Ahead of Hong Kong shows, Michael Winslow, Police Academy’s ‘Motor Mouth’, talks sound effects
The ‘Man of 10,000 Sound Effects’ explains why he steers clear of political jokes, how hard some sounds are to make and his wish to test Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson on his range of car engine sounds
Michael Winslow is a hard man to interview - the comedian makes so many sounds when you talk to him. The self-described “Man of 10,000 Sound Effects” spoke before the start of his December 17 show, the first of three, at the Udderbelly Festival on the harbourfront in Hong Kong’s Central district.
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What is about imitating sounds that appeals to you?
They’ve called me a voice-strumentalist. This is always something I did coz for me, sound has no language barrier even among the hearing impaired. They come to my show because I can do subsonic bass tone and they can hear it. Even if they couldn’t hear it, they would come up to the speaker to feel it. So I was communicating with the deaf. I don’t know why that worked, but I figured maybe I’m supposed to be doing this. Maybe there’s a reason for me to be here. Maybe I’m here to help Hong Kong with new noises.
The first Police Academy [movie]. That was one of the turning points. I wasn’t in the original screenplay. They wrote me in and put me in the movie. They decided we need a break between each scene and somebody to link them all together, so we’ll have [my character] causing trouble. From there, this is my 38th year in entertainment and so far nobody has been able to do [what I did].
How long does it take to get a sound right?
It can take years or it can take a moment. Each one is alive. It’s like each child you have is different. One child will evolve differently from the other. Like the sound of a bottle cork is easier than a diesel engine, because the latter hurts [to imitate]. It takes more energy and power and sometimes it’s very tough on the voice.
Watch: Michael Winslow of Police Academy making sound effects in a restaurant
