accents as performance
April 6, 2023 10:04 PM Subscribe
I am looking for examples of fake accents.
If you think about this question too deeply, it falls apart because you can deconstruct "fake" and "accent" and the authentic connection between any place and its "real" accent, and because everything and nothing is an accent, etc. But for this question -- please answer more superficially.
I am looking for examples of performances in any medium where the actor or singer or radio dj etc. spoke or sang with an accent that was "put on" in some way for an effect. An example would be John Fogerty of Credence Clearwater Revival singing in what he thought was a Bayou accent, even though he was from California.
If you think about this question too deeply, it falls apart because you can deconstruct "fake" and "accent" and the authentic connection between any place and its "real" accent, and because everything and nothing is an accent, etc. But for this question -- please answer more superficially.
I am looking for examples of performances in any medium where the actor or singer or radio dj etc. spoke or sang with an accent that was "put on" in some way for an effect. An example would be John Fogerty of Credence Clearwater Revival singing in what he thought was a Bayou accent, even though he was from California.
Best answer: The English stand-up comedian Mark Watson started out using a Welsh accent for his stage persona, to help him get over lack of confidence in performing. He then started to become successful and found it harder and harder to maintain the pretence. He managed to extricate himself rather elegantly by making it the subject of a show at the Edinburgh festival, where he came clean that it wasn’t his accent and switched to his own accent halfway through.
posted by greycap at 11:02 PM on April 6, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by greycap at 11:02 PM on April 6, 2023 [3 favorites]
Sacha Baron Cohen in every film he's ever been in immediately comes to mind. For me, the accent does the heavy lifting more than any other part of the performance. I literally have no idea what this man sounds like when he just speaks in his regular accent.
posted by BeeJiddy at 11:11 PM on April 6, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by BeeJiddy at 11:11 PM on April 6, 2023 [3 favorites]
If you mean a purposefully exaggerated accent, Knives out and Glass Onion - Daniel Craig's role is basically defined by it.
For just people performing in Not Their Accent, David Tennant's whole oeuvre except the rare examples like Broadchurch when he was allowed to do it in his proper Scottish accent. And a tonne of other British actors - see Patrick Stewart talking in his original Yorkshire. The UK is home to a plethora of accents and then you so rarely hear them in main roles.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 11:13 PM on April 6, 2023 [6 favorites]
For just people performing in Not Their Accent, David Tennant's whole oeuvre except the rare examples like Broadchurch when he was allowed to do it in his proper Scottish accent. And a tonne of other British actors - see Patrick Stewart talking in his original Yorkshire. The UK is home to a plethora of accents and then you so rarely hear them in main roles.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 11:13 PM on April 6, 2023 [6 favorites]
Best answer: Larry the Cable Guy is from Nebraska and doesn’t have a southern accent when he’s not performing.
posted by childofTethys at 11:13 PM on April 6, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by childofTethys at 11:13 PM on April 6, 2023 [5 favorites]
Hugh Laurie speaking American English in House.
In one of the ferries here, the security announcement is spoken in a regional dialect. It is unbelievably fake, and irritates everyone. Someone checked out who the voice actor is, and she is not from that region. Why did they do that??? I think because the regional dialect feels more reassuring to most people, but that only works when it's real.
(I looked to see if I could find a recording, but I couldn't).
posted by mumimor at 11:25 PM on April 6, 2023 [4 favorites]
In one of the ferries here, the security announcement is spoken in a regional dialect. It is unbelievably fake, and irritates everyone. Someone checked out who the voice actor is, and she is not from that region. Why did they do that??? I think because the regional dialect feels more reassuring to most people, but that only works when it's real.
(I looked to see if I could find a recording, but I couldn't).
posted by mumimor at 11:25 PM on April 6, 2023 [4 favorites]
Response by poster: These are great!
So, to clarify, while all of these are interesting, I'm looking more for examples where the performer is not acting a role of another character requiring the accent, but rather performing a version of themselves using a put-on accent. So, more like Mark Watson using a Welsh accent but still presenting himself as "Mark Watson," and less like, for instance, Meryl Streep doing a Norwegian accent to play Isek Dineson.
posted by lesser whistling duck at 11:40 PM on April 6, 2023
So, to clarify, while all of these are interesting, I'm looking more for examples where the performer is not acting a role of another character requiring the accent, but rather performing a version of themselves using a put-on accent. So, more like Mark Watson using a Welsh accent but still presenting himself as "Mark Watson," and less like, for instance, Meryl Streep doing a Norwegian accent to play Isek Dineson.
posted by lesser whistling duck at 11:40 PM on April 6, 2023
Best answer: Paris Hilton:
“This is my real voice, that was just a character I was playing,” Paris replied, referring to her time on The Simple Life. “I am not a dumb blonde. After The Simple Life, I got stuck in that character where everyone assumed that’s who I really was in real life.”
The hotel heiress went on to say that she's "a naturally shy person," and the fake voice was "kind of a mask."
posted by Crystalinne at 12:20 AM on April 7, 2023 [3 favorites]
“This is my real voice, that was just a character I was playing,” Paris replied, referring to her time on The Simple Life. “I am not a dumb blonde. After The Simple Life, I got stuck in that character where everyone assumed that’s who I really was in real life.”
The hotel heiress went on to say that she's "a naturally shy person," and the fake voice was "kind of a mask."
posted by Crystalinne at 12:20 AM on April 7, 2023 [3 favorites]
Best answer: The premise of Boots Riley’s film Sorry To Bother You is a black character working as a telemarketer who finds he makes more sales after he’s told to ‘use his white voice’. (Though I understand the ‘white voice’ is in fact overdubbed by another actor).
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 12:37 AM on April 7, 2023
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 12:37 AM on April 7, 2023
Best answer: Mick Jagger has often been accused of having a posher accent than the one he has used for the past 70 odd years. And when he sings he does sound slightly American as well.
Damon Albarn also but in his case I think he just leans into his Colchester accent more rather than faking it.
Speaking of which: Michael Caine. He broke the accent barrier for non RP accents in film in the 60s but I do think since then it has become a performance unto itself.
posted by BAKERSFIELD! at 1:11 AM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
Damon Albarn also but in his case I think he just leans into his Colchester accent more rather than faking it.
Speaking of which: Michael Caine. He broke the accent barrier for non RP accents in film in the 60s but I do think since then it has become a performance unto itself.
posted by BAKERSFIELD! at 1:11 AM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
TV Tropes has these examples of accent-switching.
posted by pendrift at 1:27 AM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by pendrift at 1:27 AM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Oh, like after Madonna married Guy Ritchie and was suddenly British?
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 3:17 AM on April 7, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 3:17 AM on April 7, 2023 [5 favorites]
Brad Pitt in Guy Ritchie’s Snatch.
Damian Lewis as Dick Winters in Band of Brothers.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:34 AM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
Damian Lewis as Dick Winters in Band of Brothers.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:34 AM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Although this is from a movie, I think it's still a good example: Julianne Moore as Maude Lebowski in The Big Lebowski. I read an interview with her where somebody asked about the accent, and she said something like "It's not an accent, it's an affectation." (Emphasis mine.) It's about speaking in a certain way to achieve a certain effect.
posted by number9dream at 3:43 AM on April 7, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by number9dream at 3:43 AM on April 7, 2023 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Elizabeth Holmes from Theranos is widely believed to use an unnatural voice.
posted by kevinbelt at 3:51 AM on April 7, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by kevinbelt at 3:51 AM on April 7, 2023 [7 favorites]
Austin Butler still doing his Elvis accent as he accepted awards for his performance in Baz Luhrmann's film might be a good example. Elle mag has the receipts with video:
Austin Butler spent three years away from his family shooting Elvis—and whenever he speaks publicly now, be it at the Golden Globes or elsewhere, you can still hear the King of Rock in his voice. In early February, Butler admitted he's trying to change that and return to his pre-Elvis voice.
He blames it on shyness, muscle memory and damaged vocal cords from all the singing, for what that's worth.
posted by mediareport at 3:53 AM on April 7, 2023 [2 favorites]
Austin Butler spent three years away from his family shooting Elvis—and whenever he speaks publicly now, be it at the Golden Globes or elsewhere, you can still hear the King of Rock in his voice. In early February, Butler admitted he's trying to change that and return to his pre-Elvis voice.
He blames it on shyness, muscle memory and damaged vocal cords from all the singing, for what that's worth.
posted by mediareport at 3:53 AM on April 7, 2023 [2 favorites]
Anne Hathaway in The Hustle
posted by VyanSelei at 4:37 AM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by VyanSelei at 4:37 AM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: How about Hilaria Baldwin?
posted by MeadowlarkMaude at 5:22 AM on April 7, 2023 [11 favorites]
posted by MeadowlarkMaude at 5:22 AM on April 7, 2023 [11 favorites]
Best answer: The first that comes to mind is Gillian Anderson, whose accent switches between opposite sides of the water depending on the role (or the interview).
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:26 AM on April 7, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 5:26 AM on April 7, 2023 [4 favorites]
I don't know if I can name any, but I hear singers do this all the time now.
posted by STFUDonnie at 6:21 AM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by STFUDonnie at 6:21 AM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
My favourite accent of all time is Gary Oldman's in The Fifth Element. It made me realize that there's no reason why an evil megalomaniacal galactic warlord can't have a hillbilly accent.
posted by ovvl at 6:29 AM on April 7, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by ovvl at 6:29 AM on April 7, 2023 [3 favorites]
It might stretch the definition of accent, but Emo Phillips, Bobcat Goldthwait, and Gilbert Gottfried have different voices when performing.
posted by Twicketface at 6:33 AM on April 7, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Twicketface at 6:33 AM on April 7, 2023 [3 favorites]
A Fish Called Wanda; Kevin Kline does at least one fake accent. Also a funny movie.
posted by theora55 at 6:42 AM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by theora55 at 6:42 AM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
Fuckin' Apu
Maybe closer to what you are looking for, Russell Peters also does this. And Nigel Ng (aka Uncle Roger)
posted by basalganglia at 6:43 AM on April 7, 2023
Maybe closer to what you are looking for, Russell Peters also does this. And Nigel Ng (aka Uncle Roger)
posted by basalganglia at 6:43 AM on April 7, 2023
This old New Yorker article is fascinating and seems relevant to your question: "Talk this Way: The Man who Makes Hollywood Sound Right".
posted by akk2014 at 6:45 AM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by akk2014 at 6:45 AM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Emphasizing that the OP is not asking about "an actor taking on an accent for a part in a film," so things like Gary Oldman in The Fifth Element or Kevin Kline in A Fish Called Wanda do not count.
Instead, the OP is looking for something like, an actor who took on an accent all the time as part of a public persona. And - to my mind, Katherine Hepburn would be a great example. She didn't grow up talking the way she did; I remember reading an interview with her where she said that in her early career she had a bad habit of unconsciously copying the speech patterns and accents of her fellow actors during a scene, so to stop herself, she adopted that sort of exaggerated Mid-Atlantic accent thing she did instead.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:50 AM on April 7, 2023 [4 favorites]
Instead, the OP is looking for something like, an actor who took on an accent all the time as part of a public persona. And - to my mind, Katherine Hepburn would be a great example. She didn't grow up talking the way she did; I remember reading an interview with her where she said that in her early career she had a bad habit of unconsciously copying the speech patterns and accents of her fellow actors during a scene, so to stop herself, she adopted that sort of exaggerated Mid-Atlantic accent thing she did instead.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:50 AM on April 7, 2023 [4 favorites]
Best answer: Cary Grant is another actor who changed his origins/voice and then lived in the persona he'd made.
I think we all have examples of someone we know/knew who changed their speech in their teens. I had a friend who was Irish, I think, by birth, and came to Canada as a kid. When she was tipsy her accent came back, and we would roll around laughing in her pronunciation specifically of the word "cow." Cai? Cae? She couldn't help it, and her giggles were part of the fun.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 7:07 AM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
I think we all have examples of someone we know/knew who changed their speech in their teens. I had a friend who was Irish, I think, by birth, and came to Canada as a kid. When she was tipsy her accent came back, and we would roll around laughing in her pronunciation specifically of the word "cow." Cai? Cae? She couldn't help it, and her giggles were part of the fun.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 7:07 AM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
In Breaking Away Dennis Christopher plays an 18 year old boy who affects an Italian accent because he's a serious cycle racer and a fan of an Italian cycling team.
posted by monotreme at 7:19 AM on April 7, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by monotreme at 7:19 AM on April 7, 2023 [2 favorites]
Best answer: An IRL example I could give is myself. I am a Southerner by birth and spent most of my teen years very very deliberately ironing out any trace of a Southern accent because to my younger self, a Southern accent was coded as "racist/dumb/hillbilly/low class." (I still get really fucking irritated when Hollywood still uses a Southern accent for exactly those things in a character.) I continued throughout my 20s and 30s flattening and suppressing any trace. Of course, when I got drunk, it was peeked out. I would feel pride when someone would remark, "But you don't have an accent!"
At 46, the accent has weirdly starting creeping back in, and now I don't give a shit. It's not a full on drawl like my family's, but there is a much Southern flavour to my tone now.
posted by Kitteh at 7:48 AM on April 7, 2023 [3 favorites]
At 46, the accent has weirdly starting creeping back in, and now I don't give a shit. It's not a full on drawl like my family's, but there is a much Southern flavour to my tone now.
posted by Kitteh at 7:48 AM on April 7, 2023 [3 favorites]
Artist Nina Katchadourian has a work ("Accent Elimination") where she had an accent coach try to teach her immigrant parents American accents and teach herself their accents. [video]
posted by xo at 8:02 AM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by xo at 8:02 AM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
Sandy Toksvig apparently did this as a teenager, adopted a fictitious Britishy accent that she got from a film, to fit in at boarding school.
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:34 AM on April 7, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:34 AM on April 7, 2023 [2 favorites]
As you note, defining what you're asking for is kinda hard, but we're 32 answers in and... Dick van Dyke in Mary Poppins seems like someone putting on an atrociously fake accent while essentially playing themselves.
posted by straw at 8:34 AM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by straw at 8:34 AM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
My favourite accent of all time is Gary Oldman's in
Oldman might be an example of... something. Born and raised in London, he’s been notoriously good at American accents for a while (Dennis Miller had him on his show circa 2000 and confessed he had no idea until they met that day that Oldman was not American); Oldman has now been living in the US for so long, he needs to work with an accent coach when he has a role where he plays an English character.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:35 AM on April 7, 2023 [3 favorites]
Oldman might be an example of... something. Born and raised in London, he’s been notoriously good at American accents for a while (Dennis Miller had him on his show circa 2000 and confessed he had no idea until they met that day that Oldman was not American); Oldman has now been living in the US for so long, he needs to work with an accent coach when he has a role where he plays an English character.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:35 AM on April 7, 2023 [3 favorites]
Dick van Dyke in Mary Poppins seems like someone putting on an atrociously fake accent while essentially playing themselves.
The difference there is that Dick van Dyke's part in Mary Poppins was a man named "Bert", and thus was a character distinct from himself (even if the character bore a lot of similarities). If Dick van Dyke had kept that accent when he was doing interviews afterward for the rest of his life, then it would have counted.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:36 AM on April 7, 2023 [2 favorites]
The difference there is that Dick van Dyke's part in Mary Poppins was a man named "Bert", and thus was a character distinct from himself (even if the character bore a lot of similarities). If Dick van Dyke had kept that accent when he was doing interviews afterward for the rest of his life, then it would have counted.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:36 AM on April 7, 2023 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Oh! Upthread someone mentioned Gillian Anderson - and that reminds me of John Barrowman. Barrowman speaks with an American accent most of the time - but he is actually Scottish. He explains why he adopted the American accent in this clip (and switches very nimbly back and forth between one and the other as he does so).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:41 AM on April 7, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:41 AM on April 7, 2023 [4 favorites]
Best answer: part of what I find hilarious in the compilations of Paul Stanley's Kiss stage banter is his mutant NYC/AAVE/Southern US accent. It's an aspecific TIME TO PARTY accent.
posted by bendybendy at 8:53 AM on April 7, 2023
posted by bendybendy at 8:53 AM on April 7, 2023
Best answer: Colin Meloy of the Decemberists puts on a nasal British accent for some (many? most? all?) of his songs. To a native Britisher like myself it can't help sounding a bit contrived (and some people, though not me, find it deeply irritating), but he's been asked about it in interviews and has a thoughtful explanation of why he does it:
Some detect an English accent in your vocal delivery at times. I think your voice may hint at Victorian or proper English accents when it fits the song. Have you ever felt self-conscious about this?
CM: Bob Pollard defends his quasi-British inflection by saying that was how he learned to sing, by mimicking his Beatles and Kinks records. I agree, but I would take it a bit further. Whereas country music is an intrinsically American tradition, I feel that pop music as we know it is a British one. So just as there are certain melodies and chord progressions that help define country music as country music and pop music as pop music, so are there vocal inflections that aid in that definition.
posted by verstegan at 10:09 AM on April 7, 2023
Some detect an English accent in your vocal delivery at times. I think your voice may hint at Victorian or proper English accents when it fits the song. Have you ever felt self-conscious about this?
CM: Bob Pollard defends his quasi-British inflection by saying that was how he learned to sing, by mimicking his Beatles and Kinks records. I agree, but I would take it a bit further. Whereas country music is an intrinsically American tradition, I feel that pop music as we know it is a British one. So just as there are certain melodies and chord progressions that help define country music as country music and pop music as pop music, so are there vocal inflections that aid in that definition.
posted by verstegan at 10:09 AM on April 7, 2023
Might be too many metatextual levels for your question, but there's a delightful bit in The Wire in which British actor Dominic West, playing the Irish-American policeman Jimmy McNulty, puts on a particularly terrible English accent for an undercover job (West can of course do a perfectly plausible English accent if he wants to, simply by speaking normally).
posted by jackbishop at 10:23 AM on April 7, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by jackbishop at 10:23 AM on April 7, 2023 [3 favorites]
There’s a whole generation of British actors who were trained to lose their regional accents at drama school. e.g. Peter O’Toole grew up in Yorkshire and was the son of an Irish bookie, but doesn’t sound northern or working class (or Irish for that matter). Richard Burton doesn’t sound like the son of a Welsh coalminer. And so on. Unlike modern British actors who tend to use their original accents in interviews, even if they rarely use them when acting. I don’t know if it really counts as a performance, it’s part of a much wider change in attitudes.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 10:27 AM on April 7, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 10:27 AM on April 7, 2023 [2 favorites]
Best answer: lesser whistling duck: performing a version of themselves using a put-on accent
Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't on YouTube! He really is from Chicago but he doesn't talk like that in real life.
posted by capricorn at 10:50 AM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
Crime Pays but Botany Doesn't on YouTube! He really is from Chicago but he doesn't talk like that in real life.
posted by capricorn at 10:50 AM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Does it have to be artists? If not Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos infamy default altered her speaking voice.
The comedian Maria Bamford has an extremely specific stage presence in her voice. I believe she is from Minnesota but her voice on stage is pretty sui generis. With that said, I've been around her where she was interacting with total normie people who didn't know who she was and her voice and mannerisms were radically different.
posted by mmascolino at 11:59 AM on April 7, 2023 [2 favorites]
The comedian Maria Bamford has an extremely specific stage presence in her voice. I believe she is from Minnesota but her voice on stage is pretty sui generis. With that said, I've been around her where she was interacting with total normie people who didn't know who she was and her voice and mannerisms were radically different.
posted by mmascolino at 11:59 AM on April 7, 2023 [2 favorites]
> Colin Meloy of the Decemberists puts on a nasal British accent for some (many? most? all?) of his songs.
Yes, many pop-punk singers do that -- have a British-ish accent that has little to do with their upbringing in Canada or San Diego or where have you.
posted by The corpse in the library at 12:09 PM on April 7, 2023
Yes, many pop-punk singers do that -- have a British-ish accent that has little to do with their upbringing in Canada or San Diego or where have you.
posted by The corpse in the library at 12:09 PM on April 7, 2023
Response by poster: Hilaria Baldwin and Elizabeth Holmes are fantastic examples - I should not have limited this question to actors or singers or explicitly framed performances.
posted by lesser whistling duck at 12:19 PM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by lesser whistling duck at 12:19 PM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
On the singer angle with a reverse British angle. Remember what is was like when you heard Amy Winehouse's "Rehab" for the first time. What did you picture the singer looking like? I bet it wasn't a white British lady in her 20s.
posted by mmascolino at 12:39 PM on April 7, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by mmascolino at 12:39 PM on April 7, 2023 [2 favorites]
Similar to Elizabeth Holmes, Margaret Thatcher had elocution lessons after coming in for some misogynistic criticism for her ‘shrill’ voice’. Which is why she had a low voice and a rather slow, deliberate delivery.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 1:43 PM on April 7, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 1:43 PM on April 7, 2023 [2 favorites]
Terrible fake accents used to be a staple of comedy. Inspector Clouseau is not an actual French accent, Chico Marx is not an actual Italian accent, etc.
An interesting modern examples is voice acting for video games, e.g. Overwatch. Blizzard makes the effort to find actors who can actually speak the languages involved. But they're exaggerated— e.g. the French character Widowmaker has a very thick French accent, while her voice actor (Chloé Hollings) is completely fluent in English.
posted by zompist at 1:51 PM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
An interesting modern examples is voice acting for video games, e.g. Overwatch. Blizzard makes the effort to find actors who can actually speak the languages involved. But they're exaggerated— e.g. the French character Widowmaker has a very thick French accent, while her voice actor (Chloé Hollings) is completely fluent in English.
posted by zompist at 1:51 PM on April 7, 2023 [1 favorite]
Awkwafina has received criticism for her put-on “blaccent.”
posted by ejs at 2:47 PM on April 7, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by ejs at 2:47 PM on April 7, 2023 [2 favorites]
Actress Christine Baranski is my favorite example of someone who has developed a wonderfully elaborate affectation. She grew up in poverty, but said in an interview I read that she always wanted to be the person in command - the lady or the queen.
posted by WaspEnterprises at 12:55 AM on April 8, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by WaspEnterprises at 12:55 AM on April 8, 2023 [2 favorites]
To piggyback on the Katherine Hepburn comment—the Mid-Altantic (or Transatlantic) accent is a wholly invented accent that came to be perceived as "sophisticated" by the upper class and countless stage and film actors back in the day.
posted by O9scar at 10:49 PM on April 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by O9scar at 10:49 PM on April 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
It doesn’t directly address the question, but some older comedians did something called “doubletalk,” that was basically *only* the accent, but with made-up words. Sid Caesar was a great example—he described it as “hearing the music of the language” and them imitating it.
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 12:00 PM on April 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Gilgamesh's Chauffeur at 12:00 PM on April 9, 2023 [1 favorite]
« Older Trying to get into community theater | Help me survive end of life care for my newly... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by athirstforsalt at 10:09 PM on April 6, 2023 [6 favorites]