1904. Being a thoroughly reliable guide to the art of voice throwing and vocal mimicry by an entirely novel system of graded exercises. By ventriloquism, we mean the art, the act, or the practice of speaking or singing in such a manner that the voice appears to come, not from the person himself, but from some other place, as from the opposite side of the room, above or below, etc. A ventriloquist is the performer, the actor.