A female ventriloquist sits with a ventriloquist dummy on her knee, attempting to teach it how to perform its own ventriloquist act.

Fear of Clowns on Computers in the Mirror

I’ve always found ventriloquist dolls to be a bit on the creepy side, much like my feeling toward clowns. Still, there are some very amusing ventriloquist acts around and many work with more endearing furry animals and other alternative characters to the standard wooden versions.

I don’t think I’m alone with my dislike for ventriloquist dummies, clowns and dolls. There are many scary movies made with dolls / clowns / puppets in the roles of antagonists.

Creepy Ventriloquist Dummy

Then there is the “The Chicken Roaster” episode of Seinfeld (Season 8, Episode 8) where Jerry and Kramer temporarily swapped apartments because Kramer couldn’t handle the red glow in the room from the neon chicken sign outside the window. Kramer had a ventriloquist dummy in there named ‘Mr. Marbles’ and at night, Jerry would hear creaking and scuttling sounds. He thought the little wooden roommate might have been the source of the sounds.

Many years ago, I was staying with my aunt and uncle for a while and slept in a room they had designated for me. There was a china doll in a clear plastic box the room and it had a creepy look to it. My aunt was made aware of my feelings towards the doll and nonetheless, I ended up having to sleep with it in the room.

Creepy Doll

Then a few days later, I was asked to change rooms for one reason or another and I was happy because I would get to have a separate room to that doll. When I came to relocate however, upon entering the room, the first thing I noticed was the same doll in the plastic box in the corner with that hardened stare. I think my aunt thought it would be amusing to have the doll relocate with me.

The doll pictured to the left is not the doll I boarded with, but it was along those lines.

Russian Matryoshka / Babushka / Nested-dolls

Anyway, I wasn’t really dwelling on creepy inanimate beings when I drew this. I was probably thinking about the more pleasant Russian Matryoshka / Babushka nesting dolls when I had an idea for a ventriloquist dummy working a ventriloquist dummy, or a ventriloquist believing this might be a good idea for an act and not really thinking it through.