Everyone seems to be fascinated with animation voice over including my Uber drivers along the way

 I use Uber a good deal. I don't drive here in the Bay Area (by choice). I just decided to quit driving one day and get around quite well walking or Uber for longer trips.  I told my best friend if he wanted a "free, bought and paid for car" to come get it out of my carport. I work mainly from my home studio and it wouldn't be missed. I was right. I noted in another post on this blog how much I enjoy walking. It amazes me how many fast food junkie, lazy butt, social media addicted folks there are that wouldn't think of walking for a little exercise and getting out of the car for a change. Oh well, I'll stop. I'm not here to preach. I like to chit chat with the Uber drivers as we roll along down the streets. That is, if the driver is open to a little yacking along the way. Some are very quiet. I keep my mouth shut on those occasions.  Some are very funny with tons of personality. Always an enjoyable ride. I tip those types better than the seemingly unfriendly ones. It's not just the Uber ride, it's who's on the steering wheel.  Often, I'll get asked what I do for a living. I explain I got into voice over as the radio industry was imploding and becoming a very hostile playground for on-air personalities like me with lots of experience who wanted to be compensated fairly. Many were not and were fired, so corporate didn't have to compensate accomplished talents accordingly. (see evil empire Clear Channel radio). Contracts were not renewed. I saw the train coming down the tracks and got the hell out of radio. I was never fired from a station. Some deejays will tell you you're not officially in the radio deejay "club" until you've been fired a time or three.   Entertaining on-air was a great time in my life for sure. But now I love doing voice overs. My Uber driver will usually say something to me about a friend he or she knows who wants to get into animation. By far, doing "funny voices" (animation) is a very popular topic that comes up. For one, it has to be a very fun form of voice over to perform. If you're lucky enough to make a living from it, you're a very blessed person. And probably gifted too.  But know that it's extremely competitive. You better bring your A game to your auditions. In short, it's not "easy money."  Of course, there are voice over coaches who specialize in teaching talent how to do animation VO work. (Pat Fraley in LA). I was never drawn to animation as a voice talent, but I'm fascinated with that type of VO and give major props to those who excel at it. By the way, most  working, non, A-list voice over talents do not make their main source of money off of animation jobs. Remember, it IS voice ACTING. You must have acting chops. Many voice talents go to acting workshops. Some are GROUP  workout sessions on weekends. You'll see ads for such on voice over forums. Before you hire a VO coach of any kind, do your homework and find out what you can about the coach and their reputation. Ask around. Sadly,the business is loaded with less than reputable characters or voice over companies of questionable handling of voice talent.  (Did I mention Voices.com?)

I wish I had a dollar for every person who told me they wanted to get into voice over and would be interested in stopping by my cozy studio for instruction. Almost every one cancelled or simply did not show up. Cold feet? Maybe. Lots of voice over talent wannabes like to "kick the tires." But here's the thing. Don't waste folk's time who have busy schedules with false excitement to learn voice over upon meeting them. If you have no intention of showing up, say so!