the life of a voice actor

Posted on November 17th, 2009 by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent

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The life of a voice actor is an arduous one. Creating a voice, setting a mood, transmitting a message within only a finite time period. Lesser performers would quake and fall under the pressure.

Not yours truly.

When called upon by my agent in a recent audition to portray fear, panic, intense medical distress and possibly public mortification I rose the occasion…well, for this role, I actually sat down. It was but a brief utterance I had through which to convey all those emotions.

I played the part of the “Man” in this audition:

VO: When diarrhea hits…
MAN: Uh-oh.
VO: KAO. Kaopectate stops it fast.
Powerful liquid relief speeds to the source fast,
to stop diarrhea and get your system back to normal…
Woman: Fast.
VO: Kaopectate. Stop the uh-oh fast, with Kao

And I did so with various choices thusly:
[audio:http://www.audioconnell.com/clientuploads/mp3/PeterOConnell_KMale.mp3]

You may stand in awe of my voice acting greatness. And you’ll laugh at me a little less if I get the job cause for that one phrase I’ll cash a very healthy check.

Feel free to pick your favorite uh oh.

Tags: commentary, commercials, silliness, voice actors, voice casting, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover advice // 8 Comments »

8 Responses to “the life of a voice actor”

  1. Tweets that mention voxmarketising - the audio'connell blog and podcast -- Topsy.com // Nov 19, 2009 at 11:32 AM

    […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Peter O'Connell and Peter O'Connell, Julie-Ann Dean. Julie-Ann Dean said: @audioconnell Love it! Thanks for sharing. RT: the oh so glamorous life of a voice actor #voiceover #voicetalent http://ping.fm/JJHo5 […]

  2. Justin Phillips // Nov 19, 2009 at 12:09 PM

    I kinda liked the third one from the end, but in front of the gutteral uh oh that was the 4th one I think.

    LOL

    JP

  3. peter o'connell voiceover // Nov 19, 2009 at 12:34 PM

    Hi Justin,

    That’s cool. My favorite is still the last one where I tried to make it sound like I was about to pass a bowling ball.

    Yes, this is the classiest blog evah.

    Best always,
    – Peter

  4. Connie Terwilliger // Dec 1, 2009 at 3:00 PM

    Peter, I just wanted to update your blog post with the news that I was the female selected to mouth the words “uh-oh” and “fast.” It was a grueling 15 minute session – ISDN. I had to say the words over and over again. 😉

  5. What makes an audition “win?” Am I the “voice in the head” today? « Connie Terwilliger – ISDN Voice Talent // Dec 1, 2009 at 7:20 PM

    […] for this spot – including Peter O’Connell who blogged about it a week or so ago (https://blog.audioconnell.com/2009/11/17/the-life-of-a-voice-actor/) and included his audition with the word […]

  6. Connie Terwilliger // Dec 1, 2009 at 7:37 PM

    Oh – and I posted my audition on my blog – http://isdnvoicetalent.wordpress.com/2009/12/01/what-makes-an-audition-win-am-i-the-voice-in-the-head-today/

  7. peter o'connell voiceover // Dec 2, 2009 at 10:26 AM

    A hearty congratulations on what I am sure is some of your finest work! 🙂

    Hope we get to see you in NYC!

    Best always,
    – Peter

  8. peter o'connell voiceover // Dec 2, 2009 at 10:28 AM

    Copy cat! 😉

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