If there is
one element that defines a McElroy figure above all others, it's the control
post.
Most
ventriloquist figures of the 1930s and 40s were operated with a simple wooden
stick and one or two levers for the jaw and maybe the eyes. The McElroy control
post is something else entirely.
Glenn
McElroy designed a system of typewriter-style keys and levers mounted on a box
at the top of the headstick. Each key or lever controls a specific animation:
one for the left winker, one for the right, one for the eyebrows, one for the
tongue, one for the nose. The jaw is controlled by the thumb. The upper lip by
the index finger on the other side.
The result
looks like a tiny musical instrument. And in a way, that's exactly what it is —
a instrument for playing expressions.
What
fascinates me most is that Glenn designed this system to be operated with one
hand, while the other hand is free for gestures or props. Every control is
positioned so that the performer can reach it naturally, without looking,
without thinking.
That's not
just engineering. That's ergonomics. That's craft at the highest level.
Replicating
this system is one of the greatest challenges — and greatest joys — of building
a McElroy replica.
Alessio
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