A Mouth of Many Voices

Back when I was younger, I had aspirations to be a voice actor.  In some ways I still do, but those have been mostly superseded by the thrill that is being on the radio.  I would practice different voices everyday, trying to get into accents and certain dialects.  Some would work and others would not, as is expected when you're trying to gain exposure in this industry or even just simply get a start.  How voice actors and actresses such as Frank Welker, Seth McFarlane, and even Nancy Cartwright can do it so easily floors me to no end.

When I was on my high school's Speech Team Senior Year, it was mentioned to be by one of the coaches that not just one, but all of my voices sounded like, or at least had a little bit of my announcer's tone in there.  I had to stop and think for a split second.  Had the announcer's tone that I developed over the preceding four years crept up into my work as a Speech Team member?  I went back and forth with the coach for a little bit and thanked her for her advice before continuing to practice.

As I drove home that night, I ran through some of my favorite voices to do at the time, and paid very close attention.  It turned out that there definitely was that tone in everything I said and did.   I hadn't even noticed it creeping up, but my own voice had changed in it's style and tone, from a regular sounding kid to that of someone who was always providing play-by-play commentary on someone's life.  It was so strange to me, but I didn't think it was a bad thing and I chose to place it on the back burner, only worrying about it during Speech events for the rest of that season, which saw me placing 4th at Subsections in March and then making it to the final round at Sections in early April, which I thought was amazing.

Time went on, and each time I decided to develop a new voice, I tried to remember to take my voice out of it for the most part and let the character shine through instead.  It took time and practice, but soon I had it down, and I realized that someday I might be able to be a voice actor "for realsies" as the millennial generation says, and actually get paid for it. 

As I was going through this journey of personal growth, a writing supervisor for a popular adult animated comedy was beginning to pick up roles on other shows as well as the one he had called home for several years.  Those who watch FOX sitcom Family Guy are most likely aware of John Viener, who is one of the show's writers and since 2009 has also been a producer and/or production supervisor.  Viener has had quite the luck with making a mark on the show, voicing multiple walk-on one-hit characters in both the main plotlines of episodes and the cutaways, as well as a few recurring characters.  He's also appeared on Showtime's Our Cartoon President as Vice President Mike Pence, Disney Channel's Phineas & Ferb as Norm, Dr. Doofenshirmtz's robot assistant, and in the film Ted as the character Alix.                                                                                                                              It's clear that Viener has had a pretty successful career thus far, and will most likely continue to have one, at least as long as either Family Guy or Our Cartoon President is on the air.  But take a look at the below clips, and you'll notice a certain trait of John Viener's performance that may or may not make you downright hate him and every character he voices.      

So, Viener uses his regular speaking voice in pretty much all of his characters, and it's completely obvious that it's him voicing the character or characters if you've heard his voice at least once before.  Even with the foreign accent he attempts for Tomik and/or Bellgarde, and the slight Southern accent he gave to Mike Pence, you can tell it's John Viener, or at the very least the same voice actor without even searching the internet.  

The other thing that's missing here is any type of tone change to show emotion.  Viener sounds flat as can be in all four of these clips, and rather disinterested in all of the characters he's playing.  It's kind of off putting, even slightly jarring to hear Viener's voice in any type of media with these traits.  He's not the only voice actor I know of that does it, but he's the most prominent example in my mind right now to use for this blog post.  Nothing will change with Viener's voice work either, but that's not really why I'm writing this post.

In a long roundabout way, what I'm trying to say here is that John Viener highlighted something for me as I worked to evaluate my own voice acting and Speech Team performances in that tone has to be a part of your voice and emotions.  You can't speak flatly through a whole piece and only change the accent or pitch.  You have to go full boar and truly adapt that person's personality or character traits in order to have a successful time with that voice.  Using the same tone, or keeping a newer element of your voice in without even realizing it is what leads to bad critiques and poor scores from judges.  It's something to note.

The main takeaway of this post is that I feel we have to embrace our individuality as people and not be afraid to step out of our comfort zones or make changes that will benefit us in the end.  For me, doing my damndest to remove my announcer's tone from my impressions was when I tried to embrace my individuality and add different dimensions.  When I wanted to freeze up in front of a crowd of people in a high school classroom judging my speech, I couldn't do that, and I had to speak up instead, in as many different tones as I possibly could.  

This situation can be applied and executed in many other areas of life, be it style, food preparation, sleep-wake cycles, interpersonal relationships, etc....  We have to be unafraid to share our talents, and be willing to further develop them when the need arises, for getting content with them could end up showing us something we didn't even know about ourselves in the end.

In short, go out there and be who you truly are and be willing to adapt.  Don't get stage fright folks.  But also, please don't be a John Viener.