Imaginary Worlds - Do The Voice

Episode Date: June 1, 2017

There's been a recent resurgence of radio dramas or audio dramas over the past 5 years. I've done a few myself on Imaginary Worlds. So I was very flattered (and a little intimidated) when the highly regarded audio drama podcast The Truth asked me to write something for them. I worked with the group for months on a story about an animation voice actress whose cartoon alter ego has a mind of his own. We'll hear the final piece, and a conversation with The Truth's founder, Jonathan Mitchell. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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This episode is brought to you by Secret. Secret deodorant gives you 72 hours of clinically proven odor protection free of aluminum, parabens, dyes, talc, and baking soda. It's made with pH balancing minerals and crafted with skin conditioning oils. You're listening to Imaginary Worlds, a show about how we create them and why we suspend our disbelief. I'm Eric Malensky. I have a confession to make.

Over the last seven months, I've been moonlighting on another podcast. Last fall, my friend Jonathan Mitchell asked me to pitch a story to his podcast, The Truth. I was very flattered and a little intimidated because I have so much respect for what they do. The Truth is an ongoing anthology of radio dramas. Although since they're usually on podcasts instead of the radio, they're technically audio dramas. And when I say anthology, I mean that every episode is a brand new story

that's different from audio drama podcasts like The Black Tapes, Limetown, The Message, or Homecoming, where there's a central mystery that plays out over a set number of episodes. But what really sets the truth apart is the artistic vision of the group's founder, Jonathan Mitchell. He's a stickler for making the audio dramas feel as real and naturalistic as possible, but at the same time, he often likes to incorporate supernatural elements from sci-fi or fantasy. I ended up pitching them a story called Do the Voice, which takes place in the world of animation. Now, when I used to work in that field, I was always fascinated by the fact that middle-aged women did the voices of cartoon boys so that the characters never had to age. This story is about the relationship between one of those actresses and her cartoon alter ego, and it's a cartoon that I completely made up.

The writing process was very intense. I spent months working on the outline alone, pitching and repitching it to them, playing with every possible combination of the story. Sometimes it was completely fantastical, sometimes it was completely realistic. pitching and re-pitching it to them, playing with every possible combination of the story. Sometimes it was completely fantastical, sometimes it was completely realistic. In the meantime, I was sitting in on meetings and giving feedback to other writers. And eventually I was on set with the actors, but the director and editor of the piece is Jonathan Mitchell.

Now, I'm going to play the piece in a little while, but first I'd like you to hear from Jonathan himself about how and why he created the group. Checking. One, two. One, two, three. Is that what you usually do? You usually do check one, two, three? Check one, two, three. Go checky-checky. One, two, three. I've known Jonathan for a long time. In fact, the inspiration for The Truth happened over 10 years ago when he and I went to an improv show with one of our colleagues

from WNYC. It was the first improv show I saw in New York. I thought the people were all seemed really creative and interesting. And, you know, it was something different from radio that I could get involved with. And so I signed up for classes and started taking them. And the actors he met in those classes became the founding members of The Truth. I always wanted to work with improvisers. I always felt like there was a lot of potential in the combination of the recording studio

and improvisation because recordings, like the shortcoming of recordings is that they can lack life. And there's just a very static art form. And improv has lots of life to it, you know? Improv, on the other hand, can feel very, very rambly and unfocused. Now, their early stories relied a lot on improv. Like this one, it's called Interruptible,

and it's about a taxi driver and all the characters in his backseat. What's going on with the other person? Yes, I know right now he's upset. He's a little hungry. I am not upset. You are a little upset this night didn't go the way you wanted it to go? No, that is not true. I think it's true.

I had no expectations about this night. Okay. How does it feel when you're interrupted constantly? My favorite of the early episodes is Moon Graffiti, where they imagined a conversation between Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong if Apollo 11 had crashed onto the moon and there was no way back to Earth. I hope this film can last a long time. I don't think it's going to be developed anytime soon. Now, Apollo 12 is going to go up? Yeah, after this I'd be surprised if there's any space program at all.

I bet by the year 2000 they'll have a base up here. Maybe they'll build some memorial up here for us. The story was inspired by a real speech that Jonathan found online which was written for Richard Nixon if the mission to the moon had been a failure. The piece ends with their version of Nixon addressing the public. These brave men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, know that there is no hope for their recovery. But they also know that there is hope for mankind in their sacrifice. At that point, we were like a really, really good day. It would have been like we get 500 downloads in a day.

You know, if I got 500, I'd be like, where did all these people come from? But in the meantime, he got a meeting with Ira Glass from This American Life. He said, well, if you could pitch me some ideas that I like, maybe we could probably do something. And so I pitched him a bunch of different ideas. And eventually the one he said yes to became the story Tape Delay. Tape Delay was about a slightly creepy guy who couldn't get past being dumped by his girlfriend. So he reconstructed their phone calls, which he had recorded, to invent new conversations

that they never had. Whoa! You know, I remember being a lot better at ice skating. Do you not want to do this? Because we don't have to do this. You're just saying that because we're both unable to get back up. Yeah. Hi. Hi.

We worked on it for a really long time. It was very frustrating because it was taking a lot longer than I wanted it to be. And when you work on something that long, it's hard to maintain your enthusiasm for it. Well, how long? Like a year. Oh my God, wow. And then finally, in the spring of 2012. There's this new podcast out there

that's trying to reimagine and reinvent one of the old radio formats, a format that is barely holding on. You barely hear this format outside of Prairie Home Companion or Bible stations. Radio drama. What I find interesting about this is that it's like they took the sound of programs

like Radiolab or our program and they use all the production techniques and tools that go with that, but with actors and a drama. So what you're about to hear is a work of fiction. All of a sudden, we get 20,000 downloads a day for like two weeks. We become the number one podcast on iTunes.

You know, that big burst didn't last, but it gave us a base. And since then, The Truth has gotten commissions from all things considered, The New Yorker Radio Hour, Planet Money, and Snap Judgment, while they're still putting out new episodes every other week. And the nature of the show has changed, as Jonathan has been immersing himself in every book and theory he can find about storytelling and story structure. I saw it as being sort of like a laboratory to experiment

with lots of different forms of writing. And through doing all these different methods, we did some that were very highly improvised, where I didn't even know the story, and I started improvising or interviewing improvisers, trying to find a story by looking for connections in the tape. And I realized that we had more opportunities to tell more sophisticated stories if we scripted things out.

I was looking for what's the ideal balance between scripting and improv. That's ultimately the question I was trying to answer. I discovered that if we scripted out a scene and the writer was cool with it, we could still have the actors improvise around this scene. And if I was working with really good improvisers, they could take it in some interesting directions and do really cool stuff. Yeah. One thing that was interesting watching you work is because, I mean, I've done radio drama as well, but I feel like I have such

a reverence for the actors that we'll do a scene as written and then we'll improv and I'll be like, oh, my God, that was amazing. Thank you. And you'll do like five or six or seven, even when it's really good and you've had a bunch of really good takes. You were like, let's just do another one and let's try this and you have so many different options like the story we did i felt like you could have done four versions of that story with a different take on every single line is that is that to give you options in the editing room yeah working with improv is is really about finding these really gems of isolated moments and then stringing together a string of beads and making it feel like it actually happened that way. It doesn't take a ton of extra time to get another take.

It doesn't cost me really, unless we're paying for studio time. I mean, it doesn't really cost me that much to do that. And so why not just see what we get? Good material is like, I mean, you can't predict what they're going to do. It's, it's like this, a new present to open, you know, like maybe they'll give you the brilliant thing this time. And that's happened where I did, I wasn't going to do another take on it. Oh, let's just do it. And then they give you this thing that ends up becoming like the way that the piece ends, you know, because the original ending wasn't nearly as good as what they came up with. So we've been having a really interesting conversation at the meetings. And I don't know whether you want to talk about this. But I think it's really interesting what's going on

and that you guys were so ahead of the curve. And there's now there's a whole section of radio dramas on iTunes, and most of them are serialized. Do you think serialized radio dramas are kind of just a trend that's going to fade? No. I mean, what are your thoughts on the serialized versus the anthology? Well, from my point of view, I'm making the thing that I would want to hear. I like

shorter pieces, personally. I find it hard to invest myself in serialized shows. I get kind of bored with them after the second episode. But you were saying when I said this is a trade that's trend that's gonna fade you're like no no no a lot of people like people seem to prefer them right now there's a really interesting I don't know if you've read it but there's an interesting article that Neil Verma wrote about this so this is his thought

not mine but he says anthologized series can explore audio drama as an art form, but serialized shows have an opportunity to be more a part of the culture. People like to talk about serialized shows more. It gives people something to think about and hope for and wonder about. It provokes ongoing lingering questions in people. Whereas my pieces are more like if they're successful, you'll think about them for days or weeks afterwards, but that's all there is. You're not waiting for the other shoe to drop or whatever. You're not waiting for a question to be answered. But in the end, audio dramas will always have a limited audience.

People have activities that they do while they listen. Like they commute, they drive their car, they do housework, they exercise. An audio drama is a very, very attention-hungry medium. And it really requires you to not be doing something that takes too much thought. and it really requires you to not be doing something that takes too much thought. I used to save the truth for long train rides or plane rides. Yeah, I think that's a perfect place. I like to play video games while I listen,

like really repetitive, mindless video games, nothing that makes me think. Oh yeah, me too. I've actually played a lot of Angry Birds while listening to The Truth. Yeah. And I found that the more intently I listen, the better I do at the video game. So that's a successful episode of The Truth is if, yeah, then I will have passed that level of Angry Birds or, you know, I couldn't get past. Yeah. Open up your candy crush because after the break, you'll hear the story I wrote with the truth. Alright, so here's the episode I wrote called Do the Voice. And by the way, I have one line in this episode, because I was on set and they needed an extra voice.

So you'll hear me about halfway through the piece, way in the background. Anyway, here it is. Louie, why aren't you in bed? Just wait a second, Pops. I need to finish my transmorgification device. You can finish in the morning. But Pop, it's a full moon. Wait a second.

You took apart the refrigerator. But I ate all the ice cream. Oh, that was amazing. So that was a first look at season 21. Can you believe it? 21 of Happy Louie. Give it up for him. All right. 21 of Happy Louie. Give it up for them.

All right. Well, while we got them, does anybody have any more questions for the cast? Ooh, yeah, you in the Harley Quinn outfit. Hey, this is for Betsy. Hi. Hey, I'm a huge fan. Thanks. So I follow you on Facebook, and I just kind of get the sense that you're not really happy with the show anymore.

Are you not going to renew your contract? We're not really ready to make a statement about that. It's true. Yeah, I'm moving on. Apparently, we're making news today. Sorry, Ezra. Yeah, no kidding. Sorry, Mike.

This just in. I need to find a new job. No. I mean, we've had such a long run, and it's been amazing, but I think everybody's just ready to wrap it up and move on to the next thing. Do you have anything lined up? I'm going back to puppet theater. Kidding. I'm looking at different roles.

They're mostly live action. Ah, live action. All right. Not porn, but I'm moving up to the big leagues. All right. Well, let's hear it for the creators. Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me. Can you do the voice?

Yeah, do the voice. Please, do the voice. Do the voice. I think we need to wrap it up. I think we went a little over time. There's another panel coming in, so. Yeah, but first, you know, if Pop were here, he might say, Louie, come on, you big schlamoosle.

Make the people happy. Thank you. Thanks, Mike. Do the voice. Do the voice! Come on! Do the voice! Oh, boy! You guys make me so happy!

I wish we could do this show forever and ever and ever. Bye-bye! Woo-hoo-hoo! Let's hear it for the creators of Happy Louie, everybody! So, you just decided to rip the band-aid right off? No warning? It needed to be said at some point. You know, you're the only voice actor I know that doesn't like to do voices.

I don't like to do them. I mean, if Merrill Street were talking to a crowd, would they say, Could you do Margaret Thatcher? I don't think so. It's not Sophie's Choice. It's a cartoon. You're crazy to give it up. It's easy money. I know it's easy money, but I'm going to be 50 in a few years, and I'm only known as a cartoon child actor. It's fucking

Jackie. I'm sure she heard. I'm going to get reamed out for this one, I'm sure. Hey, Jackie, I'm really sorry about... I talked to Carl. Oh. They want you. Oh my god, are you serious? You're needed on set Monday.

Holy bull. I'm going to be at the autograph table. Don't keep them waiting. Betsy. Oh, hey Carl. How are you? Good. I was in hair and makeup, which is so weird. You know, I'm used to just rolling up into the studio in my sweatpants. The mark is over here.

I know what a mark is. This is Jenny, our DP. Hey, Jenny. Hi. Could you just stand still, please? Okay. We're just seeing how reflective your face is. Oh, oh, right. Of course. I'm a big fan of Happy Louie.

I've loved him ever since I was a kid. Since you were a kid. Could you do some of the voice now? Would that be okay? I would love to do that for you, but would you mind if I did a little bit later? I'm just trying to focus right now. Come on, Betsy. I'm sure the crew would love it. Okay, yeah. Guys, I think we're good.

Okay. Places, everyone. Quiet on the set. Sound. Rolling. Roses are red. Pilot, pilot scene two take one action hey kids don't fly that thing near my flower bed yes ma'am and stop calling me ma'am cut that was good oh oh good i'm glad you it. Could you be a little more real? I thought I was being real. Yeah, yeah, no, you were, but it was just a little broad. Oh, okay, sure.

Yeah, just take it down a notch. No problem. I can do that. Okay, quiet on the set. Sound? Rolling. Presses are red pilot. Scene two, take two. Action. Hey, kids. Don't fly that thing near my flower bed. Yes, ma'am.

And stop calling me ma'am, you silly goose. Ha, ha, ha. Cut. Did you just do Happy Louie? Now she does the voice. Focus, everybody. Come on. Quiet on the set.

Sound. Rolling. Roses are Red Pilot, scene two, take three. Action. Hey, kids. Watch out scene two, take three. Action. Hey, kids, watch out for my beautiful... I'm sorry. I don't know why I keep doing that. Keep rolling. Okay.

Just give it another try whenever you're ready. Oh, my gosh, you guys, is that a drone? Five-minute break. I know you're nervous. I'm fine. One more time, I'll be perfect, I promise. Oh, gosh! Betsy is all mixed up in her head.

That's a hard voice to shake, huh? He usually doesn't act like this. Okay. Look, we have a lot to get through, and so we really need to get moving. I don't know. Bertha seems like a pretty lame character for Betsy to play. She's like a real actress.

Are you kidding me? What the hell is wrong with you? But I've been good for such a long time. You blew it today. But this is how it always goes. I mess things up bad, Pop gets real mad, then everything goes back to the way it was. Oh, shit.

Hey, Jackie. I've been texting with Carl. Do you know how much money you're costing him? I know. I just, I felt that part was really flat. What? There was just no depth to it, you know? You were really picky.

You wanted, wanted, wanted it. I know, I know. I remember. I just, I just thought, I thought there might be better parts out there for me. I, um, can I be honest with you? Sure. If you wanted to leave the cartoon, you should have done it like 10 years ago.

But now I'm sending an actress out who's almost 50. And to be honest, overweight. I'm sorry, but that's how people are going to see you. That is so unfair. Louie, stop it. When I'm quiet, nothing happens. You don't... Please, don't perform for me. We want, stop it. When I'm quiet, nothing happens. You don't... Please, don't perform for me.

We want our show back. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You want to go back to Happy Louie? No. Yes! I don't know. Maybe. Okay.

I had lunch with Ezra the other day. He was asking about you. I could set up a meeting. Woohoo! Shh, quiet. Betsy, are you okay? I'm fine. Okay.

Yeah, go ahead. Set it up. That'd be great. All right. And next time, if you're unsure about a role, don't blow it on set. Okay. I won't ever do it again. I promise.

Okay. Okay, all right. Bye. Bye. Who is going to hire me now? We can go back to where everyone loves us. I want to move on. But we had so much fun together, didn't we?

Jackie's right. I got complacent. At least it'll be over. I can be safe. I won't have to make an ass of myself again. Hey, Bess. Hey, Ezra. Sorry to keep you waiting. No problem.

Have a seat. Okay. What's up? What's up? Well... I was wondering if it's... too late. For what?

To get the show back. Happy Louie? Yeah. Uh, I don't know what to tell you, Bets. The cast moved on, the crew's on hiatus till we get another thing going. That's what I figured, I know, but... But, you know, it was worth a try, right? Come on, Betsy!

You didn't try hard enough! Louie, stop it. Let me talk to Ezra. You're gonna ruin everything! What are you doing? Pick up the darn phone and call someone important like Principal McPhee. Anyone who can bring our

show back. Okay, is this some kind of prank? Give us a show back or I won't let Betsy talk ever again! Can you send security to my office, please? Thank you. Hold on there, Ezra. Everything is under control. I'm Bull Moose. Go back

to puppet theater, Bull. Well, I'm surprised you remember me, Louie, because when you came on the scene, you completely took over. Kids loved me! Whoa, whoa, wait, wait. Are you doing a bit? We didn't catch on, because Betsy had this whole backstory in her head she never told the kids. See, I'm a bouncer. My girlfriend, Milky, utters.

We met at the club. I dance. Not ballet, if you know what I mean. But someday, I'm gonna be a real dancer. I'm Kaylee. I do a killer routine on the pole. But no one wants a lap dance from a porcupine. Arf! I'm Sparky. I got the old snip-snip down there. Now I go to the club every night Just to feel something

Wait, a cartoon animal strip club? Wow, I mean, it's more Adult Swim than Primetime But it's interesting Really? I mean, that was a weird bit I did those characters so long ago You had me fooled with that Louie thing Actually, could you stay a minute?

Yeah. I want to loop the guys in down the hall. Sure. Just don't go anywhere. We'll be right back. Oh, my, I'm on show. I'm so excited. But there's no room for me.

Louie, can't you be happy for Betsy? You can be happy for someone? Sure thing you can. I guess I could try. Whoa, I feel weird. Did you call security? No, it's fine. Betsy, man, this place has been dead since you left. Well, I might be back. That's great news. Yeah, it is. Hey, can I hear Louie again? I miss that guy. Oh, sure. It's great to, it's great to see. Oh, that is. You know what? Don't even worry about it. I'll see you around. Okay. Okay. Good night. Good night. Louie? Are you there? Come on, Louis. Louis? Louis? That was Erica Schroeder playing Betsy and Louis

and all the other characters you heard at the end. If you want to see the complete cast list for this episode, you can go to The Truth's website, thetruthpodcast.com. Imaginary Worlds is part of the Panoply Network, which, by the way, has its own set of audio dramas, and apparently there's a lot more coming soon. You can like my show on Facebook, I tweet at emolinski, and my website is imaginaryworldspodcast.org.

Panoply.