THE BILOQUIST
Short, Drama
A newly employed tech genius secretly suffers from post-traumatic speech loss. His jealous co-worker steals the ventriloquist dummy he needs to communicate, challenging him to break his silence.

SYNOPSIS for The Biloquist

THE BILOQUIST Short by Christine Inserra

A quirky, 17-year-old tech-genius, Jamie Martin, has been hired at Lingual Global AI to develop a silent speech interface that will restore verbal communication to the 18.5 million speech-impaired people worldwide. Jamie’s boss has paired him with “Golden Boy” Dean, a narcissistic salesman, to give a live, bang-up presentation to a funding corporation.

Problem, Jamie has a secret. He needs James, a debonair ventriloquist dummy, to communicate for him. He has Post-Traumatic Aphonia. Dean becomes suspicious and follows James home, only to witness two punks mug him at knifepoint. They also yank the doll from his suitcase and slit it up the backside. Dean now knows Jamie can’t talk or defend himself. Coward Dean flees once the cop sirens WEOO.

Good news, the punks didn’t take James, so Jamie stitches the doll back together. Bad news, Jamie’s mother is in prison for killing her husband, who abused Jamie for many years. She needs him to testify on her behalf. What a joke. Go to court with a dummy on his lap?

Fed up with being put off, Dean pushes his way into Jamie’s office just as Jamie is ready to leave to give a deposition with James. They go tug of war with the suitcase, and Dean wins, absconding with James to the sub-basement. In hot pursuit, Jamie winds his way through the HVAC bowels of the building to find James dangling in front of the incinerator. Dean gives him an ultimatum,” Work with me, not this dummy or else.” Immobilized with terror and unable to answer, Jamie trudges toward Dean, leaps to tackle him, and the doll flies into the flames. Adrenaline fuels a knockdown-drag-out-fight. Partial words emerge from Jamie’s mouth. You… Bas… TARD… YOU KILLED JAMES! Combat victor Jamie stares into the abyss of flames – snaps out of it, and runs.

Jamie arrives at the deposition law office, and with a warm, genuine smile, he apologizes. “Sorry, I’m late. I had a little fire to put out at work.”

And to all, a good night!