From Pain to Performance: Part Six, Electronic Media Performance

This e-book is only part of the entire project. For non-exclusive book publishing of the entire manuscript, classes, or course materials, contact Dr. Keefer at 212-734-1083 or julia.keefer@nyu.edu

PART SIX: Live versus Electronic Media Performance

Electronic Media Performance Students' Forum for Favorite Performers

Tina Fey is now a familiar face to television. For seven years, she was the first female head writer on late-night favorite, Saturday Night Live. She recently won a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild award for her work on 30 Rock. With Fey at the helm, 30 Rock won an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series. Born in Pennsylvania, Tina Fey graduated from University of Virginia with a degree in Theater. Like many of her SNL co-horts she was involved in Second City in Chicago. After sending some sample sketches to Lorne Michaels, Fey became a writer on SNL in 1997. Following that, she became a featured player and finally, a regular cast member. She and Jimmy Fallon brought back the co-anchor format for “Weekend Update.” Fey stretched out her writing and acting limbs when she adapted the book Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence for film. Mean Girls gained acclaim and was embraced by audiences. After the birth of her daughter in 2005, she spent one more year on Saturday Night and then left to start a show that had been several years in the making. 30 Rock was created, written and stars Tina Fey. It is loosely based on her years behind the scene at SNL. Just after the writer’s strike, she went back to Saturday Night Live to host. Fey currently has a new movie coming out which she created called Baby Mama starring herself and her co-worker Amy Poehler.
Tina Fey’s on camera performance began on “Weekend Update.” Fey acts as an anchor, and it should be kept in mind that she is doing just that—acting. “Weekend Update” is all the fake news that’s fit to perform in a couple minutes of air time, and Fey both writes and perform these jokes wonderfully. Because she is the writer, she knows her own voice and can tell her own jokes with precision. Fey, like the other “Update” anchors, sit at a long desk with professional clothing on top (a suit jacket, for Fey) and jeans on the bottom, as the desk is covering that half. There are cue cards or teleprompters on SNL, so like the other cast members, Fey is reading off those, but seemingly looking directly at the camera when performing her news stories. Like other fake news artists (everyone on The Daily Show), Fey uses a halting newsman cadence. It is a serious voice; however, when there are guests at update, or if there is a time that Jimmy Fallon makes an aside, Fey will break character and laugh. When one works with funny people in comedy, there is going to be some laughter. Especially when taping a live show. Because “Update” is the fake news, anchors can go off character and make asides. When Fey does so, the cadence goes away and she uses any voice or dialect that she needs to in order to make a joke. A raised eyebrow also indicates seriousness. She holds a supposed paper full of notes and pencil. The pencil is used to make a point as the eraser is tapped down on the desk. Fey moves her head with each word and pauses for laughter. At times, she looks at the audience for their reaction.
On 30 Rock, Fey brings out her acting chops. According to the New York Times, acting on the sitcom has not been the easiest for Fey. Steinberg elaborates:
Even tougher than the writing, she said, has been adjusting to acting on camera in a scripted series. Though she got her start in comedy onstage… Ms. Fey said she felt rusty and, frankly, unworthy. At issue, she said, was that she had effectively cast herself. But after several episodes, she said, she gave herself a pep talk and “just decided that within my own performance I’m going to stop apologizing that I’m here.”

Since her days being used as an extra on SNL, her acting has improved tremendously. She has more confidence playing someone who is basically herself. Like with “Weekend Update,” having her writing, or her thoughts being the script, she is able to be more comfortable in her role. Coming from an improv background does some good in her acting. In improv one has to actively listen and in acting, one cannot just be repeating lines from script. The actor has to be really listening to the other character. A major change on 30 Rock for Fey is that, sometimes, she takes off her trademark glasses. Fey is near-sighted, so she needed her glasses to read the prompter or the cue-cards on SNL (Booth). As an added plus, they gave her anchor character a “look.” After so many years wearing them, she is sometimes unrecognizable without them.
Tina Fey can credit her success to being very smart and, of course, having a good sense of humor. Exclaiming, “Yeah, I do read the paper,” as her character on 30 Rock, it is a breath of fresh air for there to be such a brown hair-ed and glasses voice on television. One reason I am a fan of her is because I can identify with those physical attributes (although I need to wear my glasses all the time.) I admire that she can do comedy with the boys and is readily accepted. A smart, female voice in comedy is greatly appreciated.

Works Cited:
Booth, William. “Tina Fey, Specs Symbol.” Washington Post. 25 Apr 2004.
Steinberg, Jacques. “30 Rock Lives, and Tina Fey Laughs.” The New York Times. 23 Sept 2007

Michelle Ravit
Radio Analysis
2/8
After retiring from teaching high school English, Adolf Kerber took up the hobby of doing various radio shows on a local Indianapolis radio station. Kerber, born 1920 in Terra Haute, Indiana, is a stage actor. During World War II, he was stationed in Pearl Harbor. Fed up with the war, but unable to get out of it, he worked with an acting troupe which performed for the soldiers.. He also worked off Broadway in New York. In the early fifties, he settled down in Indianapolis and taught to support his family. Upon nearing old age, he resides in development much like a small college, but for the aged and still performs. “I did Romeo and Juliet with a lady in a wheel chair,” he said beaming.
The tape that I have is his reading of Where the Sidewalk Ends on his radio program, probably ten to fifteen years ago. The show is called “Poetry Rediscovered” and it sounds like he is happy to be there. Throughout the tape, there are several indications of Kerber’s speech personality. At first, on the tape, he begins in his normal radio speaking voice. His pitch is lower than his regular speaking voice. He varies his pitch; however, when he says the name of the program. He starts off with a high pitch on “po-” and decreases back to the pitch of his speaking voice at the “-ed” in “discovered.” He speaks slowly, as if giving directions and becomes more animated when he starts describing what he will be reading. He pronounces Silverstein both with the hard “e” sound and later in the program; he pronounces it with the hard “i” sound.
Where the Sidewalk Ends is a collection of children’s poems by Shel Silverstein. Kerber’s jaunty meter mimics the silly content of the poems. They are almost Suess-like, but with a little more recognizable substance without having to analyze them. Kerber reads most of the poems as informal songs. He gives each poem an individual tune-- some are more song-like than others. The voice per poem depends upon how the poem is written (1st, 2nd or 3rd person), and the general tone. Kerber inflects mostly silliness, as this is what most of the poems are. He also inflects sternness within some of the silly as a few of the poems have seriousness in them (which should be taken lightly).
His tempo goes up and down as a tempo would in a song. He tends to elongate the last word of lines as they are the ones that rhyme. He has a lot of emotion in his voice, this I believe, comes from his acting experience. In addition, in his most theatrical moments of the reading, he rolls his “r.” I always attributed this to his days on the stage. He does have some shakes and whistles, and although the shakiness may also be theatrics, I tend to attribute those two items to age. Kerber, in his 70s, was already shaking quite a bit. A big part of Kerber’s speech comes from his roots. I would like to say that his mid-western accent does not come through on the radio, but I do hear it at times. Especially with the word “war;” the “a” sound is distorted. However, because of the song-like reading, much of his accent is hidden.
The volume of his voice increases and decreases with the climax of each poem. Many of the poems include a sort of pun. He has good timing with these, as he stops and exclaims them with a different tempo. He articulates each word very well, and exaggerates many of them. I believe his articulation is so good because of his previous training. He knows how to speak so a live audience can understand him. Of every aspect of speech personality that he exhibits, he is not short of vitality. There is so much life in his performance because it matches the work that he is performing. Children are full of life, Silverstein writes for kids and the audience Kerber is looking for is child inside the adults listening to the programming and maybe one, specific kid.
Adolf Kerber doesn’t have a great success story in the way of an acting or radio career; but he is certainly celebrated within the family. I would be interested in him even if he wasn’t my grandpa. Even though I have heard the stories countless times, I can always sit and listen to him talk about how he was friends with the man that played the hobo in the woods on The Andy Griffith Show or how he had to pick up Boris Karloff, “you might know him as Frankenstein,” at the airport in Hawaii. I loved going to his apartment in Indiana and being surrounded by literature. He had a giant book of Shakespeare on music stand. Although he may have no contributed a lot to the entertainment industry, he has inspired me to look at literature, writing and the theater in ways that I certainly wouldn’t if I didn’t know him.

Cory Kindelmann
T.V. & Radio Performance
Dick Vitale
Biography:
This now 68 year old New Jersey native is to college basketball what fireworks and watermelon are to the 4th of July. Known as Dickie V to his legions of fans all over America, Dick Vitale’s coaching career started at East Rutherford High School in the late 60s. As his career progressed he went on to coach the University of Detroit and the Detroit Pistons of the NBA. Fired in 1979 as coach of the NBA Pistons he immediately took a job at the start up cable network ESPN, pairing with Jim Simpson to call its first ever college basketball game for $350 that same year. As the popularity of college basketball took off in the 80s, Vitale's fame also soared as ESPN's number one color analyst. Still working for ESPN, Dick has fan clubs on college campuses all over America and is often more popular with the fans than the game he is covering. He is famous for his catch phrases such as "DIAPER DANDY" (a freshman), screaming "THATTA WAY" after a great play or slam dunk or probably his most famous phrase “THAT’S AWSOME BABY, WITH A CAPITAL “A”. Dick is in high demand as a motivational speaker. He is also the author of several books including "Vitale: Time Out, Baby!" and "Campus Chaos: Why the Game I Love is Breaking My Heart". The Seton Hall grad currently lives in the Tampa area, with his wife Lorraine.
Interest:
There are a few reasons why I picked Dick Vitale to be my radio personal. He is very enjoyable to listen to and makes the game much more exciting. Almost every huge college game for the last 20 years Dick Vitale has been a part of. His thorough knowledge of the game is brought forth in an enthusiastic, passionate, sometimes controversial -- but never boring -- style. In February 2004, Vitale was named a finalist for induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor. But Vitale's talents and influence extend way, way beyond just game analyst. He provides commentary on a variety of topics in his "Dick Vitale's Fast Break" segment, which airs Wednesday evenings during the college basketball season on Sports Center, and serves as a college basketball analyst for ESPN Radio, including an appearance each Monday on the "Mike & Mike in the Morning" show. He has been a college basketball analyst for ABC Sports since 1988 and has covered the NBA Finals and the 1992 Summer Olympics for ABC Radio. The always-energetic Vitale is a favorite endorser among a wide array of major corporations. He's also one of the nation's most requested public speakers, providing motivational speeches to numerous leading corporations and organizations across the U.S. In 1987, he signed an exclusive contract with the Washington Speakers Bureau. Too add to his achievements Vitale is involved in numerous foundations from Cancer research to scholarship funds. Picking an all American hero was in my best interest, which is my reason for selecting such an important sports icon like Dick Vitale.

Critique:
Dick Vitale is a basketball commentator not only at the College level but for Professional as well. His main area is College Basketball, so with this brings a huge fan base. College students and viewers love his wacky personality and his corny catch phrases. Dick’s audience also includes millions of viewers watching the games on television. It is very easy to distinguish his voice. He has a deep and raspy voice that can be heard for miles. It sounds as though he has a cold all year round. Being that he is an announcer that is also seen he must have a good image. Dick is to this day to date 68 years old. With his age Dick has a graceful smile and dresses to the part. Respected by all ages, Dick Vitale gives basketball a great image.

Bilysse Buitrago
Radio & Television Performance:
Sukanya Krishnan
The first Indian woman to be working in the New York market at a local network affiliate, according to Opentopia.com, Sukanya Krishnan has done nothing short of her best; excelling gracefully through a career in broadcast.

Krishnan has had a lot of experience, and has been involved in many aspects of the industry. She started off, broadcasting in Long Island in 1994. She had a taste at jobs in shooting, writing, and editing news stories. Her time at Long Island’s WLIG learning how things connected and worked. Soon she was given the opportunity to become one of the station’s broadcast journalists. It all started with this internship, but Krishnan didn’t settle..

In 1995 Krishnan took up the positions of reporter and producer of several newscasts at ABC affiliate, WUTR-TV.

A Dickinson College graduate with a bachelor’s in Spanish, this bubbly senior class president soon began her pursuit of a career in broadcasting, said opentopia.com.

Krishnan next began work as an anchor for WHP-TV, a CBS affiliate. During her time there she was able to venture out and cover stories spanning from the floods of 1996 and their affect on Pennsylvania to TWA Flight 800.

Krishnan then made her way to WCBS-TV. It was her home from June 1997 to July 2001. Working as a general assignment reporter for the station allowed her to cover breaking news for a number of broadcasting time slots. Krishnan gained personal view ship as she aired on CBS 2’s 5p.m., 6p.m., and 11p.m. newscasts. She’s had the opportunity to work on stories concerning then-President Bill Clinton’s impeachment proceedings, actions to clean up Times Square, the Abner Louima beating, and the race by Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa to be the first to surpass Roger Maris’ single-season homerun record, said opentopia.com.

Krishnan’s hard work, has paid off. She currently enjoys the company of an Emmy Award, an Indian American Political Awareness Committee’s “Creating A Voice” Award, and a Distinguished Broadcast Journalist commendation from the Office of the comptroller of the City of New York, says the opentopia.com website. The last award commended her for her work covering the immediate aftermath of the September 11th attacks.

            Besides working in the news field, Sukanya involves herself in numerous community projects. She’s been honored for her work in both broadcast and community service. She ’s dedicated to the community and when watching her deliver the news, you can’t help but notice how much she loves what she does. She has fun and I feel as though that alone is a lesson that every journalist should learn. I’m studying to become a journalist, and I’ve realized that if you don’t care about what you’re reporting about, your audience won’t care as much as they can either whether their readers, listeners, or viewers.

            The last time I saw Sukanya Krishnan on air, she was one of the morning hosts on the WB 11 Morning News. According to opentopia.com she stayed with the station from August 2001 to late in 2003. She excavated a new offer, becoming one of the hosts of television show Home Delivery. She returned to WB 11 in 2005, picking up where she left off.

Krishnan’s personality pops off the screen. Her famous full-bodied laughs, her vibrant voic, and occasional flirting with her usual partner during the show, John Muller kept the morning news feed energetic. Simply being more herself than resorting to being not only objective, robotic, and cold, made her a success. The entire crew ‘vibed’ off of one another, welcoming you into their ‘family’ every morning from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. The WB 11 Morning News continues to thrive, and although the faces change, the type is consistent.

Krishnan, having had years of experience knew that in order to establish credibility she had to be well-groomed, dress in a neat, but not overly trendy fashion; use tones in voice that were appropriate to the story she was reporting on; put aside any accent she might have had; and research what she was going to say numerous times so that she could have the reputation of being truthful and reliable. She would never deliver news using difficult words and that only added to the trust you had in her.

When conducting live interviews, she knew to conduct herself in an unbiased, curious manner. Viewers want to hear news, and being subjective to what is being reported on may lead to losing trust held in you by the viewers.

Being an anchor is difficult. You never know what stories you’re going to be sent to cover or what hours you’ll be expected to work since news is always happening. Those willing to work hard and push to get whatever they can to make their story more intriguing and news worthy are the individuals that thrive in on-air News casting.

References:
Book: Television and Radio Announcing
Site: http://encycl.opentopia.com/term/Sukanya_Krishnan

Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem, born on April 27, 1932, in Detroit, Michigan, is an American radio personality and voice actor. He is one of the most recognized voices in American culture. The list of his works span more than most actors and certainly more than those of other voice actors. Kasem’s radio show “American Top 40" will forever be remembered as a great staple in American culture. Kasem’s career did not start with American Top 40. Kasem developed his rock‑trivia persona from his work as a disc jockey in the early 1960s at KEWB in Oakland, California. His radio career actually started in the mid 1950s in Detroit, with station WJBK. He also worked for several other stations across the country, including WBNY in Buffalo, New York, before launching the national show.

Kasem is a prominent voice‑over actor, most notably the voice of "Shaggy" in Hanna‑Barbera's Scooby‑Doo cartoons from 1969 onwards. He has done work for many other animated series, such as the voice of Robin, in the 1968 Batman cartoons and various versions of SuperFriends, the drummer Groove from The Cattanooga Cats (1969), Alexander Cabot III from Josie and the Pussycats (1970, 1972), and television specials such as Rankin‑Bass' Here Comes Peter Cottontail. Kasem has also done many TV commercial voiceovers for companies and products like A&P, Chevron, Ford, Red Lobster, Raid, Hoover vacuum cleaners, Joy dish soap, Heinz Ketchup, Sears, Prestone, Continental Airlines, the California Raisin Advisory Board, the National Cancer Institute, and promos for the NBC television network. He also played the voice of Mark, the American name of Ken Washio in Battle of the Planets, the first American version of Gatchaman, Kasem also played the voices of Bluestreak, Cliffjumper and Dr. Arkeville in the original Transformers animated series. He initially was hired as the narrator of the TV show Soap, but quit the series after the pilot due to the controversial adult themes the show promoted. He has also lent his voice on Sesame Street in the 1970s and 80s. In addition to voice‑acting, Kasem has appeared on camera on Nick‑at‑Nite on New Year's Eve from 1989 to 1998, counting down the top reruns of the year. He was once also seen on "The Late Show with David Letterman" performing a Top Ten list ‑ the Top Ten Numbers from 10 to 1. The countdown of numbers was paused at number 2 for Kasem to spoof one of his long distance dedications. David Letterman could be heard laughing loudly in the background. Additionally, he has appeared on‑camera as a co‑host of Jerry Lewis's annual Labor Day Telethon for the Muscular Dystrophy Association since 1983. Kasem also made two separate cameo appearances on the TV show Saved by the Bell in the early 1990s and one cameo appearance on the 1970s show Quincy, M.E. in the episode "An Unfriendly Radiance." In the late 70's, Kasem had a key role in the Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries two‑part episodes: The Mystery of the Hollywood Phantom Part I & Part II

Casem Kasem’s voice is one that is instantly noticeable though sometimes overlooked. He has been an almost behind the scenes voice in the fact that you may never have realized that his voice was present in many of his works. He is a purely vocal personality. The fact that the visual television shows he did were not successful is a testament to the power of his voice. I had not realized that he was the voice of so many things. For example, Shaggy from “Scooby Doo.” However when I went back and listened to some of the cartoons it was instantly recognizable as him. I was discussing this paper with my brother and when I told him who it was about he instantly said what I was thinking about Kasem. He said that it reminded him of car trips to our grandparent’s house in Pennsylvania. The American Top 40 countdown was on Sundays and that would be the day we would return. The countdown was always on. Kasem almost seems as a part of our trip when I look back. This association with the drive shows just how powerful the use of radio can be on an individual. Similarly it demonstrates the voice as a distinct characteristic of an individual.

Jennifer Farley

2/27/08

Film and radio performance

Biography from Wikipedia

Early life

Hamilton's acting debut came first with guest starring appearances on television, followed by a major role as Lisa Rogers in the prime-time soap opera Secrets of Midland Heights (1980). Hamilton's film debut was a lead role in the horror film Children of the Corn. The movie was panned by critics, but it made a profit at the box office, and had a strong cult following. Hamilton's next role was in The Terminator in 1984. The movie was a huge commercial success. Following The Terminator, Hamilton starred in Black Moon Rising, an action thriller starring Tommy Lee Jones. She then returned to television in the mystery comedy Murder, She Wrote, scoring favorable reviews.
Hamilton then starred opposite Ron Perlman in the TV series Beauty and the Beast. The series was critically-acclaimed and she received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. Hamilton left the series in 1989. After the series ended in 1990, Hamilton went back to the big screen with the follow-up to The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The film was a smash at the box office, grossing over 500 million, and becoming the highest grossing film of 1991. Her identical twin sister Leslie Hamilton Gearren was Linda's double in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Hamilton reprised her Terminator 2 character, Sarah Connor, for the theme park attraction "T2-3D".
Due to the success of the Terminator series, Hamilton hosted Saturday Night Live. She then returned to television in A Mother's Prayer playing a mother who lost her husband and is diagnosed with AIDS. She earned yet another Golden Globe nomination. That same year, Hamilton filmed two motion pictures, Shadow Conspiracy and Dante's Peak. Shadow Conspiracy flopped at the box office, but Dante's Peak opened in at number two with an opening gross of 18 million, going on to gross 180 million. Hamilton has since appeared on Frasier and has done more TV movies, including On the Line, Robots Rising, Rescuers: Stories of Courage: Two Couples, Point Last Seen, and The Color of Courage.

Personal life

Hamilton has been married and divorced twice. Her first marriage was to Bruce Abbott, from 1982 to 1989. They had a son, Dalton Abbott, born on October 4, 1989. Her second marriage was to film director James Cameron from 1997 to 1999; they had a daughter, Josephine Archer Cameron, born on February 15, 1993. They divorced after Linda discovered he was having an affair with actress Suzy Amis during the making of the movie Titanic, the end result of that affair netted Linda an 80 million dollar divorce settlement.
Hamilton appeared on the October 14, 2005, episode of Larry King Live to reveal that she suffered from bipolar disorder. She revealed that her condition destroyed her marriage to her first husband, Bruce Abbott, and she said that she abused him verbally and physically. Linda said that it was her love for her two children that finally forced her to seek treatment and she began taking medication in 1996. Linda says that she will always be grateful she chose treatment and regrets the pain it caused those she loves. She also denied ever having married Peter Horton, despite Internet rumors to the contrary.[3]
Hamilton is good friends with former Beauty and the Beast co-star Ron Perlman. They reunited in the post-Vietnam war drama Missing in America.

Awards

Filmography

Linda Hamilton is a well rounded actress who fully explores all of both the physical and mental relms of each character she creates. For the character of Sarah Conner in Terminator 2:Judgement Day she did rigorous physical training to make her body look as though she had in fact been living the life of Sarah Conner and making herself into a soldier. She even hired a trainer to teach her how to move like soldier and handle weapons so that everything in her performance would be genuine.
Beside her amazing ability to physically become a character Hamilton also brings so much commitment and work to the mental and emotional aspects to her characters. She was able to portray Conner as a mentally disturbed women, who had obviously been suffering from a lot of trauma from her first encounter with a terminator and was still able to keep her fluid and diverse enough that she was also a strong and effective soldier as well as a devoted and protective mother. Hamilton’s acting ability and her understanding of the character of Sarah Conner also enabled her to give an amazing voice-over performance with no experience.
The voice of Sarah Conner creates a powerful beginning to the movie Terminator 2 which instantly draws us in to a world where the distruction of human-kind is very real and a past nuclear storm is very evident. The forboding images James Cameron projects for us would not be as commanding had it not been for Hamilton’s voice in the backround reciting the setting’s history in a voice that had an even, calm composure to it, giving it a somewhat creepy quality, but was also clearly of someone who had been beaten down and was practically devoid of all hope.
Cameron states in the DVD commentary on the director’s cut of Terminator 2 that he was very happy with Hamilton’s voice over, saying that she was able to portray Sarah Conner’s trauma, inner battles and lack of hope through a voice that was so deadpan, yet sad. It is always steady, and every sentence that is delivered is strong and relevant. This shows proof of Hamilton using proper breath control and annunciation techniques, so no words are lost and she never sounds rushed or too emotional.
Hamilton’s voice is used several other times throughout the movie, providing us with Conner’s inner thoughts, every time the same voice is used. This allows us to a glimpse of Conner’s emotions and how she must try to keep her emotions neutral in order from going completely crazy. The only point where this quality shows a hint of change is the very last sentence where Conner speaks of a terminator learning the value of human life, here there is the smallest evidence that by going through this ordeal Conner may have found some semblance of peace and is therefore allowing herself a little bit of hope for the future. So after a deadpan hopeless beginning to draw us in this last inflection allows us to leave this movie not feeling sad but hopeful, reflective or even happy.

Maria Fouad
TV Personality
Mofeed Fawzy
Mofeed Fawzy is a very well known Egyptian anchor not only in Egypt but also in the Middle East and among all Arabs.
He was this shy young man coming from my home town Beni Seuf. He had such a tough unhappy childhood. His parents considered any type of playing as ‘pampering’ which was inappropriate. Hence, he totally induced himself in reading. The Book was his only friend in life. He was very naïve. He never knew about anything in real life till he moved to the capital Cairo.
He started off as a journalist in one of the top newspapers in Egypt writing was never in his plans. But he was inspired by a book called “Iran on top of a volcano” by Hassan Heikal. In an interview with him he said: “It took me to the true meaning of 'the word' and the beauty of letters and from here was the start.” Then there was the shift to being an anchor with a microphone in front of a camera instead of a journalist with a pen which was dramatically different. He used to be an editor to a TV program when the interviewer was late and when the director decided to replace him by Fawzy, which made him very nervous.
Mofeed Fawzy now has a TV show called “City Talk” running for over 15 years in Channel 1 in the Egyptian national TV. He writes a weekly article in the newspaper he started off with. And he has a Radio show on the same radio station of Osama Monir my radio personality.
He is a very controversial character. Some really admire him and some others hate him for various reasons. Some hate his personality; some hate his sarcastic way in presenting important issues on TV; and many others hate him because they think he is an extreme Christian trying to ruin the image of Islam and Muslims everywhere.
Yet I certainly believe he is the most challenging interviewer in the Arab world.
He always brings up the hottest and most argumentative issues going around the Arab world. He analyzes them carefully, evaluating every aspect that may have any correlation with it and goes down to the streets and gets people’s opinions about the matter. He doesn’t stop at that point; he interviews politicians, religious leaders, celebrities and all those who may be concerned. He met almost everyone in Egypt starting from the president to a man under the poverty line. He is never afraid of speaking up, of criticizing the mess happening in the country, of opening taboo issues which is not familiar in Egypt. Yes we do have freedom of speech yet it is limited to some extent. That is why I believe he’s such a powerful effective interviewer in the Egyptian television.
He looks kind of scary, sometimes funny with his dark glasses and his wig; he has a strange voice and such a creepy way of interviewing people. Yet he touches upon very sensitive issues and gets the answers to his audience questions. He is always aggressive, offensive; sometimes he doesn’t really have the right words to explain his point. He loves to interrupt his interviewee even with just a ‘yes’. He is always attacking. He loves to embarrass people. He sits very close to his interviewee. He is very touchy. Sometimes he asks questions that may not have any point with what he’s talking about. Some times he is a hypocrite. But again he succeeded in grabbing people’s attention to watch his show. Many don’t change the channel for like half hour before the show starts just to catch it from the very beginning of it.

            Conan O’ Brien does an excellent job in creating a whirlwind of humor that sweeps his audience off their feet and into a meat grinder of hysteria. The first thing about him that makes me feel giddy is his hair. It flops around like an orange field of swaying wheat grasses in a cool September dusk. In fact his image in general is a huge part of where his humor comes from. This seems to be the case with many night show hosts. David Letterman has the space in between his teeth, Jay Leno has the huge chin, each of them has a defining characteristic, which makes them look slightly wrong, but in the right way. In addition Conan has a blank and uncharacteristic face, which he often makes fun of.
            That’s another great thing that Conan does, he makes fun of himself to the audience in a way that doesn’t discredit him, and in fact makes him look even better. Also, like in this clip from his show, he makes fun of the audience. Pointing out that the people of Finland love him, finding someone from Finland in the audience, and then interrupting her when she’s about to talk about Finland’s obsession with him. His jokes are wise, sarcastic, and light-hearted all at the same time.
            Although a lot of his talent seems natural, he did not go uneducated. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard and was the president of the Harvard Lampoon, a humor magazine. His hard work landed him a spot on Saturday Night Live where he was credited with the sketches, “Mr. Short Term Memory,” and, “The Girl Watchers.” However after Saturday Night Live his career entered a slump, which he only came out of by writing for the Simpson’s. The most famous of his episodes being, “Marge vs. the Monorail.” However, despite his success on the show he took a risky move and decided to leave the Simpson’s and start The Conan O’ Brien show as suggested by Lorne Michaels.
            The show got off to an extremely shaky start for Conan and his soon to be removed sidekick Andy Richter. The first three years of the show were considered the dark ages, as the ratings were lower than they could possibly be. O’ Brien was so nervous on stage in fact, that his opening sketch used to be an animated version of himself sweating, nervously straightening his tie, and wiping his eyebrow. But now he has gained enough experience to have a ridiculous amount of control over his audience and puts on a great show every night. And once again he still makes fun of himself. On his tenth anniversary show he had Mr. T come out with a big number seven hanging from his necklace. When told that he had been on the air for ten years Conan responded by saying, “Yeah, but I was only funny for seven.”
            All in all, his physical appearance, in combination with his sense of humor, and the mannerisms he does such as cocking his head, flipping his hair, and immediately putting on a serious face create an incredibly hilarious show. It is no question why he’s achieved the success he has.

David Gerber
TV and Radio Performance
Julia Keefer
March
                                                Chris Hansen: To Catch a Predator

            Chris Hansen and the law work hand in hand. This is because he is the star of the show “To Catch a Predator”. Their mission is to catch internet predators who are searching for young teens to perform sexual actions upon. This is an excellent way to catch several sexual deviants in the northern Florida area, which is where it is based. Even though it is there, people drive several hours to the house where the show is based hoping to be with a young girl.
            The process is they have undercover police chat on the internet and contact random men. Usually these men lie about their age and location to sound more attractive. What they do next is go into a private chat with the sexual predator, who is talking to what they believe is a 13 year old girl who lives in Northern Florida. They usually chat for several days about anything because the men try to make sure it is actually a 13 year old girl rather than a cop. After a few days of chatting the man usually says something such as I am bored we should meet. The chatting becomes more intense and sexual based. Sometimes the men send the undercover cops pornographic pictures or videos of themselves. Eventually they set up a time and place to meet up. The location is usually a home that is used specifically for this. The man arrives to the house, knocks on the door and a younger girl answers the door and says come on in. They enter the kitchen and the girl says something along the lines of let me put something more comfortable on or let me put on my bathing suit. Once she disappears from the picture the one and only Chris Hansen appears and sometimes the men recognize who he is. The show is quite comical as well even though it should not be because the way the predators deny what their intentions were after what they said online. Chris speaks with the predator and asks them what they are doing. He asks why they are there and what they wanted to do. Some tell the truth and some make up ridiculous stories, such as one man who claimed that he showed up in order to tell the girls mother what she was doing. He said this after making several sexual remarks to her on the internet. Some as straight forward as “I can’t wait to have sex with you.” That is the comical side of the show. After they speak for a few minutes, Chris lets them go. When they step outside of the house they are immediately met by the police who take the predator to the ground and arrest him.
            What Chris does really helps the world because I am sure that this television show can discourage many people from making bad decisions and trying to have sex with a young teen. Also, it makes fools out of these people who really deserve it. Because what they are doing is so horrific, they are receiving a much more harsh punishment of embarrassment along with whatever their jail sentence is. Chris Hansen is a very popular character.

            Howard Stern is one of the most recognizable radio personality’s that has ever existed in the business. Not only is the highest paid radio personality in the world, but also he is the most fined. There are plethoras of character traits he possesses that make him as interesting and successful as he is. His “say anything” style coupled with his lack of respect for any censorship guidelines have guided his career in a very unique direction.
            His first big break was working at NBC where he would often discuss awkward sexual topics, problems with his own staff, and other non-conventional things. David Letterman who was working at NBC at the time grew fond of his show and featured him on his own show giving Howard Stern a huge boost in his audience numbers. The line, in NBC’s eyes that is, was crossed when he performed a sketch on his show called “Bestiality Dial-A-Date,” and he joined rival radio station WXRK. It was not just that sketch alone that severed relations between NBC and him, but that coupled with long standing strife’s concerning censorship that he explained in his auto-biography, “Private parts,” that eventually ended his job there. Stern was extremely influential however, and despite his fallout with NBC, he had the strongest Arbitron numbers in the country, and most stations that he was played on received three times the amount of listeners during his show than during the rest of the day.
            His laid back and “careless” style are his trademarks, and his obsession with sex, porn stars, and all things risqué were what kept his audience intact. After years in the radio business, he signed with Sirius satellite radio so that he could do his show completely uncensored. He got the subscriber quota that Sirius had requested and as a result his show received $500 million dollars from Sirius and it is still played today.
            This goes to show that although you might not play the game that your employer wants you too, if you gain control of the people you gain enough power to exist as your own personality. Most DJ’s have not been able to do what Howard Stern has done, but that is what makes him so great. He is so non-chalant about his inappropriate topics that it gives it a comical and relaxed feel to his show. He tackles embarrassing and strange issues that everyone wants to listen to but won’t admit it. But through his career in radio, Howard has been named one of the most influential people in the world, written the number one best selling book in Simon & Schuster’s history, ran a three-year long TV show, and all around become one of the most recognizable people in entertainment history. Props to him.

Jim Brennan
T.V Radio Performance essay
February 28th 2008
Rush Limbaugh

Rush Limbaugh, need it be said more. The name stands for so much. His name is a common moniker for anyone overly conservative. If one makes a right wing comment they might be called a regular Rush Limbaugh. When formulating a character such as Rush Limbaugh it is impossible to do it objectively it is only possible subjectively. The subjective realm is where emotion is and that is what one is after as an actor. Rush Limbaugh is a nasty ignorant man who uses sensationalism to attract an equally ignorant viewer ship.

Rush Limbaugh dropped out of college after 2 semesters because he was failing every subject. Limbaugh comes from a family of lawyers including his grandfather, father, and brother. After dropping out of college in the 1970’s Limbaugh bounced around jobs in the entertainment field. He worked as a disc jockey for Pennsylvania’s radio station WIXZ. In the late seventies he worked as a promoter for the Kansas City Royals baseball team. However, once the eighties came, Rush Limbaugh started to do radio, this time as a conservative sensationalist first in Sacramento California; later in 1988 he moved his show to New York where he still practices his radio show today. By 1994 Rush had more listeners then any other talk radio show host in the nation. Today Rush’s show The Rush Limbaugh Show runs noon till 3 o’clock. Limbaugh is particularly prejudice against environmentalist and feminist; He calls people into the environment “environmentalist wackos”, and he calls feminist ugly women who wanted more attention from society. Rush’s negative attitude toward women has lead to him having three divorces. He thrives in the hate of others.
            Limbaugh’s tactic for intriguing viewers stems from his bold sensational comments that he jokes as Rush quotes. However, Rush Limbaugh real gain of popularity stems from hatred. The dynamics of the show are born of hate, spite, and intolerance of other people lives. He has the up most respect for himself and no respect for anyone else. This is the key point in capturing the essence of Rush Limbaugh is you must presume everyone is dumber a less important then you are; you must feel like everyone also loves you for being who you are. Rush Limbaugh does not look at things objectively so in portraying Rush reframe from trying to make sense of things. As Rush you must also not lets others make sense of things for you, if they do don’t go down without a fight. When other people are speaking to you don’t listen, instead think of what you are going to say next because what you’re thinking of is far more important then what anybody else can think of, after all you are Rush Limbaugh you don’t need to listen to anyone.
            Rush Limbaugh is entertaining above all things to maintain the audience he receives, which is one of the largest audiences of anyone in radio. Part of the reason for this is Limbaugh’s confidence a good example of this is when Limbaugh said “the only way to rid of nuclear weapons is to start using them” (Kurtzman). This is statement is a microcosm of the Limbaugh mentality. No buddy can push me around and I can push everyone else around. At no point does Rush ever consider his fearlessness is just plain stupidity.
            Limbaugh’s audience is predominately made up of like minded people. These people are also fearless and stupid and are sure that no one else is going to push them around. These are the people who like getting angry when the listen to the radio. Limbaugh brings out the hate that his audience wants. Limbaugh runs an angry broadcast, however, what is the most important element is the fact that his audience gets angry. In any form of performance if your audience is not feeling anything the performer is in trouble.
            While hating Rush Limbaugh is second nature for those who have a sense of reason one can not deny his charisma. He is famous because he makes people believe in his cause and reaffirm his listener’s causes; He does this with charisma. Limbaugh talks in a deep angry voice. He sits in a chair in front of a microphone. The movement Limbaugh makes during his broadcast parallels the amount of rants/anecdotes that he does on his broadcast. The more angry and or passionate he gets about a subject the more movement he does in his chair.
            Rush Limbaugh has been doing his current radio broadcast for 20 years. He is a genuine conservative with charisma. Acting as Limbaugh requires feeling as an ultra conservative and doing it with charisma.

Works Cited
Kurtzman, Daniel.Rush Limbaugh Quotes:The Dumbest Things that Rush Limbaugh Has Ever Said. http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/rushlimbaugh/a/limbaughquotes.htm
The Rush Limbaugh Show. http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_022708/content/01125100.guest.html

Radio in Egypt was known as the most popular means of entertainment even after TV was invented basically because not many people owned TV. Only those from the upper class owned it, and would still rather listen to the radio than watch TV. Later on, the trend of people buying TV has increased. On the other hand, the use of radio in any Egyptian house was almost deteriorated. Only the very old generation like our grandparents was still into using radio. However, due to globalization and technology, new radio stations opened and started launching their entertainment programs heavily in order to attract people to get to listen to radio again. Fortunately it worked. You could easily notice people listening to radio in their cars. Now it got even more popular and people tend to buy cell phones that have an option for radio.
            One of the shows on one of the stations (FM 100.6) is called I, the stars, and your love (Ana wel nugoom w hawak) has become very popular in such a short period of time. It basically tackles one specific issue: LOVE. Everything related to love is discussed in this program yet within the culture limitations of norms, traditions and taboos.
            Osama Monir is the anchor or the host of this show. He anchors other shows on TV, but that’s his most popular show and that was his masterpiece that opened other career opportunities for him. He has a bachelor in literature. He used to sing since her was in high school then he joined the Arabic Music Institution in Egypt. Later he moved to Australia and after he came back to Egypt he started off with ads on the radio. Then his first real start was FM. In a poll in one of the most popular magazines for youth in Egypt, his show was rated as the best radio show for two consecutive years 2004, 2005. He was also rated as the best radio character for the year 2005.
            In an interview with Monir, he explained that he only discussed love matters because we’re missing love and because there are other shows discussing all other social aspects in life. When he was asked if he easily accepted to be a love councilor in such a famous show, he replied that it was never easy and that he always bases his judgments partially on his own experience and definitely considering the norms and the values of the Egyptian society.
            However, this show started to be such a controversial issue. Many people, mostly girls, liked it and always call and talk to him about their problems despite the fact that the show runs two ours starting from 1:00 am. Several others, mostly males, hate the show and consider it some trivial time wasting show of no use. While I was trying to search for some episodes of the show, I found many males asking on blogs about certain episodes and really concerned to get them as soon as possible. I would suggest that it is because of the Egyptian culture and how guys who would admit to listen to the show or call Monir live to ask about their love issues would be considered immature.
            Many have argued about Monir’s voice. Some just love to hear him speaking and some would immediately turn off the radio. He has a very deep chest resonance and he varies his pitch according to the situation. He’s voice is very smooth and warm because he talks about love. Also the fact that the show runs very late makes it feel like it’s the fairytale of the night. In addition, as I mentioned before most of his audience are females and they would love such a voice. When he reads some poem in the middle of the show it’s even smoother and warmer. He sounds very passionate about everysingle word he says. He also sounds very caring about those who call and sometime cry on phone because of their love problems. However, it’s only in this show that his voice sounds that smooth and warm. In his other shows on TV, it’s a different story because he’s mostly addressing political and social issues, so his late radios show voice wouldn’t work well with that. It doesn’t mean that he tries to cat, it’s just a matter of how he takes a very good control of his voice. All this make him a very good radio character.

Car rides as a kid meant two things to me; pokes and jabs from siblings and National Public Radio. For the most part, I despised both of these things, with exception to one hour a week on Sunday mornings. From 11am – 12pm Sundays, Car Talk was on. The car-help talk show is hosted by Tom and Ray Magliozzi, more commonly known as “Click and Clack, the Tappet brothers”.

Car Talk was first broadcast in 1977 out of WBUR Boston, Massachusetts. Ten years later it was picked up by National Public Radio and that is where it has been ever since. It is the highest rated and most finically successful show on public radio in the United States. Every week, the show is heard in over 370 cities by over two million listeners.

The hosts, Tom and Ray Magliozzi, are both graduates of MIT. Ray received his degree in general science, while Tom received his in chemical engineering and then earned a MBA and DBA from the Boston University Graduate School of Management. Both Tom and Ray worked as auto mechanics for many years and have what seems like an endless amount of car knowledge.

The show usually has a fairly consistent format. To open the show, the Magliozzis usually do a two or three minute bit about any sort of current event, an article they have read, or maybe something that has happened to them lately at home. At this time, they usually tend to play on the brother theme and poke fun at each other, their show, and just about anything else. Many times they will make observations about things that have come up in their run-ins with their callers. This intro to the show sounds very impromptu and unplanned, but when really looking at it, the general format of the conversation is obviously very well thought through. Many of their conversations that seem to be nonchalant actually involve a fair deal of statistics, facts, and research. This is one of the reasons this show has had so much success, they make the deliberate and planned material sound like regular conversation.

            The meat and potatoes of Car Talk are the calls from the viewers. Each episode, Ray and Tom will take as many calls as time will allow from listeners about their car problems, whatever they may be. Usually the callers’ questions are about mechanical problems with their cars. Ray and Tom often will give opposing views on what is wrong for most of the call and slowly come to a similar conclusion, while not fearing a few laughs with the caller along the way. The brothers tend to utilize lots of noises to get a full grasp of the problem. For example, they might go “Ok, so does the engine give more of a hum, ‘hummmmmmmumumumummm,’ or a thump, like a, ‘ku-ku-ku-ku-thump ku-ku-ku-ku-thump,’?”. Also, Ray and Tom may resort to gags. When they are really stumped, they may spin a wheel to try and figure out the problem with the car. This gag usually results in a lot laughs, but very few tangible results.

            Another sub-section of the caller portion of the show is the “Stump-the-Chumps” section of the show. During this weekly segment, the Magliozzi brothers will bring back a particularly interesting past caller and they will find out whether or not the advice that they gave to them was correct or not. Often times during this part the brothers will go back and forth blaming each other for their errors and eventually brake down in laughter. If the caller successfully manages to “Stump-the-Chumps”, they will get some sort of prize, whether it be a book, hat, or a t-shirt.

The final portion of the show is the “Puzzler”. Every week, the brothers will give out a puzzling question for the listeners to try and answer. Additionally, they will answer the puzzler from the prior show.

The success of Car Talk has a lot to do with the way in which they deliver themselves. The combination of the brothers’ slight Boston accent and the smart, deliberate, and emphasized use of the English language makes them very easy to listen to and relatable to a wide audience. While most advice shows get overwhelming to the uneducated listeners, the Magliozzis make extreme efforts to keep humor going to engage all their listeners at all times, even if they don’t fully understand what they are talking about. This tone of the show is what has caused its great success in the past and is what will continue it for years to come.

Bilysse Buitrago
TV & Radio Performance

Chris Philips -UK
In 1989, incremental music stations began to surface in London. Chris Philips found to on the position of drive-time host for Jazz FM and co-hosted for the late night show ‘Something Else’. The show was something unique and unprecedented so soon enough it became one of the most successful independent radio production companies in the world. Philips remained with Jazz FM until 2006 when he joined Kiss 100 FM. Due to his laid back and almost always amused voice, he earned a large fan base, and brought new listeners to the daytime slots that delivered the Kiss brand.

He’s a big fan of urban music and plays a blend of soul, hip-hop, R&B, house, and dance. Philips, as the popular styles of music are always changing, is always looking out for new flavors of music and can currently be heard on weekend nights streaming live on choicefm.com, in America, and 96.9 and 107.1 FM in London and surrounding cities.
Aside from radio, Philips is a big fan of football/soccer. He holds, now the position of director of a football team in London, and is often found working at AFC Wimbledon. At games, Philips plays the role of stadium host and during breaks plays his personal eclectic mix of music. The club was created shortly after the loss of Wimbledon FC to Milton Keynes, to build up the spirits of London’s football fans.

Currently the Choice FM team is working on a project entitiled “Peace on the Streets. It’s a campaign against violence in their community. There’s a major problem with gun and knife attacks and as a way to encourage youth to veer away from resorting to violence, they’ve contacted various musical idols to come in and speak against violence. Famous guests so far have been Chris Brown, Mya, Soulja Boy, among others. On their site, the station has posted photos of their guests wearing Peace in the Streets tee shirts. Apart from having speakers, Choice has also reached out by having the youth call in with stories of what they’ve done to improve the community.

I chose Chris because I met him randomly on America Online’s Instant Messaging program. He sent me a message and I didn’t recognize his screen name. So I responded and before long, we were friends. It all started with a small mix-up. An old friend of his had been using my screen name for years, and now I had it. Chris introduced himself, sending links to his site and I thought it was amazing how I made friends with someone in London, just by signing online. I ventured through the site and listened to the music. I personally like the image that Choice conveys over the site, and I like that it gives me a look into what music listeners enjoy hearing in his part of the world.

Changes I would make would be the music. I’m not a big fan of R&B, soul, and hip-hop, but everyone has their taste. It seems to me that Choice FM is the equivalent of our Z100.

I also chose this particular individual, because he was the first to introduce me to London culture. Besides that, I love the British accent.
When listening to Chris, he has great pitch variety, his voice is clear. I would assume he isn’t a smoker because he sounds young. He’s been a DJ for almost as long as I’ve been alive, so I’m sure he’s learned to improve on whatever he needed to work on over the years, but there are DJs who think that their weaknesses are their “style” of DJ-ing. Going more into how he speaks, his volume is very balanced, and may be because of his mic consciousness. If he changed his volume too much, it would affect how far away he’d be from the mic.

His energy, or Vitality, is appropriate. It ranges like his volume does, never too quick and abrupt, but gradual and in good taste. Given his accent, the expression of sibilance (s,sh,z) and plosives (p,b,t,d,k,g) is very different. I’m still working on getting them right, but it seems that more emphasis is put on o’s, a’s, and e’s.
(o: AW-xygen, a: Ah-loo-min-ium, e: E-conomics)
Overall, it’s been fun attempting to mimic this accent and I hope that I wouldn’t insult someone who actually was British. The reaction I would prefer toward my attempt at the accent? A laugh or giggle would suffice.

To listen your number one place for hip-hop and R&B, and Chris Philips of course…
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=61452710

Harrison Waxenberg
Radio and TV Performance 2008
Conan O’ Brien TV Personality

            Radio was what everyone listened to before television came out. The family gathered around and listened to there favorite radio programs. There are music DJs and talk radio personalities, each with there own story and own way of communicating to the public. Sometimes you don’t get the full personal feeling of a music DJ, but with a talk radio personality you can really see what they are about and how there minds work. You spend time with them and they become a part of you while you are commuting to work or sitting around the house. It’s like you get to know them, but they never get to know you personally, but often it seems like they are talking right to you. One talk radio personality that is full of energy and has real passion for what he does is Curtis Sliwa.
            Curtis Sliwa was born on March 26, 1954 Canarsie, Brooklyn, New York. Sliwa is a bold spirit with a lust for life and has amazing energy. Curtis Sliwa is a New Yorker in the truest sense of the word. Before Sliwa started his talk radio career he founded the organization known as the Guardian Angels. This group was originally created to combat violence and crime on the New York City subways. Sliwa says that, "It seemed that government and public safety elements were inept almost like they were saying we give up. We can't handle it. We can't govern this city." His strong political views couldn’t be kept to himself. So he decided to get his voice out there. Sliwa became a popular conservative talk radio host using his “gift of gab rapid fire speaking style” to convey his message of justice and truth. He had a talk show on WABC – AM in the early 1990s, but that show was cancelled after an assassination attempt on his life on June 19, 1992. Sliwa’s fight against violence and his distaste of crime cause members of the mafia to get in an uproar. They decided to try to shut his mouth for good. After this failed assassination attempt and the cancellation of his talk show on WABC you might think that he might have stopped, but that’s not the case. Thanks to his friend and at the time mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani, Sliwa was able to get back on the air on WNYC. That is not were it ended, in 2000 Cutis Sliwa teamed up with Ron Kuby for there morning show on WABC called “Curtis and Kuby in the Morning.” He also doesn’t just stay on radio, the Curtis and Kuby team had there own show on MSNBC. After Don Imus returned to WABC in late 2007 the Curtis and Kuby show was replaced by his morning show, but Sliwa stayed on to host the 5:00 hour.
            Curtis has a great voice for radio and speaking in general. He has a strong voice and by listening to him you can tell that he is passionate. He has a deep and strong resonance which makes him feel powerful and makes what he is saying sound believable. He doesn’t talk down to the listeners and makes it so they understand what he is saying. He wants people to understand so that they will agree and support his cause, he is not looking to push people away, he is trying to be more human and realistic. One of the things that makes him seem more human, rather than just a bodiless voice that comes out over your car speakers, is that he has this New York accent. So because he is a real New Yorker and is involved with the community, he is able to relate to the people that are listening. In general people hate violence and crime and Sliwa talks about fighting it and is currently participating in the stopping of crime and violence. His pride for his country and community and the fact that he doesn’t show fear, even when faced with death and people that are out to get him make you want to listen and trust him. I really think that because he didn’t go straight into radio in his life and focused on the creation of the Guardian Angels and his political views and getting himself out there gave him the time he need to really become a good speaker and radio personality.
            Radio has been around for ages and it is not going anywhere anytime soon. Yes, television has become popular way to get information and entertainment, but radio is a wonderful medium to get what you want also. There is this mystery that comes with listening to the radio. You might grow to love a certain personality, but you might not even know what they look like. Radio is much more imaginative then television. People on the radio have to work twice as hard to get your attention and keep it. They have to create an image in your head and persuade you. Radio is a truly wonderful tool.

            Television and film is a huge part of our lives today. We wake up in the morning and turn the television on to get the weather and morning news. We watch daytime soup operas, and the whole family watches a movie together at night, many people fall asleep watching late night programming. We love to leave our lives behind for a short time and drift away from reality. Actors and actresses play characters to relay a message or for our pure entertainment. There are both serious movies and television about real life situations and there are fun loving comedy movies and television that give us a much needed laugh. One actor that focuses more on a comedic career and is very entertaining and great to watch is Jack Black.
            Jack Black was born in Hermosa California on August 28th 1969. He had a hard time in school and was struggling with conventional schooling. So he entered the Poseidon School a private secondary school for people in his position. He attended UCLA but dropped out to pursue a life in the entertainment business.   Black started his career on primetime televisions roles and small spots in movies in the early 1990s. Small roles in movies like Bob Roberts and Enemy of the State and High Fidelity gave him a great jump off point in movies. He also appeared in televisions shows like HBO’s series Mr. Show, did a voice over for The Simpsons and stared in a HBO series called Tenacious D. By the 2000s Jack Black was making a name for himself in lead roles in comedic movies such as Shallow Hal, Orange County and School of Rock. He also had major roles in dramas such as The Holiday and the remake of King Kong. He is also a member of the “Frat Pack.” This is a group of male comedians that have been in many movies together. The group consists of Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, Steve Carell and of course Jack Black. Being part of this group has given him many options in the film business and helped his name get out there to the mass public.
            Jack Black is not just known as an actor, he is also a musician. He formed a band with Kyle Gass, a fellow actor that at first was threatened by Jack Black’s performance ability. They worked out a compromise in their beginnings, Gass taught Black to play the guitar, while in return Black helped Gass work on his acting abilities. The band has spawned a short series on HBO self titled Tenacious D and one feature film Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny. Both are focused around the start and career of the band, seen in a very comedic way.
            Jack Black’s performance style is quite unique, memorable, and hilarious. He often changes the tone of his voice while talking to get attention from the audience and also his fellow actors. He will go all out and shout with happiness or anger, get up in your face and make you feel energized or he can get very quiet when he wants to be secretive, seductive and mysterious. And this change can happen in the blink of an eye. When he is on screen he steals the camera and you get mesmerized by his presence. His voice is not the only thing that you will notice; you will be captivated by the way Black moves when he is on screen. It is almost spastic, but it is great and wild. Black gets his point across with his body movement and you can tell what he is all about during any specific scene. You can tell when he is excited, angry, disappointed, or flustered and speechless.
            No matter what you like or are interested in, you most likely have a movie or television show that you relate to or just really like. Television took the place of the radio. For the first time you were able to listen and watch at the same time. Instead of having to imagine what the people looked like or acted like you were able to see for yourself. And film has become so massive that you can watch practically anything. Our culture craves entertainment and we get it from television and film.

“Yes, and the foul,” is one of the most well known sports broadcasters quotes ever said by Marv Albert. The prosperous broadcaster has done so much in his life and has been the voice of hundreds of professional basketball games. Marv Phillip Albert (Aufrichtig) was born June 12, 1941 in Brooklyn, New York. Marv has been married twice and is now married with Heather Faulkiner and has 4 children with his first wife. Marv is known for his large and outgoing personality. Also, he is highly recognized from the humongous voice that comes from a man with a smaller stature.
When listening to this man give the play by play of virtually every basketball I have watched or listened to over the radio I feel like I am there. He has an incredible amount of enthusiasm in his voice regardless of what is happening in the game. He speaks with a deeper voice than expected from his look but when listening to him a viewer would never expect him to look the way he does. This loud and outrageous voice is recognized by any sports fan. He is just as famous as many of the players if not better known then most of them. Growing up by age five I knew who this man was and could recognize his voice. “I don't really think that Reggie is going to need that much help. It's more in the area of the subtle aspects of working broadcasts.” This is a memorable quote referring to the star basketball player Reggie Miller who had a lot of experience with Marv Albert.    “It's impossible to work under conditions where they confused negativity with objectivity. You can't fool the fans.” He is also a man of truth.

“It will always be a special place. I'm looking forward to it.” As a man of inspirational belief. “We may have the best-shooting backcourt in the NBA.” And he is also a man of statistics. “I have resigned from MSG (Madison Square Garden Network) and have been let go from NBC. I fully understand the position in which the networks found themselves due to my very painful situation. In the interest of my family, my friends and my many supporters, I step aside with deep humility and seek to reconstruct my personal and professional life.” This was to show his honorable side after a run in with the law. “I think this is going do extremely well. They'll pack the place, I don't think there is any doubt about it.” And this last quote shows his knowledge of every aspect of the game. Marv is one of the most knowledgeable men involved in the sport of basketball.
            When listening to Marv’s voice it puts you in the seat of the game. The pitch of his voice is like I said earlier very low pitched. He has a distinct New York accent especially the Bronx. He has a large voice for the little man that he is. His appearance is usually a suit with a thick head of hair (possibly a wig) worn as a comb over. He pulls it off well. He has a funny sense of humor which makes the game more entertaining. When watching him announce a game the game becomes more fun and exhilarating. His humor adds a lot too it as well. He has produced several VHS videos through out the nineties of amazing dunks and outrageous plays. These are videos that were very popular during the nineties that he hosts and plays clips of memorable moments in the NBA (national basketball association). I can remember growing up and thinking about how entertaining and hysterical this man was.
            Marv Albert is a very interesting celebrity to research because he is not as much as a celebrity as the players or an actor. He is more a people person or an ordinary person rather than a celebrity who is not concerned with the general public. Most celebrities put themselves on a pedestal above the general population of the world .The believe they are superior to all and do not need the rest. Marv is not this typical description of a celebrity. He is a legitimate person who acts this way at all times. He is fun to watch during any scene and is one of the most well known commentators in the world.
Information taken from the following sites:
http://thinkexist.com/quotes/marv_albert/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0016548/bio
Youtube Link:

Jim Brennan
Radio TV Performance
March 13, 2008
Jon Stewart
            Jon Stewart is currently acknowledged as both a force in media as well as comedy. He delivers the “fake news” on his show The Daily Show. The title fake news is ironic because what the show does is satire of the media and government. The satire of The Daily Show exposes insincerity or the “fakeness” in the media and government. The show is large based on contradictions of facts presented by the media and then exploiting them through satire resulting in comedy. Stewart is successful at maintaining a substantial (nearly 2.5 million viewers a night) audience because he both enlightens the audience and entertains them (www.thedailyshow.com).
            Stewart grew up in Laurence New Jersey as the son of physics professor; his birth name is Jonathan Leibowitz. Stewart graduated from the college of William and Marry as a psychology major. During Stewart’s time in college he played on the soccer team; today the soccer team awards the funniest player the “Lebo award” (an abbreviation for Leibowitz) in honor of Stewart. Stewart proclaims he did not like college. After college Stewart moved back to New York to brake into standup comedy. It took Stewart a year before he could muster the courage to walk on stage. It was at this point where Stewart changed his name from Leibowitz to Stewart to sound more theatrical. Over the next two years, 88’through 89’, Stewart performed stand up. He landed his first job as a comedic writer on Caroline’s Comedy Hour in 89’. In 91’ he landed a job hosting MTV’s You Wrote It, You Watch It the show was canceled shortly after its inception. In 1993 Stewart again got his own show The Jon Stewart Show on MTV the show had some success and ran for two years.     Between 1995 and 1999 Stewart had limited success with acting and standup comedy. In 1999 Stewart was selected to replace Craig Kilborn on The Daily Show Stewart continues to host The Daily Show today.Stewart has grown in popularity hosting the Grammies and the Oscars both twice (wiki).
            Stewart popularity stems from observations of the media had making a mockery out of the absurdities of our society.   Stewart states his biggest comedic influences are Woody Allen and George Carlin. Like Allen Stewart stutters between jokes, stuttering makes rehearsed jokes seem composed in the moment of delivery. One can see Carlin’s influence of Stewart by his vulgarity and fearlessness to speak of what is on his mind.
            Stewart’s most famous T.V appearance happened in 2004 when he was a guest on the show Crossfire. Stewart came on the show and told the hosts’ to their faces that their show was hurting America. Stewart elaborated making a compelling argument for why the show was bad. Shortly after Stewart’s appearance Crossfire was canceled.
            In portraying Stewart, one must stubble over their words, but must also never be afraid to get their point across, if nessecary be vulgar. When stuttering, Stewart often looks off camera, most commonly looking at the ground. While having something to say is important the origin of what Stewart says is through observing others; in portraying Stewart listen to what others have to say, look for a way to manipulate what they are saying. Stewart gets louder and more direct when delivering a punch line. Stewart talks in a deep voice. He uses his hands when he speaks when he is struggling to get an idea out of his mouth.
            The Daily Show currently runs 11:00 pm till 11:30 pm on Comedy Central. The show is shot live to tape. The Daily Show format is between that of a late night talk show and an evening news broadcast. The first segment is the most important news of the day much like that of a news cast except it has a comedic twist. The second segment features one or more of the shows ten correspondents. The third segment is usually an interview with either a political or pop culture figure. Guest of the show include: Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and George Clooney. Stewart’s audience are mainly comprised of the liberal, young, and educated. While Stewart’s audience is highly comprised of the 18-25 demographic Stewart is 45 years old, even though the age gap between Stewart and his audience is large he is like minded.   While his jokes make his audience laugh, people who appose Stewart’s political views tend to get angry frustrated by hearing progressive comedy. Stewart does several exaggerated impressions of political figures in order to mock them. His most famous impressions are George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.
            Stewart classified himself as a socialist on the Larry King Live Show. However, Stewart has made several capitalistic business decisions. In, 2005 Stewarts production company BusBoy Productions produced Stewart’s friends show The Colbert Report. Colbert is a former correspondent of The Daily Show. Today there are 13034 episodes of The Daily Show. Stewart at his core is comedic critic of the most important issues we are faced with today (thedailshow.com).
Works Cited
http://www.thedailyshow.com/index.jhtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Stewart

Television Personality

Tyra Lynne Banks was born December 4th 1973 in Inglewood California, her mother was a fashion manager/fashion photographer and her father was a computer consultant. Tyra’s parents divorced when she was six years old but stayed friendly for her sake. As a teen she attended a catholic high school name the Immaculate Heart High School located in California. Due to her tall stature and small frame fellow students made fun of her but she refuse to let that stop her from pursuing modeling. She started modeling when she was fifth teen and when she was accepted to Loyola Marymount University for college she decided to move to Paris. This is where she perfected her modeling capabilities.

Bank’s career took off within her first week in Paris, once there she booked over 25 runway shows, which is a record in the fashion industry for a new comer. Tyra was the first African American woman to be on the cover of magazines such as GQ and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. In 1997 she was awarded Super Model of the year by VH1 and was on the cover of one of her biggest clients, Victoria Secret. Trya moved on to acting after retiring from modeling in 2005, she appeared on the hit sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Felicity, Mad TV and in the movie Coyote Ugly. Today she is the judge and producer of the TV show America’s Next Top Model, and is the host of her own daytime talk show the Tyra Show.

The target demographic for the Tyra show and America’s Next Top Model are younger women but she would like to reach both male and female from the ages of 11 to middle-aged. Both of her shows bring in over 1.9 million viewers an episode for the past three seasons. The Tyra show can be related to the early Oprah Winfrey show, she features stories about everyday people along with stories about celebrities and interviews. The show uses many stories that deal with real female issues and flashes back to experiences and emotional moments that Tyra has been through. She has also endeavored into the music business. In 2004 she record her first single entitled “Shake Ya Body” it didn’t do well but Tyra as always didn’t let that stop her it was a passion of hers since 1998. She may not have had success it that industry but she has taken every other one by storm.
When hosting her popular talk show, Tyra uses everyday language, diction and tone. Speaking this way helps make her guest feel comfortable and allows free flowing conversation. She does not speak very loud nor does she have any distinct speaking patterns. There is no glottal fry in her voice; she is a young female so you can tell that there has not been much wear and tear on it. There is a slight high pitch tendency she has when she gets excited on her shows but that is to be expected. Tyra likes to relate to her guest so her dialect can change from time to time as to whom she talking to on her show.
I choose to do an impersonation of Tyra Banks because I thought it would be funny to imitate they way she acts on her talk show. My friends and I make fun of her all the time because no matter the subject of her show she finds a way to relate it back to herself. I also thought it would be good practice to pretend to be a talk show host because it may be a good career choice for me in the future. I believe Tyra is a very smart woman she has turned herself into a brand, she has built an empire from scratch and that is very impressive. This just proves that women can do anything they put their mind to, they can be strong, successful, smart, beautiful and don’t need a man in their life to validate them. This is why she is not just a model she is a role model.

Radio Personality

            Sue Johanson was born Susan Powell in Toronto, Ontario on July 29th 1930. As a teen she attended a private school located in St. Boniface hospital and later graduated as a registered nurse. She married a Canadian electrician named Ejnor Johanson and had three children. In 1972 Susan opened a birth control clinic, which was the first type of operation in Canada at this time. In 1986 she left the birth control center and continued to pursue her education. She received her degree in Human Relations from Toronto Institute, a degree in Family Planning from the University of Toronto, and a Human Sexuality degree from the University of Michigan. Johanson used all of her degrees to become a sex educator and counselor, which led her to numerous universities to do public speaking. Her first major break was on the radio station Q107, the radio show was called “Saturday Night Sex Show”. This show was on the air for 14 years from 1984 to 1998, it was then turned into a late night TV talk show in 1985. In November of 2002 Talk Sex with Sue Johanson was brought to the U.S so that the American audience could call in and ask questions.
            When Sue Johanson does her radio show and her TV show she has great diction. Due to her age she has a raspy voice, which can also be called glottal fry. Her voice resonance is semi nasal and her pitch is in a higher region but there is not much of a dialect defect. There is great pronunciation with each of her shows and there is never a word lost due to lack of quality in her voice. Her voice gives her persona a little extra character. As a woman at the age of 78, we as a society believe that Sue should not be talking about sex so open and honestly, but as a female she is not ashamed of her body and she strongly believes that no one else should be either. This is her persona on and off the air, she makes it known that this is not an act that this is just who she is.
            The target demographic for Sue was never a major concern, her concern was to target any and all sexual beings. Her outlook on her audience was if you’re curious about sex or your having sex, no matter what your age she wanted you to tune in and watch and even call. Sue wanted the world to know that sex wasn’t taboo that it was fun and shouldn’t be limited by age or physical ability. Over 4.2 million Americans tuned in to hear what the “Dr. Ruth” of the north had to say. Her popularity rating were 861 of 17253 and her national rating were 2616 of 17253, the ratings were amazing not only for a woman of her age with the type of talk show but for any one with any topic.
            Sue’s career has led her from house wife to college graduate, to public sex educator to radio talk show host to television talk show host and now she is still fascinating the world with her amazing advice on a misconstrued topic. She is worth Multi Millions and her empire is still growing today due to her sex toy revenue, her book sales and all her reruns.
            I choose to do my impersonation and analyst of Sue Johanson because I thought she had a great voice, it wasn’t to over the top and characterized but it wasn’t your everyday type of voice, it was distinct. I also thought she was a good person just because I use to watch her shows and found them very entertaining because she spoke about such real and personal problems but handled each situation with a sense of humor and grace. She didn’t hold any punches, she was rough and to the point which made it that much more interesting to watch.

Ch29: Public Speaking and Live Performance
How to project your voice and body, and pace your energy for a live audience.

Ch30: Audio Performance
How to condense your being into your voice for radio and audio performance.

Ch31: TV Performance
How to look and sound good enough on TV to upstage the domestic chores of daily living.

Ch32: Film Performance
How to create character and conviction when your features are blown up on the big screen.

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1979	Night-Flowers	Wafer
1982	Tag: The Assassination Game	Susan Swayze
1984	The Terminator	Sarah Connor
	Children of the Corn	Vicky
	The Stone Boy	Eva Crescent Moon Lady on Bus
1986	King Kong Lives	Dr. Amy Franklin
1986	Black Moon Rising	Nina
1990	Mr. Destiny	Ellen Jane
1991	Terminator 2: Judgment Day	Sarah Connor
1994	Silent Fall	Karen Rainer
1995	Separate Lives	Lauren Porter/Lena
1996	T2 3-D: Battle Across Time	Sarah Connor	At Universal Studios, Orlando
1997	Dante's Peak	Mayor Rachel Wando
1997	Shadow Conspiracy	Amanda Givens
1998	Point Last Seen	Rachel Harrison
1999	The Secret Life of Girls	Ruby Sanford
2000	Skeletons in the Closet	Tina Conway
2002	Silent Night	Elisabeth Vincken
2003	Wholey Moses	Valerie	Short
2004	Jonah	June	Short
2005	Smile	Bridget
2005	Missing in America	Kate
2006	Broken	Karen	Post-production
2006	Thief	Roselyn Moore