Thanks for the votes so far!

Had a couple of projects I was working on and hadn't checked the tally with the Neil Gaiman "American Gods" audiobook contest - there was a pretty nice jump in the past day or so!

Thanks to everyone who navigated through the registration page - which then jumps you to a land far, far away from my read page. I must say that the fine folks at bookperk.com might want to tidy up that unnecessary routing...

They have actually begun posting the leader board, and it reminds me a little of bicycle races from my past, where you look up to see the fast folks waaaay up the course. Fact is, I could use another 250 votes if I want to bridge up to the leaders.

The tendency would be to be a little disheartened by that - but honestly, I"m incredibly buoyed by the fact that I've received votes from more than just my wife and brother and sister. Thanks again to everyone who voted, and if you get the chance to do so again (you can vote once per day - hint, hint...), I would greatly appreciate it.

Audiobook Contest Follow-up

I had a couple of people contact me after they had trouble voting at the Neil Gaiman American Gods audiobook contest. I didn't realize that you had to register at the bookperk.com site to vote, and when you first register, it kicks you away from any page you had entered on (hopefully mine) and you have to find my voting page again before you could cast the vote.

So, here are some updated instructions:

1 - If you haven't already registered at the bookperk.com site - go here to do so -
http://neilgaiman.bookperk.com/engine/Welcome.aspx?contestid=29933
2 - Then, go to this handy, easy-to-remember url - http://tinyurl.com/vote-jimedgar - to vote for my read.
3 - If for some reason, you get bounced from my page, you can search for me here - using the search term jimedgar (yep, my name, without a space)

Yep, it's a little clunky, but I do appreciate the effort!

Also, if you want to know a couple of other folks who I strongly recommend, visit the page for
Angela Noble and
Matthew Moy who are both a couple of great actors and fine people.

One of Those Shameless Self-Promotion Stunts

Well, me and (at the time I posted this, anyway...) 660 of my closest friends. Seems that on the 10th Anniversary of publishing American Gods by Neil Gaiman, they are going to release a new edition as well as a new audiobook. The audiobook is kinda where I (and you) come in. They have opened up a spot in the recording to a contest - basically, it's a big honking cattle call.

So, I've read and submitted an excerpt from the book, and I need a bunch of people to vote for me to make it to the final round. Here's a direct link to my page (you may need to register on the site) -

http://neilgaiman.bookperk.com/engine/Details.aspx?p=V&c=29933&s=7800400&i=1#SD

(I'm also stashing a quick little widget over on the left side)

So, head on over and give a listen. If you like what you hear, I'd appreciate your vote.

Thanks!

Sue Blu Character Workshop

One of the great things about Voicetrax classes and weekend workshops remains the high quality of the teachers who work there. This past weekend, I was lucky enough to nab a slot in a Animation Character Workshop with Susan Blu - someone who, quite literally, has written the book on Voice Acting. (There are others out there, obviously, but it was actually the first book I ever got on VO, and it has become a bit dog-eared over the years.)

I really love all aspects of voice acting, but animated characters are serious fun. (For those of you who read this, but have little exposure to the different disciplines of voice work, I'm talking specifically about television animation - which can include everything from preschool cartoons to primetime, to latenight, over-the-top, pushing the boundries kind of stuff.) It's all high energy, fast paced work with super focused intensity.

Actually, this clip of Charlie Adler gives you a sense of the difference -


Thanks Charlie! But, back to Susan...

It's truly impressive to be a room with someone who can recall a role from 20 years ago and - without missing a beat - bring that character immediately to life. Susan worked with us on deriving characters from very interesting and non-obvious places. She'd be explaining a technique do create a new character and then say, "well, I used this to come up with..." and suddenly, this whole other person appeared in front of us. It was a stunning transformation which happened a few times.

We all got a significant chance to have her direct us on copy, coax us further on characters and share words of her significant experience with us. There's really nothing like working with excellent directors to help you cut through the fluff and get focused. It was certainly a highly talented pool of students, and by the end of the workshop, everyone had raised their game noticeably. Another high quality weekend honing the craft.

Straight Outta Emeryville...

Nice little video via the NYT this morning - some glimpses of quality voice acting, cool studios and the amazing campus of Pixar.

Gig Bound on a Beautiful Tuesday

Gig Bound on a Beautiful Tuesday, originally uploaded by Jim Edgar Voices.

Fog hovering just below road level.

An Evening With Billy West

Spent Friday evening down in Sausalito enjoying an interview with Billy West, who was in town at an "Inside the Voice Actor's Studio" event put on by Voicetrax. For the non-voiceover-centric among you, Billy West has voiced a chunk of memorable characters - (references here and here to get you started) such as Ren & Stimpy, several members of the Futurama cast, and currently the Red M&M on their television commercials.

Giving voice to cartoon and animated characters is a big chunk of the siren song which has drawn me to this line of work. The characters of Daws Butler, Mel Blanc and June Foray fired my imagination and became real to me because the actors behind the animation brought such depth to the characters (and the writing and situations were such inventive roller coasters of storytelling).

Billy has continued to bring the commitment to craft forward. It was a rare treat to listen to his rapid patter of reminisces and views. Character work is a tricky combination of physicality, mechanics, commitment and above all - acting. To pull all those things together is a bit of a magician's trick. To consistently do that over a period of time is significant work.

There were a myriad of ideas sown which I'm still considering this morning, inspiration which hopefully will carry my own energy forward a bit, and substantial laughter and love for the craft.

Big thanks to Voicetrax for pulling this together!