EC how funny, I almost started a thread about ventriloquists this week.

Have you seen Nina Conti? 

What made me start the thread was that I happened to catch a woman and her monkey being interviewed on TV this morning. It reminded me of my dislike for them. Sorry Cinds, can't say I have heard of her.

Currently in a coffee shop and my tablet is a bit flakey when it comes to typing.

That's her, she was on Sunday Brunch this morning.  The monkey thing isn't that funny, but she does a bit where she gets people puts of the audience and puts fake mouths on them, that is very funny.  But I'm with you on the hand up something being very unfunny.

That's where I saw her. I don't normally watch it as the non chef gets on my nerves.

I don't watch it that much now, enjoyed it when it was Something For The Weekend on BBC 2, but not so keen now, but happened to flick on whe she was on this morning. Funnily I said a similar thing to MrC about them getting on my nerves now.

Great minds and all that 

nina conti is megan in claire & the community-shes a funny girl

I believe she is in a new sit-com featuring her puppet. I saw a clip. Don't think it's for me though. 

Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop was the best!

EC, how could you not love this little puppet?

Cinds

Pancakes and sauce?

I like it but have never been able to pronounce it....

The sit-com is "Family Tree", where she plays Chris O'Dowd's sister. 

Did you see that documentary where she went to the vetriloquist convention in the States? It was really quite disturbing. She talked a lot about the late Ken Campbell (her mentor and one-time lover). He left her a lot of puppets in his will, including a life-size dummy of himself (at the end of the film she had chat with "him" that was very    ). She's said that her puppets often say things that she doesn't expect, and apparently she got her monkey puppet at almost the exact time (to the day) that her aborted child would have been born...

Oh my Eugene, that's quite disturbing isn't it.

Oh, you're not kidding. TBF, Nina Conti is well aware that it's disturbing, but it's something she's come to live with. It's still not easy viewing for outsiders, though: I really felt like an intruder at times. Much of it felt essentially like a therapy session where she was trying to come to terms with her relationship with Campbell: she loved and admired him, and he genuinely believed she was destined to become one of the great ventriloquists of all time - so no pressure there, then...

You've made me want to watch it now.

If you get the chance, it's called "Her Master's Voice".
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2081260/

Just ordered a copy.