Gotham: Has The Ventriloquist Shown Up?

Was the Ventriloquist already on Gotham and we completely missed it?

TV shows can be all about blink and you’ll miss it Easter Eggs these days. To the extent that characters that show up in the background turn out to be a major character later on in the show. And things like this often lead to wild fan theories, even if they don’t pan out.

Last year, we did a story about Gotham doing a casting call for an actual, professionally trained ventriloquist. We surmised at the time that the part was actually for one of Batman’s odder villains, The Ventriloquist, which was a man who was bullied by one of his more dominant personalities that “inhabited” his ventriloquist dummy. But we don’t really remember seeing such a character on the show’s first season, so was the part never cast? Or was it a blink and you’ll miss it Easter Egg sort of thing that may be picked up on later?

Turns out the answer is a little bit of both. There was in fact a ventriloquist cast for a part on Gotham, but it was a very tiny one. Brian Eslick, who has been a professional magician and ventriloquist for over 15 years, landed the part on Gotham, and contacted us by email recently about the story from last year.

Eslick appeared in Episode 17 of season one, and was one of many professional entertainers hired to appear in a scene at Penguin’s nightclub. His scene was a very much a blink and you’ll miss it affair though. He said he doesn’t think the role was meant to be Arnold Wesker (The Ventriloquist), but if the show keeps going you never know.

Next: Gotham: Mario Falcone Cast

So as of now, The Ventriloquist has actually not appeared on Gotham. Thanks to Brian Eslick for reaching out to us and wrapping up that little mystery. Brian Eslick is a professional entertainer and actor in the New Jersey area, and Gotham returns for season 3 September 19th on Fox!