I Know That Voice Page #11

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Request evac.

Each of us have our own

particular bits.

Some riff on particular

things that are funny.

I mean, like, I like to...

You can always put

a cricket in somewhere

and it seems funny.

Fred Tatasciore is

really good at that too.

He goes, "Uh... so I w... "

You know, it's like...

We love doing

that kind of stuff.

Sorry, man.

That's when I just

take 'em off.

Then when they're actually

trying to perform

just hit the button.

Voiceover acting

is the best kept secret

in Hollywood that's now

sort of starting

to get out there.

It's great... it's a great gig.

And people are...

people are onto it, you know?

For a while people didn't

really know that

it was such a big industry

out there, but now the uh,

competition... the competition

is getting tough,

and more and more people

are going up for...

going up for those jobs.

I think it should

definitely be more

about talent and skill.

I mean, I think the person

should obviously bring

something to the piece.

I've relied several times

"Oh, maybe they'll know my name"

because I've been too lazy

to do a great job in there,

and that doesn't really work.

I understand that in

the selling of the thing

they're trying to do,

the powers that be

always want celebrities.

But the fact is celebrities

can be good, can be bad.

But when you're doing

something as fast paced

as the animation that we do

for "Futurama"

and for "Simpsons,"

just slowing down enough

to say a celebrity's name,

"Oh my gosh, it's so and so"

slows things down.

Generally these days

if we have a celebrity

we try to have them

play a character.

Like, that's my preference.

And... and um,

you know, I'd rather work

with the regular

voice actors, myself.

Somewhere or everywhere

there's a 19 year old firebrand

who's sitting there going,

"Wait a minute, I wanna do"

what Rob Paulsen does,

I wanna do what

"Jimmy Cummings does. "

And it's like,

"You mean I have to go"

be a celebrity first

and maybe win a few Oscars

or Emmys and then

they'll let me audition

"for a cartoon?"

You know, so it seems

weird to me.

I have seen

what it's like, you know,

I've hung out with

the absolute pinnacle

of you know,

somebody who's famous

pretty much every square inch

of this planet.

Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey,

there it is,

there's Tom right there.

I'm Tom Hanks.

I've traveled with Tom

and stuff like that

and I see the crap

that he goes through,

but he's incredibly

gracious about it,

I mean, it's mind blowing.

But not being able to go to

Third Street Promenade

without getting mobbed?

That's...

I think at times these people

regard voice work as kinda

like being Clark Kent.

You don't know that

I'm really Scooby Doo,

you don't know that

I'm really Superman.

You have that little thing

tucked away,

you have that little confidence

and you bring it out

if you need to.

When you step into that booth

and you activate these

superpowers

that you may have,

which could be acting,

it could be, you know,

making funny sounds

or it could be dialects,

it could be singing,

but suddenly you're transformed

into this super being that um,

that nobody knows,

it's the secret

superhero life,

and then once you're done,

you know, doing your show,

saving the world in the show,

then you go home.

You step out of the booth

and you put back on

your Clark Kent glasses

and you go back

to your normal existence.

It's pretty cool.

It's really nice to be,

to just be out amongst

and just be anonymous.

'Cause you really are

a part of the world.

Shut up!

Stop talking, puny man!

Voiceover people are,

for the most part,

different people because

we're people that like

to be anonymous and so

it isn't about ego.

And it maybe for some people

that kinda sounds like BS,

but I really mean it,

I really mean that it's about

a bunch of people

who are really psyched

that we get paid to have fun.

I love it because

I have friends that are,

you know,

I have a lot of friends

that are recognizable,

so I'm really cool.

No, but, you know,

we can't go to Disneyland.

I was like, "Hey, do you wanna

go to Disneyland with our kids"

and they're like, "I can't

really go to Disneyland. "

And it's like, "Oh, yeah,

that sucks. "

Disneyland is awesome. "

So I went to Florida

where my mom is and said,

"I'm gonna take you

to Disneyworld. "

And this little boy's

standing there

and he's wearing

an "Animaniacs" shirt, right?

And I go, "Yeah, I you know,

I like 'em too. "

It's funny that you,

you know, you have that shirt

"'cause uh, you know,

I do the voice. "

Right?

And he goes, he goes...

"What? What do you mean?"

And I go, "I do the voice

of Wakko" right?

And he goes, "So what?

So do I."

For real.

And I go, "Oh, no, no, no",

I don't mean, like, for fun,

"I mean I do it on

the show," right?

And he goes,

"Pft, no you don't. "

And I go, "Hey, wait a minute,"

I go, "Look at this. "

And I had this card

at the time that had

me and Wakko because

it was my first series,

I was very excited,

it had me and Wakko.

And I go, "Look at that, huh?"

And he goes, "Oh, yeah,

you got a picture"

of the character,

so, obviously,

"I'm so sorry

I didn't believe you. "

And I'm like, I wanna,

now I wanna kill him, right?

And I go, "What will it take

for me to convince you?"

He goes, "Well, let me

hear you do it," right?

And dude, I never get

nervous about anything.

I was so nervous now

'cause this little bastard!

And I'm like, oh uh, okay,

and I go, "Well," I go uh,

"Boy, it sure is great

to be here in Disneyworld.

"Happy Thanksgiving," right?

And he looks up at me

and he goes,

"I do it way better than that. "

I live in New York

and um, I uh,

after the uh, the attacks

on 9/11 we're getting

all these, you know,

hundreds of meals ready

and this one guy

in the middle of the night

like, three nights into this

he goes, "So, my day job is"

I'm an architect. "

He says, "What's your day job?"

I said, "Well,

I do voices mostly. "

"I knew it!"

He said, "You're the guy

who does Batman!"

You're that Kevin Conroy. "

So he goes into this dining hall

and this is, you know,

the first week after the attack

and there had been

just this somber sadness.

And you hear him go,

"Guys, guys,"

you're not gonna believe who's

been cooking your dinners.

"It's Batman!"

There's this long silence

and you hear, "Bullshit"

from the back of the place.

And he said,

then someone else says,

"Make him prove it"

so, "Oh, this is good. "

So I'm in the back kitchen

and I do from the back kitchen,

"I am vengeance. "

I am the night.

"I am Batman. "

There's this long pause

then you hear from

the back of the place

"Holy that is Batman!"

And suddenly people

were laughing.

And the architect who

had recognized me said,

"What's it feel like

to be Santa Claus?

'Cause that's what

just happened here. "

I used to think I needed

to have heads snapping

as I walked into a restaurant.

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