Well, I met the man behind the voice of Porky Pig, which was pretty fan-freaking-tastic (If I’d actually met Porky Pig, I’d be questioning my sanity even more than I already do - I mean, it can’t be normal to walk into a room and see a cartoon pig there, can it?!).
His name is Bob Bergen (www.bobbergen.com), and he was in town last weekend (April 28/29) to do a voice over workshop. Great! The only jarring moment being when I showed up on Friday and no one was there. Apparently the flier on the website had the wrong dates, so I was a day early. Bah, humbug. That meant, unfortunately, that I could now only make the Saturday session, having been booked (as an extra) for a commercial on Sunday. (I’m now with Keystone for background work, FYI.)
And that Saturday session?
AMAZING. Seriously. Bob told us at the beginning that by the end of the day, our heads would be throbbing with the amount of stuff we were about to learn – and he was right. Actually, I had a headache for the next day after that! But it was one I didn’t mind having THAT much. The entire session reminded me so much of being in school, where after a day of intense learning, I’d leave with my jaw and eyeballs aching, but a deep sense of satisfaction that I earned this pain, that I managed to stretch myself and my skills, and learned something incredible that has renewed the burning desire within myself and opened endless doors full of creative possibilities! …and then after a while, the ache gets banished with a couple of Advil. But that’s beside the point.
The point is I have strengthened (renewed?) my want to do voice over work. I was getting riled up waiting for Bob to stop talking so I could get behind that mic – I love that feeling! That’s when I know I’m doing something I want to be doing, when I can’t wait to start, and the only thing that’s holding me back are manners, and only by the skin of my teeth. (What in the world does that mean, anyway? There’s no skin on my teeth…)
So Bob talked, we listened, we asked questions, he answered, he handed out sheets of copy, and we got to work on them; we did, he critiqued. It. Was. Phenomenal. I started heading back on track with my stage training, and while I knew that voice over acting held the same principles of being in character (even when it’s not your line), and using your body to develop and keep your character’s voice throughout, I never imagined that it would be THAT…embodying. It was mind blowing. If you’ve worked with Bob before, you know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, and you want to get into voices, you’ll just have to wait until the next time he’s in Vancouver!
I learned an incredible amount in a short time, and I really want to continue with this. It was mind blowing! So thank you, Bob, for working with me that day. And thank you Deb, for letting me know about his workshop! (I think I’ve blogged about her already, but in case I haven’t: Debbie Munro is an amazing voice over actor as well, and lives in the Lower Mainland! She’s also the wonderful woman who will be producing my voice over demo, when the time comes. www.debsvoice.com)
Oh, and changing topics now: in case you were wondering where the heck I’ve been for the last…6 weeks or so (Gross.): everywhere. I wasn’t actually hiding, though! I was in the Mexican Riviera (cue: jealousy!) for 2 weeks, working on a cruise ship. I was buried under an avalanche of receipts and taxes. I’ve been auditioning, working my 3 day jobs (well, 2 day jobs and 1 night job), and working on voice over scripts. Now I’m still auditioning and writing, but I’m ALSO registered to compete with my team at the Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre Sketch Comedy competition (May 18 & 19 at the Roundhouse!) So the next couple of weeks will be filled with frantic rehearsals of being funny. You should come watch, and vote for my team – Disoriental. Squeee! (www.vact.ca)
My tan is fading now, which is very sad. I plan on renewing my passport soon, though, so I can go work on another cruise ship, going to another fabulously sunny place!
And now…back to work. Thanks for checking back with me! I know it’s been a while. I appreciate it.
-Kristal
