DANIELLE CURTISdcurtis@fosters.com| Fosters Daily Democrat
ROCHESTER— Sylvia Fletcher has spent much of the last 17 years talking to herself, and her time at the 136th annual Rochester Fair has been no different.
Sylvia and her husband Chris Fletcher are the talent and brains behind the fair's newest entertainment option — Magic Trunk, a ventriloquist show featuring Sylvia and her 11 characters singing, dancing, and playing with their audiences. Chris produces the show and runs the music and sound.
While this year is the couple's first time performing at the Rochester Fair, they are by no means new to the business. Before her show Thursday evening, Sylvia discussed how she first became interested in ventriloquy and how her childhood hobby grew to be a thriving entertainment business today.
Sylvia said she fell in love with ventriloquists she saw on television as a child and that her father eventually bought her a dummy, Willy. Willy came with a book on how to speak without moving the lips, Sylvia said, and she taught herself how to do it.
"My father would write me scripts," she said, laughing. "Maybe he was trying to keep me busy or out of trouble."
It was her father that encouraged her to showcase her talent, as well.
Sylvia said her father would take her to talent shows, often not even telling her that's what they were doing until they arrived.
"I'd say, 'No, I'm not doing it, I don't even have my puppets,' and he would just pull them out of the trunk," Sylvia said. "I'd hide them and he'd find them and bring them along."
It was this habit of her father's from which she got the name "Magic Trunk" for her shows, she said Thursday.
Sylvia continued to practice ventriloquy throughout high school, where she ran for student council and used a dummy as her campaign manager.
"I figured I would be unforgettable that way," she said.
As Sylvia got older, she began working in marketing and advertising and moved away from ventriloquy. Once she married Chris and had children, she became a stay-at-home mom and said she began to feel like she needed a way to contribute to the family.
"I would go to kids' birthday parties and see shows and think, 'I could do a much better show than this!'," Sylvia said. "So I started doing a few shows on weekends to earn some money."
What started out as a part-time job, however, soon became much more.
"Audiences wouldn't let her stop," Chris said.
Today, the Fletchers and their dummies travel around the country and the continent putting on shows at fairs, corporate events, cruise ships, and resorts.
Fair Manager Mark Perry said he's happy to have the Magic Trunk show at the Rochester Fair this year, saying he and audiences have been impressed with the couple's talent.
"The shows have been very well-received," Perry said. "This isn't your typical fair-caliber act, it's much more than that. This is far above what you'd normally see at a fair."
Chris said the couple has been enjoying performing in the Lilac City and that audiences have given them very positive feedback.
"We pride ourselves on being the biggest small act out there, and what we enjoy more than anything is coming into small, intimate places like this," he said of the fair. "By the end of every show, the smallest crowd we've had was about 50 to 60 people."
At the Magic Trunk show Thursday afternoon, which featured a smaller audience due to rainy weather, it was apparent that fairgoers were impressed by Sylvia's abilities.
The show began with a bit featuring her and a dragon named Smolder, who sang a song with Sylvia before citing a contractual agreement that ensured him one solo song of his choosing.
Despite Sylvia's, and the audience's, urgings that Smolder could not talk without her, the dragon insisted and soon belted out an original rap song, drawing laughter and cheers from adults and children in the crowd alike.
The Magic Trunk show features a number of other characters as well, including Carly, a patriotic girl whose father is stationed with the military overseas, and Amazing Steve, a genie with an Indian accent.
One of the audience members in attendance Thursday, Bill Johnson, of Elmira, N.Y., who runs a food stand at the fair, said he has seen the Magic Trunk show over a dozen times at other fairs he's worked at.
"Every show is different," Johnson said. "The interaction is different with each one of the people in the audience. There's never a dull moment."
Johnson said he's come to see the show every day its been at the Rochester Fair and said there has been a lot of turn out for the shows.
"The crowd has been tremendous all week long," he said.
Magic Trunk shows will continue today and during the weekend, with shows at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. tonight and at 1 p.m., 4 p.m., and 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
For more information on Magic Trunk, visit www.mylipsdontmove.com.
The Rochester Fair continues today with a horse pulling competition at 1 p.m. and performances of Circus Hollywood at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. A trailer race and democross competition will be held at the grandstands at 7 p.m.
For more information or to see a complete schedule of events, visit www.rochesterfair.com.
