We were supposed to start at 11:30 AM today but by at 11:23 with every seat in 6A filled but Rob Paulsen's, I decided to start the Cartoon Voices Panel early. It would give the audience more panel with less wait, plus it would make Rob feel ashamed that he was tardy and we started without him. For the record, he was there at 11:27 so he was not late.
Six talented people who make livings with their voices demonstrated their art/craft/whatever it is to a most appreciative audience. Standing at the podium watching faces, I could see the amazement as Dee Baker leaped from one inhuman voice to the next and the next and the next. Were those all coming out of that alleged human being? Apparently so.
I kvelled (a fine Yiddish word; go look it up) as Misty Lee — the newest pro on the dais — dazzled all with her enthusiasm, then proved she had the chops to match.
I enjoyed it as Fred Tatasciore turned himself vocally into The Incredible Hulk and the audience roared its delight. They'd have been even more impressed if they knew what a sweet teddy bear of a man this Tatasciore guy is. I mean, they could tell he was acting against type but didn't imagine how against.
I laughed as Gregg Berger demonstrated how to "die" in a videogame, something voice actors often have to do to excess. It's not uncommon for the game to contain a hundred different ways in which your character might die and the producers need you to record every scenario. So we had Gregg vocally plunge off a 2000 foot cliff for us. On the way down, he was hit by three arrows, the third of which was flaming so it set him on fire. He landed in a pit of razor-sharp spikes and then was eaten by rabid raccoons. Somehow, he managed to sound like that was exactly what was happening to him.
I really liked it when Audrey Wasilewski mentioned she was the lady in that Prego Spaghetti Sauce commercial that's on CBS more often than that little eye logo in the corner of the screen. The audience in unison gasped "Oh right, that's her!"
And when Rob Paulsen did Pinky and whichever Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle he is, the cheers were loud and long.
They all read a script — the same script the Saturday panel had read — with totally different interpretations, totally different voices and just as many laughs but in different places and for different reasons. It was all brilliantly funny and afterwards, people complimented me — the guy who hadn't said a word throughout — on how wonderful it was.
Can't beat that. I'll write about more panels in the days to come.