before the end of the day I could sing
carols.”
It was several years before Debra met another ven
triloquist, but she just kept working at it until she had the
voice perfected “I had no lessons I just practiced in front
of the mirror ”
She taught herself to use her voice differently, but she
says that’s all her talent is 1 just use my body dif
ferently I use the same technique as a singer uses in
proper singing It doesn’t hurt my throat, but I do use it a
lot more, just like a public speaker would It feels so
natural to do it I don’t have to think about not moving my
lips ”
Debra points out that words for the dummies are for
med with her tongue and she compensates in her throat
“I can feel where it tightens for different voices,” she
states
Debra also points out that she is not throwing her voice
No sound comes from the dummy I just create an
illusion ” That, of course, is why many times magicians
and ventriloquism go together
She says the voice and the personalities of her
characters develop as she works with them “Their
movement and the way they look determine part of it The
voice just comes along, and becomes defined after I have
used the character for a while ’ ’
Debra says she is just as surprised as her parents and
others that her act has grown and she continues to have an
interest She remembers, “I was shy. At first I kind of hid
No ventriloquism act is complete without a
Charlie McCarthy-type dummy and Debra is no
exception. Debra, an accomplished seamstress,
makes clothes for her dummies as well as gives
them life.
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tnloquism act. Says Debra, "My dummies aren’t
dumb - they’re pretty sharp.”
behind the characters, but I’ve changed a lot. Some people
who see me now say, 'I can’t believe you i ? the same
person ’ ”
Her act has changed a lot too Her first program was a
10-mmute Christmas program for which she was paid
$3.00 But she says, 1 ‘I never thought about making money
at it. It just grew every year I must turn down more
because every year it gets busier. 1 never advertise ” She
adds that she did 30 Christmas programs before
December 23 this year
At this stage, Debra averages about three shows a
week, with Januarv and July being slow tunes for her She
tries to limit her appearances to within a 100 mile radius
for ease of travel A friend often drives Debra who likes to
arrive in time to get to know the group before performing
She never eats, however, because a full, stomach is not
conductive to a good performance
She is appreciative of her parents’ support, noting,
‘They hauled me around for years They encouraged me
by helping, but they didn’t push, and I appreciate that It
was always my thing and I took the telephone calls. I was
free to do what I wanted to do ”
A 1977 graduate of Garden Spot High School, Debra says
her ventriloquism never affected her grades, but it did
limit her outside activities She said hei friends always
accepted what she did ‘They thought it was neat,” she
states
Debra, who grew up on a dairy farm near her present
home, counts farm audiences as one of her favorites, and
she says she enjoyed the large number of bookings she has
had from them. She adds, “I like all my audiences, but I
like groups best where people all know each other. They
laugh and I don’t have to work as hard I draw a lot of
energy from an audience.”
She spent one year working on a children’s program
with WGAL-TV, an experience which was valuable, but
one which was not her-favorite because she had to play to
the television camera and not to the audience.
Debra especially enjoys kids’ programs, and she often
includes several extra dummies for them She sees her
show as a learning tool, saying, "They remember a lot
more when a dummy says it.”
For anyone who has seen Debra perform, they may
remember that there is always someone talking, either
Debra or one of her dummies Sometimes she has two
dummies interacting, which means that she is talking
non-stop for one half hour, a rather strenuous exercise
At one point in her program, Coconut clears his throat
before singing She says this is strictly for her benefit,
although it always gets laughs This part was included one
time when she wasn’t feeling well and had a tickle m her
throat Rather than break the rhythm of the performance,
she included the throat clearmg and it is now a standard
part of the act
Debra says the only physical ailment which affects her
performance is a head cold because when she’s talking
she must breathe through her nose When that nose is
stuffy, she’s in trouble, so she trys to avoid colds
Singing through the dummies takes more air than
singing normally, according to Debra, so at one point
Huggie takes a little breath after singing That, too, is for
Debra to catch her breath
Debra claims to enjoy ventriloquism because "I like
doing different things lam a creative person ”
She is just learning to ski and likes roller skating She
also plays the piano, organ and guitar She is an ac
complished seamstress, and makes her own clothes and
often makes clothing for her characters She said she tries
to color coordinate them when they make an appearance
just because “it’s prettier ”
Debra would not hesitate to encourage young people to
go into ventriloquism and would gladly offer tips, but feels
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