Get ready to laugh yourself into the Christmas spirit

 

By Laura Bohnert

 

Ready for a laugh?

 

On November 29, the CRC will be holding a 55+ Christmas potluck supper in Fox Creek.  From 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. you’ll be able to enjoy an early holiday feast with all your potluck favourites—and a lot of laughs to boot.

 

In addition to good friends and good company, you’ll be able to enjoy entertainment by comedy ventriloquist Val Hilliker as she introduces Fox Creek to her “Grandma Fowler.”

 

“Grandma Fowler” is modelled after Hilliker’s real grandmother, her father’s biological mother, who passed away in Hilliker’s arms when she was 100 years old.

 

Hilliker credits her grandmother for what she describes as her “wicked sense of humour,” and it’s that sense of humour that has had a huge impact on the nature of Hilliker’s shows.

 

“Laughter really is the best medicine,” explains Hilliker, who took a course with world laughter leaders on how to use laughter to unlock its healing effects.  “Running a laughter session with seniors is important because it allows them to laugh.  A lot of people don’t know when it is appropriate to laugh, or don’t allow themselves to laugh freely.  I want them to keep their laughter.”

 

“If I can help one person, I’ve done my job,” Hilliker adds.  “It’s an hour away for people from what is on their minds, and a lot of people come up and thank me after the show for their laughter.”

 

“There are a lot of benefits of humor,” Hilliker describes.  “Laughter massages the internal organs, and it also expels the dead air that has been sitting in our lungs since last big laugh.  It brings fresh air into body.”

 

“Humor is the best medicine,” says Hilliker.  “It’s the Patch Adams style.  It takes you out of your zone for a period of time and allows you to leave your troubles behind you.”

 

Hilliker has been practicing ventriloquism for 40 years.  “When you are in grade school,” she explains, “people are always asking you what you want to be.  In ’77, there were no satellite schools.  You couldn’t go to university unless you had money.  I had always planned to go to university, but I couldn’t afford to and I couldn’t work and go to school at the same time.  Instead I got a book on ventriloquism and taught myself how to be a ventriloquist.”

 

Within 30 days of reading that first book, Hilliker was already performing her first show.

 

“I had to have a lot of determination and commitment,” Hilliker reminisces, “and I always kept my word—even to myself.”

 

Since then, ventriloquism has taken Hilliker all over the globe.  She has been to Kentucky to represent Canada in a world ventriloquist competition, she has performed in every province in Canada excluding Quebec, she performed in Honduras where her show was translated 25 times to her audience, and she even has a TV show in Fiji—“I’m the Mr. Dressup of Fiji,” she laughs.

 

While Hilliker has been through Fox Creek many times, this will be the first show she put on for Fox Creek’s seniors.  “I am looking forward to bringing ventriloquist live theatre to Fox Creek’s seniors—and maybe even seeing some moose,” she laughs.

 

Hilliker is one of only 100 ventriloquists in the world who make their full-time living from ventriloquism, she explains, and she is one of only 5 female ventriloquists in the world.  Usually traveling with 11 puppets, Hilliker says she probably has close to 200, and she is constantly creating more.

 

“It’s the best job in the world,” Hilliker explains.  “I like being unique and wacky, showing my childlike quality and my playful attitude.  Each of my shows is different, led from the heart.  I get off stage and think ‘wow, I get paid for this!’  I consider myself to be so lucky.”

 

If you are ready for share a night of laughter with Val Hilliker and Grandma Fowler, remember to bring a side dish or a dessert, and RSVP to the CRC at 780-622-3758 by November 25.  To learn more about Val Hilliker, you can follow her on Facebook at Val Hilliker, Comedy Ventriloquist, or on her website at http://valhilliker.com/.