Recommending A Voice Over Class

Not only is my friend Richard Tatum, loveable, hilarious, brilliant, talented, goofy, and married to my friend Tracy, but he's also a talented voiceover teacher. Richard has worked in voiceover a goodly time now and has been teaching lessons for about 10 years now.

I took a class from Richard in the basics of voiceover and I loved the atmosphere that he set up. First of all, it's just darn fun. If you're a teacher and you're about the fun and not the fear, you're all right with me. Second, every one had a chance at the mic in every class. We explored different types of voiceovers, (animation, commercials, video games, etc.), and we had feedback at the end of each session. I learned quite a bit!

Richard has another round of classes coming up, starting October 6th. It runs for 6 weeks and will cover animation! Topics will include character creation, parsing scripts, making characters dynamic, and creating and maintaining a character repertoire, as well as broadening your range, audition preparation, and styles.  All students get on the microphone repeatedly every class!

So if you're interested, check out his company, Absolute Voiceover , to see what other classes he has coming up, check here. You may also find Absolute Voiceover on Facebook and Twitter.

Richard is also a wonderfully smart actor and director. If you saw Group the Musical and The Insidious Impact of Anton this year, then you've seen his directing work.

If you're an Awkward Embraces fan, than you know him as The IT Guy. Below is my favorite episode of his.

Go Out & See Some Theater! -and-The Princess Palace is Relocating

Get out of the house, you Los Angelinos!

Here's some theater you need to see:

The Country Wife - my show is closing this week! Sadness! Saturday's our last night. It's,"a sexual creampuff of delight!" For ticket info, look up Ark Theatre, Goldstar, LA Stage Alliance, or Stubdog.

The Heretic Mysteries -a show that features my friend Dee Amero Sudik, put on by the Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble. I'm excited because I get to see this show next Thursday! Whoopee! I believe you can look up half-price tix at the same websites, but don't quote me on that.

Project 22 - A night of improv at The Hothouse! You know this is close to my heart. $10 at the door, free booze, 3 sets of brilliant improvisers, one live band to throw it all together. So. Goshdarn.Fun.

This Sunday, the Academy of Theatrical Combat is hosting another Intro Class from 12 to 2. $50, tell Jan and Dan I say hi. SO FUN!!!!

In other news, The Housing Gods have seen to bless the current residents of The Princess Palace. Namely, myself Trina, and Jessi. We're going to move mid-July and live in a brand new home. Three of us are very excited, there's a backyard for the doggies and excellent parking, among other fabulous, fabulous accroutement. (Did I spell that right?) Oh, primarily we're excited just because we're not living under the rule of the crazy, drunk-sounding landlady. Hallelujah.

The closing of Country Wife will be sad. But, after a 7 week run, I'm definitely looking forward to a little more free time. One of the joys at being part of a theater company is that I don't have to say goodbye to the friends that I've made. And while some are all ready to get started on the next show, they are not far, far away.

The Artist's Way challenge of no reading/normal distraction of Facebook is still challenging. The good thing is, I've spent more time on this blog. The bad, it has cut off my major communication to the world. Unfortunately, time is seeming to escape me and it has left me feeling strangely restless and easily grouchy. Yet I am determined to keep the best foot forward. C'mon, World, bring me the good stuff!!!!

I hope you all have a lovely day, and for crying out loud, go out and see some live theater!!!

Hothouse Improvisation Level 1 Classes Starting June 8th

My love for improv was resurrected from taking classes at The Hothouse. Their Level 1 class on the basics is starting on June 8th. Sign up now! Here's the info:

Check out the link for more info on our new level 1: http://www.hothouseimprov.com/new_level_1.html

Level 1 Class Schedule:
June 8^th, 15^th, 22^nd, 29^th
July 6^th, 13^th, 20^th, 27^th

Hothouse Level 1 w/ John Thies
Meets Mondays, from 7-10pm for 8 Weeks
Tuition: $275

Hothouse Improvisation
4934 Lankershim Blvd.
North Hollywood, CA 91601
818.331.2611
http://www.hothouseimprov.com

Honestly, I've never met a more supportive and fun group. My opinion on the whole thing is that they're teaching you the tools to improvise, not teaching you games to be witty at. There are four basic levels, each tackling a different angle of improv. The Level 4 class teaches you how to put it all together for their show style. No, they don't put a name to it, as I know other improv schools do. That's something for me to learn next, I guess. Also, they're extremely willing to help out those of us who are in a financial struggle, but want to take the class. They take payment plans! Woot!

If you're afraid to begin, then this is just right for you. My group were all scared. We all said how much we were scared of improvising, one guy even said how much he hated improv, but heard so much about this group that he'd give it a go. It's good for the writer, the director, the actor, and any other schmuck off the street.

I hope you can sign up and take the class. Please tell John and Lana I say hi!


Note: The links aren't working for some odd reason. So just copy and paste a bit, won't you?