Hometown stars - Ronn Lucas

Ventriloquist comes home to El Paso, where his act started

October 25, 2005

By Leonard Martinez
El Paso Times

Manny Diaz knows exactly what he would do if he had the ability to throw his voice.

“I’d go to comedy shows (to heckle), but I’d also throw my voice at parties, gatherings or even at church just o freak people out,” said Diaz, a Las Cruces resident.

Professional ventriloquist Ronn Lucas not only has the ability to throw his voice and make anything talk, he’s been pretty successful at it, too.

Over the years, the former El Pasoan has performed for President Reagan, Great Britain’s royal family, President Clinton, and he even starred in a July 4, 2004, TV special at the historic Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. for President Bush.

And having grown up in El Paso – he graduated from Eastwood High School in 1972 – he’s thrilled to come back home to celebrate 25 years in show business.

He will perform Saturday at the Abraham Chavez Theatre.

“Sometimes you don’t know where you are going until you know where you’ve been,” Lucas said in a telephone interview from Las Vegas. “I get nostalgic for El Paso all the time. Once in a while, you just yearn for home. I love the view from scenic Drive. The biggest thing I miss is the sky. It just seems bigger in El Paso.”

Lucas, 51, became enraptured with ventriloquism when he was 7 year old and saw ventriloquist Edgar Bergen on TV. Bergen appeared to make a baby talk before he brought out a wooden puppet.

“I just thought ‘Wow, this is really cool,’ and I went to the library to find a book on ventriloquism,” Lucas said. “We lived in Socorro, New Mexico, at the time so they didn’t have a book on it. So they got one from Santa Fe.”

For his eighth birthday, his parents bought him a plastic dummy from a Montgomery ward catalog, compete with a how-to record on ventriloquism.

But Lucas didn’t think it was discipline that led him to practice every day.

“It really isn’t discipline when it’s fun,” Lucas said. “I would get bored and start playing with it. That just kept me occupied all the time.”

Watching “Sesame Street” inspired Lucas to use puppets instead of the traditional wood or plastic dummies ventriloquist commonly used.

“These puppets moved with fluidity instead of a head on a stick,” Lucas said.

Lucas kept his unique talent a secret.

“I didn’t tell friends about it because I thought they would make fun of me,” Lucas aid. “During my junior year (at Eastwood), I entered a talent contest and won it. The act was so good I was sent to the principal’s office because some people thought it was too risqué.”

He really was called to the principal’s office that time, but other times it was just a trick to get himself out of class.

“I used t call myself out of class by throwing my voice to the P.A. speaker in class and say I had to go to the principal’s office,” Lucas aid. “I was a closet class clown. Sometimes I’d walk by a friend and shout ‘Hey, Larry!’ from behind him just to tease him.”

At 21, he began touring the country.

“I was hired by the Billy the Kid Clothing Company, which was big in El Paso at the time,” Lucas said. “They hired me to tour the country with a Billy the Kid puppet. It was a blast.”

Though that contract was only for a year, it reinforced Lucas’ dream of being in show business, an arena where he has excelled.

In September 2004, he received a standing ovation on the Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon and host Jerry Lewis said, “It doesn’t get any better than that.”

Earlier this year, the Smothers Brothers presented Lucas with the Askins Achievement Award at the ninth annual Vegas Ventriloquist Festival.

His successful television appearances in England in the early 1990s led to hosting his own top-rated comedy/variety series, “The Ronn Lucas Show,” in London for four years. This led to other European appearances that made him an international star.

He’s also made several TV appearances in the United States, including a guest spot on “LA Law,” which earned him an Emmy nomination.

“It was a hard acting job,” Lucas said. “The difficulty was that on my face I had to play a character that was withdrawn and sullen, almost destroyed, and the puppet was lashing out at the world. I had to have tow emotions at the same time.”

Even though it aired years ago, people still mention the performance when they talk to Lucas.

These days, Lucas performs six days a week at the Rio Hotel Casino in Las Vegas. His contract runs through December 2006.

The show consists of seven puppets and 15 to 20 voices.

“It is family entertainment,” Lucas said.

One of the characters, Buffalo Billy, is based on the Billy the Kid puppet with which he once toured. It reminds him of El Paso.

“All my great first happened there,” Lucas said. “I won the parks and recreation citywide talent show when I was 12. That was my first big trophy. I got work there for the firs time. Success is based on a series of positive steps, and El Paso was my first step. That is why I never forget El Paso, and I love to go back.”

Ronn Lucas photos

Comments

[TV or not TV]

"These days, Lucas performs six days a week at the Rio Hotel Casino in Las Vegas. His contract runs through December 2006." ????

I was just in Vegas (2008) and he was doing matinees at the Luxor (or maybe Excalibur--I get them confused). Very talented guy.

[TV or not TV]

Oh, OK, I get it now. This is "tales from the morgue." Shouldn't you at least have a date noting when the orginal article was written?

[Trish Long]

You are right, I forgot the date. This article ran Oct. 25, 2005.

[Don Kirkpatrick]

Ron Lucas' first television appearance was in El Paso in 1973 in a 30-second TV spot for the Independent Insurance Agents of El Paso, which I wrote and produced. Lucas' talent was apparent to me then and has grown tremendously during the past 35 years. I'm delighted to learn of his many successes over the years.