• Home
  • Movie News
  • Movie Trailers
  • Reviews
    • Cinema Reviews
    • Home Entertainment Reviews
      • Blu-ray Review
      • DVD Review
  • Competitions
  • Features
    • Interview

Movie Muser

Have your say about cinema

Nina Conti Live – Dolly Mixtures (DVD) – The comedy ventriloquist brings the fun of puppetry back

23rd November 2014 By Tim Isaac


The sort of variety acts that were a staple of British TV up until the 1980s have largely disappeared (while Britain’s Got Talent may have brought it back to primetime, it still exists pretty much in isolation). And with the death of variety, ventriloquism pretty much disappeared too.

However in the last few years Nina Conti has slowly but surely been rising up the comedy ranks and becoming more of a household name. To be honest she ought to be more famous than she is, as her CV includes appearances in Christopher Guest movies and slew of TV shows, but it seems that with ventriloquism looked down on in many circles she’s had more difficulty pushing through than she perhaps should have.

Dolly Mixtures is a great showcase for her talents, where she interacts with a variety of puppet characters, from those she’s known for, such as Monkey and Gran, to newer characters like Conti’s eight-year-old daughter and an ancient man who’s nearing death (which may not sound funny, but it actually is). The loose theme running through the show is the ages of man, hence why characters run from the very young to the very old – plus a monkey.

What helps ensure Conti’s act doesn’t feel like we’ve suddenly fallen back in time three decades is the fact she’s very smart and constantly plays with what she’s doing. She is far from the first ventriloquist to have puppets who acknowledge they are puppets, but she takes it much further than hackneyed ‘you’ve got your hand up my ass jokes’.

While she keeps it light, there are plenty of fun and clever postmodern touches, where she gently brings up ideas about the psychological implications of what she’s doing, such as what the fact that she’s essentially having a conversation with herself means, and whether her characters are just projections of herself. Likewise she plays with the fact the audience is watching her doing this and getting involved with something that doesn’t really exist.

However this is certainly not 65 minutes of heavy intellectualism, as Conti fits it in amongst plenty of silliness and humour, helped by a quick wit and a series of well thought out and funny puppet characters. She also brings out what has become one of her signature pieces, where she turns audience members into puppets with the help of a false mouth that she can operate. Here she gets a great set-up with a woman who’s come to the gig with her boyfriend and his twin brother. While I’ve seen her do this type of ventriloquism before and not been particularly impressed, here’s it’s very funny indeed.

What’s also nice about her act is that while she does swear and can sometimes be a little bit rude, her act feels like something that’s for a wide range of people, which is evidenced by the fact that her audience ranges from students to pensioners.

Overall Verdict: Dolly Mixtures is proof that the likes of impressionists, ventriloquists, traditional magic acts and various other variety acts from TV past don’t need to be consigned to the dustbin, as when done well – as Nina Conti does – they can still be a lot of fun.

Reviewer: Tim Isaac

Related

CHECK OUT THESE RELATED ARCHIVES:

Filed Under: DVD Review

Search this site…

Get Social

RSSTwitterFacebook

Get new posts by e-mail

Get the latest in our daily e-mail

Latest Cinema & Home Ent. Reviews

Mortal Engines (Cinema Review)

Anna and the Apocalypse (Cinema Review)

Suspiria (Cinema Review)

Overlord (Cinema Review)

King of Thieves (Cinema Review)

Isle of Dogs (DVD Review)

Mission: Impossible – Fallout (Cinema Review)

Tomb Raider (Blu-ray Review)

The Bridge 4 (DVD Review)

My Friend Dahmer (Cinema Review)

Latest News & Trailers

Detective Pikachu Trailer – Pokemon is going live action with Ryan Reynolds

Toy Story 4 Teaser Trailer – Woody & the gang are coming back once more

Aladdin Teaser Trailer – Guy Ritchie directs Disney’s latest live-action adaptation

New Glass Trailer – The worlds of Unbreakable and Split meet

Aquaman Extended Trailer – Jason Momoa goes to war under the seas against Patrick Wilson

New Overlord Trailer – Soldiers take on Nazi-created zombies in the JJ Abrams produced movie

The Mule Trailer – Clint Eastwood is an octogenarian drug runner opposite Bradley Cooper

Vice Trailer – Christian Bale transforms into former Vice President Dick Cheney

Mary Queen of Scots Trailer – Saoirse Ronan & Margot Robbie get Elizabethan

New Mortal Engines Trailer – London is literally on the move in the steampunk fantasy

Handpicked MediaHandpicked MediaCopyright © 2025 Muser Media · Powered by WordPress & Genesis Framework · Log in
Movie Muser is a member of The Handpicked Media network

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT