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1988
Joel Hodgson (stand up comedian and MST3K creator) saw Halloween masks which could be manipulated to make the mouth move, and came up with the idea of using half-face masks for an audience participation bit.
Joel developed this premise as part of his standup routine; with a pair of caveman masks on audience members, he 'interviewed' the two cavemen then did a lipsync routine to Aretha Franklin.
Ronn saw Joel perform this routine and understood the potential for use with ventriloquism, and started exploring this idea.
Photo by GabboT/ CC BY-SA 2.0
via Wikimedia Commons
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Ronn did an early version of his routine, which was 'an instant hit'.
Following some discussion, Ronn licensed the audience participation mask concept from Joel.
Ronn performed the mask routine with a child volunteer on the Children's Royal Variety Show.
The mask did look a bit primitive and didn't yet have that 'big mouth' impact, but it worked.
The Ronn Lucas Show (Ronn's British Show for Thames TV) featured a double mask routine with two audience members (a married couple).
There's a whole bit about dressing them in clown costumes, during which the wife goes off-stage to 'get changed'. When she comes back she's suddenly very handsy with Ronn - after a song we (and her husband!) discover that it's actually a professional actress in the clown costume and the wife pops out of a huge 'surprise gift box' wheeled onto the stage.
Another mask routine on the MDA Telethon in 1992.
Watch it on YouTube: Ronn Lucas - Ventriloquism Act (1992) - MDA Telethon
Now pretty much recognisable as the Mighty Mouth™ mask.
Ronn performed the routine on Comic Relief's American Comedy Festival and was awarded the producer's recognition 'The Man Who Stole the Show'.
Ronn continued to refine the mask routine over the years, with many notable performances including one for President Clinton in 1998...
...and for President Bush in 2001
Ronn put the mask on Jerry Lewis as part of the 2007 MDA Telethon.
Terry Fator put the mask on Mike Huckabee in 2023
The use of a moving mouth mask by other ventriloquists has been the subject of a great deal of debate and conflict over the years. There are other performers who claim various earlier origins of this type of 'vent mask' act, or simply disagree that it can be protected.
Ronn has not claimed the concepts of moving mouth masks or audience participation individually, but does claim that he (and Joel Hodgson) originated the combination of a half-face moving mouth mask with ventriloquism in an audience participation 'bit'.
In 2008, fellow ventriloquist Terry Fator was the first to come to an agreement with Ronn in respect of performing rights to use such a mask.
Paul Zerdin with the mask on AGT
In 2015, British ventriloquist Paul Zerdin won America's Got Talent with material including a mask routine. Following the win, entertainment manager Rick Marcelli highlighted similarities between Paul Zerdin's material and the work of other ventriloquists including Ronn and David Strassman.
Read more:- deadline.com - Ventriloquists Say 'America's Got Talent' Winner Stole Their Acts
- chortle.co.uk - Paul Zerdin hits back over plagiarism claims
- Jay Johnson's blog
Darren Carr, Ronn, and Steve Axtell discuss the vent mask.
Following many years of disagreement with other ventriloquists regarding their rights to use masks for audience participation routines, Ronn and Joel teamed up with Axtell Expressions to make the official vent-mask and performance rights available to buy.
For information on purchasing an official, professional Vent-Mask with performing rights to use it, or just a performance rights certificate to use your own ventriloquist mask, please visit the Axtell Expressions website.
From the Vent-o-Gram website interview by David Malmberg:
"It is something I contributed to the art form. Something that had never existed quite this way in ventriloquism, before I did it. That is important to me. Thrilling in fact." - Ronn Lucas, 2019