What kind of a person spends his life communicating through a doll? Is this something to be taken seriously as a career – or a play?

As a child I found the whole idea obsessively intriguing but it is only in the last decade that I have seriously wondered why.

I had a Great Uncle who was considered pretty funny and a Grandmother and a couple of cousins with theatrical flair, so there was no mystery about where I inherited mine. But there was no family tradition or even a passing interest that could explain away my ventriloquial urges.

What drove me to that? Was it merely the glamour and fame of showbusiness or a demon more sinister? Something to be feared because it existed beyond my understanding.

In earlier days a kind of success came relatively easily. I enjoyed enough attention around the world not to question too closely my method of obtaining it. Looking back, I am now surprised to realise how separate a personality from my own the doll was to so many people. And not just the audience. Friends, lovers and colleagues happily indulged the magic of believing the creature was real. Perhaps, unknown to me, it was capable of reaching out and influencing them in some way.

And I have come to believe that early and sustained showbusiness success is not necessarily a blessing. It can distract you from growing in ways more satisfying and from asking questions of yourself that need to be answered. I have wondered if perhaps that belief was also manipulated by the creature. Or is that nothing more than whimsy?

When my earlier success became less important to me, I began to scrutinize it carefully. That focus spawned more possibilities and fears which led me inevitably into the skewed world of Graham “Lips” Buchanan.

“LIPS” is about self-image, personal demons and the “anti-self” which denies responsibility for our own happiness. It is about the battle we do with these forces because, in spite of them, there is always the hope for something better.

Graham “Lips” Buchanan is my invention, he is not me. And yet . . . let’s just say we understand each other.

Chris Covington
Sydney, Australia.