Winning hearts with adorable puppets
Comedy skits by ventriloquist twins a hit with social media audience
IMAGINE a puppet sitting on your lap and saying the rudest things about people and cracking the funniest jokes.
Ventriloquism, literally lending your voice to an inanimate object, is as much an art as it is an act.
First to come to mind is, of course, Jeff Dunham and his politically incorrect puppet Achmed the Dead Terrorist.
Malaysia has its equals in twin brothers – Mohd Syazwan Nizam and younger sibling Mohd Syazrul Nizam – and their alter egos Buntak and Buntik.
Known as the Wan Rul Puppet to fans and admirers, the twins from Beaufort, Sabah, have been a regular on Facebook and YouTube for a decade now.
They developed an interest in ventriloquism when they were in Form Three, but developing the skill had to take a back seat to their academic pursuits.
But now, at age 31, they have become familiar names, having performed in comedy skits and even conducting parody dialogues with Malaysian celebrities. Their repertoire even include singing cover songs.
The twins had a good start, thanks to the support from their father, who bought them their first puppet, Buntak.
Buntik joined the act three years later. Syazwan told theSun their father had to source the puppets from the United States as they were not yet available in Malaysia.
They now have 11 puppets of different genders, various ages and even species.
To give their acts a local flavour, they dress up their puppets in children’s clothes purchased from local stores. For instance, Buntak and Buntik wear baju Melayu in some of their skits.
Including props such as wigs, the twins estimated that they have invested up to RM30,000 over the years on their cast.
But the returns have more than covered all their investments. In 2013, the twins emerged champions in Mimpi ke Bintang, an RTM talent show, and walked away with RM50,000.
They have also participated in several talent competitions.
But social media has been their best stage, the act racks up one to three million views for every appearance on Facebook and they already have 300,000 views on YouTube.
Social media became their only medium during the movement control order when travel across state boundaries was prohibited.
“We could not travel to perform at corporate events or dinner ceremonies so we made do with Facebook and YouTube,” Syazrul said.
Besides the sarcasm that have become the trademark of Buntak and Buntik, Syazwan and Syazrul also mimic famous Malaysian voices, including women’s voices when the act calls for it.
“We also learn to sing in various languages without moving our lips, but our main skits are in Bahasa Melayu,” Syazwan said.
The twins get their ideas by watching programmes and live-streams of Malaysian celebrities and then spend two to three days to plan their skits. These would then be uploaded on Facebook and YouTube.
Planning for corporate events or stage acts take a little longer, perhaps a week to plan, prepare and rehearse.
On their hopes for the future, Syazwan and Syazrul want ventriloquism to be taken seriously as a form of entertainment in Malaysia.
“Perhaps we could start teaching the art to those who are interested. We also want to make ventriloquism a legitimate form of entertainment on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.”
The twins’ children are probably their biggest fans, always entertained by the antics of Buntak and Buntik as well as the other puppets.