Why am I a voiceover guy? Because even though having this much fun should be illegal, it isn’t.
But my love for voiceovers and voice acting goes deeper than simply having fun. While I collected a lot of the same comic books and Star Wars toys of my generation, I also collected old radio tapes with wild and reckless abandon, even to the extent of getting a working radio that looked like an old-time radio, albeit with a hidden cassette player. (Young ‘uns will need to ask their elders what a cassette tape is).
Not only that, my brothers and I tore through no end of audio dramatizations of classic tales like The Hobbit or Treasure Island from the sadly defunct Mind’s Eye. And I got a taste of just how good modern audio drama could be with Bradbury 13.
(There appear to be places you can listen to the latter, but I’m not sure if the creators licensed those locations, so I’m not linking to them at the moment).
Alas, as I got older, I learned there simply weren’t the opportunities to do radio theater like there was back in the old days. But still, how could I not be tempted to do voiceovers?
Besides wanting to emulate the golden-throated announcers of yore, think of all the wonderful cartoon voice actors out there! (And de facto media historian Mark Evanier has been working on a great list).
Granted, much of the work I do is for associations and commercial interests. The opportunities to make really creative audio are still sparse, so thanks to the same digital tools that have helped indie filmmaking flourish, I have worked to make my own.
So as long as my voice holds, I’ll be a voiceover guy. It’s just too much damn fun.