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- Senor Wences, the master ventriloquist who delighted ``Ed Sullivan Show'' audiences by bantering in a comic Spanish accent with his puppet-in-a-box Pedro (``S'OK?'' ``S'awright!'') and his falsetto-voiced hand puppet Johnny, died at 103.
The Spanish-born Wences, whose real name was Wenceslao Moreno, died at his home in New York City.
During the Golden Age of television in the 1950s and '60s, Wences bickered and bantered with his puppets while he drank, smoked and juggled.
One of his puppets was gravelly-voiced Pedro, who consisted only of a head in a box. Pedro was born out of necessity when Wences' ventriloquist's dummy was damaged and only the head was spared.
Another puppet was Johnny, whose comeback line was: ``Deefeecult for you, easy for me.'' Wences created Johnny by scrunching up his fist, drawing a mouth where thumb and index finger met, and draping a blond wig over the top.
Wences would talk to his puppets with his face right in theirs, as if daring the audience to watch his lips, which, of course, never moved.
Pedro's voice would become clearer as the door to his box opened, and muffled as it closed. Audiences forgot the sound was really coming from outside the box.
Wences would stuff a hankie in Johnny's mouth and have the puppet speak with a muffled voice while he himself smoked a cigarette. Then he would give Johnny a drag, and the puppet -- that is, Wences' hand -- would somehow emit perfect smoke rings.
I still don't know how he got those smoke rings out of Johnny.
There were no jokes, just what one writer has described as ``bizarre, farcical, Spanish-accented patter.'' ``The main thing he taught me was it's not about the joke,'' said twentysomething ventriloquist Michele LaFong, who became friends with Wences and inherited his original Pedro and Johnny puppets. ``Even though you know what's coming, you laugh anyway. That's the difference between someone who relies on a punch line or someone who's just plain funny.''
He had a precise, economical act: 19 minutes with a one-minute encore. He would ask the promoter for only a card table and a glass of water.
He continued touring into his early 90s.
Wences was born in Penarada, Spain, and discovered his gift for mimicry amusing his classmates in grade school.
In 1934, when he came to the United States, Wences was conventional --``another ventriloquist with a dummy,'' as he put it. But two years later, en route to Chicago, his act was transformed when his dummy, Pedro, was crushed in a baggage car accident. Wences bought a box, stuck the head inside, and -- on stage that day -- inquired if he was OK.
Pedro replied: ``S'awright!''
The cache is a Christmas tin in camo! In it are seveal items; a deck of cards, a fishing lure, baseball cards, hot wheels car and a mini cow bell.
There is a climb up an embankment, but it is not treacherous. Just wear appropriate shoes.
Just be careful. "S'awright?"
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ba gur yrqtr bs guveq ornz sebz gur evtug bs gur snegure birecnff. N pyvzo hc gur rzonaxzrag. Jrne nccebcevngr fubrf.
Qrrsrrphyg sbe lbh, rnfl sbe zr!