IN A WORLD where every student seems to be involved in either sports, music, or academics, it’s increasingly rare to come across someone with a unique talent. However, senior Hannah Leskosky has an expertise that distinguishes her from the rest of the crowd.

The Making of a Ventriloquist

Hannah performs with Whiskers at Saturday's Youth Literature Festival. Gargoyle photos by David Porreca (click to enlarge)

Hannah introduces Rita Book, who quickly showed her ability to move her eyes and speak.

You may know her as the girl who played the old lady in Big Show last spring. You may know her from the cast of the spring play, “Much Ado About Nothing.”

However, what most people don’t know about Leskosky is that she is also an experienced ventriloquist.

On Saturday, Leskosky performed as part of the entertainment for the University of Illinois College of Education’s Youth Literature Festival.

She took the stage at noon in the South Quad and proceeded to captivate her audience of kids and parents for the next 30 minutes, conversing with characters like Whiskers and Rita Book, who had the habit of loading their replies with hilariously bad puns.

There are many misconceptions concerning ventriloquism. Many think that it consists of making sound come from a distant object.

“It’s not really throwing your voice,” explained Leskosky. “It’s just misdirection. If your lips are not moving, and there’s something moving over here, it seems like it’s coming from there.”

Leskosky first took an interest to ventriloquism at the age of 8. One day, she discovered her mother's old Jerry Mahoney puppet in a closet and began to play with it. Jerry Mahoney was the "partner" of Paul Winchell, a popular ventriloquist in the 1950s and 1960s.

For Leskosky, learning ventriloquism wasn't that hard.

“A lot of people take courses and use books, but I taught myself. There are just a few letters [called 'labials'] that are hard; those are letters like m, b, p, f, and v because your mouth moves when you say [them], so you have to say different things.”

Puppets, Balloons, and a Performing Career

Rita Book speaks, to the delight of Hannah's audience. Gargoyle photos by David Porreca (click to enlarge)

Hannah reads to Whiskers from a book about puppies and kittens.

In addition to doing ventriloquism shows, Leskosky also entertains kids with balloon animals.

After making her first balloon animal at a camp, Leskosky took an interest to the art of ballooning and began taking lessons from professional ventriloquist and entertainer Bob Rumba.

Once she mastered the art of ventriloquism and balloon-animal making, Leskosky began her career by performing at local venues like Dallas & Co. and for events like the annual Urbana Sweetcorn Festival.

She posted her contact information at Dallas & Co. and distributed business cards to people who attended her shows.

Soon, she was receiving calls from parents and event organizers who were willing to pay her to perform.

“My first paying gig ever was at a Star Trek convention at the Urbana Park District,” recalled Leskosky.

“It was a brand new location for [the convention’s] meeting so only five people showed up. So I’m there performing for five people and down the hall, there’s country dancing. It was so bizarre.”

Over the course of the next few years, Leskosky did many ventriloquism shows throughout Champaign-Urbana and amazed countless kids at birthday parties with her balloon animals.

Different Audiences

Audience members enjoy Hannah's show. Gargoyle photos by David Porreca (click to enlarge)

A Hannah fan shows her appreciation.

But in addition to performing locally, Leskosky has also appeared on the international stage.

In July, she traveled with her mother — May Berenbaum, a renowned author and head of the University of Illinois department of entomology — to Durban, South Africa, and performed for the International Congress of Entomology.

“I gave a PowerPoint [presentation] about insects, and then I did a show with a bee puppet,” said Leskosky. “[The audience] was so different. There were a bunch of old people and people who didn’t speak English.”

This November, Leskosky will travel to Reno, Nev., to perform at the Entomological Society of America's 56th annual meeting.

After all these years, what’s Leskosky’s favorite thing about ventriloquism?

“I love how the kids get really into it,” said Leskosky. “When I perform for little kids, they get so involved and think that the puppet is real and it’s so great. Plus, I also like getting paid.”

More Than a Performer

Hannah concludes the show with her talking bee. Gargoyle photos by David Porreca (click to enlarge)

Hannah meets with a fan after the show.

In addition to performing, Leskosky is also a fluent French speaker, a violinist, a film critic for The News-Gazette's Spin-off section, and a crafter of scrumptious baked confections.

Last year, she and classmate Maddy Levin did an independent study together with a professional chef.

The duo was known to bring beautifully crafted and delicious baked goods to school to share with a few lucky classmates. As their final project, Leskosky and Levin successfully catered prom in May.

Always poised and fashionable, Leskosky can often be seen wearing designer jeans, Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses, or Lacoste sneakers.

When asked about her favorite clothing brand, she pondered for a while and then said, “You have to be more specific.”

She did mention that her favorite brand of jeans are Citizens of Humanity and Rock & Republic.

As a senior, Leskosky is looking ahead to college. She really likes New York University and University of Chicago.

But before graduation rolls around, Uni fans will have more chances to see Leskosky display her comic skills, beginning with this year's fall play, "Shakespeare in Hollywood," in which she will break out a Brooklyn accent for her character, Lydia Lansing.

Leskosky hopes to continue pursuing film or theater, but only comedic theater.

“I don’t like serious things,” she said.