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BIOGRAPHY
Joe Gandelman spent nearly 20 years in the newspaper business before
he decided to dash it all and become a full-time ventriloquist -- a
change that now has him performing coast-to-coast at fairs, festivals,
schools, corporate events and on television.
Gandelman had tried ventriloquism as a child in Connecticut. After
getting his B.A from Colgate University and a Masters in Journalism
from Northwestern University he began a newspaper career that included
freelance work in India, Spain, Cypress and Bangladesh. He wrote for
papers such as the Chicago Daily News, contributed to Newsweek and
National Public Radio and was a Special Correspondent for the
Christian Science Monitor in Madrid.
He returned to the United States to become a staff writer on the
Wichita Eagle-Beacon and the San Diego Union. In the 1980s he did
ventriloquism again to relieve stress -- perfecting his technique by
carefully studying and constantly practicing materials in a mail-order
ventriloquism course.
Gandelman went full-time due to the encouragement of legendary
ventriloquist Jimmy Nelson, star of the classic Nestles commercials.
Nelson critiqued one of Gandelman's tapes and, in a meeting with
Gandelman, suggested he might think of "going pro." A newspaper
colleague soon dropped dead of a heart attack and Gandelman got into a
near fatal car accident. He decided "life was too short" and began
pursing a childhood dream.
In November 1990, he left his job as a San Diego Union staff writer
after nearly 10 years to do ventriloquism full-time. He had few
bookings lined up and received little help from agents.
Gandelman has since become a highly booked -- and rebooked -- family
entertainer. He opened for national musical groups, performed at Camp
Pendleton before a speech by former Pres. Ronald Reagan and was seen
on ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings. He has performed at
schools throughout the West, comedy clubs, the San Diego Zoo, fairs
and festivals across the country and many corporate events.
He and his wooden dummies and cartoon-like latex puppets have also
appeared in family variety shows at California big stage venues such
as San Francisco s Palace of Fine Arts, San Jose s Civic Auditorium,
Oakland s Paramount Theater, and the Anaheim Convention Center.
His act features comedy, music and lots of audience interaction.
Gandelman has a large cast of state-of-the-art wooden and "soft"
figures. His main character is John Raven, a wise-cracking boy who
frustrates him at every turn. John and Joe are as popular when doing
adult corporate entertainment events, as when doing children s private
parties, Scouts blue-and-golds dinners, holiday shows, strolling
entertainment or comedy clubs. At the end of every adult show
Gandelman suddenly becomes a comedian, doing several minutes of
topical standup and customized comedy material without his characters.
Gandelman is the author of the highly acclaimed Tips from a Pro book
and tape set for ventriloquists, published by Maher Studios of
Littleton, Colorado. He has also published Super-Simplified
Ventriloquism, a book on his system for learning ventriloquism
quickly. Gandelman is listed in Who s Who In Entertainment and is
included in the nationally distributed The Great Ventriloquists
trading cards.
He and his wooden friends were featured in Public Interest Media s
anti-teasing video "It s Not Funny," which was nationally marketed by
the nonprofit California group to 35,000 middle and high schools
across the country. His school assemblies have been acclaimed for
their use of big laughs to communicate and help students retain
serious information on themes such as anti-drug, anti-tobacco,
character, respect, no teasing/no bullying, patriotism, diversity and
pro-reading. Gandelman released an audio CD, Super Simplified
Ventriloquism, which uses lots of laughs to teach basic ventriloquism
techniques to kids and adults .
Gandelman has appeared on various local news and morning shows in
cities such as Columbus, GA, Evansville, Indiana, and Las Vegas,
Nevada. In July 2001 he and John Raven appeared on the NBC-TV series
Spy TV, a hidden camera comedy. In the hidden-camera stunt, John Raven
came "alive" when Joe left the room and asked a four-year-old child to
help him run away from the mean old ventriloquist.
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