Expert: Tom - 6/10/2008

Question
Hello. I am 20 years old. I will be 21 this Sept 1st. I have done stand up three times. It went well (and no one threw a tomato at me) except for one or two things. One thing is my voice was to throaty which I am working on. Number two I was told I should work on the tone of my voice. They said I was hillairious just work on the tone of my voice. Problem is I'm tone deaf. How do I work on the tone of my voice if I can't hear it?? Also I was told in order to become a comedienne I should go to Julliard and collages like that. Simply put and please excuse my language but an ice cube would have a better chance at surviving in Hell then I would getting into any college for personal reasons. Is this true what they said?? Please send an answer as soon as possible. Thankyou...Jennifer

Answer
Jennifer --

I, too, believe that my voice is not one of my strong points, and I long for the radio-announcer voice that one of my friends has. (But I wish I were better-looking, too, and so I guess it's just one of those things I'm going to live with.)

I don't know about Julliard, but I do have a suggestion for a way to explore the idea of voice training without risking your ice cubes entirely: Check with local theatres (the kind with actors) about the availability of voice training -- if not through the theatre itself, then they might know of someone who puts on classes. Take an introductory class or short series of lessons and see what you think.

I actually took a one-session introductory voice class earlier this year, just to see what it would be like. I found it somewhat confusing and I wasn't really sure what we were trying to accomplish with the various exercise they put us through. I think this confusion was partly because the teacher sort of assumed I would be familiar with the principles of voice training, so if you try this, be ready to say, "Wait a minute -- *why* are we flapping our arms while saying the alphabet?" (or whatever *your* teacher has you do).

I still think it was a good idea to try the class and I might go back for more another time. So far, I haven't latched onto it as a really important thing for me, but it could be valuable for you.

Good luck. It's exciting to hear that you're encouraged by your first tries at what you'd like to do.

-- Tom