Greetings Rosebud66! Thank you for the opportunity to answer this
very interesting question! Many people who hear commercials, watch
television shows, visit Broadway comedy productions and view films do
not usually realize that many of the laughs or screams they hear
onstage, onscreen and in the audience are from professionals.
There are ways to glean financial success from being a professional
laughter and know that this may include relocating to a city where the
taping of television shows takes place (like NYC or L.A.) where there
are live productions at which the producers wish to pepper the
audience with a professional laugher. Professional laughers are
frequently used in taping of TV shows as well as during live ones.
Your first step would be to compile a tape/CD of your various laughs
and you should run the gamut of laughs: Giggle, chortle, snort,
pealing laughter, guffawing laughter, shrieking laughter -as many
different types as you can think of- and also include timed tracks
such as a 5 second laugh, a 15 second laugh, etc, all the way to
out-of-control laughter and prolonged giggling. Also, if you are able
to mimic a famous person's laugh, include examples of that, too.
For the CD cover you would use, perhaps, a headshot of you laughing
and also include an index of the laugh tracks for the agent to be able
to randomly choose a certain type of laugh.
After compiling your laugh track sample, you would then contact agents
that deal with voice-over talent and you might also query advertising
production companies, too, though an agent would be able to get you
more quality gigs. This might include travel if you are not near a
city that has production houses.
A good place to begin for agents would be those who specialize in
commercial advertising. http://www.actingdepot.com/lavoice.htm offers
a casting agent list and Voice Over agents are present but there is a
$19.95 fee. You might consider this small purchase *after* you have
your demo CD in place. Keep in mind that when you approach an agent
with your talent, you want your presentation to look and sound
professional. You can send audio tapes but CDs are used most in the
industry now. Also, CD has the capability of moving images, too, so
you might do a laughing short film showing your laughter. Also see
http://www.edgestudio.com/marketingresources.htm and
http://troupers.com/
An article that you may find helpful is titled "Finding The Talent
Agent That's Right For You" by By Susan Berkley and it is described as
"Tips and techniques for beginners and professionals who want to make
big money in voiceover." It's located at
http://www.greatvoice.com/voiceover/ivo_library/talentagent.html
Another article of interest is located at
http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/syws/talentagent/talentagent.html and
it explains that there are different agents for different talents:
"There are different types of agents for different types of talent.
The main types are theatrical (TV and film) and commercial (for
commercials only). There are also dance, print (photos only),
voice-over (voice only for TV, film, radio), and legitimate (theater)
agents. Your agent may represent you for one or more of these
categories."
Please read the entire article and also read the other five linked to
it that are located towards the top of the page. The text deals
primarily with acting and still offers valid agent advice. There are
also options for dubbing laughter for actors and actresses in film.
Just as there are professional screamers, there are professional
laughers.
A free subscription to Voice Over Today is available at
http://www.edgestudio.com/voiceovertoday.htm and I suggest you sign up
for that. You will learn much about the business side of things by
immersing yourself in material about the craft.
I found a listing service for voice talent on the Internet and they do
offer a FREE listing but without a demo to listen to ($99 includes the
demo online). I would suggest you sign up for their free service as a
laugher and place in the text that a demo is available on request.
That won't cost you anything. You may even want to sign up before you
have a demo to see if there are any bites from listing there. It
would be a way to sample the market without investing. See
http://www.voicehunter.com/add.htm for this information. The main
site is located at http://www.voicehunter.com/help.htm
Whatever you do, DO NOT pay an "agent" to represent you because
legitimate agents merely take 10% of your gig fee as their pay.
Anyone "agent" wanting to sell you their services is not to be
considered. They are known as "vanity houses" and they are in
business just to take your money. Beware of EVERYONE asking you for
up-front money. A legitimate agent will make his/her money by getting
you quality gigs, not by asking for advance fees.
You may also want to contact the folks at
http://www.worldlaughtertour.com/sections/about/committee.asp to
inquire if they could employ a laugher of your talents on their tours.
Theraputic laughter is a very big topic of late. I believe that
laughter is very healing and you might also hone a presentation as a
speaker for hire, lecturing on the healing benefits of laughter.
Also, you might consider contacting a local clown (if one is near) and
offering to travel locally with him/her to visit hospitals to
entertain children who are terminally ill, etc, to just share your
laugh.
A snippet from an article at
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sun50/remembers112400.html reads in part
"Godfrey Cambridge, deceased, was an actor who began as a professional
laugher at Broadway theatrical shows."
I will pause here and allow you time to peruse the links and
information I have provided in answering your question. After you
have examined the answer, you may wish additional clarification before
rating the answer and I will be happy to provide it at your request.
Simply utilize the "Request a Clarification" feature of this program
before rating so that we will be able to continue a dialogue, if you
feel your question requires further research. :)
SEARCH PHRASES:
hired to laugh
voice over laughing
session vocalist laughing
voice over laugh
buying laugh track
selling laugh track
professional laugher
professional laughter
talent agent commercials
talent agent voice over |
