A jokester dummy, an old man, a camel with an identity crisis and even audience members were part of the Family Weekend ventriloquist show Friday night.

Simon, a more typical-looking ventriloquist doll, was the second “performer” in the show.

His act included many plays on words.

“I thought a ventriloquist was a person who didn’t eat meat,” Simon said.

Simon saw that Lynn Trefzger, the ventriloquist, had a microphone with a stand that she was speaking into and he felt he should have one also.

So Trefzger made a sound effect and moved her hand implying she had placed a microphone near Simon.

That pleased the doll.

For Heather Tobey, a senior elementary education major, the ventriloquist act that was a family affair.

Tobey attended the ventriloquist act with her younger brother, mom and aunt.

“We come every year and go to these events,” Tobey said.

Trefzger entertained the audience in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union was a part of Family Weekend with an array of different characters.

Camelot, a camel, was up first. His act included a lot of jokes.

Camelot enjoyed the audience.

“What’s your name?” Camelot would say to an audience member.

This was the first of many impromptu parts to the show, and gave the performance an impromptu feel.

Camelot would continue to interact with the audience after asking their names. He would ask things such as where the person was from and what kind of job they have.

The running joke Camel was to have him figure out what kind of animal he was.

“What kind of animal are you?” Trefzger said.

“I’m an animal,” Camelot said.

Camelot never seemed to be able to wrap his head around the idea that he was a camel.

The audience loved the innocence that Camelot portrayed.

“My favorite part was the camel and the different voices,” Tobey said.

Simon followed Camelot, while the third act featured a dummy named Jed.

Jed was an elderly man who just celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary.

He had the audience laughing from the time he first entered the stage singing and dancing.

Jed danced to popular songs and the audience enjoyed it because they knew the words.

When dancing to Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie,” Jed had an unusual line he added to the song.

“These hips don’t lie even though they’ve been replaced,” Jed said.

Jed seemed to have a bitter outlook on his marriage.

“When was your happiest moment?” Trefzger said.

“Fifty-one years ago was my happiest moment,” Jed said.

Chloe was the last of the ventriloquist acts to perform.

“She is the newest one to join the act,” Trefzger said.

The act ended with three randomly selected audience members on stage for a ventriloquist act.

The audience members moved their mouths as a funny, recorded voice would play, coming from somewhere offstage.

The audience would laugh and clap while some thought it was so funny tears came out of their eyes.

Jennifer Peterson, Tobey’s aunt, enjoyed the ending the best.

“The ending was hysterical,” Peterson said.

Ventriloquist Lynn Trefzger performs with one of her “friends” on Oct. 5 in the MLK Jr. Union. Trefzger has performed with comedians such as Jeff Foxworthy, Ray Romano, and the Smothers Brothers. Karolina Strack/The Daily Eastern News

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