As the day before we drove down to the bus depot and caught the bus down to the Anaheim Convention Center. The price of parking there is just too high. In the past we’ve stayed at a local hotel, but that’s gotten to be too high as well. Hopefully, once I’m employed again, we’ll be able to stay for the entire weekend.
In the meantime, …
I had a Twitch account for several years, and watched a few streamed from time to time, especially Critical Role and comedian Hal Sparks. Had no concept of doing any streaming of my own, I certainly didn’t know what I would stream if I did.
Then this happened:
Thoughts on two anime series my wife and I have been watch. It’s not a review, just expressing enjoyment:
VTUBER LEGEND:
HOW I WENT VIRAL AFTER FORGETTING TO TURN OFF MY STREAM
And
MANY SIDES OF VOICE ACTOR RADIO
Hi all,
I’ll be telling you about the Toastmasters speech in an upcoming blog once I get a good recording of it to share with you.
What I can tell you now is my nerves really got to me during the and I’m not really certain why.
I think it had to do with having to work with running my PowerPoint presentation on Zoom while maintaining eye contact with the camera while trying not to look at my script.
That’s all an excuse, I stumbled through it but I got it done. Surprisingly, people liked the speech, I’ll tell you about that soon.
I felt like I was back in school when I was scared to speak up at all. I’ve already told you about the one time in High School I gave a speech.
As an adult I was still nervous about doing any public speaking, but things began to change in our adult Sunday School when I began to speech up with my thoughts on what the teacher was saying and the Biblical verses we were studying. I then began finding myself volunteering to teach the class from time to time. My wife and I have taught together a few times as well. I was also being ask to do the Bible reading each week in class.
Then came the next and newest part of my life. An interest in Voice Acting. As a scriptwriter I wanted to know what the actor needed from me.
So, I took a voice acting class. I wasn’t expecting much, and certain I would be nervous stepping up to the mic in front of the entire class for the very first time.
You know what? I had no nerves what so ever and I read the script and performed with joy. I was so surprised by how I felt doing it I knew this was something I would continue to do. I would go on to take further voice acting classes over the next several years, have demo reels produced, and audition for roles.
So why did the nerves swell up during this speech? I really can’t say, but I won’t let them stop me from doing anything anymore.
Hope to have the speech up soon.
Kevin
TOASTMASTERS
Thank you all so very much for reading my blogs over the last weeks as I wrote this series on comic books for my Toastmasters assignment. The series is complete, but I’m sure I have more to say about comic books in the future, but I thought it might be a good idea to tell you about what Toastmasters is and my involvement in it.
How the heck did they even let me do a whole project on Comic Books?
MY VOICE ACTING GOALS – 2024
1 – Full Time Job
2 – Make myself known to Casting Directors
3 – More Regular Voice Over Auditions
4 – Book Voice Over Roles
5 – Start a regular Stream
6 – Be part of an Improv Group
7 – Play at least one Dungeons & Dragons game
8 – Be able to afford more VO training
9 – BLOG MORE
I have always liked the musical MY FAIR LADY (I don’t like the ending, but that’s a different discussion), and the other day I began mouthing words to the son “I’ve grown accustomed to her face” and a thought struck me. So I came home and wrote my own version of the song.
Will all apologies to Lerner & Loewe, and apologies to your ears. Here is my bad singing of a my parody “I’ve grown accustomed to this mask.”
Been a while since I last posted, so here’s a brief run down of what I’ve ben up to.
I’ve continued to take Voice Acting classes through the year. As much of a struggle this past year has been, being able to take classes by Zoom has been a great blessing. If I had completed my original Voice Over class in the studio, I know I would have pursued this goal further but I don’t know if I would have ever have taken as many classes in person in such a short a mount of time. I have been very blessed.
As part of my Voice Over training, this past semester I took a class at Pasadena City College entitled: ANNOUNCING FOR ELECTRONIC MEDIA. There were many projects we did, including Voice Over, music radio intros, and more, was being able to create my own radio program and do an interview. Of course I called the radio show FOUR NAMES OF PROFESSIONAL CREATIVITY.
So I asked my good friend Craig Miller if I could interview him about the book – STAR WARS MEMORIES: My Time In The Death Star Trenches.
Is that a word?
During my recent Voice Over Workshop/Class with actor Richard Horvitz I was determined to have my own Home Studio Recording Booth. Working with other students and Mr. Horvitz, I researched a lot of potential booth concepts. From the far too expensive (and would never fit in the apartment) down to seeing if I could rearrange my closet (not possible). All the research finally lead to VocalBoothsToGo.com where they have numerous types of booths from large to small, permanent to portable, and I found what I wanted and could afford.
They have a DYI booth made of PVC pipes and sound dampening moving blankets. I chose to have them pre-cut the pipes to the size I needed and a couple of weeks later I began to assemble the booth. Have a look.
At the start of the year I had great 2020 Vision (go back and read the blog) – that vision had such great plans for the year ahead…
It didn’t go at all as planned (for none of us). Even before Covid struck, on the second day of the year I was told I was being laid off from my job which I had for 10 years.
So I was home, and soon my wife would be working from home as well. I truly believe that to be a blessing.
A family member is in the hospital (praise God not with Covid).
That all said, the year wasn’t all that bad for me. Being home most of the time allowed certain things to happen, or things for me to discover, that I wouldn’t have if the world was still going as it had a year ago.
I had already planned to take Voice Acting Classes, by the end of that first class I was determined to make Voice Over as part of my career. I soon found other classes and workshops I could do online that I wouldn’t have been able to do previously. Joined Toastmasters, got back into college courses, and became an Improv actor.
With 2021 about to start, I am confident that there many blessings that came to me through 2020 even as stressful as it was.
What is to come next, I am not entirely certain but am Determined to grab hold of each and every blessing that is to follow.
God Bless you all. See you in the new year.
A few Halloweens ago I wrote this story in homage to some of my favorite H.P. Lovecraft tales, it also was influenced by Ray Bradbury’s series of October Country tales.
Now that I am training to be a Voice Actor I decided to do a reading of the story.
As with my first two recordings, I did this using my Logitech headset and Mic. (My professional AT2035 Microphone is still back order, nearly two months now). For editing and clean up I used Audacity.
I still have a lot to learn, but hope you enjoy this haunting tale.
“The Crypt”
Written and Read by
Kevin Paul Shaw Broden
Four Names of Professional Creativity
The year 2020 hasn’t turned out the way any of us had planned it. But looking now my 2020 Vision from the beginning of the year and isn’t all that cloudy.
Along with being an artist and writer, I had begun training to become a voice actor for animation.
Things may have slowed down some, but they haven’t stopped. I’m still writing, and am regularly doing artwork for books by Airship 27 Productions.
I continue taking more classes towards my acting career.
At my wife encouragement I have joined a local chapter of Toastmasters – Toastmasters 4 Writers. What could be more perfect.
At a meeting nearly a year ago, before I officially joined I did an Impromptu ‘Table Topics’ speech which I won, and it set off my Determination to become a Voice Actor.
This past Saturday (August 8th, 2020) I gave my first speech. An ‘Icebreaker’ speech they call it, introducing myself to the group.
As I wrote my speech I began to realize the moment in my life that set me off on the road to being an artist, writer, and now actor. It all began with ‘Old Time Radio.’
What follows is my Toastmasters Icebreaker speech, entitled:
“Tales of Yesteryear Told in Future Tense”.
(Points to those who know what two radio programs that is a reference to.)
I have to really learn to to commit to writing a blog a week or more, especially when it’s the continuation go a topic from earlier posts. Sorry about that, you’ve been patiently waiting to hear what I have to say… Sure you do.
I completed the six week Voice Over Acting Class in North Hollywood. Though the final four were done on Zoom several weeks late.
Won’t go into detail, but I will say that I had a fabulous time, and the teacher really complimented me on my work and how I sounded at the mike. Took direction well. He even said I had a similar voice to another actor he’s worked with.
So I came away from that class feeling really great, and wanting to continue further into Voice Over work.
I’m awaiting to sign up for his second workshop, in the meantime I took a one day voice acting class through a studio that I have longed to visit, and taught by an actor I had listened to in my childhood. It was a great introductory experience to the work they do there, even though like all the other classes right now it was on Zoom.
Am really looking forward to taking more courses and getting a chance to audition for voices in animation and commercials.
Will see where the Lord leads me and where I will speak up next.
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