 Hey, it's time for voiceover body shop and our guest this week is L'Orealin Hey, you got questions for now be a great time to throw them in our chat room and We'll get to ask her of those questions. So tune in voiceover body shop is coming up right now two men Twin sons from different mothers with a passion for voiceover recording technology and the desire to make Recording easy for voice actors everywhere together in one place George Whittem the home studio engineer to the stars a Virginia Tech grad with an unmatched knowledge of all the latest gear and Technology in voiceover today Dan Leonard the home studio master a voice actor with over 30 years experience in broadcasting and recording and a no holds barred myth-busting attitude for teaching you how Easy it is together to bring you all the latest technology today's voiceover superstars and Leading the discussion on how to make the most of your voiceover business This is voiceover body shop Voiceover body shop is brought to you by voiceover essentials comm home of Harlan Hogan signature products source elements Remote connections made even easier Vio to go go dot com Everything you need to be a successful voiceover artist J. Michael Collins demos award-winning demo production voice actor websites dot com where your voiceover website won't be a pain in the butt and voiceover extra your daily resource for Vio success and Now live from their super secret multimedia studio in Sherman Oats, California Here are George Wittem and Dan Leonard Hey Guess what time for voiceover body shop great to have everybody here Laurie Allen will join us in a in a couple of minutes and Be exciting talking to her got lots of stuff coming up tonight But first need to pay tribute to a friend of mine who passed away this morning. I think he could you there? She is all tank. She was a great little dog, but yeah unfortunate accident this week And oh Sad it's always sad losing your pets, but she was a favorite around the studio here absolutely now She's got a nice open field to run in and run and run and run but thanks for being with us all those great years tank Anyway tonight where you know if you've got a question for Laurie Allen Throw it in the chat room because we want to we want you to ask questions You do it in Facebook live if you're watching us there or if you're on v obs.tv You can do it over there that two of them going there both being monitored live By Mike here in the studio. Yeah, yeah, and it's great to be back because we've been off for a couple of weeks But you guys are watching the replays and we really appreciate that but let's introduce our guest because she's the one We really want to talk to Laurie Allen is a She is a well-known voice in in a lot of different things and with with live Screen action and stuff, but let's take a look at what you're probably really familiar with Okay, you you can read the next one No, you can't know you okay? Okay? Okay? Well, let's let's read it both together. Okay? Okay? Here's all you Williams with a black you whether forecast SpongeBob I Can't take it anymore. Nothing I do is working sure it is girl. Look at all the hip young people eating salads No, don't you get it? I've been trying to get fired since day one if I can't have you back here Are those my daughter's toys? Come on buddy, let's go. We're leaving I feel so strange But hey, you're not gonna throw up by it. What is it? What was wrong? Oh Read read well as far as to love your color guarantee if I don't love it. I get another color free. I'm thinking for this You're real. Oh Yeah, like she's gonna answer you Tom and here we go with the attitude. This is why you're single Oh, so I'm not supposed to point out when you do something stupid. You hear that you're that tone you're using That's penis repellent right there Look at this scar. This is proof that I was once a mother. I Gave up my body in my child for my country There is nothing left inside me now Nothing at all Oh, I think so, but I've never seen this part before. I don't even know which way to go I'm welling up with tears Now get off Let's welcome Lori Ellen Thank you so much Thank you. It's so good to be right. Love being here Spray tan. I was greeted with some lovely snacks and a baby dog She's crazy spray tan just before the yeah toy story premieres tomorrow. I was like, oh, yeah You got to do what you got to do right got to do what you got to do. You're a busy lady these days It's good to hear thanks and out of trouble. Well, that's good got to keep working. That's the most important. Yeah, yeah So I was watching the Tony Awards last night, which a lot of people turn Randy Thomas by the way did a great job Well, I mean, I was like she was she was carrying the whole thing cuz Gordon was out there for five minutes at it You know every 20 minutes and say something silly, but she was really working great But while watching that I mean I'm always thinking about how me I was all that was I'm always I'm always thinking about you. I'm just kidding No, but I was thinking a lot of live announced so make sure your question is no It has nothing to do with that It was it was the fact that it was the Tony Awards and that just thinking about what it takes to be an actor and what All of these people especially the ones like it was and the theme seemed to be take your time and And work hard. It's not gonna happen overnight Correct and and you know and like like I say if you want to be an actor It's gotta be in your goal You gotta want it so bad because they're gonna be other people that are Gonna go when it's fine to start, you know get your Your chops going on like non-union stuff But there's gonna be people that are gonna just work like 12,000 times harder than you and some people like I'm just I have such a great voice. It'll be so easy and You have to really um, you have to want it. You have to like I don't why Scott Park and said something so great on this panel last week like I don't know what else I would do I think I might be a makeup, you know artist cuz I like doing that. I might spray tan people I don't know, but I can't imagine doing anything else, you know, right? And so it's who you are. When did you discover that was really your bliss that was like this is what I'm gonna I know exactly when it was. Oh good So I was in a play I was in this little I don't I think it was kindergarten or something And we had to do three blind mice and I got to go like this to the other girls and I am not especially tall But I was so much taller like, you know, your daughter Ella is so tall gorgeous. I love Ella so much So anyway, I got to do this and I got to play and all the sudden I was like I get to be bossy and play and but it was just so much fun I got to play and my mom and my dad are both actors and singers and jingle writers and singers and all this kind Of stuff so they were like yay They were so encouraging of me being creative and then I did a musical I was Annie's little sister in any get your gun in this community theater production And I would fall on stage while they were singing like this. There's a lullaby and I was like I was like, it's 930. I should probably be of a sleep. So that was so much fun I got to be in the dressing room with like all these ladies like having a cocktail putting on their eyeliner And I was like, I love the theater And then my dad your parents were real supportive Absolutely, absolutely. So I say to anybody who's supporting or loving somebody who's in the arts like support them That's what they need and there are people like me who's proof positive that if you work hard and you stick around long enough Like just the other day. I was like changing in the card. I was like, I'm still at it, you know at 30 years With the cigarette, of course. Yeah, my phone cigarette because smoking is bad for you But yeah, and then my dad I think it was my dad I'm not sure if it was my dad's advertising agency, but I did a archway cookie spot and And that was my first voiceover I think I was like five and I was like archway cookies are the best or whatever So do you remember that as work though? Or do you remember that as play like when did I mean this is not fair I knew it was but how well of course it's I knew it was going right to my pension George. No, I'm kidding I I I knew it was something different like I got I think I got you know out of school early Yeah, and I did it during a work day and I got to go to the studio and it was amazing And so I knew that it was something special and I just knew that I got to act and I got to be in this this world And and I just I just fell in love you think like I'm doing what mommy and daddy do or no no a little bit Yeah, for sure. Absolutely great influences for me both of them. Yeah, so what does it take to really break into professional? Obviously you were working I guess in the professional circuit there when you were young But what does it take to be in the circus? Yeah, my family. Yeah, well, so it was your parents were supportive And your parent your parents were actors and yeah I always say if I'd come home and said that if I wanted to be a lawyer or doctor They would have thought it was crazy. So I have juggling and you know tap dancing is backup skills What I think it takes to break in now is like a lot of Patience and perseverance wherever you are whatever part of town state union non-union to take improv You have to be fast especially for animation and commercial because the commercial read is is such that you need to be able to Be fast on your feet as well. You got to be able to do improv. You have to that makes the client happy. It makes you happy You're able to take a drug the other day. I got a direction like just give me something different It was an on-camera thing and I I had to on my feet with the producers in the room Just do something totally different just like that. So improv I think is invaluable and I coach and teach So that's always what I recommend and being in a group class if you can with other people or start a workout group And then do some one-on-one coaching. There's someone at the door. Maybe maybe not. I think it's just heat Yeah, I think the heat is blowing the door open But to do some improv and to take class Is invaluable especially in a group setting because you get to see what other folks are how they're doing and where they get Feedback and you learn to be fast. You learn to be funny fabulous quickly Right, and you got to be able to kind of perform like that and then to good old-fashioned acting class We're having a lot of people ringing and dingy. It's exciting Yes, there's people coming and going. Yeah. Yeah, so the improv is really really important because What they're looking for is what are you gonna do that's different, right? You know and all you can do is you be you and you may as well be authentically you because there's no You can't do anybody else So if I'm trying to compare myself to my dear friends like eg or Tara strong or Cree summer who I just love, right? I'm gonna fail miserably a and b I'm gonna be like out of my body and not having any fun and then it's not gonna be any kind of authenticity So, you know if it's like a witch or crazy witch I could play a kind of drunk and make her sound like Liza Manelli or I could play like a crackly old lady Or I could make her like really dingy and older It doesn't matter But whatever it is that if it tickles me and it makes me happy then most likely It's going to resonate with someone else that I'm just having fun And it's either my part or it's somebody else's yeah Hey, if you're just joining us here on voiceover body shop our guest is Laurie Allen Voice extraordinaire great screen actress does all sorts of cool stuff if you've got a question for her throw it in our chat room Right now don't throw up in the chat room. That would be no We do have paper towels in there just in case But if you've got a question throw it in there and Mike Merlino our social media Will be very Mike get in that question to straw strawberries all over hi Even Ari is here tonight. Hi Ari. That's a good. Look at the baby. Who's a good boy? I know sweet Anyway, so again if you got a question throw it in the chat room that would be great One of the things you did I can't remember if we talked about this last time you were here But you were on that original Peewee's Playhouse not the original theater's the the the redo of the at no key alive It was 2009. So it was a redo remake of the yeah of the of the first So that he did it there at the Roxbury try to do it as true to the original show as he could yeah Yeah, but it was a little more adult Yeah, and it was based on a show that he had done Yeah, and they sold out all the seats at another venue and somebody will chime in and correct me I'm sure and then once it's sold out so quickly we moved to no key alive down downtown LA But auditioning to what he's and like I was watching Soul Train and like Peewee Herman when I was though I wasn't watching the like normal kid shows and my mom was like whatever and so so I remember going into audition and I was also to be the understudy for a Lin-Marie who Lin-Marie Stewart to do Miss Yvonne and I remember I had so much fun shopping for the outfit It was like this crazy dress and like a princess tiara and like this crazy wig and yellow heels and everything And so I had so much fun. I was like hi Peewee and he went hello miss Yvonne, and I was like oh my god It's it's hard not to get starstruck by him because I love him so much And he has a cornerstone for why it is okay talk about somebody authentically him. Oh My gosh. He is still he's just wonderful. Yeah, and then we got to Just a bunch of other amazing talent and half the original cast was there and it was right We started where we got cast and we that's a great like you got to commit to your auditions That's a that's one thing for sure because there was girls in there that were like in a suit I'm like you're auditioning to play the understudy for miss Yvonne So anyway, we did the show with a lot of the the series regulars and that was just amazing. I was like Now we're the yeah, that's cool. It mixed cast of like yeah to work with. Yeah originals in there It's amazing. I know And I got to hang on afterwards and listen to him Yeah, the audience he took questions every single night I just whatever was thrown at every single night not one performance. Did he not speak to folks afterwards amazing? Yeah, yeah, I remember he's to be nice. I think it was channel-surfing. I'm like, oh And I remember watching that yeah, it catches well And it was really fun because it took to be like oh, I'm gonna do my version of cherry And we had this fun song like you can sit on me. It was this really inappropriate Then I got to be like I think that Phil Lamar would know I got to be cowboy Curtis's horse I think it was Georgia. What was her name? I don't remember ginger and it was with a G and she was like hi cowboy Curtis Get on me. So everything was just with Paul's a little crazy Yeah stuff they never would have led on CBS. Yeah, once again, we're talking with Laurie Allen through her question Because I know you got lots of them Doing animation you because you know you you did such Bob and we were just watching a lot of the other stuff that you've been doing Now I was taught and trying to do animation It's you got to really go over the top, but that's not necessarily the case but what what does animation really require as opposed to Just acting or doing just voiceover. Well, I think for voice acting and acting acting It's you know, Keith Farley my dear friend who we were just doing a fun improv thing at we talk funny and We were talking about he was helping me with an audition I had and we were talking about raising the stakes So, you know with animation, of course, it's usually life or death Somebody's gonna fall off a mountain or you know what I mean or trying to save the princess or whatever But it's not about being like loud and fast and fun. I mean some of the you have to know the genres, right? So like Nickelodeon Is always gonna be like crazy and over the top and weird and funny, you know what I mean And same with maybe cartoon network, but like you listen to like Steven Universe You listen to some stuff like that and it's even Disney and Disney Junior has gotten to where it's a little bit more real It's not necessarily like just crazy loud that kind of voices So it's really like so when I'm coaching when I'm doing somebody's demo I want to hear him like and Bob Bergen always taught me this too Like can I hear how you feel about that person place thing event in the scene? What are the stakes, you know, so you're being asked stuff now that maybe it's 10 15 years ago Would not have ever come up in that context. Yeah, what do you think that's happening? Is it because it's kids are maturing more quickly or is it because of the type of media? They're consuming all the time. You have any idea why that wasn't in the real the real read if you will Well, I think I know I mean I feel like I know why it happened in with commercials Yeah, because the world of you know, the housing market was just tanking and nobody wanted to be like on sale now Like it was just like no one wanted to hear. Yeah, nobody wanted to hear or could tolerate kind of like how it is now Allowed hard sell and I think that just kind of moved that so it was more storytelling and more intimate and calm and hopeful giving hope inspiring hope And I think that just kind of moved over into into animation. Hmm. That's just my my sense of things Yeah, you've also gotten to do some really great TV commercials that you know, it's like wait I know that voice the chameleon ones for for the paint company. Yeah for valspar. Thank you valspar They're so fun. They got to write for us and one character one or one of the spots I had too much coffee and I was like a chameleon who drinks coffee, of course But I could totally relate to the character because when you're repainting your house, it's like right and the woman's like We're doing a character like that because I hear that like when it's you know The higher the stakes with commercials the more of the script is absolutely and yeah locked Was there any improv at all? Oh, yeah, we got to improvise But the stakes they started to write for us, which was really great really because my husband Brandon eels is in Chicago And we're divorced now, and I'm just kidding But yeah, the stakes were high But they definitely let us throw a line at her too, especially because we knew we were lucky enough Thank You universe to know those characters and know what their relationship was at that point But yeah, that's a good point the stakes were high in the commercial He was like, oh my god, you're painting the the the room, you know, chartreuse and it's supposed to be purple So yeah, so this takes a heart and just like in regular acting. It doesn't necessarily mean faster louder frontier, right? You know, especially for someone like me as I talk fast. Yeah, I remember to slow down Yeah, we were we were talking a little earlier about you know when you broke into acting and stuff like that But and even you know well developed into your career here There's still disappointments. I mean, this is this is a tough business I mean, you're gonna get kicked in the teeth an awful lot and you've got to deal with rejection How do you how do you push yourself forward with when when weird crap happens like that? Like we're going in another direction I called George. I'm like, oh my god, bring over some vegan ice cream, which that's actually happened quite a bit, but I think I think to have well first of all It was so funny because you were like doing to talk about New York I went to New York to do a musical and I was replaced on like the third day that I was there Yeah, and that was really gut-wrenching and that was not fun But it turned out for the best for everyone. I learned a lot about myself I'm sure the woman who took over was absolutely adorable and I learned what I do and don't like about You know the craft of musical theater that I still love it But it just to move that fast sometimes just wasn't the thing for me and I realized like oh if I wanted to move back To New York I could I think that was sort of the experience that I was meant to have My hallmark movies and mysteries promo job went away at the same time I called George. I think wrong about that too. They decided to go with a lovely guy for The Christmas time and then the job went away for six or seven months, and then it came back Thank You universe. Yeah So what I think about that guy was a client of mine. Oh, okay. I never forget. I'm reading He's like, oh, I gotta do this. You never told me that it's just like oh really, you know But there's another there's there's a piece for everybody everybody's gotta have a wraps once in a while I'll just tell everyone then it's a weird thing. It's a weird thing. It's a weird thing But the weird thing the perseverance I think is do you have good friends? Are you making time to see them like what I love about George's? He'll be like, hey, I'm in the neighborhood working on so-and-so studio. Do you want to grab a bite? You know, it's like our LA is so spread out so are most major cities and now we're all in our home studios So have you have you worked out your shit in therapy? Have you just like gotten over your family of origin BS speaking of VOBS, you know So you're finally bringing it all back or at least when you're in the studio so that you can be present You can be present that shit has got it. Sorry or has got to stay out This is a of the booth right unless you're using it and of course if you're having a really grumpy day You're doing some fine animated character. Then it's gonna come in handy But in in terms of the longevity like guys, I was changing in the car the other day And I was like guys these of 30 years. I know where the equity office like in New York I'd know exactly where the SAG office was where I could go change in the hallway there And I had my knapsack full of stuff and fruit tea and you just you know You got to have you got it. You got to also celebrate yourself like I did thus and such really well Like my mom texted me last night She's like are you gonna have fun at the toy story premiere because this is probably it's a once in a lifetime thing like enjoy yourself What role do you have in the new toy store Bonnie's mom? Ah, so when the toys Andy went off to college, right? They got donated to a Children's what what am I thinking a leg up a day so preschool and so then Bonnie is the one that got them Which is wonderful. I play her mom and so we have the toys and we're taking a road trip And it's an absolutely beautiful story and beautiful movie and I've heard it's gotten good reviews And it's supposed to be really good. Can't wait to see they do not skimp on the writing at Pixar No, the writing is so beautiful. It looks really extraordinary and you know normally and talk about like celebrities with voiceover like you know These uber celebrities and stuff. Everyone is just So phenomenal and I can't wait to hear some of the new characters I can't wait to hear Tony Hale and a little I get to finally meet my daughter so that's exciting the girl plays Bonnie Madeline and So but yeah in terms of like longevity, it's like are you seeing your friends? Are you making it a point to be healthy mentally spiritual? You're going to volunteer somewhere like my thing is animals So I try not to eat them wear them all that kind of stuff So, you know, if it's like literacy homelessness, you know being a big sister a big brother like Elderly folks like whatever it is go be of service somewhere because this business is inherently narcissistic So if you're not having a full fleshed out Life, it's really hard to maintain perspective. I think mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah, but you're so outdoorsy Oh my gosh, you go riding and camping and hiking all the time to keep your head clear Yeah, it's like a meditation for me like riding on a bike. It lives out in my backyard Really once again if you got a question for L'Oreal and Aaron nobody has a question for me Strawberry, what's up? What are my questions? Yeah? Yeah, but we're gonna take a break right now And we'll be right back with L'Oreal and right here on voiceover body shop. So don't go away This is Ariana Ratner and you're enjoying voiceover body shop with Dan Leonard and George Whidham VOBS dot TV Well, hello there. I bet you weren't expecting to hear some big voiced announcer guy on your new orientation training for snapchat This is virgin radio. Well, okay. We're not that innocent. There's jeans for wearing and there's jeans for working Dickies cuz I ain't here to look pretty. She's a champion of progressive values a leader for California and a voice for America It's smart. It's a phone. It's a smart phone, but it's so much more It's a the files are ready. Don't forget to pick up the eggs. What time is hockey practice check out this song It's the end of the road for Rick When hope is lost the I8 from BMW Who said saving the planet couldn't be stylish? Hey, it's J. Michael Collins. Bet you think I'm gonna try and sell you a demo now I think they speak for themselves, but I will give you my email. It's J. 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They're expensive You have limited or no control and it takes forever to get one built and go live So what's the best way to get you online in no time go to voice actor websites comm like our name implies voice actor Websites comm just does websites for voice actors We believe in creating fast mobile friendly responsive highly functional designs that are easy to read and easy to use You have full control no need to hire someone every time you want to make a change and our upfront pricing means you know Exactly what your costs are ahead of time you can get your voice over website going for as little as $700 So if you watch your voice actor website without the hassle of complexity and dealing with too many options Go to voice actor websites comm where your VO website shouldn't be a pain in the you know what? Minus far we had minus 4 DB we're minus 4 DB on VO B. S It's getting hot in here All right, we're back here on voice over body shop with Laurie Allen who's been gracious enough to grace us with your presence Always great having you here when we got lots of questions from yeah, our our vast worldwide audience And they're everywhere. Let's do it. I know George who we got here first one comes in from good luck. Sheena Shayna put him Shayne hint and the question is how does Laurie feel knowing gears later? She's the voice of such an icon Which is the boss? From MSG MGS3 Metal Gear Solid 3 Do you like doing adult voice over voice actor roles? Hey, that's awesome. I'm so glad my phone chose to do that Right. Thanks a lot. I'll explain to you later why that happened Doing adult voice professionals or children voice actor roles there. They're so I love Metal Gear Solid I wish the boss could be president Right wouldn't that be amazing because she kicks ass and she's a strong woman loyalty to the end and she does nothing But want to protect her country That role is an iconic role that I I Could not be more blessed to to play that and to have that experience in the game the trilogy and the other actors and the Writing in the animation forget it. It is I remember seeing some of it out of session and just sobbing because it was so beautiful So I feel very fortunate and same with Pearl like We're going into your 20, you know, we're having like a party don't I'm not gonna tell you where it is But we're like parting that we're gonna just take ourselves out and be like, yeah Any voice that any character again being authentic any voice that That has come from such an organic place, especially if you can see the drool ring. It's always fun Sometimes you don't get to see your drool ring But it's just been a huge honor and a ride of a lifetime is an understatement. I'm very very grateful So when you realize a role like that and I mean he's saying iconic and I don't even know what the acronym means because I feel I feel really metal you're solid. I feel really all right. I played half life. Okay, everybody. Yeah That's life was the bomb Yeah, how did you know when that boss was was an iconic role? Was it a couple years later spot? I mean, I think so I think because there were a couple of games and I was like, oh and then Right, I'm getting in my no I'm not a gamer. They'd like you to be a gamer when you're doing those but you're getting stuff thrown at you Like people mentioning you they're at right and they're right Well, I think people relate to her because of her strength and her vulnerabilities and that That she is able to to just be a strong female role model before that's like now We're all sort of refocusing on that in a new and more meaningful way But she's been that badass for from the beginning. So I think that's why people really relate to her and Get lots of fan mail for that one. I do I get a lot of Interesting folks coming up and saying hi at conventions and stuff. So that's lovely fun stuff. Yeah, next one from Schmuckl Schmuckl Schmuckl, what's up? Schmuckl says hi Laurie. Hi I just wanted to say before my question is your voice or My question is your voice has been a your voice has been a huge part of my life For you know, I was four when SpongeBob came out My question for you is what is the most memorable voice role you've done and I love you as the boss, too Thanks you guys. Um, I would have to say that Pearl being in the gosh No, okay. So starting with Fantastic Four to play Sue Richards the invisible woman to be in that cast to have met Stanley But to be in that cast with Quentin Flynn, Chuck McKenna, Bo Weaver is my husband That was amazing because at first, you know that Marvel stuff right when you first moved to LA is like what? Um, I had an amazing time with um the sort of pre-family guy Which was Larry and Steve that Chris Emerman cast and I met her during a class That's why it's so important to do a class and she was she was amazing And she also cast me in SWAT cats and I remember that was my first series and I was like Frank Welker Mark Hamill Jim Cummings Candy Milo's like, huh? It was it was amazing and then and then family guy in SpongeBob I think we're the same year and I was like, huh? And I had met Seth when he got out of school and he won this great competition to do Larry and Steve So I knew that and I I had a feeling something very special once the show got canceled And the fans brought it back on for family guy and I just found out recently a bill Foggerback He just told me to session. He's like, you know that's my SpongeBob We were off the air after like season three or something and I was like we were so I had no idea that that came back too So it's like yes fans rule. Yeah So and and the the whole family guy thing was so wonderful. It was the best I don't know 12 years. I mean I started off doing all the utility voices and Diane and so you guys can tweet at Seth With the hashtag bring Diane back Because she just fell into the water, right? It's really not a big deal. Yeah, that's right I demonstrated and that's right. So there's this lovely gal on Twitter Kelly Then her and she's got a great site for for me and bring Diane back So go follow her and tweet that back out. That'd be really fun. Wouldn't it? Yeah. Oh, yeah, and you got to working on SpongeBob. It wasn't just that it was working on SpongeBob. You were working, you know, I just did it last week Clancy Brown who's you know, his career is doing really well right now and the two of us talk shop. I'm always like hi daddy Well, you know, he passed yeah, I know so we got to we were lucky enough to he was like the captain of our ship, you know So I miss him so much. He was the most humble kind thoughtful Creative genius that I think I've ever met just the night one of the nicest human beings that I've had the the honor to know and So miss him terribly and we just try to honor his his his work and his vision still every episode Mm-hmm. I think Polar has the next question Do you know from Miami for the time suggestions? Oh for improv classes in LA I need to talk to my friends Susan Pally about voice tracks West because I always forget I almost wish I could grab my phone, but I think my phone died so Groundlings is always great It's expensive and they have a tiered system to go up, but there is nothing like the groundlings I did the groundlings in New York Got them city East so the groundlings is a great Acme is really good I oh West was great, but I think they just closed if I'm not right Does there's somebody in the audience that might know about that here in our home studio? There's something on the West side, but I really find that Acme and the groundlings and of course UCB which makes you really smart like that that UCB terrifies me because yeah, I was like I don't know if I know the capital of Uruguay off the top of my head Not today. Oh, see you'd be great at UCB not me So those are the three off the top of my head and there's one on the West side And I can't recall, but I will try to find out at our break Monica the one that's in Santa Monica I don't know. I'm gonna find out the break and we'll yeah, well you guys will tell that's a good word information Yeah, yeah, yeah really wants to know yes. I'm sorry. I'll get it for you Okay, let's try that name again George I'm just gonna read it like it's two words probably it is Shane Hennett says if asked or offered Would you reprise your role as the boss for an mgs3 remake or remaster? And then which role would you consider the most rewarding? I'd love to know what your favorite novel you ever read was So there's three questions Let's start with The boss has come back in other iterations as you know, so the boss can come back at any time Which is great. I don't mean to lead anybody on but that's a that's a great thing to know and absolutely I think there should be a prequel that would explain a lot of things about the game Which if you knew the game so If there's a prequel then wouldn't that be amazing? And what was the other question? What which role would you consider the most rewarding? I think I kind of they're all different so differently challenge They're so challenging like when you do a game you have to be in it like sometimes I would record with David Hader Sometimes I would record with Vanessa Marshall. Sometimes you're by yourself. I was gonna ask you that yeah How often in the gaming world do you get to record your often times by yourself? Yeah, and it's vocally challenging So you really have to like hydrate the night before hydrate the day of take your tea That's what I have to do because I don't have those vocal chords of steel So I have to really Mind my vocal hygiene and work out before and do a warm up and do a warm down and be quiet that night That's just for me and it's all separate lines with you know Yes, so there's the impact line. So there's like, you know loyalty to my country and then there's all the fight Running in the field and all that stuff and all the battle I got get down from there So there's a lot of that that's involved And then of course when you're doing spongebob and you're like oh my god So that's a whole other kind of crazy funny I can't really say SpongeBob is two to six we record two to six if I'm in the whole episode I'll be there the whole time if I'm just like in part of the episode, but generally we're there the whole time and That is done on song. Well, yes, and that's what's so fun And like usually I was like we're punishing Bill but Bill Fogger rocky will go into his own booth just for sound reasons or sometimes Clancy and And I like I have so many pictures of me just with like tears streaming down my face because it's so fun I leave there. I'm like because it's just it's just such a pleasure to work with them And it's so happy the writers are so good and Spongebob has taken this wonderful twist and there's so many more There's so much more like girl power on the show So like the girls are in so many more episodes. So stay tuned for watching season 12 because it's so twisted and fun I don't know my favorite novel I Can't think of something right now. I have to think I'm not I'm not as well read as I should be It's something probably from school. I don't know. I'm the same will be dick for now. I'm just kidding I don't know. I can't think I'll get back to you for admitting you don't yeah much because neither do I right Which is terrible, but you know my favorite my favorite author of all times though, which is neither here nor there is well, too David Sedaris and Carrie Fisher their memoirs are so funny. That's a great thing to practice for voiceover Find your rights. You gotta have a point of view So if I'm playing a queen and I'm trying to seduce you do I kind of hate it or do I kind of love it? Am I drunk or again? I keep going back to my drunk But what is your feeling about that person place thing situation, right? It's always tell a lot of my coaching clients like read something from Fox if you're that way or from Huffington Post or Carrie Fisher Or David Sedaris somebody that has a definite point of view about how they write right and that gives you that like Oh, I'm just talking like how I talk and it really helps you practice like what's your point of view? So that when you get behind a mic, you're not like You know, you're used to talking To someone even if it's out loud and record yourself and then you can hear like oh wow I really thought about my point of view with this one And who I was talking to and it makes such a difference I know when I was just playing around with trying to read voiceover. I would I would technically do a fine job Yeah, but if it sounds like a robot reading paper, right, you know, and I didn't have a point of view It's just yeah, like I put it's a top of my script like who am I talking to where did I just come from? How do I feel about this person place thing event? Like I said, um, what am I trying what quality am I trying to like probably restraint or have some restraint on and then You know, I'll sometimes like I always give a plug like we were saying to Mary Lynn Whistner about adding on an emotion So if I'm like this evil queen, everyone's gonna read the evil queen So I'm gonna add in flirtatious or I'm gonna add in like exasperated, right? So I'm gonna add in some other emotion and Mary Lynn's App is called self-direction. So it's Mary Lynn Whistner. W-I-S-S-N-E-R voices voice casting I take that into the booth with me all the time. It helps for commercial reads It helps for promo reads add on an emotion, you know, especially for commercial Like if it's supposed to be a mom and you're watching the baby, you know, you could just have like a doring That's a great, you know Adding on an emotion for a commercial spot. That's like where everyone else is gonna be You know, you could just have that twinkle in your eye and that lovely feeling towards your new baby or grand baby or whatever Super all right You teach a lot and I've seen I see the workshops when you're on Facebook Oh, Gloria was teaching this one really solid piece of advice to this massive audience We have voice actors who are like, what can I do to really break it out? What would what do you think is a real key important thing? The real key things that helped me still and that I would encourage other people is to just Not compare yourself to anybody else. It's so hard. I do it. I have to work on that And it's to just play be fearless You can always pull your read back if it doesn't if it doesn't sound authentic But to give yourself this crazy permission to play to absolutely be just completely free of any inhibitions Because that is going to be the most authentic thing and producers and casting folks They don't necessarily know what they want they have an idea But all of a sudden they'll put on this thing and they hear kind of a drunk queen who's got a you know a crush on the Prince and that's going to be like, oh my god. I didn't know I wanted that so do you do you do you boo? I often tell people this is one of the things I learned from Charlie Adler my mentor who I adore Which is to keep a keep a cast of characters, right? Like, you know relatives in-laws old roommates old boyfriends girlfriends You know accents you do poorly, you know accents you do well, you know my stepmother's Good friend. Hope is from Philadelphia. So I'm like obsessed with like the Philadelphia. How are you doing? You know, so I'll put her in there little sprinkle hope in there just a little bit. I love that accent He's from Philly so much, right Nice to see you George. He's gonna have some hoagies. Yeah, you've gotten so thin. I don't believe it You're such an outdoorsy kind of guy now. So using like, you know, or like if you find somebody's cadence like kind of weird Like if there was some kid you went to school who's like Has a weird laugh like I used a little bit of that for Pearl. So that's why there's that Right so a celebrity impression you do poorly, we're not gonna know like Goldie Han from Laughin I'm obsessed with her all those old school like in the 70s back in my day Those character actors are just spot-on with making big choices and committing to it. That's the other thing Make a choice stick to it a thousand percent the hugamonster show Henry hugamonster, I love Goldie Han and it said she was a very earthy, but dingy mom So I love doing Goldie Han and so I made her very warm and hopefully very dingy at the same time And like I love you Henry monster hug Right, so use the celebrity impressions that you do well or not well Accents that you do like Miranda Park and is really good. And so it's a day at it like doing Australian I think that's like South African, but I went to school with the girl who's from South Africa So like I can do that really well. I can't do a good New Zealand, but I can do a good South African But he's hiring yeah, absolutely. Yeah, Laurie. Thank you so much for coming on today. Thank you for having me to see you Thank you and All right Well, we'll be right back right after this You're watching VOBS dot TV. I don't know why it's crazy This is the point of the show where we get to thank our wonderful sponsors source elements the creators of source connect and Other amazing tools for connecting your studio to other studios around the world now I've got two main flavors source connect now Which is fun and free and you can send a link to any of your clients who are used to using old-school phone Patches and would actually like to hear you in full quality. That was fun Or you can actually use source connect standard or pro standard is really the one that's designed for voice actors It is absolutely drop-dead reliable and stays in sync throughout an entire session If there's ever a dropout they can automatically replace the dropouts of audio and fill them back in it can even do a Thing where it replaces the entire audio file with an uncompressed AIF file or a wave file from your computer, which it automatically sends to the other end It's very powerful stuff. 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That's voice over X t r a dot com This is Bill Ratner, and you're enjoying voiceover body shop with Dan Leonard and George Whidham VOBS dot TV now with Ella for two days last weekend And we are back was that live on the air it was You'll get to edit it out Anyway, are we taking this again? Okay At least I wasn't drinking whiskey or something Which we have been caught doing before scotch scotch scotch We're rum when it's got Parkinson's here Okay, and we're rolling again And we're back. You're our voice over body shop. It's always great to see She's always energy and amazing talent. Yeah, and such great advice. Yeah, you know, so, uh, you know watch Toy Story 17 or whatever this one is Super she's probably the actor in this business. I've known the longest and just I've been through some of her trials and tribulations I've been on that journey a little bit as a friend. It's just it shows you how how freaking hard You have to work to to succeed in this business even as talented as she is. Yeah and likeable She is right just have to it's very hard work Yeah, you gotta be constantly be teaching yourself and re-learning and stuff. Yeah, so if there's a lesson out of that That's what it is Let's see here Next week We're not gonna be here. I mean the show will be here and you guys have been great with watching the replays I mean there was we ran The summer schedule. Yeah, well, yeah, I've got to take a break every now and again But we ran tech talk number three last week And it was you know over you over a thousand views of that overwhelming like people we really appreciate. Thank you Share it with your friends and your other voice over colleagues and people who just want to be entertained for an hour um anyway, uh Next week Tell us what you want to see Because I'll you know, I'm we're gonna run another uh replay of uh of a tech talk And then we're gonna be gone for a week because you know, we're gonna be out of town for a little bit And um two episodes will be gone. We're gonna be gone for two episodes. So we won't be back for like a month or so Well, it's like three weeks. We'll be back Uh, if there's a particular show you want to see again from the last Six months can't believe it's the middle of 2019 already Let us know right to us at the guys at v obs dot tv and we'll be happy to put that on for you Because I can do it from wherever I am got a little change that up technology. Yes, um Who are our donors of the week? I think you probably these are all I refreshed all of you've been awesome like that Thank you. Uh, christie burns Don griffith Dwayne de salvo Um, martha con. Hi martha. Hey ant land productions at zonkleroy danna birdsall patty gibbons brian page And pilar uribe which and i'm saying our last name right you are sure you're right. Um Those names are all familiar because pretty much all of those folks are subscribers So they're sending in money on a regular recurring schedule Which you can do if you want to by clicking subscribe Uh below or donate below and at that point You can quickly click donate and then if you choose to describe you can do a buck a month if you want, right Or if there's somebody particularly helpful on the show You can make one time to contribution in that person's name whatever it is We appreciate that little extra bit of help for the show We haven't delved into all these new business models of patreon and no all that stuff yet Naturally and organically the show just still It's tradition this show is as it goes is about traditional as it gets in terms of streaming and it's We keep coming back every uh every episode because it's working. That's right. We appreciate you guys watching. Yeah Hey, we want you to show us your booths Uh this one special Andrew Peters. This is coming from all the way from down on that, isn't it? Yes, it is from he lives proximity to melbourne australia And he is a co-host of a show I do and producer called the pro audio suite And this man loves his gear he uh, and he likes a nice. There we go. Thank you for that He likes a studio with a lot of cool stuff around And uh, so there you have it. It's a beauty. It's a beauty. Hey beauty, mate. Good night Alrighty, uh, let's see if you want help with your home studio. You got to talk to either george at georgethetech.com or if you like the short don't we got them both on there for y'all george the Dot tech that's my favorite domain because it's short Um dan is also available for hire over his website and that is home voiceover studio dot com Yeah, happy to help you out with your home studio Especially if you're here in l.a. And you get to I get to go in your closets and stuff I was just checking on your website a second ago. I like the design. I like the Zisher thing is this, you know, you got three kind of portals Go down the tube of choice picture pipe joe davis voice actor websites. He's a sponsor design. That's a great job with that Uh, all righty, and if you want to be in the studio like like mrs. Leonard is right now Lying across the How much better Nothing like a little warning. Yeah, really. That's the job. Okay. Is there's trust down there? There you go. Okay If you want to be here write to us at the guys at dobs.tv We're on like every other week now And uh, if you if if you're available, we'd love to have you in the audience for that Uh, we need to thank our sponsors, of course like harlan hogan's voiceover essentials That's right, and we've also got that part that's in red voiceover extra Uh, source elements vio to go go voice actor websites.com. He gets an extra plug Yeah, and j michael collins demos All righty, and of course the dan and marcy lennard foundation for the betterment of fine webcasting and uh better minty Bettermenty Sounds good. Uh, mike marlino on fabulous chat room d new duty tonight and his mom Sumerlino doing a fabulous job as our technical director. There she is. There's her hand anyway You know, glory was referring to mike is strawberry. Oh Hey strawberry. What questions you got for me? Yeah, that's right Uh, and of course, uh, lee penny for being lee penny Hey, you know, we're here to help you out with your voiceover career It's not an easy business But we try to bring you the best people here and if you got some ideas for us write to us of course At the guys at v obs.tv But we're all about your audio too because if it sounds good It is good Alrighty have yourselves a great week. Uh, we'll see you next week with the tech talk and uh, so be with us I'm dan lennard and i'm george widdum and this is voiceover body shop or v o b s Have a great week