IAMA Voice over Actor who makes his living doing commercials you've heard, and you've never heard of me.

VoiceForAnyChoice · 1 year

[deleted]

HighlifeTTU · 1 year

How much do I have to pay you to record my voicemail? I'm serious. I've always wanted James Earl Jones or some similar voice recording my voicemail. When people call my phone and hear my voicemail, I want them to say "damn, that is one impressive voicemail" before they hang up without leaving a message.

deebSTR · 1 year

What are some of the jobs you turned down?

JohnWad · 1 year

I would love to do this and in cartoons....thanks for the info. What are more areas do you want to get into?

I_am_the_cheese · 1 year

What's it like for you or people you live with to hear your voice on the TV all the time? Is it like, "Oh hey, here's my best bud VoiceForAnyChoice trying to sell me beer again!". Or is it weird for them to possibly be hearing your voice from the TV in another room when you're not home? Do people ask you to "do the commercial voice"?

How similar is your "normal" everyday talking voice to what we hear on commercials?

VoiceForAnyChoice · 1 year

[deleted]

Milf_ · 1 year

Can you talk dirty to me

Unicyclesclearlywin · 1 year

What is the most famous commercial you have done? Also, how long does it usually take to make one?

misanthropist1 · 1 year

Does your work pay well? I have an amazing voiceover guy I use who charges like $20 for reading a ten minute script.

MaoTsetung · 1 year

Do you ever just go through a drive through at a fast food restruant and pull out a random voice to fuck with them?

likeaboss47 · 1 year

Do you point out to people when a commercial you did comes on when you are watching tv with people?

Thereptilia · 1 year

Do you ever do it in the nude, then when you watch it you have a naughty feeling like "i was totally nude saying that"

Dapwell · 1 year

What is your favorite voice over you've done?

handsopen · 1 year

Is the voice you use for most of your non-accent commercials your natural voice? Like, when you have a casual conversation with another person, is that what you sound like? Or is your natural voice a bit different?

Veeks · 1 year

I will also any questions about Rampart that you might have.

Win.

ordinaryrendition · 1 year

How much would it cost to have you read me a bedtime story every night?

dickscraper · 1 year

Are you the guy who does the terribly fake Australian accent for the Outback commercials?

thestouff · 1 year

How do you charge? Per second of voice work?

speak27 · 1 year

ARE WE HAVING FUN YET?

ProfShea · 1 year

How would anyone know if they have the voice talent to pursue a career like yours?

LandyPandy · 1 year

Is there any voice actor that you yourself look up to?

OnaZ · 1 year

Preferred vocal mic(s)?
If you use multiple mics, do you change them out depending on what type of spot you're doing?
Would you ever take a mic with you to a recording for a national spot because you've found the mic that you like for your voice?

croquetica · 1 year

Yes, but, can you sing?

All aside, awesome, man. I practice accents all the time when I'm alone in the car driving, or I imitate international customers who call our business. I also do one hell of a moviefone voice, and I'm a chica.

vertekal · 1 year

Are you afraid of getting to the point where your voice is heard TOO much, and companies will want to go with something fresh and different instead?

Or can you pretty much do 10 different commercials in 10 different voices and I wouldn't be able to tell it was the same person?

Helpful_Table_Maker · 1 year

Question	Answer
Do you point out to people when a commercial you did comes on when you are watching tv with people?	Haha, this is actually a great question. I used to ALL THE TIME when I first started getting big spots. I used to do the tagline for the "Dont Drink 6-beers at one time? Brilliant!" Guinness ads, and they ran on ESPN all the time, so I used to tell everyone to watch, but after a while, I sort of just got numbed to it, and the panache of it evaporated, so I kept my ever-decreasing jubilation to myself.
I'd like to know how you got started in voice acting. Was it something you always knew you wanted to do, or did you stumble in to it?	I got started when I was pretty young. I tried my hand at standup my freshman year of high school, and had always done voices messing around (my dad used to do it around the house, lots of times at restaurants would order in an accent). I just sort of had a knack for it, like playing an instrument by ear, I can do with my voice for other people's voices. But an agent saw my TERRIBLE standup, but loved my voices. Said, "hey, that was awful, but great voices, do you have representation?". And that was that.
Is having an agent a crucial part of being a voice actor?	it is crucial if you want to get big national campaigns, but I'll be honest, it's becoming less important because of the viability of the Internet. I get a lot of my jobs on my own and you really can make a decent living doing enough small-time jobs without an agent. You probably wont be doing major TV spots or cartoons without one, but you can definitely swing some local radio/internet spots and supplement your income pretty nicely.
What are more areas do you want to get into?	Here's the rub about cartoons, and something that depressed me big time: Unless you are one of about 12-15 people, there is very little money in animation voice work. Of course there are major exceptions, e.g. the Simpsons guys getting 600k an episode or whatever ridiculous number, but honestly, if you are misc. dude #7 on Squidbillies, that is not your cash cow. I much prefer commercial work, it pays better, it takes INFINITELY less time. I can do a 30 spot in 20 minutes of studio time that will pay what 12 hours of animation work will pay. Don't get me wrong, I love doing animated stuff, there's a whole other level of awesome seeing your voice set to a character, but in terms of economic efficiency, commercials are where its at. I'm not sure what other areas I want to get into, maybe just more volume of what I currently do I guess. I love doing it, I have an enormous passion for it, and would do it for free if no one wanted to pay me, it's not work to me, even though it can be more arduous than people realize. Basically, I want Simpsons money.
Couldn't you just do the Tara Strong thing and be in damn near everything, or is it diffucult to get that many VA parts in vidya games and animation?	Ya know, it's hard to get your foot in the right door to get that level of volume, but honestly, it's sort of exhausting from a logistical standpoint, a lot of scheduling and organizing with different studios. I did work for SO-COM Navy Seal games, and it was a lot of fun and would gladly go that route again, but there are really only a handful of "Tara Strongs", people that are across that many platforms. Not everyone can be a Billy West, try as we might.
I started watching your demos and noticed you started with family guy voices. Were you trying to get a cartoon job at that point or something? I've seen other voice people do the family guy characters before. Do those voices show off your talent somehow or are you just a fan?	Young people tend to identify and enjoy those voices most, so I lead with them. Gotta set the hook, ya know.
What's it like for you or people you live with to hear your voice on the TV all the time?	It used to be weird at first, but people get pretty used to it after a while, so much so they don't even think about it. I get the occasional Facebook post or text like, "I heard your Keystone ad in Florida!" or "I was traveling in TX and heard a Colorado Board of Tourism ad that I SWEAR was you", but for the most part, people know it's what I do and have heard enough that its just like, meh.
How similar is your "normal" everyday talking voice to what we hear on commercials?	As far as my regular voice, I have a weird thing about it, and have NO idea if this is true for other VO people. I am SUPER self-conscious about doing my regular voice. Give me a character, and I am superbly confident, even say, "give me Joe Everyman", and I will concoct a reg. sounding dude, but if I am ever asked to do ME, oh man...I hate it. I can control the characters and the voices, I don't know how to control ME. UNCHARTED TERRITORY.
What do you do with your hands normally?	Man, good question, they are all over the place. I am so used to performing for people doing the voices, that I definitely go into full character. I have to do the whole-shebang to nail the voice, they are not mutually exclusive. There are some I am so practiced at that I can do without gesticulations, but on the whole, my performance and voice will be best served by going full-bore into the character. It really makes a difference when all you are left with is audio to judge the performance.
What is your favorite voice over you've done?	I do a really good Bobcat Goldwaithe, and literally no one else on earth does it, and so I used to be the jokey call-in fake-celebrity guy for a radio station, and had people so convinced I was Bobcat, that we had these WEIRD WEIRD Police Academy afficiandos come by the station to catch a glimpse of the 'Cat. It was delightfully reaffirming.
What's your favorite voice to do?	Honestly, whatever voice that person wants to hear at the time is my favorite. I love doing Stewie/Herbert the Pervert with high schoolers and youngin's, I love doing Columbo or Jackie Mason for older people, I do Elmo/Donald/Mickey for my nieces/nephews, I like to entertain, and so whatever they want to hear, is my favorite to do. Lame answer, but when you've done 160+ voices for so long, its hard to really pin a favorite. So I like to entertain with them most.
You can do Donald? How long did it take you to figure that one out?	Man, Donald is a tough one. I can really only do it if I am controlling what I'm saying, like I can write for him, but I had to do a series of commercials for Ernst and Young, and they wanted Donald/Mickey, and I can do Mickey saying anything, but Donald rattling off accounting terms...I had to record it one word at a time really slowly, then speed it up...it took some serious editing, but I got it. If I write what he's saying, piece of cake. The voice is actually a lot of reverberation off the roof of my mouth, I'm trying to do it now and describe it...and I cannot.
I find that some of these (Donald, Mickey, Elmo, that sort of voice) is rough on the pipes. Do you have any exercises or anything you do that help you with stuff like that?	None of those actually effect my voice too much, doing anything with gravel in it will start to wear after awhile. Honestly, lots of water, tea, occasional cough drop about 30 minutes beforehand if I know its going to be a long session, helps push through without losing the register.
How would anyone know if they have the voice talent to pursue a career like yours?	I get more people who tell me "Hey, everyone at work says I should do cartoons!" or something to that effect, I mean, I'd call a local talent agency and get their take, and if they say you dont, they get a second and third and fourth opinion if you really want to pursue it. Make some demos and try your hand at it. You'll never KNOW until you try it.
What are some of the jobs you turned down?	As shallow as it seems, most of what I've turned down has been money related. Usually anything through my agent is ridiculously lucrative (and my agent will charge prices I would NEVER DARE DREAM to do on my own), but for my own personal stuff, if I get a bid from someone, the only way I turn it down is if it's not enough financial incentive. If I get a 10 page script with a thousand different directions in it, and am offered 40 bucks, I will say thanks but no thanks. After that, I am a voice prostitute in every sense of the word.
What is the most famous commercial you have done?	I think the Outback ads were definitely my shining moment, although I've been doing Guinness for a long time. I want Jameson Whiskey next...
How long does it usually take to make one commercial?	I have no idea how long the production element takes to make it, I can only speak to my efforts, and a 30 second spot usually takes me about 20-30 minutes if I'm in studio. I walk in, talk it over, record 15 variations, and then say bye.
What was it like working on the set of Rampart? Is Woody Harrelson really a giant douche, or just a regular sized douche.	His douche has a douche. He is the Russian Nesting doll of douches.

AQuestionInTwoParts · 1 year

Guinness Brewery

Hi, I have a question in two parts:

Can you say 'Brilliant!!'?
Can you say 'Brilliant!!'?

TIA

CollegeStudnt · 1 year

You have the opportunity to say anything, to anyone, in any voice. What would you say, in what voice would you say it and who would you say it to?

[deleted] · 1 year

This summer...One man, one solu-...

Oh, never mind.

saxmaniac1987 · 1 year

Do you naturally not have a lot of mouth noise (clicks, etc.) or did you have to practice to eliminate it? Also, since it looks like you do your own editing, what's your DAW of choice and what's your process for cleaning up tracks?

merrskis · 1 year

Do you have links to any of the commercials you have worked on?

MrDeckard · 1 year

Have you ever wanted to go in to regular acting?

Also, what was it like working on the set of Rampart? Is Woody Harrelson really a giant douche, or just a regular sized douche.

PressureFtJayZ · 1 year

I just listened to a few of your commercials, and I love your voices! You do that Australian one like a pro. What's your favorite voice to do?

W0LFcastle · 1 year

When you're at the studio recording one of your character voices, do they give you some time to get into character and say things that aren't in the script?

murphylawson · 1 year

What's your favorite kind of shark?

viper05 · 1 year

can you make a generic/personal voice mail message :)?

robotusson · 1 year

It says on your site you can do James Lipton's voice.

Ever do an Inside the Actor's Studio interviewing yourself in other celebrity voices you can do?

"Joining us tonight is Miss Piggy"

Jewelzy · 1 year

Do you use your talent to make hilariously inappropriate comments during bedroom antics?

gonzo_speaks · 1 year

A close family member of mine is/has been in the radio industry for 25+ years. A solid reputation within our community, a large base of loyal listeners and a great face for radio ...

He's been with the same station, doing the same thing, playing the same songs and generating the same positive response in the community. He has done hundreds of television and radio commercial voice overs.

With the radio DJ industry being a dying breed, I've often suggested to him to freelance or try to find other sources of income via voice over work.

Do you have any tips, contacts, advice or networks that might be of help to him getting on the right track to attempt doing this on the side for himself rather than through the radio station. He has demo's and all the talent one would need but I think lacks the information and motivation to actually attempt leaving his comfort zone.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

TL;DR Family member on radio for 25+ years, how can he make voice-over work into a fallback profession

thanks for the ama, very intrigued to see some of the questions

MilwaukeeNative · 1 year

I've heard that some vocalists smoke cigarettes before they perform to add a deeper quality to their voice. Do you smoke and/or have you ever smoked for this reason?

Qanael · 1 year

Have you ever done or considered doing work for the game industry? Voice acting is a really big deal these days, and good voice actors are rare.

PoshNoob · 1 year

I see you use a Blue Yeti! I love this mic. What equipment did you start out with, and what was the best purchase (equipment-wise) you have made?

Cozmo23 · 1 year

How much would you charge to follow me around and narrate my life? Ill give you every other weekend off.

VoiceForAnyChoice · 1 year

Cool studio, whats with the panels? They reflect sound perfectly or just for pretty?

Kadhil · 1 year

I'm actually interested in doing voice acting for a career, with another job as a constant income to have bills paid and a refrigerator with a purpose. My question to you is, what is the best way to build your resume and get out there?

Warlaw · 1 year

I just listened to your demos and I must say, I love your neutral explanation voice.

DigDoug_99 · 1 year

Do you deliver several takes, and let the client choose which one they like?

What file types are your clients requesting?

What program(s) do you use for recording and editing?

ManCakes · 1 year

Hi there,

I've been looking into doing this as a side job, took a ton of classes with some great folks (such as Bob Bergen), but then moved from that area. Since then, I've been avoiding doing a demo myself because they always told me to wait for their say to do my demo... well, now their say is out of the picture and I have no idea where to go to get back on track to making a demo.

What are your suggestions on getting the demo process started?

danthealmighty · 1 year

At what point in time did you realize that you had a voice that was commercial worthy?

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