Ventriloquism Helps Deliver Word Of God
By LIBBY CUDMORE • HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Edition of Friday, Oct. 10, 2014
Even if his lips aren’t moving, Rev. Frank Westcott is still speaking the word of God.
“I tell Bible stories with my ventriloquist dummy, Bucky,” said Westcott. “I can have a whole audience of adults, and they just love it.”
Westcott, who has succeeded Pastor Mel Farmer at River Street Baptist Church, first brought Bucky up to the pulpit to tell the story of Daniel in early September, and he was such a hit that Westcott will bring him back up on Sunday, Oct. 12.
Westcott first discovered ventriloquism at the Otsego County Fair, where his grandparents took him to see a show. “The man was doing ventriloquism with a real live person,” he said. “I was so fascinated!”
But it wasn’t until he was in seminary at Practical Bible College – now Davis College – in Binghamton that he was able to finally pursue his childhood ambition. “My wife Beth and I had only been married for a short time when she went to this Sunday school training,” he said. “She came home with a piece of paper advertising ‘Become a Ventriloquist in 10 Easy Lessons,’ for $2,” he said. “So I sent away for it.”
He got the 10 lessons, but it wasn’t enough, and the next set of 30 lessons cost much more than $2. “We were so poor, we had to save up to take those lessons,” he said.
But he did, and bought himself a Danny O’Day dummy, made famous by ventriloquist Jimmy Nelson. “When my mother came to visit, she would have to put a blanket over his head,” he said. “He was too realistic!”
He and Danny began traveling with a magician, doing children’s shows, and eventually he saved up enough to buy Bucky, the dummy he continues to use today.
“He’s no dummy,” joked Westcott. “He’s a Wooden American!”
Bucky – real name, Beuford Buckworth – allows Westcott to present the sermon like a conversation. “He makes wisecracks and I say, ‘Do you want to hear the story or not?’ Then he listens.”
He even uses him in vacation Bible school, and the kids get in on the action. “We did a space themed lesson, and someone made him a spacesuit!”
Westcott also has other puppets, including Al Pine, a Christmas tree, and Wally, a wise-cracking bird. “He’s extremely dangerous,” said Westcott. “He flaps his wings when he’s upset, and he can spit water – but I’ve never done that.”
He uses Wally when he tells a missionary story called “I Don’t Want to be a Jonah.” “I have him up on the stand, swaying back and forth as I’m telling the story, and he says, ‘Would you stop that! I’m getting seasick’!”
It’s just one more tool he can use to share his faith with others. “People really respond to the dummies,” he said. “It brings out the kid in all of us.”