Robin Williams

            Robin Williams was unconscious and pronounced dead Monday the 11^th of August 2014.  Most of the country was stunned by this random loss of life and talent.  A talent that made many people come together, laugh, and share moments of absurdity, sometimes by attempting to emulate or reconstruct the jokes performed by this master. 

            It is always a painful mystery why people take their own lives but instead of discussing the monumentally confusing decision to commit suicide, I’d like to focus on what Robin Williams could bring to an audience as a performer.  I’ll be discussing an interview from 2006 with Robin Williams speaking with Terry Gross from “Fresh Air”.

             After I listened this reposted interview, it blew me away that anybody could be that fast, even past his prime, and that creative.  How many voice characters can someone create on the spot for no reason other than to create humor to make a point?  His style of conversation flows from serious to hilarious like a light switch and his ability to flow seamlessly in and out of character voice while having a conversation is fascinating.  

http://www.npr.org/2014/08/12/339823090/robin-williams-in-looking-for-laughter-you-have-to-be-deeply-honest

              I counted 33 different voices throughout the half an hour long interview, how many did you catch?
1.     Random Indian character
2.     Random French Character
3.     Fake Darth Vader Voice
4.     Al Pacino
5.     Stereotypical “male homosexual” voice – about himself being a “closeted” comedian when he was younger over fear of societal rejection, kept all characters inside most of the time.
6.     Rod Steiger impression on comedy being used just to meet women
7.     Random inflections to emphasize his point
8.     Sigmund Freud
9.     Grandmother voice
10.  Union “ Chicagoans”
11.   “Younger” Robin William voice from his early club days
12.   Juilliard voice – representing inflection and annunciation and diction as “perfection”
13.  “ New Yorker” voice
14.  Instead of “Doctor Ruth” – “Doctor Roof” – black sex therapist
15.  “Surfer Style American Soldier”
16.  Donald Rumsfeld as Arnold Schwarzenegger
17.  Random Western/Southern style American
18.  Random American Soldier
19.  Random “Nerdy voice”
20.  Random American from Maine
21.  Random voice of an “Man from Iraq”
22.  Bob Hope
23.  John Winters
24.  Random Character – Male voice – Jack Parr?
25.  “Robin Williams” as a character of himself
26.  Random voice of Arnold Schwarzenegger as therapist or Henry Kissinger
27.  Random “teen nerd voice”
28.  Random “French” voice
29.  Ethel Merman
30.  Random British Voice
31.  Random Mandarin Voice
32.  Martha Stewart
33.  A goat

            Some great “tools of the trade” to remember from Robin Williams are these.  Be a psychologist as an actor – getting into the role by “discovering the mind of the individual”.

            Behavior, while unusual or happy, can be brought to characters.

Improv, discipline, focus, not all goofing around and the complexity of individuals are important tools for building.  Don’t be intimidated by strange characters, Mr. Williams was quiet in school up until high school and college, so don’t be worried about being shy.  As a concept, history is the darkest comedy, attempted to remain calm and cool in public, humor only when it was necessary and feel the room. Family voices started a lot of Robin’s voices and was a great way to meet girls. Remember that honesty is key and that comedy can come from dark places. 

            Thank you Mr. Williams.  

Careers in voice acting?

                     With voice acting, what are some tips to gain access into this field? 

            I’ve heard rumors that joining the ranks of the voice actors can be difficult; that merely speaking in strange voices is not enough.  So I went searching through some articles to see if I could unlock any advice. 

            From what I understand, there is a general misunderstanding with voice actors.  Many have come to the conclusion that these people merely sit and read off strange voices and sounds, but in truth they are actors.  Understanding the timing of inflection and delivery is paramount if your want to make the viewer believe what the animated character is expressing.  It takes a talented mind to understand how to successfully tell and sell a story. 

            You must take this pursuit seriously if your want a job in voice acting.  The jobs will not come to you; you must go to the jobs.  I understand that New York, Toronto, and Los Angeles are the biggest stops.  These actors do not live off of just cartoon work; they do voice overs for movies, commercials, or anything else that will lend itself to the voice. 

            Getting yourself involved in anything to do with audio is a fantastic first step.  Getting yourself noticed by what you can and even can’t do is another great step in establishing connections, improvement, direction, and possibly landing a job by accident.  Be honest with your work. Bring something to the craft. Bring that longing and edge you've built up and channel all of it through your performances.

As fun practice take this cartoon blip from imgur.com and add your own voices.  Also ponder the inflection and delivery by these characters.