THE BIG PRIZE FOR KEEPER AND MAZ!!!!

FRANK WELKER

Firstly, tomorrow's blog shall be an awards ceremony for Keeper and Maz's amazing effort at showing us what it would sound like if Ethel Merman sang the theme song to Flipper.

Today, however, I am compelled to write a brief story about Frank Welker.

But, first...I must digress. My pal, John McCann, has updated his blog and added a little snippet from Freakazoid in the sidebar. The clip is from the end of the episode, The Chip, and is perhaps my ultimate favorite thing we ever did on Freakazoid. Yes, it's the man wrestling a bear for no reason.

As you'll recall (or not) The Chip featured a cameo by none other than Jack Valenti. And yes. It really was Jack Valenti. I wrote all kinds of things for Mr. Valenti to say and ended the episode with him saying, "And now, a scene of a man wrestling a bear for no reason."

As I recall, we just assumed we'd find such a scene from a stock footage house. Months went by. When the episode was finally animated, it was now time to find the scene.

I recall Tom Ruegger telling John and I to come down to the editing department. He had something he wanted to show us. Somehow, he had gotten permission to use a clip from Grizzly Adams. It was funny and we all chuckled. But...it wasn't quite funny enough.

Anyway, it was one of those things. Some things work. Some things don't. 

A few weeks later we were doing ADR at the recording studio. ADR is where we add dialogue or change a line if it didn't work. 

Frank Welker happened to be at that session. I don't recall what he was going to do for us, but at the end of the session we asked him to go into the booth and add bear sounds. (Frank is a genuis at animal sounds in case you didn't know.)

Anyway, we recorded the bear. Fine. And then...I think he was just going to do the man grunting or something. But instead, Frank had the guy screaming and crying and yelling. We peed ourselves. Frank did it in one take and we spent the next 15 minutes unable to function. 

That's Freakazoid.

By the way, here's a bit I did as Manny The Uncanny with Frank Welker at the LA ZOO.

ETHEL MERMAN SINGS FLIPPER!

Large and weighty kudos to those who entered their songs in the very first Froynlaven Readers Participation Week!

What would it sound like if Ethel Merman sang the theme song to Flipper? 

Well, let's see what Maz did, shall we?

Next, here's what the legendary Keeper has cooked up for us...

Let me just say that if there were more people like Keeper and Maz out there....why, we wouldn't need any stimulus plans at all! Such is their talent!

Let all of us praise them in unison and remember this as an important day of special significance! 

Well done Keeper and Maz! Well done!

MOMENTOUS MERMEN MOMENT!!

At last, it's here! Ethel Merman sings Flipper! Provide a You Tube link in the comments section and I shall begin . . . coooollating. Oh, there must be hundreds of entries. Where will I find the time? But I will and you'll know the winner real soon. Just like me.

THE BEST ACTORS IN HOLLYWOOD - PUPPETEERS

No doubt most of you know how much I hate auditions. And if you don't, here's a recap: Auditions are vile and icky.

However, a few weeks ago, I had an audition that seemed more like a party. There was more laughing in that waiting room than in most comedy clubs on a Saturday night. The reason: these are good folks.  Pound for pound, they are the most talented actors I've ever had the pleasure of playing with. These are puppeteers. These are friends.

A few years ago, I had the chance to learn the basics (basics only mind you) of puppetry at the Jim Henson Company. I was asked to join an improv group that Henson was forming. Improv...combined with puppets. I knew improv. I didn't know puppets.

I showed up for my first rehearsal and sat in the back. The folks in that room were (and still are) the best puppeteers in the world. The Neil Armstrongs of puppetry. Drew Massey. Alan Trautman, Victor Yerrid. Julianne Buescher, Bill Baretta, Brian Henson, Leslie Carrara-Rudolph. 

Now, I've been in enough improv groups to know how it goes. New guy/girl shows up, gets on stage and all the other members of the troupe sit back...ready to judge unmercifully. 

This was in the back of my mind that first rehearsal as it came to be my turn to take the stage. On a table next to me were about 50 puppets. I was told to take any puppet and do a scene with another puppeteer. The equivalent, I suppose, would be if a brick layer was summoned to Washington to crunch numbers with Timothy Geitner. 

I started sweating. I grabbed the easiest puppet I could find. A penguin. There were no arms to move. Just a mouth. The other puppeteer and I took our places at the front of the stage. (Not really a stage....we were in a small screening room.)

Now, here's the way this works. There's a camera right in front of us. It's higher than us. Above our heads. The idea is to lift your puppet into the view of the camera while keeping your head out of the view. Next, on the floor in front is a TV monitor that shows you what the camera is seeing. There's another monitor to the left, right and behind.

When you turn your puppet to the left, it's the opposite on the monitor and the puppet moves to the right. It's flopped. Okay.

So, you hold the puppet above your head, look in a monitor, know that right is left and left is right...oh, and improv a scene while being tremendously clever. It's a real brain buster.

I did my first scene with my penguin and...well, let's just say my dog would have done a better job. 

Like, I said, I've been in a lot of improv groups and if someone had shown as much lack of skill as I did, there would have been a goodly amount of sniggering and self-satisfaction among the other members of the group. 

But that's not what happened. The other puppeteers started showing me the right way to hold the puppet. They were only to happy to work with me. These were folks that wanted to share what they knew. Unheard of. (Unfortunately, I'm still pretty lousy.)

Since that night, I have come to have great respect for puppeteers. They are some of the best actors I've ever been around. They can do things that would amaze you.

A few months ago when Christian Bale had his little rant because the cinematographer was distracting him, I thought about my puppeteer pals. 

Imagine doing a scene with your arm above your head for upwards of ten minutes. You are crammed into a tiny little space under a desk(or the front seat of a car). Another puppeteer has his knee in your face. A script is pasted onto a monitor. It's hot. Now perform and make it good.

Anyway, this all leads me back to that audition two weeks ago. Yes, everyone wanted to get the parts(s). But even given the competition, there was laughter and camaraderie.

Given the choice, I'd be locked in a room with these people any day.

FROYNLAVEN READERS! IT'S YOUR TURN!

I'm pleased to announce it's Froynlaven Reader Participation Week! And you know what THAT means! (If not, keep reading.)

This morning I awoke curious as to what it would sound like if Ethel Merman sang the theme song to Flipper. 

And this, dear reader is where YOU come in. I can't do Ethel Merman. But, perhaps you can. Give it a try! Tell your friends. Perhaps your Grandma! I will post every submission next Monday. And here's how were going to do it...

Post your attempt on YOUTUBE and send me the link on Sunday night. I will provide a special Sunday Blog at precisely 9PM PDT. On the comments section, leave your name and YOUTUBE link.

Don't post it before then because you'll ruin everything and the world as we know it will cease to exist.

What would it sound like if Ethel Merman sang the theme song to Flipper? Well? 

Here are some clues. Here is Ethel Merman singing There's No Business Like Show Business:

And now, the theme song to FLIPPER.

Here are the lyrics:

They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning,
No-one you see, is smarter than he,
And we know Flipper, lives in a world full of wonder,
Flying there-under, under the sea!
Everyone loves the king of the sea,
Ever so kind and gentle is he,
Tricks he will do when children appear,
And how they laugh when he's near!
They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning,
No-one you see, is smarter than he,
And we know Flipper, lives in a world full of wonder,
Flying there-under, under the sea!

Okay then, that's it. Good luck.

Paul

CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM

So, I'm exhausted. I spent the morning practicing being a color commentator for the sport of curling. I must say I think I'm improving, but it's still difficult to pretend to be watching a curling game/match while adding interesting comments about imaginary players. Plus, I have to pretend that the guy I'm sitting next to is actually there. That's a lot to keep track of.

Still, like I said, I think I'm actually doing very well and hope to have a demo tap to send off to NBC by the end of the week. Not that they've contacted me or anything. They've haven't. But, maybe they're just waiting to see if I'm any good.

So, I have a favor. Would you all mind listening to this very short demo and let me know what you think? Again, there is no real match. There's nobody doing ply-by-play. It's just me trying to be the best color commentator I can be.

By the way, I'm pretending that the guy I'm working with is named, Chuck. That's why I say "Chuck" a lot. 

Okay. Here goes: