A Comic Conversation Ep 50 - Bob Carter - Silver Age Comic Con 24
Distance NERDingJune 03, 2025
50
00:51:3297.65 MB

A Comic Conversation Ep 50 - Bob Carter - Silver Age Comic Con 24

Welcome to A Comic Conversation! a podcast brought to you by The Team at Distance NERDing!

Have you ever thought, dang if only i had a way to listen to an interview at a comic con that i missed even tho i had no way of being there? well think no further!!! Jahmez 5000 and Yung Phil of the Distance NERDing podcast thought the same thing and started recording their interviews for you, The NERDs, to listen to at home!!! You may be revisiting an interview that you attended and wanted to hear again, or maybe hearing it for the first time!! were here for you!!!

In this episode We had the absolute honor of talking to the legendary Bob Carter!!! We talk voice acting, villainy, video games, con life, and what it takes to bring some of the most powerful and intimidating characters in pop culture to life!! So sit back, Relax, and Enjoy a Comic Conversation!!!!


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00:00:00
Here we go, nerds. Power up your key, Polish your

00:00:02
gauntlets, and crank that voice modulator to 11 because we've

00:00:06
got a vocal Jagger not joining us today on a comic

00:00:10
conversation. We have the absolute honor of

00:00:15
talking to the legendary Bob Carter, the deep voice badass

00:00:19
behind Shao Khan, Mortal Kombat, Ball Rug and Street Fighter,

00:00:23
Bojack and Dragon Ball Z, and countless other characters that

00:00:26
probably yelled at you and your childhood.

00:00:28
Let's be honest, you probably loved it.

00:00:30
Not only is he a powerhouse behind the mic, but he's also

00:00:34
the mastermind behind Shao Khan, the ultimate fan fueled

00:00:37
convention that just wrapped up and brought together voice

00:00:40
actors, gamers, and nerds from every realm.

00:00:43
Voice acting, villainy, video games, con life, and what it

00:00:47
takes to bring some of the most powerful and intimidating

00:00:50
characters and pop culture to life.

00:00:52
So grab your Sensu beans, break a controller or two, and make

00:00:55
sure you're ready to bow before the con because it's time for

00:00:59
another a comic conversation. Ladies and gentlemen, let's get

00:01:09
right into this. Our first guest this morning is

00:01:12
an amazing voice actor for Funimation voices the villain

00:01:15
Bojack in the movie Dragon Ball Z, Bojack Unbound.

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He's voiced Baraka and Shao Khan in Mortal Kombat 9, Ball Rog and

00:01:23
Street Fighter 4, Street Fighter X Tekken, So Street Fighter

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Again, 2nd and Street Fighter Five, Get it, and Sergeant Shine

00:01:31
in One Piece, Sick Curtis in Full Metal Alchemist,

00:01:34
Brotherhood, Donnie in Bacano, and many, many more.

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Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage Bob Carter.

00:01:42
Don't forget Dory as well in One Piece.

00:01:49
Oh, that's right. Philippe, it's good to see you,

00:01:50
Sir. No.

00:01:51
It's good seeing you too man. I am really happy to see you,

00:01:53
especially after what, just a month I guess.

00:01:56
Right. And and this time we're inside,

00:01:58
so it's not like, you know, with the stage isn't trying to kill

00:02:00
us like I did last time. Yes, yes.

00:02:03
So in all seriousness, I want to thank you guys for being here.

00:02:06
Thank you very much. You know, you could be anywhere

00:02:08
else, but you're in this room right now with me now.

00:02:10
Is this going to be streaming later on?

00:02:12
Is this for your podcast as well?

00:02:13
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. OK.

00:02:14
Well, in that case, I want to thank everybody for listening as

00:02:16
well, and for everybody that drew pictures and animated me

00:02:19
and Philippe in combat while we're actually talking.

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And I'm excited. I'm excited to see those

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pictures. I am too, yeah.

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It's like. You know they're going to make

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me look like the tiniest dude next to Xiao.

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Not at all. They're going to make you look

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just ripped and huge. Instead of having a six pack,

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you'll be like an. 8 pack. So me in my 20s yes, definitely

00:02:38
not now. Well, before we jump into all

00:02:42
the fun stuff because we we have all the stories for the next 45

00:02:45
minutes, right? Let's get into some fun stuff

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about you for the audience here, right?

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We've got a segment on our show called Growing Up Geeky.

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OK. What did you geek out on when

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you were a kid? Oh, growing up geeky, I geeked

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out on all things. In all seriousness, as a kid, I

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geeked out on Robotech, Thundercats, he, man, GI Joe,

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Dungeons and Dragons, what else? You name it.

00:03:12
I was, man. I was geek culture.

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I'm OG geek culture. Yeah.

00:03:16
We know, we know you're the DND guy too, man.

00:03:18
We get really into that. Yes, yes, definitely.

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Are there any DND fans out in the audience right now?

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Has anybody played DND? Pathfinder, all right, DC 20,

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brand new. It's like a merge of DND and

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Pathfinder coming together, so it's pretty cool.

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Yeah. Any and all role-playing games.

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I love TTRPGS, tabletop role-playing games.

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I think they're absolutely amazing.

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They're brilliant for stimulating imagination and for

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building bridges and friendships.

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Like building true lifelong friendships from all walks of

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life. That's the best part.

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You know, you're you're brought together by your imagination and

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you're building worlds together. Absolutely.

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Yes. Yay.

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It's a, it's a big tool for, for, for actors in general.

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A lot of actors like to play D&D absolutely, because it's, it's

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practicing the craft, you know, while you're not doing anything.

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Plus making up characters and making up the the way that that

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character would think in the situation and everything like

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that. Surprising fact, not just actors

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play D&D. As a matter of fact, a lot of

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tactical and strategic initiatives and institutes have

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started encouraging Dungeons and Dragons like the Navy and the,

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and the Army, the, the, the Naval War College and the

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Military War College would they started encouraging this because

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it encouraged lateral thinking, right?

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Thinking outside the box, creative thinking, you know, not

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just being formulaic, but when you've got to be creative and

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resourceful under pressure, right?

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D&D is perfect for simulating those kinds of pressure

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situations, and it's. It's always funny to me, the way

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I look at it is when I was a kid, or I guess when we were

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kids, because anything with you, right?

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When we, when we were kids, you know, when you played D&D, it

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was like, oh, he's a nerd. Yeah, you.

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Know. Yeah, totally.

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They would make fun of you. Totally.

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But like now it's like all. Mainstream.

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Who? Well, like all the people who

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got made fun of for being nerds are the people in charge now?

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Yes. And it's like, Oh well, let me

00:05:06
show you why this is. So exactly.

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Oh my God, why did I not get into the?

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Scene exactly. You know, something like that,

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yeah. I absolutely love the fact that

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Joe Manganella. Oh, my goddamn brilliant.

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Right? Yes.

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I love the fact that he is. I mean, he's just out there and

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of course, representing the the community so well.

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And I mean, again, even stole Stephen Colbert with his insane

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lore of Lord of the Rings. Yeah, right.

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But again, you know, now we've got some of the the biggest and

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brightest and most successful people.

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It showcases the fact that their creativity stems from all of

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this, from back in the nerd day. You know, like back when, again,

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we were teased for that sort of thing.

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Right, right. I mean, I'll take it a little

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bit nerd nerdier on this, right? But like my my main character in

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D&D is 1/2 or Paladin. OK.

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Oh. Think, yeah, think of the

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duality in that character, how hard it is to play a character

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yes, that is supposed to be. A raging barbarian.

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Right. Like, you know, chaotic bad

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versus someone who's supposed to be a good, right, Right.

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And it's like the idea behind that character is you wrestle

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with nature versus nurture. Oh, that's so that's deep.

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Yeah, I love that. Yeah, because like my nature as

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the character is blood lust. Kill everything in the battle,

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but as a paladin that's not what your call is.

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Plus his God is Paladine, so he is.

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On the line himself, OK. Right.

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So every every time I go into any situ, any tactical

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situation, the first thing I do, and my my dungeon master always

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gives me points for it, the first thing I do is take a knee

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and pray to Paladine. That's cool, right?

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Because it's. You know, guide me in battle

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and. Everything like that, it's, you

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know, it's. And again, it's a.

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It's a fun way. To kind of like.

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So is your campaign set in dragon lamps and?

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I have not in three years and because I do not have a Dungeon

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Master anymore. Oh.

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Man. It's mainly because I moved but

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I I just need to find somebody. But I also lost my character

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sheet, so I'm going to have. To start.

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Well, that you know what, in that case, what you can do is.

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Yeah. And that's the thing.

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That's what new campaigns are for.

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Yeah. You know, that character is

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always going to be there, but now it's time to build a new

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character, Right? And that's also another

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wonderful aspect of it, you know, where you can touch on

00:07:10
things. All right.

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So for those in the audience, ask us anything at any time.

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Be sure to raise your hand and come up to the microphone.

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You have a microphone here. Yeah, because we're going to get

00:07:18
you on the podcast as well. Now.

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Feel free to. I was.

00:07:20
Going to say I've got another question for you here.

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So if a movie was made about your life.

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Oh, OK. Who would play you and why?

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The Rock would play me. Dwayne so much sense would play

00:07:32
me. Absolutely.

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You know that movie, that first movie that he did with Kevin

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Hart when it was, Oh my God, what was it?

00:07:38
It was the CIA movie. It was hysterical.

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I loved that movie. Thank you.

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Central Intelligence, that is. That's almost my movie that

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like, that's almost made about me.

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I don't like bullies. And thankfully I've got the size

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to back that up Exactly. So yeah.

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If you guys couldn't tell, he's built like Shao Connor.

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So let's jump into some more questions here now.

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Did you always want to act? Was it always?

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Never, it wasn't the acting thing at all that that I loved.

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You know, even now as I even though I do act and I direct in

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these sorts of things. Yes, I agree.

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In all seriousness, I got into the creative industries because

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I was so passionate about music and improv comedy and again

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gaming and and that passion spilled over into creative

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roles. So I loved music, right growing

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up, I loved all things geek, but then also I really loved music,

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you know, and of course this is pre Internet.

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So music was our outlet. That was the way that we

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expressed our personalities and things like that.

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So when I got to college, I actually had a chance to be on a

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college radio station. 100 Watt student voice of Georgia

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State album 88. It was amazing.

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It was one of the top five college stations in the country.

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And I had this great radio station at my fingertips and I

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was able to make all these different concept and and

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creative shows. And the cool thing about

00:09:08
Albumity 8 was that they had all these different sub shows,

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right? About like specific genres that

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would play every two hours, right?

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So one of those got me into film music, cinematic scores.

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Another one of those got me into international music.

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Again, this is pre Internet, right?

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You couldn't just go on the Internet and just go on YouTube

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and listen to anything from around the world at any given

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moment. You had to know somebody that

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brought music over from some other part of the world.

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But around the world in 88 ways that was a chance to get into

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that. It was a chance to be as

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creative as possible. And it's that passion that led

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to improv comedy, which then led to acting opportunities, which

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then led to obviously the the 200 plus titles and career that

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I have now. Right, right, right, but I mean

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like so so when you did start getting into acting, yes, were

00:09:53
you immediately, because some people go right into it and it's

00:09:55
like, I want to be a voice actor, right, I want to be voice

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acting, right, like like when you when you got into the acting

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world, kind of moving into that, that realm, was it like I want

00:10:04
to do on screen or was it No, I'm I'm doing voices.

00:10:07
Funny you should say that. So I always knew that I wanted

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to do voices right. Just again, from cartoons from

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Transformers, which is another one that I geeked out about all

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the time. And I love the.

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Stories. Yeah, but I wanted to be the

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next voice of Optimus Prime. You know, I, I just, I was like

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Optimus Prime, he's the ultimate hero.

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He's my hero. I would totally looked up to

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him. And so every time I would go in

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an audition again, Oh, well, OK, they're they're hyping people

00:10:31
up. So I would always audition to be

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the good guy. But in most animated series, the

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good guy is always the underdog and it's always the guy that's

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got to grow into that role. And so it's always the guy

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that's got that higher pitched, smaller voice and it's that kind

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of guy, right? They don't want the deep voiced,

00:10:47
confident leader, right most of the time.

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So they would say no, no, that's a good voice, Bob.

00:10:51
But read for this role, which of course was the villain, right?

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It's the monster, it's the intimidator, it's the enforcer.

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But after 50 plus roles of actually booking, that's when I

00:11:02
realized the villains get the best lines.

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You know, like Dragon Ball Z, Bojack Unbound.

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It's been so long since I snapped someone's neck.

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You don't just get to say that to everybody every single day in

00:11:14
normal competition, right, or I will destroy you and mean that,

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you know, I mean, if imagine if you're just walking down the,

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the, the aisle right here, you know, and talking to any of the

00:11:26
exhibitors or vendors, and then suddenly you just stop, right?

00:11:29
You get ready to throw that big Kamehameha and, and just like,

00:11:31
you know, launch into that, people are going to bolt, right?

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They're going to be terrified. So to be able to express those

00:11:37
kinds of powerful emotions and, and like, deep expressive

00:11:43
gestures is a lot of fun. Yeah.

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And I get to play a lot more than other people do.

00:11:47
Villains are more fun to play. They are.

00:11:49
They absolutely are, yeah. Is there anybody here who's an

00:11:52
inspiring voice actor? Anybody who wants to become a

00:11:54
voice actor, that's. Okay, there's a first.

00:11:56
Yeah. Most of the time, most of these

00:11:58
interviews, there's at least like 10 people.

00:12:00
Really. I want to be a boys.

00:12:01
Act well for those people. That's honestly where the

00:12:03
Neighborhood Studio shines. So I actually have a teaching

00:12:06
and production studio. I teach people all over the

00:12:08
country, all over the world. You know, thanks to Zoom, we can

00:12:11
teach. I've taught.

00:12:13
I've had a student for several years in Japan.

00:12:15
You know, the time difference is crazy.

00:12:17
But yeah, I teach all over the world now, and that's been

00:12:20
pretty cool. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:12:21
So again, check out the Neighborhood Studio,

00:12:23
Neighborhood Studio atlanta.com or Neighborhood studio.co

00:12:27
because we've also opened up a branch in Colorado.

00:12:30
So nice and closer to here. Exactly.

00:12:32
Exactly. So I got to ask you, man, how

00:12:34
surreal is it to work in franchises that you just like,

00:12:38
loved growing up? That is amazing.

00:12:40
Yeah. In all seriousness, that has

00:12:41
been truly impressive, especially like growing up with

00:12:45
Mortal Kombat and and Street Fighter.

00:12:48
I blew my first paycheck on Mortal Kombat.

00:12:50
You know, like, like again, I when you hear that, come here.

00:12:55
Get over here and imagine being in a bowling alley and never

00:12:58
having seen that game or played that game ever.

00:13:00
And you hear that, right, that explosive sound.

00:13:03
And then you go look and you're like, Oh my gosh, what is this?

00:13:06
And you see Sub Zero freezing the guy and then just, you know,

00:13:09
like ripping off his head and spine.

00:13:11
Or you see Raiden, you know, sodding and then the guy's head

00:13:16
explode. I've been talking with Master

00:13:18
Daniel Pasana, yes, the last couple of weeks.

00:13:20
Yes, yes. Trying to see if we can get him

00:13:22
on the show. That would be very cool.

00:13:23
Yeah, that's the original Johnny Cage.

00:13:25
Yes, it is. You know, so it's like.

00:13:27
Yes, it is. It's a huge deal at.

00:13:29
Least for me, it's a big deal. Yeah, I.

00:13:31
Already love Mortal Kombat as it.

00:13:32
Is exactly. And then this is the original,

00:13:34
the OG, Yeah. So in all seriousness, being

00:13:37
able to be the voice of Shao Khan or the voice of Baraka or

00:13:42
the voice of Ballrog and Street Fighter, right?

00:13:45
Or or Black Adam now in multiverses or multiple

00:13:49
characters in in Asgard's Wrath 2 or.

00:13:52
Funny we say that we wouldn't want the rock.

00:13:53
Like you don't want the rock to play you, but now you're playing

00:13:55
the rock. Yes, absolutely.

00:13:58
As a matter of fact, when I did that, I was like, this is great

00:14:00
because now there's the rock and the hard place.

00:14:03
Yeah. Name of our podcast We on the

00:14:07
Lookout Rock and the Hard Place. Yes, actually it's my wife's

00:14:10
favorite joke. She's like, I want to be between

00:14:12
the Rock and the Hard Place. Oh, that's amazing.

00:14:16
Yeah. But in all seriousness, it's it

00:14:19
is a blessing. Good, no.

00:14:20
No, no. And the cool part is not just

00:14:22
like for grown-ups, because again, kids don't know Mortal

00:14:25
Kombat or Street Fighter, but they do know multiverses and

00:14:28
then they also know Pokémon. So the fact that I'm Chuck, one

00:14:30
of the trainers in, in Pokémon is a big deal also, you know,

00:14:33
Yeah, that that shows tremendous range that I'm I'm, I'm feeling

00:14:37
very special about these days. Yeah.

00:14:39
Yeah. So being that you are so

00:14:41
prolific in fighting games, yes, what's your favorite part about

00:14:45
grunting? My favorite part when I know

00:14:51
that the results of my efforts that I'm putting in are going to

00:14:56
be something that somebody is going to use to destroy their

00:14:59
enemy and opponent, that's going to have that lasting effect.

00:15:01
So again, like with Ballrog, right, I told you about before

00:15:05
about mastering that ten punch combo and feeling the power

00:15:09
behind throwing that and knowing how unstoppable that would be if

00:15:13
somebody could chain all 10 moves.

00:15:14
I knew it even when I was recording it, I could feel it in

00:15:17
my gut. And then of course, when you see

00:15:19
that and then you see it in tournaments, right?

00:15:22
And you see people just like Nah, like throwing up their

00:15:25
their. Control bag, Yes, yes.

00:15:26
Seriously. Right.

00:15:27
And then the other person, of course, like throwing up hands

00:15:30
and victory. It's incredible.

00:15:31
Absolutely. Incredible.

00:15:32
Or just doing the grunts for the most frustrating character in

00:15:34
video game history, Shao Khan in Mortal Kombat 9.

00:15:38
Yes, getting hit with the hammer a million times, I'm sorry,

00:15:42
twice. And then you're dead.

00:15:45
It's official, you suck. But hey, that made you a better

00:15:52
player, right? That you couldn't just one

00:15:54
button mash beat Shao Khan. You had to master the character

00:15:57
you were playing with, master every move, and it made you a

00:16:00
better player that had lasting consequences for the rest of

00:16:03
your gaming lifetime. Right.

00:16:05
And the way I looked at it is OK, if I can, if I can master

00:16:08
Shao Khan, I can. I can, I can somewhat, maybe

00:16:10
halfway beat somebody online. So yes, yes, yes, that's it's

00:16:14
true. It's very true.

00:16:17
In all seriousness, that is a fantastic way of looking at it

00:16:19
because again, the moves still translate to other gaming

00:16:22
systems, they translate to other games.

00:16:24
So even now you can actually train on MK9 and that makes you

00:16:28
a better gamer for every other online player that you're

00:16:31
playing against. And that's that's actually a

00:16:33
tool that I've heard that some pro E sports players do still to

00:16:38
this day. They'll go back and they'll try

00:16:40
to master different characters against Shao Khan, right?

00:16:44
Like if you know, if you used to main Baraka or if you used to

00:16:47
main Johnny Cage or you used to main like whoever you used to

00:16:50
main, you would probably play like three of those characters

00:16:53
in Mortal Kombat 9. And but then you moved on to

00:16:55
other games. Well, now if you like

00:16:58
specifically try to master every single character in MK9, it's

00:17:02
like mastering all different types of martial arts.

00:17:04
That makes you just a better player in general.

00:17:07
So that your, your, your, your reaction timing, your

00:17:12
recognition of what other players moves are going to be.

00:17:14
This was stuff that was news to me.

00:17:16
You know, like when I was learning about this, I was like,

00:17:17
that's really cool. And, and that was a way of

00:17:20
bringing that game back to life that I didn't realize.

00:17:22
It was pretty cool. So Speaking of pro tips.

00:17:25
Yes. Do you have any, any exercises

00:17:29
for like for, for voice acting, something that somebody can do

00:17:31
every day? As a matter of fact, yes, I do

00:17:34
something. That they can pro tip guys, pay

00:17:36
attention. I do have pro tips #1 go to

00:17:39
concerts, ride roller coasters. Your voice is a muscle and just

00:17:44
like any muscle, it needs to be worked out right now.

00:17:48
You're not just going to focus on talking in metal voice all

00:17:52
the time, right? It's not like that.

00:17:54
You're not going to do that. What you want to do is you want

00:17:56
to practice being expressive. You want to sing out loud,

00:18:00
right? You want to do those diaphragm

00:18:02
exercises. And then also for the studio I

00:18:05
actually teach, there are two things that I teach, confidence

00:18:08
and self-awareness. When you're a voice talent, you

00:18:11
must become more self aware of the shapes and sounds that your

00:18:15
mouth makes. Now, we all have habits of how

00:18:17
we speak based on our age demographics and slang that we

00:18:21
use based on geography, right? You know, the slang or the the

00:18:25
sound of somebody from the South versus somebody from the North.

00:18:28
New York or Pittsburgh, different from Minnesota,

00:18:31
Minnesota, Minnesota. Yeah, Minnesota, those those of

00:18:34
us. From the West Coast, I think we

00:18:35
don't have accents. We do.

00:18:36
Oh, yeah, you do. So like on the West Coast,

00:18:38
everything tends to be more rounded out, you know?

00:18:39
You know, it's got much more of that sound right there, you

00:18:42
know, or like in Texas, everything like oil, big oil,

00:18:45
royal boil oil, that sort of thing.

00:18:48
So we all have habits of how we speak geographically.

00:18:52
Even in the Midwest, it tends to be much more nasal, that sort of

00:18:55
thing. Golly, gosh.

00:18:57
But also culturally, right? So whether it's French culture,

00:19:00
German culture, Polish culture, African American, Haitian,

00:19:05
Cajun, Mexican, by the way, Mexican, Mexican sounds a lot

00:19:10
more guttural in the throat, right?

00:19:11
Versus Caribbean or or Colombian or or Cuban or, you know, stuff

00:19:15
like. Practice on your Cheech Marine.

00:19:18
Mexican Americans don't like to get up early.

00:19:21
I'm not sure I can do that. So in all seriousness, based on

00:19:25
culture and then also based on our career paths.

00:19:28
So over time, our mouths get lazy.

00:19:29
So I actually have a long list of tongue twisters that people

00:19:32
can go to on the website. And then I've got all my banner

00:19:34
and Flyers and stuff like that. But it's about making you aware

00:19:38
of the shapes and sounds that your mouth makes, right?

00:19:40
So we all have habits. So just like a workout, I have

00:19:43
these workouts that I will actually do before I have a job

00:19:46
and that makes sure that I'm aware of my own regionalism,

00:19:49
right? So it's a fantastic series of

00:19:52
tongue twisters. It's also, I use it as a as an

00:19:54
assessment tool because sometimes I've worked with

00:19:56
everybody from quadriplegics to to dyslexics to people with

00:20:00
apraxia, to people who are recovering from strokes.

00:20:03
So I mean, it can get serious, but we learn by playing, right?

00:20:07
If it's not fun, we're not going to do it.

00:20:09
So I try to make it as fun as possible.

00:20:10
So it's all about playing games. If you wanted to, you don't even

00:20:13
have to use my list by Doctor Seuss books, right?

00:20:16
And read those out loud. They're phenomenal.

00:20:18
So, you know, there are tricks, there are tips, and it's about

00:20:22
making your voice stronger. It's about recognizing.

00:20:25
The wonderful power and glory of your own unique voice.

00:20:29
Remember this, if Gilbert Gottfried can be a successful

00:20:32
voice talent, then anybody can be a successful voice talent.

00:20:37
That's 100%. It's totally true, right?

00:20:39
So it's about, you know, using what you've got.

00:20:42
You know, it's not about having the best voice, it's about using

00:20:44
the voice that you've got and recognizing the greatness of

00:20:47
your own beautiful unique self, right?

00:20:48
The whole snowflake, you're beautiful.

00:20:50
It's like Sam Kinison. Same.

00:20:51
Right. Yes, exactly.

00:20:53
Stuff like that. Yes, you know, if you get known

00:20:55
for a voice that you do, Yes. Oh, why am I forgetting his name

00:20:58
right now? What Bobcat, Goldthwait or the

00:21:02
Weasel? I mean, you know, there's any

00:21:04
number of. People, you know what's his?

00:21:06
Name. Yes, Well, of course there's

00:21:10
Ellen too. But yes, the originals, you

00:21:14
know, if we're talking about, I'm talking about the originals,

00:21:17
well, I mean, you're looking. At Edwin.

00:21:18
Edwin. Yes.

00:21:19
So all of, look, people want to perform and act and express, and

00:21:25
that's a wonderful thing. You don't have to try to be

00:21:28
somebody else. That person is already there,

00:21:30
right? You be you.

00:21:31
Yeah, right. Be the first you and the best

00:21:34
you that you can be. And then the trick is, can you

00:21:37
be the best you that you can be better than I am at being the

00:21:39
best me that I can be when we're in front of the microphone

00:21:42
taking direction from somebody, right?

00:21:44
That's the mastery. That's the secret.

00:21:46
Absolutely. Thank you.

00:21:47
So again and again, this is all good stuff.

00:21:49
If you're listening on the podcast, yeah, this is good

00:21:52
advice to go go by. Absolutely.

00:21:53
So going back to kind of and staying in the line of what

00:21:57
we're talking about, right? Sure.

00:21:59
We were talking about exercises and things you do to kind of get

00:22:01
in. Do you have anything

00:22:02
specifically for characters that you do to get into?

00:22:05
Characters. Absolutely.

00:22:06
We've talked to people who they say they have to get into a

00:22:09
certain posture or. Of course, motion creates

00:22:12
emotion, right? So again, especially there's a

00:22:14
difference between voice acting and being a voice talent.

00:22:17
There's a vast difference. As a voice talent, it's all

00:22:20
about you tapping into different facets of your own personality.

00:22:24
As a voice actor, you're not an orc, you're not a gnome, you're

00:22:27
not a Pixie, or I don't know, you might be.

00:22:29
You might truly be a mermaid, and that's fine.

00:22:31
But in order to truly be this character first and foremost,

00:22:35
what do you sound like when you're just breathing, right?

00:22:37
You mentioned orcs earlier. What does an orc sound like when

00:22:40
it's just breathing? Yes, right, yes, it's all about

00:22:46
those non verbals. First thing I think about is

00:22:49
what does this character sound like when they're breathing

00:22:51
right And then you go from what do you sound like when you're

00:22:54
happy? What do you sound like when

00:22:56
you're mad? What do you sound like when

00:22:57
you're sad? What do you sound like when

00:22:58
you're frustrated? It's all about those non verbal

00:23:01
expressions, right? Whether it's a grunts and

00:23:05
frustration and rage or the. Right it's you're happy, you're

00:23:14
in love, that kind of sound or right even as a sad orc, right,

00:23:22
sad orc. OK, but again, now imagine

00:23:25
you're a Pixie. That means you're.

00:23:26
Tiny, so everything has to be up.

00:23:29
Here, right as opposed to be down here or so again, it's a

00:23:32
question of these emotions, right motion creates emotion.

00:23:36
So that means you have to be physical as well, right, Right.

00:23:40
Movements, big movements. And then again, now as long as

00:23:43
in front of the microphone, your head stays still, but your

00:23:46
body's moving constantly. I am covered in sweat when I

00:23:49
finish a lot of my sessions because again, voice acting is

00:23:52
very physical, especially when you're doing a lot of like

00:23:56
punching, kicking, reactionary kinds of workouts, right?

00:23:59
So, and not just workout, but sessions.

00:24:02
But again, when you're when you're trying these different

00:24:05
characters, absolutely it's it's all about those, the breathing

00:24:08
first, then the emotions and then the nonverbal emotions,

00:24:11
which also again, those are lead in lines.

00:24:14
OK, So like we all start off with lead in lines in terms of

00:24:16
capturing the right emotion for whatever that script is that

00:24:20
you're going to be saying things, right, right.

00:24:22
So there you go. That's the master.

00:24:23
A lot of people assume it's just the voice, but like.

00:24:25
Not at all. It's not just the voice.

00:24:27
Rob Paulson has my favorite line when it comes to these kind.

00:24:30
Of stuff. What is it?

00:24:31
It is when it comes to voice acting, it is a small V big a

00:24:35
yes. Right 100.

00:24:36
That's about the voice and more about the acting and all about

00:24:39
to take acting classes in order to hone your craft.

00:24:42
Yes, because anybody can to a funny voice.

00:24:44
It's can you be everything in that voice?

00:24:47
Yes. Can you maintain that character?

00:24:49
Yeah. Yeah, he told.

00:24:50
He told me in in When I interviewed him, he told me if

00:24:54
you can sing as the character, more than likely you can do

00:24:56
anything as that. Character, absolutely now, so he

00:24:58
says if you can sing as the character.

00:25:00
So everybody that comes through the neighborhood studio, we all

00:25:02
have this inside joke because my secret is when you go to the

00:25:06
drive through order as that character, if you can stay in

00:25:10
character for the amount of time that you need to order that meal

00:25:13
from the time you drive up to the yes, I'll have a number one

00:25:18
extra large size. Let us catch up and cheese only

00:25:23
and add BBQ sauce. Pleased, You know, as long as

00:25:25
you don't break character. And a diet Doctor Pepper.

00:25:28
Yes, yes, noise. So as long as you can stay in

00:25:33
character from the time you order till the time you pay and

00:25:36
leave, do not break character, then you can master that

00:25:41
character voice and you can completely audition and hold

00:25:44
that character. And so the trick is #1 you've

00:25:46
got to feel comfortable enough to do that.

00:25:48
Remember, I talk about, I teach confidence and self-awareness.

00:25:51
So that's where improv comedy comes in handy.

00:25:52
It's not about getting out of your comfort zone.

00:25:54
It's about expanding your comfort zone so you're willing

00:25:57
to play, so you can be willing to drive up to that drive

00:26:00
through. And yes, I will conquer the

00:26:05
world right after I conquer my thirst.

00:26:09
Right. And then they're sitting there

00:26:10
like. Exactly.

00:26:11
And what happens is that person on the on the on the mic is

00:26:14
going to say, you guys have got to hear this.

00:26:17
They're like, I'm sorry, Sir, can you repeat that?

00:26:19
Yes, I said. I shall conquer the world.

00:26:23
Like this? Like this?

00:26:24
After I have conquered my thirst.

00:26:26
I wish I was actually. Recording that, oh, no problem.

00:26:28
But so then what happens is you have to realize, OK, the

00:26:31
confidence comes from not breaking character because you

00:26:34
are going to be the most special thing that happens to that

00:26:37
person all day or even all week. Look, everybody comes through

00:26:41
the drive through all the time. Can I have a number one?

00:26:43
Can I have a number three? Can I have this?

00:26:45
Can I have that? And it's always boring.

00:26:46
It's always the same thing, right?

00:26:48
It's monotony. You come through and you're

00:26:50
special. You are dynamic, you are

00:26:53
incredible. You are making their day.

00:26:56
You're creating art. That's a performance.

00:26:58
And that's what's so special about art and creators, right?

00:27:01
So by not breaking character by playing and by enjoying that

00:27:04
character, not only are you making their day, you're making

00:27:08
yourself better. And of course, you're making

00:27:09
yourself stand out from the crowd.

00:27:10
But then when you pull up, they're going to give you extra

00:27:13
fries, they're going to give you extra ketchup, they're going to

00:27:16
give you whatever it is that you want.

00:27:18
On. The high, yes, always.

00:27:20
Yes. By the way, there's an apple pie

00:27:22
in the bag for you. Yeah, that happens.

00:27:24
And then even if you don't go back to that drive through for a

00:27:27
few months, they'll still remember you to this day.

00:27:30
The Wendy's by my house. One time I was, I was actually

00:27:32
coaching and I was like, here watch this.

00:27:34
And I and I had my student watch what I was doing.

00:27:37
Now I completely embarrassed my kids who were in the car,

00:27:40
completely embarrassed them. But everybody at that Wendy's

00:27:44
knows me. They love me.

00:27:45
I get extras, I get extra service every time.

00:27:47
And now my kids are actually, they're proud of their dad.

00:27:51
And now they are. They didn't want to say it at

00:27:53
first, but now they're proud of me.

00:27:55
So yeah, it's pretty fun. Yes, yes, because.

00:28:00
They don't know who you are, but you know he did, yeah.

00:28:02
Exactly. They know that voice.

00:28:05
Exactly So so tell me about a decision that you made on a

00:28:09
character that you were like super proud of.

00:28:12
And you're just like, you know what?

00:28:13
I didn't plan on doing this, but you ended up doing it and and

00:28:16
you were proud of that. Absolutely.

00:28:19
Yeah. There are a lot of characters

00:28:20
that I want to talk about, but I have to say number one first and

00:28:24
foremost, because we've been talking about Mortal Kombat,

00:28:26
Shao Khan. That voice is so close to my

00:28:29
normal voice because growing up, you know, you got your best

00:28:33
friends, and I even tell this story.

00:28:34
But growing up, you got your best friends, your cousins, your

00:28:37
brothers, the ones you used to play with and talk trash to that

00:28:39
you could never say things in public, like, right, Because

00:28:42
they would say, oh, my God, this person is so horrible.

00:28:44
My best friend Bill and I had been playing Soul Calibur all

00:28:48
day long. And you know how, like, one of

00:28:50
you will level up and then suddenly you just start

00:28:51
destroying the other person. OK, so we'd been playing Soul

00:28:55
Calibur. I had just been wrecking him

00:28:58
because I had mastered Lee Long, the nunchuck move that knocks

00:29:01
him off the raft and was just just completely wrecking him,

00:29:05
right? Switched to Mitsurugi, switched

00:29:08
to now he had Valdo, who I hated gothic Valdo back in the day,

00:29:11
right? I just hated that character and

00:29:12
Bill would just blow me away with that.

00:29:14
But again, I mastered Lee Long, wrecked him with the the

00:29:17
nunchucks and destroyed him 12 matches to none.

00:29:21
And then that 13th match, we ended up back on the raft again.

00:29:24
So not only and I just like crush him and then knock him off

00:29:27
the raft right into the water. It was fantastic because that's

00:29:31
where the it's official, you suck came from.

00:29:36
That's where it originated. So when I booked Shao Khan and

00:29:40
got the original role, I was like, Oh my God, this is

00:29:43
amazing. I've got to put things in that

00:29:46
my best friends will recognize forever.

00:29:49
So my best, one of my best friends, Jason Lancour, he's now

00:29:52
an author. Check out his books.

00:29:53
You can even see the, the, the credits for our our friends

00:29:56
group in that book, you know, and his thank you in the thank

00:29:59
you notes. So the word Zafunda comes from

00:30:02
the continent of our first game that we created together.

00:30:05
So when I throw that spear, Zafunda, right, that's where

00:30:08
that word came from. But the it's official.

00:30:12
You suck. That was for Bill, So I knew I

00:30:17
had to do that character voice close to mine because that level

00:30:21
of antagonism caused Bill. After I beat him that 13th

00:30:24
match, he took my PlayStation controller and smashed it into

00:30:28
the floor, shattering it, shattering it.

00:30:31
This is before one. This is before One Punch Man

00:30:33
ever, ever did that move. That happened in my apartment on

00:30:37
a Saturday afternoon at 5:30 because Bill shattered my

00:30:40
PlayStation controller and he was mad.

00:30:43
I mean, he was so mad. But that level of antagonism, I

00:30:46
knew if I could bring that level of antagonism to that character,

00:30:49
Shao Khan, it would carry over. And it has, right?

00:30:53
I mean, again, it causes like classic conditioning.

00:30:57
People when they hear that voice, it's not for everybody.

00:30:59
Everybody doesn't recognize that.

00:31:01
But when they do, oh man, they, they know this voice.

00:31:04
You know, it's like when you hear the music from Halo, right?

00:31:06
The yeah, yeah, we all get the chills and it's, you know, it's

00:31:12
like, you know, we all feel that.

00:31:15
It's. Thank you very much for that.

00:31:20
Yeah, exactly. But again, it's that classical

00:31:22
conditioning where it's that lifelong feeling, that emotion

00:31:25
that we're all going to feel. And and so that's where that

00:31:28
came from on on Mortal Kombat for Shao Khan.

00:31:31
Now, I've had other voices that have been similar in certain

00:31:34
ways, and thankfully you know, each one, like I said, where

00:31:37
it's been a blessing for me to be able to do these things.

00:31:39
Yeah, and and now Bill has a forever troll.

00:31:41
Oh my God, he does Mortal Kombat.

00:31:43
Oh, it used to drive him crazy, but now he just laughs.

00:31:45
It used to. Oh man, for that first two years

00:31:47
he was, He was so mad. He was so mad he would not play

00:31:50
the game. He did the.

00:31:51
Piss me off he was in this. Game forever, yes, yes, but he

00:31:54
actually he came to a con in New Hampshire and he heard me tell

00:31:57
the story and he was like all right, that really is funny

00:31:59
because he could laugh about it now, but I mean really, for like

00:32:02
10 years he was mad. And I mean like draw like

00:32:06
MAAAAAAD, he was mad. Oh man.

00:32:13
So we'll switch gears real quick here, man.

00:32:15
And we kind of mentioned it earlier, but I kind of want to

00:32:18
expand on something that you kind of dropped a little bit

00:32:20
earlier, like my neighborhood Studios.

00:32:21
Yeah, right. Yeah.

00:32:22
So the experience of helping others and coaching and

00:32:27
workshops kind of tell us what you do with Neighborhood

00:32:29
Studios. You told us a story last time

00:32:31
for the new audience, kind of what you got going on.

00:32:35
Certainly. So the Neighborhood Studio

00:32:37
Atlanta is a place where it's a safe, fun and creative space for

00:32:41
you to come and play, pursue your creative bliss and explore

00:32:45
your own creativity, whatever that might be.

00:32:47
I say that because a lot of times people come to the

00:32:49
neighborhood and they know they want to be more creative, but

00:32:51
they don't necessarily know what that is.

00:32:53
Now, I do all things audio, all things creative, but there's

00:32:56
some people who want to write more screenplays.

00:32:58
There are some people who want to do makeup and special

00:33:00
effects. There are some people who want

00:33:01
to do on camera, some people who want to do stunt fighting and

00:33:04
choreography. Some people who want to do

00:33:05
motion capture, all these different things happen.

00:33:08
And again, we're one big happy neighborhood of different

00:33:11
creatives who wanted to create together.

00:33:13
So I help aspiring creatives become working creatives, right?

00:33:17
So I help you go from aspiring to actually working to making

00:33:20
money to get getting into the business, the industry.

00:33:23
And it's not that I'm perfect, but I've been doing this enough

00:33:26
and long enough that I know a lot of people in the industry in

00:33:29
different areas. And then I know a lot of

00:33:31
brilliant creative people in the industry where we can all help

00:33:35
one another. And I'm a big believer in

00:33:36
together everyone achieves more. So I'm all about the team.

00:33:39
So through the Neighborhood Studio, I've been truly blessed

00:33:43
to have different projects come through.

00:33:44
Like there's this really cool audio drama called the I.

00:33:48
So if you go on YouTube and you check out the IMNYPD, right?

00:33:51
That was that that 1940s film noir style murder mystery of

00:33:58
imagine if the mythology of every culture that came to New

00:34:01
York City in the 40s was real. So it's a wild, crazy concept.

00:34:07
It's this really interesting dark film war style where the

00:34:10
eye is. This character cyclops me,

00:34:14
detective Kane, who is also a monster New York City Police

00:34:17
Department detective, an investigator, he's a homicide

00:34:20
detective. And so it's got that kind of

00:34:22
dark, gritty vibe to it. That's a really interesting

00:34:25
concept, right, right. You're.

00:34:26
Molding fantasy with like, things that are exactly, you

00:34:29
know, like. Mythology the.

00:34:30
Mythology with the concept that we're familiar with.

00:34:33
Like everybody. Everybody is familiar.

00:34:35
Familiar with film noir? Yes, even if they don't know

00:34:38
their. Exactly film noir.

00:34:39
Exactly, You know, obviously Spider Man noir, Batman the

00:34:42
Animated Series is film. Noir exactly.

00:34:45
So now imagine you're tying in film noir with various

00:34:47
mythologies, Chinese, Japanese, just New York City, right And

00:34:52
and you're making this really interesting series that came

00:34:54
together. The rings that bind us came

00:34:58
together by my first live action directorial debut, Forever

00:35:01
Gardens came together from that big bad dungeon.

00:35:05
Big Bad Dungeon just premiered this past Wednesday night.

00:35:08
We had our first episode, so please check out Big Bad Dungeon

00:35:11
on YouTube. It's with some brilliant,

00:35:13
interesting creatives, right? It's we're calling it critical

00:35:16
role for people who are busy, but again, everybody is fun.

00:35:20
It's. Awesome guys, if you get a

00:35:22
chance to go see it, check it out.

00:35:23
Thank you. I'm very partial to it.

00:35:25
Obviously, I'm. I'm a part of it.

00:35:26
But in all seriousness, the people that are on that cat,

00:35:28
well, our DM, David, he is one of those brilliant, creative

00:35:31
people I've ever met in my life. And I absolutely love him.

00:35:34
He is now DM ING D&D in a castle.

00:35:37
That's how amazing he is as a storyteller, right?

00:35:39
I love it. Yeah.

00:35:40
He's the kind of guy that used to like build the the the game

00:35:43
sessions at different Larps all weekend all over the Southeast.

00:35:46
Right. So David Haddad, I mean, we talk

00:35:48
about geek levels. Yeah, he's LARP master.

00:35:51
So I mean, that's like we're talking.

00:35:54
High level. Mage, yes, yes, yeah.

00:35:57
But he's surprisingly, but he's also like former Marine, most

00:36:01
laid back individual you're talking about, you know, I mean,

00:36:04
again, he's a brilliant guy. Really cool, very sweet, cool,

00:36:08
brilliant, creative. But we've got other projects

00:36:11
that we've done. Tales from the Crossroads, which

00:36:14
is another audio drama very much like, what do you call it, old

00:36:17
Tales of Appalachia, right? And that kind of like

00:36:19
Appalachian horror kind of thing.

00:36:21
So Tales from the Crossroads is kind of like that.

00:36:24
We've had different projects that that the neighborhood

00:36:27
studio has done as well. So a lot of different

00:36:29
role-playing games and and campaigns and things like that.

00:36:31
That's what led to Shao Khan. Because you're, you see.

00:36:34
You're leading into the things I was already going to ask you.

00:36:36
That's perfect. Let's keep.

00:36:37
Keep. Yeah.

00:36:38
Perfect. All right.

00:36:38
Shao Khan. Yes, so Shao Khan is all about

00:36:43
helping people understand that gaming leads to coding and high

00:36:46
tech skills, and coding and high tech skills lead to high paying

00:36:49
careers. So right now we're dealing with

00:36:52
this whole transition of AI, how to deal with AI, how to deal

00:36:55
with AI effectively right over the next five years.

00:36:58
Half, this is a study that came out earlier this year that

00:37:01
freaked me out, but half of all service, retail, logistics,

00:37:05
warehouse and manufacturing and military jobs are going to go to

00:37:10
automation. Guess what happens to most

00:37:12
people when they graduate from high school, if they're not

00:37:13
already going to college, they typically go into service,

00:37:16
retail, logistics, warehouse, manufacturing, and military

00:37:19
jobs. So that means that half of those

00:37:21
jobs that we would ordinarily go into are not going to be there

00:37:24
for us. Now you're looking at possible

00:37:26
riots in the future and all this other stuff.

00:37:28
And I don't even want to get into that.

00:37:30
So change is scary when it happens to us, but it's good

00:37:33
when it comes from us. And it's better to be proactive

00:37:36
than reactive. So because I'm all a believer

00:37:39
and you know, if you see a problem, do what it takes to fix

00:37:41
it, right? Remember, what was it?

00:37:43
Robots right from big. What is it?

00:37:46
What's what's the quote? Remember the Robin Williams

00:37:49
movie The robots? If there's a tool, I mean, if

00:37:51
there's a problem, say it again. It has been a minute, but it's

00:37:53
still a great movie. It's a great idea.

00:37:54
But if you see a problem, build a tool.

00:37:57
There's a yeah, like, yeah, find the tool to fix it or come up

00:37:59
with a solution to fix it. Right.

00:38:01
So again, when I see a problem, I'm going to do what I can to

00:38:03
fix it. You know, don't complain about

00:38:05
something if you're not going to put forward a solution to fix

00:38:07
it. So because I'm a big believer

00:38:09
and at least I can kind of bring people together, I'm now hosting

00:38:12
A statewide regional E sports tournament slash college and job

00:38:17
fair slash creative Expo, right? A fun con and a fun E sports

00:38:21
tournament. Motivate, educate and empower.

00:38:24
That's my formula for life. Motivate people to have a good

00:38:27
time and come to the party. Then when they're there having a

00:38:29
good time, educate them about the opportunities and

00:38:32
possibilities and then empower them to improve themselves,

00:38:36
right? So I teach that in my podcasts.

00:38:38
I teach that in life and I live it.

00:38:40
I try to practice what I preach. So shall con is this amazing

00:38:43
event happening Halloween weekend, right, Halloween

00:38:47
weekend, so Carpe cosplay, but we're motivating with this

00:38:50
awesome E sports tournament. Then once they're and and

00:38:52
creative Expo and con and then once they're there, we can

00:38:56
educate them about the opportunities with some

00:38:57
brilliant panels. I'm going to have these experts

00:39:00
in all creative industries. They're talking about like like

00:39:04
the industry, talking about the business, networking,

00:39:06
connecting, making deals, making stuff happen, making money

00:39:09
moves, right? And then empower of them.

00:39:12
Because again, that college and job fair where these colleges

00:39:15
are going to be there to recruit these high school kids or

00:39:18
recruit other and also professional esports teams are

00:39:21
going to be there to recruit high school kids and college

00:39:24
teams and pro esports teams. And also not just the military,

00:39:29
but like the CIA, the NSA, the Department of State, the NRL,

00:39:32
like all these alphabet companies that need hackers,

00:39:35
they need ethical hackers because you got these brilliant

00:39:37
kids who love to play video games, right?

00:39:39
Typically, if you're playing video games, you're pretty

00:39:41
smart. Of them are usually white hats.

00:39:43
So exactly also that quote was see and need fill in need.

00:39:47
I love that. Yes.

00:39:47
Thank you. See.

00:39:48
And need, fill in need. Thank you.

00:39:49
That was perfect. Yeah.

00:39:50
So in all seriousness, that's what Shao Khan is all about,

00:39:52
right? Motivate, educate, empower.

00:39:54
Get him to the party. Once they're at the party having

00:39:56
a good time, educate him a little bit and then empower them

00:39:59
to make those positives moves. And then also the cool thing is

00:40:02
picture enter the Dragon meets Cobra Kai meets Big trouble in

00:40:06
little China. So that's where the celebration

00:40:08
comes from. Remember the celebration before

00:40:10
the tournament? Yeah.

00:40:11
Yeah. OK.

00:40:11
So remember. Competition leads to

00:40:12
collaboration and cooperation, right?

00:40:15
Everybody's there to quote UN quote compete.

00:40:16
But during that training session, you've got to cooperate

00:40:19
with somebody, you've got to collaborate with somebody.

00:40:22
And then even there during the competition, you're going to

00:40:25
have to cooperate and collaborate together with

00:40:27
people. And so it's honestly, it's more

00:40:29
like tongue in cheek competition because it's going to be a great

00:40:33
big party. It's going to be a lot of fun.

00:40:34
But I'm also like pulling out all the stops.

00:40:36
I've got like Chin Hong School of Kung Fu doing a lion dance,

00:40:39
Bhujin Con Ryu Dojo doing a ninjitsu demonstration and

00:40:42
weapons forms all weekend. The five O first like the

00:40:45
lightsaber team, right? I'm going to have them doing

00:40:47
lightsaber duels all weekend because that's cool.

00:40:49
I don't want to just buy a lightsaber.

00:40:51
I want to see people fighting with lightsabers in a simulated

00:40:54
combat kind of way. That we're going to have a

00:40:56
kumite. Oh, wait.

00:40:57
Yeah, yeah, yes. Oh, that's after dark.

00:40:59
No, see, that's after dark. Yeah.

00:41:01
Behind that. Yeah.

00:41:02
So like, behind Shao Khan is when you're going to get into

00:41:04
the street fighters, right? Yeah.

00:41:06
And then Shao Khan after dark is when you get the kumite.

00:41:09
So yeah. No, in all seriousness, though,

00:41:10
that's the fun part about it, is that we can make it all

00:41:13
different styles. But it's Halloween weekend, so

00:41:15
that's the other fun thing about it, you know?

00:41:18
Yeah. So we're making it a Halloween

00:41:19
event. It's going to be a lot of fun.

00:41:21
It's, again, it's another way that I can create a safe, fun

00:41:24
and creative space for people to come together.

00:41:26
And of course, I invited you last time.

00:41:27
I'm dead serious about having you come this time as well.

00:41:30
Please. I would love for you guys to be

00:41:31
there podcasting the whole time. Oh.

00:41:33
Man, I wish, I wish we could. All right, we got to find our

00:41:36
way. Out.

00:41:36
We'll make it work. We'll find some sponsors.

00:41:37
We're going to find some sponsors to sponsor distance

00:41:40
nerding and we're going to make that happen.

00:41:42
Absolutely. We would like to go there, man.

00:41:43
Good. So we only got a couple minutes

00:41:45
left here so I'm going to start getting into our wrap UPS.

00:41:47
Here, Yes, let's do it. Hit me firefight.

00:41:48
So you're probably familiar with some of.

00:41:50
These right but quick fire. On this right here, I'm going to

00:41:53
ask you the hardest question you've ever been asked.

00:41:55
OK. OK, because it is a very hard

00:41:57
question. All right.

00:41:58
We are on the West Coast, so it's even harder.

00:41:59
OK, what is your favorite kind of Taco?

00:42:04
Right. All right, so in all

00:42:06
seriousness, my favorite kind of Taco is I gotta blend.

00:42:10
I gotta blend California and Texas.

00:42:13
A BBQ brisket Taco. Whoop.

00:42:14
Yes, OK BBQ brisket Taco. That's.

00:42:17
What I had for dinner last night.

00:42:18
Are you serious? Yeah.

00:42:19
Where? Here.

00:42:20
It's a place called BJ's, Yeah. And they I got a the most tender

00:42:25
brisket I've ever had in my life, man, it was.

00:42:27
This dude, I love BBQ brisket. Yeah.

00:42:29
So a BBQ brisket Taco. Now you got me thinking about

00:42:31
it, right. With lettuce on there, some

00:42:33
tomatoes, Cholula sauce. Oh, my God.

00:42:35
I'm all about it. You got to have that heat,

00:42:36
right? Exactly.

00:42:37
Yeah. But I also love Thai.

00:42:39
See, I love like, Asian fusion as well.

00:42:41
So like when we start talking about tacos, you know, then

00:42:44
you're getting that that that Asian fusion with the Taco as

00:42:47
well. And.

00:42:47
And so, yeah, that's a tough. One that sounds delicious man

00:42:51
what's some advice you might have for I mean we've been

00:42:53
giving advice show but what is like a like a pertinent piece of

00:42:57
advice you give for anybody trying to get into any of these

00:43:00
industries yes trying to get into whether it's voice acting

00:43:03
acting or just in a creative space yes.

00:43:06
For anything in the creative space in general, protect your

00:43:09
psyche. You must protect your psyche,

00:43:12
especially as a creative. You're already more sensitive,

00:43:14
you're already more expressive and but, but again, you're going

00:43:17
to be sensitive and you're you're going to get in your own

00:43:20
head a lot. My raising my hand right now,

00:43:22
OK, I get in my own head in a major way.

00:43:24
You've got to realize as you're trying to move forward in your

00:43:28
goals, if you put yourself out there once or twice and nobody

00:43:32
responds to you, that's not a rejection, OK?

00:43:35
That's not even understand. You've got to breakthrough

00:43:37
people's bubbles of busy, all right?

00:43:39
Everybody has a bubble of busy. Even right now.

00:43:42
There are a bunch of people out there in the con who are doing

00:43:45
their own thing. Somebody yelled out, hey, come

00:43:47
check out Bob Carter's panel right now.

00:43:48
Not everybody came to their loss, but in all seriousness,

00:43:52
very much their loss. You're right.

00:43:53
But in all seriousness, I didn't breakthrough their bubble of

00:43:56
busy, right? They've got their own agenda.

00:43:58
They've got kids who want to get that Power Ranger that they've

00:44:02
been waiting for for weeks, or they've got that Yu-gi-oh card

00:44:05
that they know they need to get here earlier for.

00:44:06
You got to like breakthrough people's bubbles of busy.

00:44:09
And so as a director, as a voice actor, as a father, as a

00:44:13
business owner, as a creative, I have all these things that are

00:44:16
going on in my mind that my mind races constantly.

00:44:19
We also have that in our own lives, right?

00:44:22
You have all these things that are happening in your own mind

00:44:25
that are racing in your mind constantly.

00:44:27
And so if you put yourself out there to somebody, you're going

00:44:29
to have to put yourself out there like possibly 100 times.

00:44:32
That's your standard. Try putting it out there 100

00:44:34
times to 100 different people, OK?

00:44:36
If you're lucky, there's a learning curve that happens

00:44:39
faster than later. But again, you're going to

00:44:42
change up, you're going to improve.

00:44:43
You know how Mr. Beast talks about making videos?

00:44:45
Like if you want to be a YouTube creator, make 100 videos because

00:44:48
you're always going to learn something every single time.

00:44:50
Same concept in whatever creative endeavor you're doing.

00:44:52
OK, number one, you're learning discipline #2 you're learning

00:44:57
different techniques. Again, you're, you're perfecting

00:44:59
your craft. You're also learning not just to

00:45:03
rely on one or two things. You're moving forward

00:45:05
consistently. Consistency is very important.

00:45:08
But again, protecting your psyche and realizing that it's,

00:45:12
it's not that somebody doesn't like you, it's that they don't

00:45:14
know about you. They don't care.

00:45:15
Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you

00:45:18
care, right? And if you don't breakthrough

00:45:20
their bubble of busy, they're not going to know.

00:45:23
So you cannot take that as rejection, and it's especially

00:45:26
important for creatives. You cannot take it as rejection

00:45:29
if you put yourself out there and somebody doesn't like you.

00:45:31
That also holds true for dating. I wish I'd known this when I was

00:45:34
young and asking people to go out with me.

00:45:36
You know, again, I'm a nerd and I'm very insecure.

00:45:38
It's about confidence, right? Right.

00:45:40
So again, you're going to have to develop that confidence.

00:45:42
And by doing that 100 times, that's going to teach you

00:45:45
confidence. Confidence is very important,

00:45:47
but a lot of times proper preparation prevents his poor

00:45:51
performance, right? And that proper preparation

00:45:53
leads to you being confident in your abilities, you being

00:45:57
confident in what you know that you can do at any given moment.

00:46:00
So that's where that kind of confidence comes from by

00:46:04
breaking through that bubble of busy.

00:46:05
So you know, you can also be persistent as well.

00:46:08
OK, absolutely perfect. All right, always good.

00:46:11
Always good, man. So another hard question for

00:46:13
you. Yes, right.

00:46:14
And this is just between these two guys.

00:46:15
OK, OK. Ball, Rock and Baraka go into a

00:46:18
ring. Who wins in a fight?

00:46:24
Ballrog and Baraka go into the ring.

00:46:26
Who wins in a fight? Say goodnight, Chop, it's time

00:46:32
to get paid. Yeah, Ballrog is a better

00:46:35
fighter than Baraka. Baraka is amazingly lethal,

00:46:39
right? But he's also suffering from a

00:46:41
disease. He's got the bloodlust.

00:46:44
But Ballrog has amazing technique.

00:46:47
He's a fighter. He's faster, he is tougher.

00:46:51
Cardio, cardio, cardio, cardio. Ballrog's got cardio.

00:46:55
Ballrog has power. Ballrog has and not holding

00:46:59
back. I mean, remember, Ballrog is

00:47:01
usually wearing gloves. So not holding back.

00:47:04
Ballrog there. You go wrong answer.

00:47:07
It's Shao Khan's hammer. Shao Khan without.

00:47:11
Question. Yeah, Shao.

00:47:13
Khan's hammer wins the. Fight every Yes, that that.

00:47:18
Sledgehammer that. Just angers everybody.

00:47:21
So what's next for you, man? We talked about Shao Khan.

00:47:23
The actual Khan. Shao Khan?

00:47:25
Yeah, we talked about Big Bad Dungeon.

00:47:26
Which by the way, I want to be clear about, right?

00:47:28
It's not about Shao Khan. It's not based on the character

00:47:30
for Mortal Kombat. Shao is Chinese for young or

00:47:33
hot, and it's hot in Georgia. So that's where that that heat,

00:47:36
because we're bringing the heat, we're bringing that fire of

00:47:38
passion and compassion and creativity.

00:47:40
That's where Shao Khan comes from.

00:47:42
I want to make sure that you guys know that.

00:47:43
Now it just so happens that I am the character of Shao Khan.

00:47:46
What a coincidence. The creator of Shao Khan is also

00:47:49
Shao Khan, and he's pretty Shao. So there you go.

00:47:52
Exactly. Thank you.

00:47:54
I appreciate you saying that dude.

00:47:56
But also again, Big Bad Dungeon, please check that out.

00:47:58
We've got a bunch of brilliant performers and creatives and

00:48:02
creators. So you can absolutely give your

00:48:04
support with Big Bad Dungeon. I'm very proud of it and each do

00:48:08
this. First up, well, you tell me OK,

00:48:10
because I'm partial, but I asked you to just watch it and give me

00:48:12
an honest opinion of it. Yeah, no, guys watch it.

00:48:18
It's super creative, super fun. It's captivating.

00:48:22
It's kind of the word that I can put on.

00:48:23
There, even if you're not into DND or a gamer, I think it's.

00:48:26
One of those things that catches your attention, you're like, OK,

00:48:28
what's gonna happen next? Yes, you know like definitely if

00:48:32
you guys have not heard of it or if you if you are not familiar

00:48:36
with it, go check out big bad dungeon.

00:48:38
Thank you very much, It is worth.

00:48:39
The watch. Thank you.

00:48:39
Yeah, I'm, again, I'm proud of that because, again, that's a

00:48:42
live performance. You know, all that was captured

00:48:44
in the moment. We had no idea of what David had

00:48:46
prepared for us. And so as these episodes unfold,

00:48:49
man, it's it's intense. And then also you get to see

00:48:52
different character styles being represented, completely

00:48:56
different genres of character styles, which is also why D&D

00:49:00
can be so cool and why David was so masterful with what he put

00:49:03
together, because we're all from different worlds and we all are

00:49:07
brought together in this universe that is falling apart

00:49:11
and we're tasked with saving it. So thank you very much for for

00:49:14
your opinion about that. I really appreciate that it's.

00:49:16
It's, it's like I said, just for everybody in the crowd.

00:49:18
So especially if you're just coming in now, 100% worth the

00:49:21
watch. Go watch you guys.

00:49:22
Thank you. Thank.

00:49:23
You. Where can everybody find that

00:49:24
out more about you? Where can they follow you on

00:49:26
social? Media Oh absolutely, please.

00:49:27
You know what? Yes, because I am making a more

00:49:29
concerted effort to be active on social media.

00:49:32
IG is Carter game like what's your favorite game?

00:49:35
Carter game Carter game on Instagram and you can contact me

00:49:39
anytime. I'm always happy to talk with

00:49:41
you. Also, neighborhood studio

00:49:42
atlanta.com, neighborhood studio atlanta.com or neighborhood

00:49:46
studio.co. And again, all things Carter

00:49:50
game Bob Carter. My number is 678561, huge,

00:49:55
678-561-4843. I love it.

00:50:01
And yeah, I mean again. And I'm.

00:50:04
I'm here all weekend, right? Yeah.

00:50:05
I'm here at Silver age, signing autographs, taking selfies.

00:50:08
I'll let you hold the helmet. You get to hold the helmet of

00:50:10
Shao Khan and look amazing. So too bad we.

00:50:14
Don't have the sledgehammer? Yeah, I know.

00:50:15
Actually, the sledgehammer is being forged even as we.

00:50:19
Speak. Yes, hopefully it'll be done in

00:50:22
time for Shell in Halloween, but yeah, we're working on a few

00:50:26
things. Also looking for more sponsors

00:50:29
and exhibitors. So I welcome people to reach out

00:50:31
to us and contact us and then attendees, performers, guests,

00:50:35
that sort of thing. It's going to be, like I said,

00:50:36
it's going to be a phenomenal Halloween fun weekend experience

00:50:40
that's designed to make everybody that that that comes

00:50:44
to it better, faster, smarter, stronger.

00:50:47
So we're going to be the $6 million man.

00:50:49
Let's just. Exactly.

00:50:51
We're making Steve Austin. 'S here, That's right.

00:50:53
Yeah. But in all seriousness,

00:50:54
motivate, educate and empower, right?

00:50:55
So I'm doing what I can to motivate, educate and empower

00:50:58
people because that's what I'm all about.

00:50:59
I love it, man. I love it.

00:51:00
Well, ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Bob Carter.

00:51:03
Thank you guys, an absolute pleasure.

00:51:05
Absolutely. Thank you for coming on.

00:51:07
Man, I love you, Fleet. Thank you.

00:51:08
Well, we hope you enjoyed this week's comic conversation.

00:51:15
This was the production of the Distance Nerding podcast and

00:51:17
Time for Tacos Media. For more content, follow us on

00:51:19
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, and TikTok all

00:51:23
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00:51:25
leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever

00:51:28
you get your podcasts. Thanks and keep nerding

00:51:30
together.