Strange Auditions

With voice overs, I audition almost daily and every so often we get the audition that is, well, stranger than the norm. Now, you have to realize that most auditions these days, come in the form of an email that we must print, interpret, record and then send back as an mp3. No longer are the days where we have a casting director guiding us or voice director giving us key notes and direction. Nope! Today we record in a wondrous vacuum called, “the home studio.” But hey, it totally beats traffic, and I don’t know where you live, but in Los Angeles, that’s HUGE!

Now, sometimes we get a lot of information and it can be helpful…or not. Sometimes we get a simple character description that reads:

“Average man or woman ages 25-55, real not announcery” and the script will start with, “Introducing…”   Seriously? Who talks like that, other than announcers and maybe salesmen? And that age description…oh yeah, that’s specific!

It’s with scripts like these that I step into my home booth, and suddenly feel like one of those monkeys from Madagascar. Seriously, I look at the dialogue and direction and think (with  a british accent), “today I shall fling poo.” Sometimes its supreme poo. Sometimes is classic poo. And sometimes it’s just really good poo.

The other day, however, was a whole new level of  “WHAT????” I actually had to step out of my booth and consult a friend in order to fling the appropriate poo.

You see, I received an audition that asked for, “A young kid, sounding 8-10 to play a 90-year-old man in an old-folk’s home. We want him to have the sound and innocence of a child.”  The 5+ pages of dialogue that followed, had this “kid”, hitting on old women and basically acting quite lewd and lascivious with his old fogey friends.

What we ended up creating had my friend and I cracking up. It definitely sounded like a little kid with a dirty old man’s mind. It was supreme poo! Whether I get called back or flushed, is anyone’s game. As long as I’m still flinging….it’s all good!

Another Episode of Annoying Orange

“Founding Fruits” a hilarious and educational (hahahaaa) fruitastical rendition of our revolutionary war. These guys are crazy fun. A total blast to work with. The last airing of this episode is July 19th on Cartoon Network. (8pm-PST) Annoying Orange shows regularly on Monday nights 8pm/7central. Or go to Cartoon Network to catch missed episodes and other fun stuff.

Ringtone-UGLY

Oh yea! The mean girl cheer! Ready…Okay! While traveling through some remote cities in Budapest, I caught a local game of Football. They actually had a rally squad on the side lines. The tune they were cheering was really catchy and soon we were all caught up in the spirit! It was so much fun and exciting. Later, I found out the cheer roughly translated to, U-G-L-Y, you aint got no alibi, you’re ugly. To hear more, click on the link, then click on my name in blue. This should take you to more of my ringtones.

Annie Press Photos

The first press shots from the Annie Awards are up! Here is a peek from one photog. (I’m also on the bottom of the prior page) http://imagecollect.com/events/39th-annual-annie-awards-photos-122872/page-3

My hair also got some attention. Thanks Kathleen Hagen, styling genius! kathleen@kathleenhagan.com

Intricate up-do

The Annie Show

The Annie Awards was hilarious! The backstage drama alone, could have been its own tv show!!! From missing presenters to opening the wrong “The winner is…” envelope, comedy and awkward moments and comedy ruled the night! Congrats to all the nominees and winners: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2012/02/rango-wins-annie-award-best-animated-feature.html?track=icymi  You can also find the info on the Annie site http://annieawards.org/consideration.html

A big shout out to some of the unsung heroes of the night: Zahra Dowlatabadi as producer, Ned Lott for wrangling an amazing crew of presenters, Grey Wears the head writer, Frank Gladstone, president of ASIFA hollywood and many others who made the night memorable.

Here is a shot of my “peops”: Tom Lawless-agent, Mark Vulcano-animation directore Heavy Iron Studios, Diana Lansleen-Actress, model, voiceover artist.

Tom Lawless, Dina Sherman, Mark Vulcano, Diana Lansleen

Annie Awards

Last night’s Annie Awards was an amazing, fun, edge of your seat, exciting kind of show! And that was just fighting the traffic to get there! Naah, in all seriousness, it really was one of the best shows ever! Patton Oswalt was the star and hero. So many things can go wrong on a live show and every time something went askew, Patton made it hilarious. If you watched it streaming, I would love to hear what your favorite moments were!

Here is the first picture from the night. More to follow with quips and tidbits about the backstage happenings!

Red carpet in my Yeaggy

 

Annie Attire #6

My “Yeaggy” dress with its first layer of teal drapings. At my fitting yesterday, these were adjusted and the next layer of thin black strips pinned on. Finally, will come the black Swarovski crystals. With all the strips and pins, I felt like a bird in a cage. But, with trust and imagination, you can tell this dress will be stunning!

Dress with teal drapings

Annie Attire #5

Step by step!  My “Yeaggy” couture takes time. The dress foundation is finished and now we are working on the 3 different types of drapings. Here is the dress and one of the drapings being covered in teal silk. Next fitting tomorrow!

Dress before draping

 

Draping in teal

Annie Attire #3

I’m going over to meet with the designer, Alex Yeaggy, for my first fitting tomorrow. Yeah!! Since my dress is sleeveless and short, she has also created a cape to keep me warm. Here is the cape on the dress form still in progress; black with a beautiful, teal, silk lining. I’ll hopefully get pictures of the dress tomorrow!

Cape for the Annie's dress

The Thanksgiving Orange

Just heard, through the grapevine…or would it be pumpkin patch, given the time of year….that Cartoon Network is giving the Annoying Orange a television series! Wooohooo! Don’t know what this means yet for us adorable peaches and marshmellows, but keeping my eyes crossed for some fun shows. Will keep you posted on when my episodes air and if I get to do more! Have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!