New character voices demo

[TomConklin]

Hey folks... this is my first crack at a character voice demo. I've messed around with characters for a while, but haven't put a demo together until now. I'm sure I will do others in the future, but just figured I would see what you guys thought. The celebrity voices that I do are done as a sort of audio caricature. One note... no one besides NYC residents and other radio people know who John Minko is, but I do him so well (if I have to say so myself) that I wanted to include him here. Anyway... how did I do on my first attempt???

Tom

[Mike Sommer]

You need to do more of your own original voices.

I think it needs to be understood that unless your imitation of an established character is spot on, you should not use it, because there are other people that can do it spot on.

Pat Fraley's lesson on character demos is very interesting, and worth noting.

[TomConklin]

Thanks for your advice Mike. And... as I said... it's my first attempt and I will be working on other original voices too, thanks. Oh, and thanks for posting Pat's lesson.

Anyone else have anything?

[TomConklin]

Oh yes... and Pat's lesson is very awesome as his stuff usually is. Thanks again!

Any other input is welcome from anyone. Thanks!

[JoeActor]

Hey Tom,

Ok, just some general comments...

Go with fewer voices, longer takes. You need to show you can maintain a character for longer than a short tag line.

Remove the story-line components (ie. "ready?" "that's a wrap"). It should sound like a collection of real work (even if it isn't!)

... and to echo Mike, Spot-On, or Not-On. Impressions have to be perfect. Think about using them instead to create your own unique characters. After all, lots of animated charactes were based on impressions (Zoidberg anyone?)

Hope this helps,
Joe J Thomas
www.JoeActor.com
www.SoundsGoodToYou.com

[TomConklin]

Thanks Joe... I appreciate your remarks as well. All good advice from both you and Mike. And I thought I was being cute with that BS at the beginning and end. It's funny, after I do a demo of some kind and ask for some feedback on here I get a lot of good comments. However, It always leaves me feeling like I(even though I was proud of my work at the time) that I made a real stinker. Maybe I just gotta toughen up a little.

Thanks guys for your brutal honesty... well, I guess it wasn't really that brutal. Then again, maybe you went easy on me. :)

[JoeActor]

Hey Tom,

No worries. This is definitely a "learn by doing" kind of career. Plenty of teachers out there, but there's no substitute for hands on.

I know my demos are always going out of style. My first one was so out of phase that I had a coach threaten to play it as a bad example if I didn't remove it from my site! Granted, it was probably ok... back in the 80's in Ohio ;-)

Keep at it - a good coach can help guide you too,
Joe

[TomConklin]

Thanks Joe!

[Mike Sommer]

Yeah, it's learn by fail sometimes.

It is cute, but like Pat says, "you don't want to make them laugh you, want to make their ears bleed."
It's best to make mistakes here, then sending it out to an agent and ruin a reputation.

May I also add as a side note: When someone asks for a review, I assume they want the unvarnished
truth. It is, in fact, what I expect when I ask people for reviews of my work. If I want to feel good I ask my mom.
And if I come across harsh, I'm sorry. I'm just frank and forthright, no malice is ever intended.

[TomConklin]

Hey Mike,

No worries... I expect the "unvarnished truth" here, as you call it. I will take all the advice I get here and use it for future demos for sure. I didn't really intend to send this out to anyone. I just was planning on posting it to my voices.com page and website. I've heard worse there and much better too. I think I will start to delve into some original characters and then maybe get some critiques on those before moving on.

Thanks again.