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Gazette, The (Cedar RapidsIowa City, IA)
Double talk Dorothy de Souza Guedes The Gazette Published: August 21, 2006CEDAR RAPIDS Attorney Dennis Naughton can talk out of both sides of his mouth. And he's proud of it.
It's an ability he demonstrated with enthusiasm at a July 27 political fundraiser for Rep. Swati Dandekar, DMarion, atAnn and Lou Stark's home in Marion. Guests juggling drinks and snacks stopped and peered into the family room,where Naughton stood in front of the fireplace, eager to show off his fourdecadesold talent as a ventriloquist.
Teenagers sat sockfooted on the floor, ready to view for the first time a ventriloquist's act.
"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen," Grandma Kavanaw says from her perch on Naughton's right arm. Then,turning to Naughton, she says, "That ought to cover most of them."
Naughton's lips move ever so slightly. But who's paying attention?
Grandma steals the show, warbling a political tune about the BushCheney administration as Don Rinehart strums aguitar.
Talks are tailored to suit whatever crowd Naughton and the dummies find themselves before, but Grandma Kavanawtends to focus on politics, Social Security and the aches and pains of old age. Still, she can't resist ending with herfavorite subject men and sex.
The smile on Naughton's face is as wide as Grandma's, though hers features a hotpink tongue framed by brightredlips.
It's no accident that Naughton and Grandma Kavanaw have similar features: Naughton had the soft, Muppetlikedummy made in 2001 to look like his grandmother.
Grandma Kavanaw wears a hat of vibrant blue feathers perched on her curly gray wig. No one is safe from her gazeas she peers at the crowd through hornrimmed glasses.
In contrast, Naughton's next sidekick is the leatherattired, shaggyhaired Spike Da Biker, whose topics of interestare limited to motorcycles and dump trucks. Going for the local laugh, he complains that he lost his Harley riding upMount Trashmore, which he wants renamed "Spike's Peak."
When Spike begins his original antilandfill expansion song, "Dump the Dump," the crowd sings along; Naughton hasthoughtfully supplied copies of the lyrics. As Spike sings, the chain attached to his tiny IOWA LIFE, page 7B
Iowa life/Attorney finds time for hobbies FROM PAGE 1B
waist swings in time.
Naughton's short set wraps up and the crowd claps its appreciation. Dandekar thanks Naughton, who takes a largewhite hankie from his pocket and wipes the sweat from his brow.
Benny the handcarved wooden dummy Naughton used to work his way through Creighton University in Omaha,Neb., by performing at Cub Scout awards banquets, then as an opening for performers such as Loretta Lynn andLassie stays home for the July gig. Roadkill, a pink and gold bird with white feathers who complains about airpollution and traffic, keeps Benny company.
Naughton somehow manages to squeeze a ventriloquist gig every now and then between his work as a solopractitioner at Naughton Law Firm in Marion, and teacher of entrepreneurship and business courses at the Universityof Northern Iowa not to mention starting restaurants and a tortilla factory in the 1990s in Europe, and now beinginvolved with the local political action committee Ensuring Marion's Future.
Why so many interests?
"I bore easily. You've got to have fun," Naughton says, moving his lips.
Contact the writer: (319) 3988318 or [email protected]
Performance
n UpBeat Concert Series presents Denny and Benny and Friends at 2 p.m. Saturday at the National Czech & SlovakMuseum & Library, 30 16th Ave. SW. Free.
Dennis Naughton
n Age: 60
n Address: Cedar Rapids
n Occupation: Entrepreneur/attorney
n Education: Undergraduate and law degree, Creighton University, Omaha, Neb.
n Family: Wife, Gail; three sons
Illustration: COLOR PHOTOS
Leila Navidi photos/The Gazette
Dennis Naughton (left), with his 'Grandma,' feigns impatience to the delight of Willa Rinhart while being introduced forhis routine during a political fundraiser July 27 at the home of Ann and Lou Stark in Marion. // Attorney DennisNaughton performs a ventriloquist routine with Grandma during a political fundraiser July 27 in Marion.
Dennis Naughton (left), with his 'Grandma,' feigns impatience to the delight of Willa Rinhart while being introduced forhis routine during a political fundraiser July 27 at the home of Ann and Lou Stark in Marion. // Attorney DennisNaughton performs a ventriloquist routine with Grandma during a political fundraiser July 27 in Marion.
Copyright (c) 2006, Gazette Communications, Inc.
