JUDGE FARBER / DIALOGUE MAGAZINE REPRINT

HERECOMESTHEJUDGE
By
Judge Alan Farber ... Retired
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I am retired as a judge in the state of Kentucky and from working the road as a professional ventriloquist, but my love for the art of ventriloquism remains. Born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1943, I, Alan Farber, for as long as I can remember, have been fascinated with all types of puppets. When I was six years of age, I saw an Edgar Bergen movie and knew right then and there I wanted to become a ventriloquist.

Bergen’s career was ebbing but he remains my favorite vent based on his characterization and humor. I was later inspired by the creative genius and technique of Paul Winchell and the rapid paced routines of Jimmy Nelson.

My parents owned a small dry goods store and I was able to get hand puppets from their wholesalers. So I ventured off into the world of ventriloquism. I began trying to teach myself with varying degrees of success. I read Paul Winchell’s book Ventriloquism for Fun & Profit and found it to be a great help.

On my eighth birthday I received a pair of wool pants from my aunt. I was allergic to wool and when I returned these trousers to the dry goods store I spotted a small Jerry Mahoney doll in the window of a hobby shop across the street. With the money I got back upon returning the pants, I purchased the doll. I was soon giving shows at school and in my backyard.

Over the next few years, I developed my art and began entertaining at birthday parties and similar events. At age thirteen, I began performing with the USO at Fort Knox and other facilities. It was there that I met C.O. Montgomery, a fellow vent, and editor of The Oracle, the magazine of the International Brotherhood of Ventriloquists.

Farber with W.S. Berger and an early Chuck

Montgomery introduced me to W.S. Berger, President of the IBV and founder of the Vent Haven Museum. Mr. Berger and his wife, Muzz, took an interest in me and he became my friend and patron, a friendship which lasted until his death.

Vent Haven is only about ninety miles from my home and The Oracle was published in Louisville. W.S. would visit me when he was here and I would visit Vent Haven when I was in Northern Kentucky. I was orthodox Jewish at that stage of my life. If the Bergers knew I was coming, W.S. and Muzz would travel to Cincinnati to a kosher deli. W.S. would buy corned beef, chopped liver, rye bread and potato salad and we would have a feast. I was short and the Bergers nicknamed me "Tad" for tadpole.

Bill Boley and Jimmy Jorden in their youthful days

I attended my first vent convention in Pittsburgh in 1955 with Mr. Berger and my mother as chaperones. There I met the Great Lester and heard him lecture and perform. We kept in touch until his death a few years later. I also met my lifelong friend Johnny Main. At a second convention in Houston in 1957, I met Max Terhune and Fred Ketch who became a friend. Colonel Bill Boley is a fellow Kentuckian and the seventeen year old "colonel" would visit me when he was in Louisville.

I became teen columnist for The Oracle and was later made international secretary of the IBV. I met and had contact with many vents through the IBV. Chris Cross, Eddie Garson and Bob McElroy played in Louisville regularly and they all gave me a few minutes to perform on their Saturday matinee shows. In later years, I met Clifford Guest at an IBM convention and then in Louisville when he was touring with magician Doug Henning. I also began corresponding with Australian vent Ron Blaskett who I finally met in the mid-eighties when he attended a ConVENTion.

I performed professionally for many years under the name of Jimmy Jorden. This included all types of private functions, regional radio and TV, schools, nightclubs and theaters. My territory was mainly in the Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio area, but I traveled as far north as NYC, as far south as Florida and as far west as Colorado. Although I occasionally worked with a country type figure my act more often portrayed a droll straight man with a smart alecky young companion. I also featured a Lester-like phone bit.

I met Ronn Lucas when he was in this area and also Jay Johnson. Ronn and I formed a friendship and I visited him in Chicago while he was touring with Sugar Babies. One afternoon there was a knock at my hotel room door. When we opened it there was a flash of fire. That was my introduction to Scorch the teenage dragon.

I have attended many ConVENTions sponsored by Vent Haven and serve on its Board of Advisors. I have performed at both the "Night Before" and Friday evening ConVENTion shows and was awarded the Vernon Trophy. I am a member of the NAAV and was a member of the Society of American Ventriloquists and on the board of the Ventriloquists Guild while they were in existence.

I corresponded with a number of figure makers over the years including Finis Robinson, John Carroll and Revello Petee who was carving a figure for me when he died. I have had hard figures created by C.R. Gough and Glenn Cargyle. Mr. Berger introduced me to Frank Marshall who I visited a number of times in his Chicago studio. We became friends and Frank gave me a number of old vent photos and posters. My most prized photo is a head shot of a very young Lester without a figure. My main figure, Chuck Davis, was carved by Frank Marshall in 1957. I also have several soft characters created by Bev Cipperly and Verna.

As a teen, I met my friend of over forty years, Jimmy Nelson. He was in Louisville touring with Nelson Eddy. We went to a local crippled children’s hospital to visit a polio afflicted young man who was a vent. The thrill of that first meeting was when Jimmy put me in charge of Farfel backstage. He gave me some good advice. He said there’s only room for a few of us at the top - get an education. My other love has been the law. Although continuously performing, I attended college and graduated from the University of Louisville and University of Chicago Schools of Law.

Following my second year of law studies, I was in an automobile accident which left me paralyzed and ended my career as a professional vent. I kept in touch with many of my vent friends in the ensuing years but rarely performed.

I was attending a Judicial College in Northern Kentucky in 1981 when by chance I noticed that a vent ConVENTion was being held up the road. I stopped by and found many old friends including Johnny Main, Jimmy Nelson, Bob Isaacson and David Erskin. Several years later, I met Dick Weston and Stu Scott, both of whom I corresponded with as a young man. I also made new friends: Al Semock, John Arvites, Mark Wade, Bob Rumbaugh (now shortened to Rumba) and Clinton Detweiller to name a few. One of those new friends was Jeff Dunham, who later fitted my Marshall figure with electronics allowing him to speak again.

Since my accident I have been a professor of law at The Catholic University of America Law School in Washington, DC, served as state prosecutor in Kentucky and was an elected Kentucky trial judge for thirteen years. I am now retired and continue to perform from time to time and keep in touch with the vent community.

Return to my home page.