Sophie Becker (born 1993 or 1994) is an American actor and ventriloquist who is known for "reviving a vaudevillian art form". [1]
Becker grew up in Berkeley, California and studied performance art at Wesleyan University. [1]
Becker's 2020 Off Off Broadway lead-role performance in "Really Really Gorgeous" [2] was reviewed favorably by Jose Solis of the New York Times. [3] Becker was given a Jerry Mahoney dummy by a man she met while line dancing. [4] As the pandemic diminished her acting opportunities, she worked on her ventriloquism skills via Youtube. Becker performed at MOMA’s PS 21, Jean's, Roxy Cinema, the Rockaway Film Festival, [4] Night Club 101 and other venues. [1] Her act involved singing together with her Jerry Mahoney dummy and "often lamenting about Jerry’s former fame". [5] Becker noted that ventriloquism eased her fear of having her jokes bomb on stage because she could blame bad writing on the dummy. [6]
As her career progressed, Becker commissioned a second, original dummy she named Ronnie to represent "the New York girl who is my id". [1]
When Becker began performing ventriloquism, her roommates found her dummy creepy and did not let her keep it in their common space. [6] Candice Bergen, whose father was ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, said she approved of Becker's endeavor to revive the old art. [1] Becker's show The Jerry Mahoney Success Seminar, co-written by Henry Gunderson, was noted for its postmodern aspects in its setting at the Bonaventure Hotel. [7]
Sophie Becker and Jerry, Youtube, via C-mine