Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, September 5, 1995 TAG: 9509070003
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ALMENA HUGHES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Willie Webster is always a ham, and this particular afternoon he's on a roll.
He baits the young attendees of the YMCA Magic Place program at Westside Elementary School to tell him what they know about drugs and their effects. With impish antics and unabashed flirtations, he causes the 5- to 11-year-olds to squirm, poke each other's ribs and laugh out loud. He mesmerizes them with songs about heroes and choosing friends. And in the end, he accomplishes what he set out to do:
"He taught me to just say no to drugs," 7-year-old Tiarra Frazier said of Webster, who is a caricature-faced ventriloquist's doll.
Webster's animator, Tammy "Pecan" Barnwell, has learned some lessons of her own from being a mother of three and from working as a corrections officer in Florida and currently as a security officer for Roanoke City schools.
"Some of the heroes that kids look up to are not positive figures,'' Barnwell said. ``[Kids need] to hear positive things. Because children take things in like sponges. They need to hear that their future is bright and they can be anything they want."
Barnwell decided to personally deliver the messages, using the ever-entertaining Webster to help keep the kids listening.
The twosome talks to audiences not only about drugs, but also about having self-esteem, knowing who you are or being all you can be.
During a recent performance, Webster commented that he usually wears a sweater to cover up a line across his neck so that people won't poke fun at him about it.
"That touched on being handicapped or different and on that it's OK to be different," Barnwell explained.
Another time, Barnwell and Webster went to a local children's hospital ward after reading about a young leukemia patient. Their aim that time was simply to deliver a little cheer.
"I've seen the vision since I was a little girl that maybe one day I would be able to reach large numbers of people," Barnwell said.
She was a little girl of 9 when she first saw a ventriloquist's doll on TV.
"I don't know why I wanted it so badly," she said.
Nevertheless, her pleas were rewarded that Christmas with a doll named Willie, who came with a thin book that told how to say the letters of the alphabet, but didn't say anything about changing the voice or pronouncing words.
"I went into the bathroom and got in front of the mirror with Willie and the book and within about five minutes, I could do it,'' Barnwell said. ``But I never had any formal training. I just learned as I went along."
Besides mastering voice and lip control, boy, can she sing - sort of.
"I love to sing through the doll, but I can't carry a tune on my own," Barnwell confided.
Yet during his performance, Webster warbles like a songbird, easily gliding over octaves and sustaining notes.
Barnwell kept Willie for almost the entire 25 years of her ventriloquism career, until he just wore out from age. When she got her new doll last April, he came named Webster. Barnwell feared she would call him Willie from force of habit. To be safe, she decided to call him Willie Webster.
"He's a wubble," she explained, meaning that his face is soft and his features are cartoon- rather than life-like.
"And I have teeth," Webster proudly announced, grinning to show the evidence.
"I say he's 4 years old because he looks like a 4-year-old to me," Barnwell said. "He's treated like part of the family," meaning he gets to ride on the seat in the car and usually isn't stored in his case.
Ventriloquist's dolls cost about $300 and up, Barnwell said, which is why she admonishes Webster's admirers to be very gentle when they touch him. It's also why she keeps her soft-skinned, potentially chewy sidekick out of the path of her labrador retriever/chow puppy.
Barnwell does allow her children, Broch, 11; Brandon, 9; and Brandice, 5 - all aspiring ventriloquists - to handle Webster occasionally, though usually they're relegated to practicing with hand puppets. In fact, the entire family gets into the act in her independent company, Barnwell Productions.
There is no set script for performances, Barnwell said. She reads background materials to prepare for particular topics, then discusses her ideas for skits with her husband, Ernest Barnwell. Her children serve as a sounding board and audience. From there, she wings the delivery according to the audience's reaction.
In addition to school programs, Pecan and Willie Webster perform for churches, social groups, birthday parties or wherever they're commissioned.
"I cater to what the customer requests, because they know what they need," Barnwell said.
Shows average about 30 minutes running time, but they've been as long as an hour and as short as 15 minutes.
Barnwell and Willie Webster can be reached at 982-7732.
by CNB