A ventriloquist's animals surpass live ones. A live animal will not blow kisses, dance, make faces, flirt, read minds, or do his own magic tricks. Abby's animals do all of this via ventriloquism. You get to hug, tickle, pet, and high-five them with no fear of scratches or bites. For entertainment value, ventriloquism and puppet antics surpass live animals. Notice this audience, rivited at Abby's parrot puppet eating imaginary food: