Making the closing (and sometimes opening) announcements at Toys "R" Us for almost five years helped me develop a voice and some control over it. In the years since, I've applied that ability to less professional ventures. Jon Wardell and I often slip into and out of multiple voices, some of them cartoon favorites from our (not quite over) childhoods, some characters we've developed ourselves.

I do a mean Sylvester the Cat, complete with flying saliva.  ;)  My Daffy Duck isn't bad, either, as they're fairly similar. While I love Bugs Bunny, I don't think I do a very good Bugs voice. Jon and I created a cartoon duo a few years back, which I hesitate to mention in any detail; suffice it to say that I had fun with the voice of Goober. And then there's Chicken.

Jon developed a character called Rollie Fingers a few years ago, who has made several noteworthy phone calls. Heh-heh... Well, in early '99, I was at a diner with some friends, mulling over the chicken fingers platter on the menu. It occurred to me that Chicken Fingers would make a great (albeit oddly named) brother for Rollie, so, using a variation on Rollie Fingers' voice, I ordered the platter, and a terror was born.  ;)

Like his younger brother, Chicken is ugly, nasty, and very high-strung. His temper is much quicker to rise, though, and he always seems to be upset about something. He's also something of a racist. Takes all kinds...

I'm going to add samples of other voices I've done; for now, clicking on the sketch of Chicken Fingers will bring you the subtle joy of his voice...