Senor Wences "Deefeecult For You-Easy For Me"

Señor Wences (April 17, 1896April 20, 1999) was a 20th-century Spanish 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 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' 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 used lipstick to draw the lips onto the respective fingers and then drew eyes onto the upper part of the first finger, finishing the effect with a tiny long-haired wig on top of his 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 creations, and in the difference in their voice pitches.

Category:

Comedy

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• Senor Wences

[ooogooman]

CHA CHA CHA!

[wencesfan]

Bookiepro,

What a GREAT video tribute to my IDOL, the great SENOR WENCES! I had the good fortune of meeting him, & can honestly say I have never, before or since, met a more humble & amiable soul! God rest him!

[RCATK41]

A fabulous entertainer. I was fortjnate to find a mint copy of this record and this song is now on a cd as well.

[marlenebraun]

This song is from Chile, his family lives there, he was from Salamanca, Spain..

[CocteauDalighari]

"Whish one cost more: de big one or de lil' one?" "De big one!" "No." "No?"

[moboutmen]

Joy Records. I remember some little juggler on the label.  One of my earliest musical recollections. Great Post. S'alrright !!

[eselle1955]

Ah, fond childhood memories of Senor Wences and Johnny.

[Laserton]

Un crack este SEÑOR!!!!

[Bladepaw18]

@ooogooman PEDRO!

[bdicat]

As a hero of mine, he was one of the best at what he did. I like him yes? "Salright"

[bdicat]

This man worked until his last breath at the age of 103. He was the best in his field.

[rwsmith29456]

I was always glad when I found out SW was going to be on the Sullivan show.