VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Mike Harrison

In the Research & Development forum there are several terrific pronunciation resources, etc., but I wasn't able to find any enunciation exercises (such as, but not limited to tongue-twisters).

Would anyone like to share some of their favorites? I suppose the R&D forum would be the place to do it.

Thanks!
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Mike
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Philip Banks · Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 1:46 pm Post subject:

So many serious saddo's go grubbing gormlessly through the gear section....

Works for me. Apparently appealing to my inappropriate pious poignant pomposity.

Scott Pollak · Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2013 4:41 pm Post subject:

From many years in the theatre:

"The big black bug bled black blood" (say it fast, several times)

And, quickly:
"Whatta to do to die to day
A minute or two to two
A terribly difficult thing to say
And a harder thing to do

A Dragon will come and beat his drum
A rat-a-tat-tat-a-tat- or two
At a minute or two to two today
At a minute or two to two."

"Unique New York, Unique New York"

"Red Leather, Yellow Leather, Red Leather, Yellow Leather"
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JBarrett · Posted: Wed Sep 25, 2013 8:57 pm Post subject:

A little bit o' Dr Seuss...

"Through three cheese trees
Three free fleas flew.
While these fleas flew,
Freezy breeze blew.
Freezy breeze made these three trees freeze.
Freezy trees made these trees cheese freeze.
That's what made these three free fleas sneeze."

I also remember a fellow actor back in the day doing a rapid run through the phrase "Bibbidy-bobbidy-bibbidy-bobbidy-bibbidy-bobbidy-boo". I still do that, and change the consonants now and then to add variety: dippity-doppity, mimminy-momminy, libbily-lobbily, etc.
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Scott Pollak · Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2013 4:53 am Post subject:

Another great one is to go through the vowels: a - e - i - o - u, but add consonants and combinations in front.

e.g.: (adding a 'b'): bay - bee - bye - boh - boo
(adding a TL, very difficult): Tlay - tlee - tlye - tloh - tloo

And you can do almost any others. Plosives, like B, K, P are good.
TR, BR, BL, SL are good combinations to use.
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Scott R. Pollak
Clients include Pandora, NPR Atlanta, Wells Fargo, Cisco, Humana, Publix, UPS, AT&T, HP, Xerox and more.

www.voicebyscott.com

Lizden · Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2013 5:23 am Post subject:

Warning:
One should never attempt any of these until at east the 2nd cup of coffee! Shocked

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Lee Gordon · Posted: Thu Sep 26, 2013 10:03 am Post subject:

I'm trying to wrap my head around why these exercises are necessary. So much of the crappy copy we are given to read supplies all the tongue torture we need. Gasp

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kkuhlken · Posted: Mon Sep 30, 2013 11:28 am Post subject:

Some of the tongue twisters I use for my chorus work for this as well.

Scott, I have a little bit longer version of one you posted: One big bug bled blue blood while the other big bug bled black.

Irish wristwatch Irish wristwatch Irish wristwatch...

Red Letter Yellow Leather....

Chester cheetah chewed a chunk of chewy cheddar cheese

(This one is not used in class, for obvious reasons...)
I am not a pheasant plucker, I'm a pheasant plucker's son, but I'll be plucking pheasants, when the pheasant plucker's gone.
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todd ellis · Posted: Mon Sep 30, 2013 12:04 pm Post subject:

The Human Torch was denied a bank loan.
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Diane Maggipinto · Posted: Mon Sep 30, 2013 7:28 pm Post subject:

um ... huh? which human torch?
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Whit · Posted: Mon Sep 30, 2013 8:15 pm Post subject:

To sit in solemn silence on a dull, dark dock
in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock
awaiting the sensation of a short, sharp shock
from a cheap and chippy chopper on a big, black block

Ah. College theatre days.