{"id":207,"date":"2014-07-22T07:50:30","date_gmt":"2014-07-22T11:50:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/imnodummy.com\/blog\/?p=207"},"modified":"2014-07-22T09:02:37","modified_gmt":"2014-07-22T13:02:37","slug":"idols-and-mentors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/WorkShouldBeFun.com\/blog\/idols-and-mentors\/","title":{"rendered":"Idols & Mentors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Idols and Mentors. Is there a difference?<\/p>\n

Last week I attended the annual Venthaven Ventriloquist ConVENTion<\/a> in Hebron, KY, which is just outside Cincinnati, OH. This is the<\/strong><\/span> big convention for ventriloquists from around the world. It is an event I look forward to each summer. This year we had 575 registered attendees from USA, Canada, Germany, Romania, Japan, Singapore, Australia, and more.<\/p>\n

The big thrill for me this year was to meet Willie Tyler and Leste<\/a>r. (I actually met him once before, in 1982. More on that later.)<\/p>\n

\"David<\/a><\/p>\n

Even more of a thrill was to be in the audience during his masterful performance on the closing night show.<\/p>\n

\"Willie<\/a><\/p>\n

Willie Tyler is one of the ventriloquists who strongly influenced my development as a ventriloquist. He is one of my idols. With his numerous appearances on TV, he is one of the few ventriloquists I was able to follow as a kid.<\/p>\n

Even more than an idol, I consider him a mentor.<\/p>\n

Here are a few things I’ve learned from Willie Tyler:<\/p>\n