Señor Wences

Infobox Person
name = Señor Wences

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image_size = 279px
caption = 54th and Broadway
birth_name = Wenceslao Moreno
birth_date = Birth date | 1896 | 04 | 17
birth_place = Salamanca, Spain
death_date = Death date and age | 1999 | 04 | 20 | 1896 | 04 | 17
death_place = New York, United States
death_cause = Natural causes
known_for = Internationally known ventriloquist
spouse = Esperanza Martin (1902-1983), Natalie Cover (1917-2005)

Señor Wences (April 17, 1896 – April 20, 1999) was a prominent 20th century ventriloquist whose popularity grew with his frequent appearances on CBS's "Ed Sullivan Show". He was born Wenceslao Moreno in Peñaranda de Bracamonte, in the province of Salamanca, Spain. His father was Antonio Moreno Ross, artist, and his mother was Josefa Centeno Lavera, both from the povince of Salamanca. He became a famous ventriloquist worldwide, but his main career was made in the United States.

Señor Wences was known for his speed, skill, and grace as a ventriloquist. His stable of characters included "Johnny," a childlike face drawn on Wences's hand, which he would place atop an otherwise headless doll, and with whom Wences conversed while switching his voices between Johnny's falsetto and his own voice at amazing speed. Wences would create Johnny's face on stage to open his act, placing his thumb next to, and in front of, his bent first finger; the first finger would be the upper lip, and the thumb the lower lip. He would use lipstick to draw the lips onto the respective fingers, and then draw eyes onto the upper part of the first finger, finishing the effect with a tiny long-haired wig on top of the entire hand. Flexing the thumb would move the "lips."

Another popular Wences character was the gruff-voiced "Pedro," a disembodied head in a box. Wences was forced to suddenly invent the character when his regular, full-sized dummy was destroyed during a train accident en route to a performance. Pedro would either 'speak' from within the closed box, or speak with moving lips--simply growling, "s'awright"--when Wences opened the box's front panel with his free hand. A large part of Wences' comedy lay in the well-timed, high-speed exchange of words between himself and his two creations, and in the difference in their voice pitches.

Wences usually built to a big finish that combined ventriloquism with graceful juggling and plate-spinning. As Wences performed his routines, Pedro and Johnny mercilessly heckled him with flawless comedic timing.

Wences was an international favorite for decades, appearing regularly on TV variety shows including a memorable half-hour turn on "The Muppet Show". His last TV appearance was on "The Very Best of the Ed Sullivan Show, #2", a CBS retrospective in which nonagenarian Wences talked about "Suliban" and performed a brief spot of ventriloquism.

Señor Wences died just three days after his 103rd birthday. He had been residing in New York city on 54th Street, just around the corner from the Ed Sullivan Theater. That section of 54th Street has been named "Señor Wences Way". His portrait can be seen at the Players Club in New York.He married Esperanza Martin (1902-1983), for her he named Johnny as "Johnny Martin".His second and last wife, Natalie Cover (1917-2005) was his manager and is well respected among all his many friends. Norman Nielsen admired her and visited her at the hospital in New York. Also Marty Fisher and many other friends and great performers. His granddaughter, Marcela Moreno, is a famous genealogist. He has a nephew, José Luis Moreno, who is also a famous ventriloquist in Spain.

Catchphrases

* One of Wences's trademark bits of shtick (referenced several times below) involves his dialogue with a low voice emanating from inside a box. At the opening of the dialogue he would shout Hello in the box!" At the conclusion of the dialogue, he would open the lid of the box and ask "S'awright?" ("It's all right?") and the box voice would answer "S'awriiiiight!"

* Another involved explaining to his hand puppet that something was easy to do, to which the puppet would reply, "Easy for you, difficult for me!" in his Spanish dialect.

Popular culture references

*In the cartoon series "Quick Draw McGraw" of 1959 at the program's end there is a dialog between Quick Draw McGraw and his side-kick where they repeat the famous lines of "S'awriiiight".

*There is an homage to Señor Wences in the first season Scooby-Doo episode, "Hassle in the Castle". His voice and catch phrase "S'awriiiight" is used by the talking skeleton head that gives Shaggy directions.

*Several episodes of the animated series "Roger Ramjet" are set in the fictional South American republic of San Domino, which is so small and impoverished that the President's Cabinet is literally a wooden cabinet. When the President wishes confirmation of some train of thought, he asks it "S'awright?" and a gruff voice from within replies "S'awright."

* In the Chilly Willy cartoon "Half-Baked Alaska" (1965), while getting his order for pancakes from Smedly the dog, Chilly and Smedly did a routine similar to the "Nice? Nice" act. A similar gag happen at the end of "Pesty Guest" (1965).

*A reference to Señor Wences occurred in the 1979 movie "The In-Laws". The dictator of the South American country in which the action takes place, at one point talks to the main protagonists indirectly, via a "Johnny"-like character drawn on his hand named "Señor Pepe." At that point, any doubts they may have had about his sanity are confirmed.

*In "Fat Butt and Pancake Head", an episode of the animated television series "South Park", Eric Cartman creates a hand puppet identical in style to Señor Wences' "Johnny". Cartman's puppet is a parody of singer Jennifer Lopez, but the puppet still speaks like Johnny, with a high-pitched voice and stereotypical Spanish accent. Cartman and the puppet also go through several of Señor Wences's classic routines, such as having the puppet "kiss" a real person and enjoying it tremendously. Final proof of the writers' knowledge of Señor Wences comes when Cartman and "Miss Lopez" share the trademark "s'awright" routine Wences used to do with his "Pedro" puppet.

*In "Homer vs. Patty & Selma", an episode of "The Simpsons", Bart Simpson creates a hand puppet and also does the trademark "s'awright" routine.

*In "Mr. Saturday Knight", an episode of Family Guy, Peter Griffin creates a hand puppet while attending Mr. Weed's funeral to pass as his lawyer.

* Wences's "s'awright" shtick was frequently alluded to on the animated TV show "The Flintstones".

*In Disney's "Aladdin", there are two references to Señor Wences. The first happens when Aladdin first meets the Genie: when the Genie (Robin Williams) describes himself as "often imitated", the voice he uses is a high-pitched, Spanish-accented voice similar to "Johnny" (he's also seen as a ventriloquist, though with a traditional dummy). The second is near the end, when Aladdin suggests Jafar wish to be a genie. The Genie makes a "Johnny" like hand puppet, and says that Aladdin's "A little punch-drunk. One too many hits with the snake."

*In the Sam & Max comic, Bad Day on the Moon, Max spends a brief time as disembodied spirit in possession of Sam's hand, taking on the appearance of "Johnny"-type puppet, except with bunny ears. Max also says the "s'awright" line to make it clear that this is a tribute.

*In the novel "Caramelo", one of the characters meets Señor Wences in a Chicago jail cell.

*In the movie "America's Sweethearts" there is the following discussion:
**Lee Phillips (Billy Crystal): We had to make a Weidmann film! -He has three Oscars. He's a genius.
**Dave Kingman (Stanley Tucci): There's only one genius in the business: Señor Wences! Lipstick, hair and his hand! He had an 85-year career!

*In the online game "Kingdom of Loathing" there is a character, Blaine, whose icon is a box (referencing David Blaine). Talking to him will start certain quests. However, if he has no quests to give you, the description will read: "You knock on the side of the crate, and ask 'S'awright?' A voice inside mutters, 'S'awright.'"

References

*http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/1999/04/19241
*http://www.tv.com/senor-wences/person/142481/summary.html
*http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F07E3D9173AF932A15757C0A96F958260
*http://www.salon.com/people/obit/1999/04/20/wences/

External links

* [http://mercurye.com/ventriloquism/ "A Pictorial History of Ventriloquism"]

Persondata
NAME = Moreno, Wenceslao
ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Señor Wences
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Spanish ventriloquist
DATE OF BIRTH = 17 April 1896
PLACE OF BIRTH = Salamanca, Spain
DATE OF DEATH = 20 April 1999
PLACE OF DEATH = New York, United States