Houston ventriloquists to appear at Rotary, Holiday Open House - Your Houston News: News

Phil Nichols and Bosworth the Crow

Houston ventriloquists to appear at Rotary, Holiday Open House

By Brad Meyer | Posted: Monday, November 19, 2012 11:59 pm


At least two of the featured speakers at today’s Conroe Rotary Club meeting will be real dummies.
Professional ventriloquists Phil and Melissa Nichols, and their pals, Bosworth the crow and Ick the germ, are the featured speakers at the Conroe Rotary Club meeting at noon today at First Baptist Church of Conroe, located at 600 N. Main Street.

“We’ll be doing a short program to help promote the upcoming Holiday Open House coming in December,” Phil Nichols said. “We have been doing a lot of movie special effects, puppetry and animatronics, but the puppet are always popular at live events.”

The brother and sister team got into ventriloquism at an early age. Their expertise with puppets and specialty makeup led them to a career in show business, primarily in film and live stage productions.
“We worked on Disney’s film ‘Powder’ and ‘Ace Ventura II’ as well as numerous other films,” Phil Nichols said. “We’re currently doing the special effects for ‘Toxic Avenger’ at the Alley Theatre in Houston.”



Ad poster for the Vent Show

The duo will be featured at the Holiday Open House from 1-5 p.m. Dec. 8, sponsored by Stage Right at the Crighton Theatre in Conroe. The family event features a variety of entertainment, crafts, activities and two shows by Phil and Melissa Nichols.
“We haven’t done a lot of public ventriloquism shows lately,” Phil Nichols said. “But it’s coming back as a popular form of entertainment, so we’re renewing our act and working on expanding our lineup of puppets.”

The pair learned the art of ventriloquism from the internationally known performer Edgar Bergen. They create their own puppet characters that they use on stage.
“Learning to throw your voice isn’t really that hard,” Phil Nichols said. “The hard part is developing characters and learning to change voices rapidly and keep the material fast-paced and fun. That can be a challenge.”

The popularity of zombie and horror films has created significant competition in the special effects industry, he said. While the pair continues to work in the industry and has a line of specialty zombie makeup popular at Halloween, they are hoping to get more stage time in ventriloquism.

Melissa and Charlene Peckerwood

“I’ve created dozen’s of dummies over the years, but I only use two at the moment – Bosworth the crow and Corky the smart-aleck boy,” Phil Nichols said. “Melissa has a dummy called Charlene Peckerwood and Ick the germ.”
The entertainers will give a holiday-themed performance at the Rotary meeting today highlighting the upcoming Holiday Open House hosted by Stage Right in December. The event is scheduled to start after the Kiwanis Christmas parade in downtown Conroe.
For information on Phil and Melissa Nichols, visit www.texasvents.com and their special effects studio website at www.facadesfx.com.
Admission to the Holiday Open House at the Crighton Theatre, located at 234 N. Main Street in Conroe, is $5 and tickets can be purchased at the door. For information, call 936-441-SHOW or visit www.stage-right.org.


Houston ventriloquists to appear at Rotary, Holiday Open House - Your Houston News: News