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'A HISTORY OF VENTRILOQUISM' 

by MISS MERLYNDA ROBINSON (LLAM, ALAM)

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Miss Merlynda Puppet Theatre - Puppet School

Location:  St Anne's Cottage (near St Anne's Church) Bucks Mills, Bideford, Devon EX39 5DY, England.

Biography - Awards - Training/Qualifications - Publications - Performances - Clients - Festivals - AND MORE! ...

About 'Miss Merlynda' ...

Born into a theatrical and musical family, 'Miss Merlynda' - (aka: Lynda K Robinson) - has over 40 year's experience of entertaining family audiences and conducting Puppetry & Ventriloquism Workshops! Merlynda trained with LAMDA for 10 years (becoming an ALAM and LLAM of LAMDA and awarded 4 Honours Medals in Speech/Acting) - and successfully completed the rigorous ‘The Mastery’ at The Actors Institute, London.

Her childhood was spent almost entirely performing in Operetta, Musicals and Dramatic Plays - and - creating Comedy Poetry and Comedy Monologues, Romantic Love and Bereavement Poetry, Romantic Nature and Place Poetry, Humorous and Comical Nonsense Poetry, Rhyming Fairy-Tales and Verse-Fables For Children - and - Comedy Songs.

Later, she added Marionette Puppetry, Ventriloquism and Punch & Judy Puppetry to her live performance repertoire - and founded 'The Ventriloquist Club of Great Britain' - training professional Entertainers, Actors, Therapists and Teachers - in the hilarious, inspirational, crazy and exhilarating Art of Ventriloquism!

She has performed her Comedy Ventriloquist Acts, Comedy Poetry, Comedy Monologues and Comedy Songs as themed One-Woman Shows and Acts in a variety of venues across England - for private clients - in pubs - for clubs and groups - at special events - mix and mingling and walkabouting at large scale public events - and - performing as a headliner at Poetry and Literary Events.

She also became a professional Illustrator and Cartoonist: ‘Kitty Pigfish’ after studying Fine Art at: Winchester School of Art and The OCA. Her artworks are exhibited in commercial London Galleries, regional Galleries, in France, the USA and Sweden - and are commissioned internationally. An Exhibitions/Client List is available on request. She owned and managed ‘The Barley-Brut Art Gallery’ in Hampshire and ran regular Exhibitions and Art Workshops within the South Downs National Park. She was commissioned by The Art Institute to create a 850,000 word Art Tutorial Course - Title: ‘Master The Art’(Published The Art Institute: 1998).

In addition to being an award-winning and much-published poet and cartoonist, Merlynda was assistant to The Chief Barker of The Variety Club of Great Britain and the Managing Director of Columbia-EMI-Warner Bros in London. As a lifelong Tarot Reader and professionally qualified Astrologer (Dip. Astrol. (The Astrology Institute) - she became the regular Tarot & Astrology Magazine Columnist with The Observer Newspaper & Magazine Series . She was also a Subs Editor with The Financial Times - and - a professional Scriptwriter with Exhibitions and Audio Visual Presentations Company - Q International and QAV Presentations.

She was the Founder and Editor of: The Poetry Box Magazine - and - The Bucks Mills Poetry Magazine. In 2018, she was the Poet-In-Residence at The Cabin in Bucks Mills, Devon, England (courtesy of The National Trust) - and began opening her Poetry Gallery: ‘The Bucks Mills Gallery’ regularly to visitors.

She was also a participating artist and poet with the: MADHurst Art Trek - the Devon Artists Network Art Trek - and the - North Devon Art Trek organisations.

In 2019 she launched a new mini poetry festival: ‘The Bucks Mills Poetry Festival - A Weekend Gathering of Poets’ bringing together poets nationally and internationally.

As a professional Ventriloquist - Comedy Performance Poet - and - Comedy Singer-Songwriter - Merlynda is happiest of all creating and then performing her Comedy Poems and Comedy Songs live for Adult Audiences - together with her Cast of Cheeky, Chatty (and rather Naughty!) Ventriloquist Dolls, Dummies and Moving Mouth Puppets - as - 'Madame Merlynda & Her Dolls!'

She is also popularly known both for her Comedy Poetry For Adults - (aka: ‘BlueBell Robinson - BlueBelly Laughs’) - and for her Poetry For Children - (aka: ‘Merlynda Jelly-Jaws’).

Merlynda’s Awards Include:  The Forward Press Poetry Award/The Golden Grove Poetry Prize, The PIM Poetry Award, The Poetry Rivals National Poetry Slam, The Serendipity Poetry Prize, The Portico Poetry Prize, The Leaf Book-Jacket Award, The National Library Book-Jacket Award, The WM Composer’s Award For Song, The UK International Songwriter Award, and as Selected Songwriter: MiDEM, France. Over 100 of her Songs and Keyboard/Piano Compositions are published and her Keyboard Suite: ‘The Toys In The Attic’was choreographed by The Royal Academy of Dance and premiered at: The EQ International Festival of Dance, in Ireland.

Merlynda’s 16 Solo Poetry Collections Published To Date: The Romance of Bucks Mills: A Collection of Romantic Love & Bereavement Poems, War Poems: A Collection For Remembrance, Naughty! Naughty! - A Collection of Naughty Comedy Poems For Adults, ACT! Alone Monologues & Verse For Performer & Speakers, Naughty But Nice! - A Collection of Comedy Poems For Adults, The Bucks Mills Funny Times! - A Collection of Comical Odes, Ditties & Illustrations, Merlynda: The Bucks Mills Poet-In-Residence in The Cabin, 6 FairyTales & Verse-Fables 4 You!, The Tale of The Goat & The Wolf (also an Audio Book), Jolly Rhymes!, Tiggee Tatter & Ticklee, Flight Or Fight, The Scarlette Book, A Pocket Collection of Horror Poetry, Kitty Pigfish’s Astrological Canines, Merlynda Requests The Pleasure (Audio Book).

Merlynda’s poems are published in a variety of Poetry Anthologies - including: Poets Ensemble, Prime Time Poets, Poetry Rivals 2009, Poetry Rivals 2012, Poetry Rivals 2014, Forward Poetry: A World of Verse 2011, Forward Poets 2008, Forward Poetry Poets 2012, Poetry Now 1997, Poetry Now 2013, The Great British Write Off, My Regards To You, Endless Love, Happily Ever After, The World At War, Spring To Life, Diamond Jubilee, Womanly Thoughts, Poetic Destinies, Inspired, Essence of Love, Animal Antics, Echoes of Life, The Gift of Prayer, Into The Shadows, Wasn’t It Funny When, It’s The Way They Tell ‘Em, A Royal Century, Joyful Thoughts of Christmas, United In Inspiration, In Those Days, Words In Praise of Ned Ludd, A Little Book of Serendipity, The Bordon Reflections War Poetry Collection, Mirror Mirror On The Wall (also an ebook) The National Library, The Royal Naval Poetry Collection, The Poetry Society, Addictions Anthology: Despite Knowing (Teignmouth Poetry Festival, 2022). Other Publications: ‘Master The Art’ - Art Tutorial Course (commissioned by The Art Institute) and ‘Cold Shivers: A Collection of Short Stories’.

Merlynda’s Poetry Festival & Other Live Performances Include: The Chichester Festival, The Havant Literary Festival, The Lanesborough Hotel, London, The Milford Festival, The Ripley Festival, The Beer & Oyster Festival, The Elvetham Country Estate, O'Connors and The Secret Garden, The Wheelwrights, The White Hart, Civic Hall Guildford (G-Live), privately for Baroness Golding and The Law Lords, at Port Solent, on the London Fringe Theatre circuit, as supporting Comedy Performance Poet to Mike Harding - and headlining and compering at a variety of Poetry Open Mics/Spoken Word Events across England.

Merlynda’s Poetry Radio Broadcasts and Interviews: BBC Radio Solent, BBC Radio South, BBC 3 Counties, Radio Delta, Spirit FM, Radio Lion (the recording of this live poetry broadcast is frequently re-broadcast). Merlynda was regional BBC Radio’s ‘Poetry Expert’ during the BBC’s ‘Functional Poetry Initiative’.

Please visit Merlynda’s other websites for her Poetry Reading Videos - Photos - Publications - Awards - And For More Details:

www.Merlynda-Romantic-Poet.com

www.DevonBookSociety.com

www.KittyPigfishCartoons.com