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Meet Nina Cooper...
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 Nina and baby Bubba....who thinks he's ugly...
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Christian Ventriloquist and Entertainer
Her interest in ventriloquism started as a child, watching Shari Lewis on television. Like Shari, Nina's father was also a magician and he sparked showmanship in her,
carving her favorite figure in 1977. The figure, Onesimus- a six year old boy, was named after a slave in the Bible (Philemon). Nina's father was a good hand with
a knife...from carving holes in Mama's shoes for her bunions to stick out, to knocking out a wall in the house when a bigger room was needed. However, he had no
experience in woodcarving. But, with God's help, he carved out the beautiful boy, Onesimus. Nina's daughter, Barbara, has now added a wig to make him more "real".
Humor was always in Nina's family, making for a wonderful homelife. Family jokes carried on down through the years ie. when Mama's heart medicine (a small medicine bottle filled with half liquor and
half water) spilled on her Bible in her pocketbook. It was good that she didn't go pray at the altar
that day....whew! They all walked to the church every time the door was open, with Nina sitting on her Daddy's shoulders while she was a little girl.
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 Nina and Onesimus and friend
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Nina's humor further developed while working at Hanes Knitwear (now Sara Lee). She, responded to complaints about men's underwear...sometimes she received letters,
sometimes phone calls, sometimes poems or jokes about their underwear. Sometimes, they came in person...that was always a challenge. Her job was making the customers
happy....spreading cheer. She and her boss founded this department.Nina and her father, Alonzo Wells, performed together, magic/ventriloquism until his death in 1984. Their goal was
teaching the gospel to kids in a fun way.
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Nina's father, Alonzo Wells |
Nina overcame her shyness and became bold in the Lord's work while touring a Special Childrens' Center when she and her figure seemed to bring a little boy back to life, after responding
to nothing for three months. The happy tears of the nurses helped Nina realize what God wanted her to do with her life. She gave up her job to go into full time Christian Ventriloquism
ministry.Nina's inspirational moment at the Childrens' Center, Winston-Salem, NC. Nina did her first performance at the Vent Haven convention in 1977
Nina sings, yodels, plays her accordion, the piano and shares the love of Christ with her "wooden headed" friends at corporations,
malls, parties, hospitals, schools, churches, prisons, jails, street scenes, fairs, workshops and has done a commercial and a performance on television. She also performed at the Imperial
Palace in Las Vegas and appeared on the Good Morning America television show.
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Nina in her first performance at Vent
Haven in 1977 |
30,000 gospel tracts that she has written have been sent to Russia and numerous other places all over the USA with her figure
Onesimus telling people "I wish I had a heart, I would give it to Jesus". She received an Associates of Biblical Studies degree from New Hope Bible College
, graduating Magna Cum Laude. She has eighteen delightful characters who will warm your hearts as they share their homelife, God's love and usually a song or two.
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Inspirational moment at Children’s Ctr, Winston-Salem, NC |
She has a video tape available with eight of her figures in live vent performances.Order Here
Nina is ChristianVENTS Moderator
. This Christian on-line list was founded on November 30, 1998.
“Ventriloquism/Puppetry related mailing list dedicated to spreading God's word through puppets.”
Subscribe to Christian VENTS Email List.
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