Dumbstruck (2010)

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 ... See full summary »

Director:

Mark Goffman

Stars:

Bob Ashman, Maria Ashman, Robert J. Ashman

1 win.

Cast

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

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

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, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$15,017, 5 June 2011

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Color:

Color

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".