Jimmy Slonina is my kind of performer. I discovered him when one of his lip sync videos showed up on Boing Boing. Here are three of those. These are great for watching how faces move, but equally, if you are creating lip sync you might want to create reference that goes to this level.
Obviously, there is something inherently funny in an elastic body. It just has to be played right.
I approve of how clown college is treated in this short.
For many years my focus has been on visual and physical comedy, like that found in old silent movies. But recently I learned a good lesson about the value of voice in a character.
One evening I went to the Circus Center in San Francisco, to watch a performance of students in their Clown Conservatory. It is interesting to watch novice comedians, because it is such a contrast to professionals. The pros have done their acts perhaps thousands of times. They have everything down, and proceed with a natural ease. The students are clearly working hard. In that regard, none of the students stood out. But one of them did snag my attention. It was because of her voice. Her voice was a little funny. I hardly recall what she said, but the unusual quality along with her delivery and timing helped to separate her from the group.
Here is a little piece of trivia I tell my students who are choosing a clip of dialog to animate to: the word “personality” comes from “persona”. The root words are “per” which means through and “sona” which means sound. Personality comes through the sound of the character.
For animators involved in dialog exercises, like 10/11 second club stuff, I would recommend putting some serious thought into the voices, perhaps even more than what is being said. Many dialog exercises use clips from movies, featuring regular actors with regular voices. It would be worth finding some voices with real character. We all have to admit that Mel Blanc was a major contributor to the success of Looney Tunes.
Wild Lines: The Art of Voice Acting by CarlStallingEnthusiast
These are the people seen in my post CARTOONY HUMANS.
From AGABOOM.COM
Rooted in the unique European theatrical style and universal language of clowning, Aga-Boom cuts through the barriers of language and culture with the art of slapstick, the humor of physical comedy and the delighted excitement of childhood.
Aga-Boom is an interactive mayhem that carries audiences to the other side of the funhouse mirror, with outrageous zaniness and unrestrained laughter. This 75-minute explosion of pure family fun, for children and adults alike is high energy, and nothing you have ever seen before.
This is a nice sampler of some of their other work.