Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Voice-overs

I think last night I had something interesting lined up to say today before leaving for my weekly trip to Yellow Springs to stalk Dave Chappelle, but unfortunately I washed down some Alprazolam with a Shiner Bock before I "went to bed," so now I can't remember anything from last night, including drinking the beer. But here's something short. (It might actually be what I intended to write about, anyway.)

I want to do voice-overs. I really want to do voice-overs, particularly cartoon voices. It's something I always thought I would be great at, and plenty of people I know have concurred without me first bringing it up. I have so many unique and individual voices confined within my head--stupid voices, caricature voices, mimic voices, redneck voices, foreign accent voices, Beavis & Butt-head voices, original voices, etc.--that it is not even funny.

Actually it is funny.

I remember one time when me and my buddy Jeff were driving back from a drum corps show in Centerville or some other Dayton suburb, when I was about 18 or 20. I was just yapping it up, and I said to Jeff, "You know what kind of job I ought to have?" Immediately he said, "Doing cartoon voices." And he's not the only person to have said that. I think my mom has actually said similar things, too. And this waitress I worked with at Max & Ermas, Kristin, in 1995-96 once said, "You really ought to be an actor," because I was such an extroverted, charismatic, "multiple-personalitied" individual at the time.

I know my personality is a little different now. Too many "shut ups" over the years have made me a lot more introverted. But I still have it in me. Get me a couple beers or just give me a chance to feel comfortable around casting agents or whatever, and I'll fucking knock everyone dead with my true personality. I want it back, and maybe somehow I can get a job doing voice-overs to help bring back the me I love and miss.