The Man of 10,000 Sound Effects
SHOW NOTES
Well, I guess the cat’s out of the bag… all the rumors are true, today, my guest is Michael Winslow, the Man of 10,000 sound effects. You know him from Cheech and Chong movies, Police Academy, Space Balls and some of his popular Youtube Videos. You’ve heard his voiceovers doing sound effects for tv shows such as Robot Chicken, commercials and video games. One of the first beat boxers and a title holder in the competitions.
I had the pleasure of working with Michael while he was still polishing his act in restaurants and smaller clubs. He was the host at Poppy’s Star in Encino, CA where as you probably know by now, I once worked as a singing waiter. Upon entering, you would often see him escorting a party to their table while impersonating a race car or making whizzing and spinning gear sounds like a robot. Or perhaps during dinner, see him on stage, performing his famous Jimi Hendrix impersonation on a miniature Fender Strat, wearing a Hendrix wig, and headband. He and I worked out a couple songs between us that we enjoyed performing, which you’ll hear more about during the conversation. And with that, let’s just get right into, shall we?
Talking Points:
Twitter handle @Noizey_Man
Grew up on several Air Force bases
Moved around a lot as a kid.
Killed the boredom by imitating the sounds of machinery around the military bases.
Including typewriters. Take this video for example…
32 Typewriters??? I couldn’t tell the difference between a Remington Noiseless Portable or a IBM Executive Model 42 or a Smith Corona Word processor
Books:
Whack to the Side of the Head
Kick to the Seat of the Pants
Lesson learned – there’s more than one right answer
Tik Tok
Jimi Hendrix
Comics stealing jokes.
Robin Williams
Multiple languages
Cheech and Chong no longer PC?
But what makes your impressions so unique are the facial expressions. You seem to be listening to the headphones, where i imagine someone is feeding you the recording for reference
The afterwards, you look at the two mics as if you’re trying to decide which one to eat first.
Did your parents ever try to discourage you/ I mean, making all those sounds around the house s a little kid, didn’t yell, Hey Mikey, cut it out, I’m trying to watch Star Trek here, and you’d be making laser gun sounds. At what point did your mom or dad say, Hey now — THERE’S a career! Looks like you won’t be needing college, son.
List of noises:
’Scuse me while I kiss this guy – attribution. Michael was the first that I know of to use that line.
Matre D’ at the Great American and Poppy’s Star (along with Alan “Walk This Way” Feinman as Groucho, and Billy Scudder as Charlie Chaplain)
Dupars after Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie
Sky Trails Open Mic
My Sharona
Just What I Needed by the Cars
Michael Winslow and folk pop-musician Odd Nordstoga performed Whole Lotta Love on the Norwegian talkshow Senkveld – with Thomas og Harald
The Russia Story
Slight incident while filming Police Academy: Mission to Moscow in Russia
Completely unexpected. It was a total delight seeing you pop up in a cameo! My rating went up a star.
Mention on THE GOLDBERGS…
Dana: I don’t get it. This is part 5. Shouldn’t they have graduated the Academy after the first one?
Adam: I think the problem is you’re focusing on logic, not the lovable cast of characters.
Dana: Okay, in what world would an officer of the law stop a jewel thief by making weird mouth noises?
Adam: That’s Michael Winslow. He’s a national treasure.
Dana: They’re LAPD. They wouldn’t have any jurisdiction in Miami.
Referenced on other shows: Ellen, Family Guy, Robot Chicken (Police Academy: X-Men)
You’ve done sound fx for many tv and movies. What are some of the things where we are actually hearing your voices? Do you have any favorites?
The very best of the 60s. 80s
Voice insured by Lloyd’s of London with Mary Hart’s legs
Eddie Van Halen and Michael jamming too loud at the Namm Show
Recently Live on Twitch
Sound Effects in Video games
Phasmaphoria
Among Us
Nico Is – Brazilian Rapper – Agua
Hello Hal. I remember you from Poppy’s. And you did wear a fedora (with hair under it) just like many of the rest of many of us. My son sent me the link to your pod cast. It was awesome to listen.
I worked at Poppy’s also. I knew two songs and sang them loudly… Mariah was one. Those were great days. It was a great pleasure listening to you and Michael.
Buddy Flint
Hey Buddy,
I remember you well… particularly you belting “Mariah”! I’ve been racking my briai trying to remmeber the other blockbuster you did. Was it Oklahoma?
I remember when Rona Barret filmed an interview at Poppy’s Star.
Well, that 54 minutes was some good damn fun. Felt like we were just hanging out like the old days, clinking a couple Heinekens at Casa Vega! 😱 Great interview…… loved hearing some old tales and new ones. Play on…… BT