Crazy, for lack of a better word, is GOOD!

There's something very wrong with us voice actors, well, at least there should be. We need to be more than just a little crazy! Why? In this episode of the gift of gab, we talk about why letting your freak flag fly is essential when building a career in Voiceover.

Crazy, for lack of a better word, is GOOD! - 4:45

Hey friends, it's Gabby. Welcome to another edition of the Gift of Gab. My darlings, my fellow crazies, have you taken your meds today? Don't. Let's talk. But wait, I need those!

Hello friends. if you've heard me say it before, then you've probably heard me say it a thousand times, but it's worth saying a thousand and one: improv, acting, being free, being playful, being childish, being a little bit crazy... it's all valid, it is all important, it's all downright necessary for a career in voice acting. you gotta let loose, you gotta be a little bit psycho to do this, okay? Listen, listen, all right. It doesn't take a genius, okay? We work in a little, tiny padded room and we talk to ourselves for a living, all right?

Here's how I prefer to see this: some people when they do that, they get a straight jacket. I get checks. See that as you will, but for me it means that I just made it so that the voices in my head make me money. It doesn't make me any less crazy. And I mean this with all the respect in the world to everybody who's out there and deals with any kind of mental health anything, because I'm right there with you, trust me. I mean it's it's literally part of the gig. For those of you who don't have that and, dare I say are normal, then you got a little bit of extra work to do. I know that sounds wild but there is something to be said for the weirdness, the goofiness, the strangeness, the oddness that you have to be willing to let out to do this every day. There's something not right with us.

One of my favorite, favorite examples (if you haven't seen it, please go look at it) it's Benedict Cumberbatch doing the behind the scenes stuff for Smaug, that you can find all over YouTube. It's basically him doing the voiceover for a dragon and oh my god, the man is NUTS! He lays it all out, he's literally just putting his crazy out there for the world to see, and I adore him for it. And there's countless others, right? I mean Joaquin Phoenix (okay, anybody who's ever played the Joker, let's just be honest). It's the brilliance of the art form. But if you're one of those people that's wound a little too tight, you've really got to find a way to let loose, to be silly, to tap into that creativity, find people like myself, surround yourself with those oddballs, god -- get into an improv class because that's where you're gonna find them, and go to stand-up comedy more often, get into some actor groups because they're those people are gonna give you the freedom to play and they're not going to judge you and you're going to learn from them and you're going to find that yeah, you you might might just be able to tap into a little crazy of your own and you might just find that it helps you earn a living at this.

I'll leave you guys with two thoughts, and I've always been a big believer in this first one: if you can't or are unwilling to do it in real life, meaning to take risks, then you won't be able to do it on mic; and the other, and this is something a lot of voice actors live by because we've been told it many times, most directors would rather say, "Go too far and I'll pull you back" then not have you give a performance that's big enough. They'll always just assume it's all you've got. Go big, take a risk, get a little crazy. I'll join you.

704-674-8294 / GabrielleNistico.com / gabby@voiceovervixen.com

Gabrielle Nistico, Gabby Nistico, The Voiceover Vixen, The Business First VO Coach, #VoiceoverVixen #VoiceOnFire #BusinessFirstVOCoach Voiceover, Charlotte, North Carolina, Voiceover Demo, Voiceover Coaching Advice, Working Actors, Los Angeles, New York, How to Be a Better Voice Actor, bold text, copywriting, copywriters, advertising agencies, voiceover, emphasis, voiceover in action