One job lead wanted a Mae West voice for museum video narrations; another audition asked for the copy delivered like Madonna’s sound in Justify My Love. A lot of voice actors have the ability to impersonate some great voices. They just need to prime the pump. Like other voice artists, I can mimic a couple old standards, like Kate Hepburn. (Who can’t?) I can generally attempt her cold. Certainly voice actors who have specific character voices in their repertoire can call those voices up in a pinch.

For other voices, every now and then, I need a key phrase or audio clip to get that particular sound in my head. Then, I can attempt to reproduce it. And for that, there’s YouTube, a great online video archive that was doing so well Google bought it up. It’s free to browse and free to join if you have something you want to download: like a quick animation with your terrific voiceover.

If you’ve never checked out YouTube, definitely give it a try. Go head. Run a quick search for Mae West . . . or Madonna’s Justify My Love.

Of course, voice acting isn’t about impersonating voices; it’s about interpreting copy, providing a particular spin that enhances without upstaging the message; and it’s hugely subjective and incredibly fun.