Dumbstruck (2010)

A humorous and heartfelt story that follows ventriloquists across the United States, Mexican Riviera, Bahamas and Japan, as they pursue their dreams of a career in puppetry.

Director:

Mark Goffman

Stars:

Bob Ashman, Maria Ashman, Robert J. Ashman

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Bob Ashman	...	Self
Maria Ashman	...	Self
Robert J. Ashman	...	Self
Willie Brown	...	Self
Barry Burdette	...	Self
Dylan Burdette	...	Self
Jennifer Burdette	...	Self
Aileen Carroll	...	Self
Roger Carroll	...	Self
Ed Casey	...	Self
Meghan Casey	...	Self (as Megan Casey)
Michelle Casey	...	Self
Mark Anthony Ciarlante	...	Self
Gary Cohen	...	Self
Marlene Cohen	...	Self

Storyline

At the annual Vent Haven Convention in Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky, ventriloquism capital of the world, director Mark Goffman discovers five extraordinary characters straight out of a Christopher Guest mockumentary. But in this delightful, it's-all-true documentary, the characters are real, and so are the emotional attachments that they have with their "dummies."

---

Plot Keywords:

ventriloquism | heart | 

---

Taglines:

Say hello to my little friends.

---

Genres:

Documentary

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for brief suggestive humor

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

Special Friend
written by Kathleen York and J.J. Blair
performed by Kathleen York
courtesy of Bird In The Hand Records

User Reviews

I love documentaries but this one often seemed very painful and difficult to watch

This documentary is about five ventriloquists of widely varying backgrounds and ages. One of them, Terry Fator, is extremely rich, famous and a major star. The rest of them are trying to become stars and make careers out of ventriloquism and they find the path very difficult and personally destructive in at least one case.

While "Dumbstruck" was enjoyable to watch and well made, I must warn you up front that several of the stories are very painful to watch and made me feel a bit embarrassed for the folks portrayed in the film. I'll be blunt and also say that several of them loved ventriloquism but they should consider other careers because they just weren't funny...in fact, some of them were god-awful. I know this sounds cruel, but many of the people in the film were NOT the quality of Jeff Dunham or Edgar Bergen. In fact, a couple of them would have been booted off "The Gong Show".

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

January 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Stupefiat

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$981, 17 April 2011

Gross USA:

$15,379

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$15,379

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Color:

Color