Technically, We Talk Funny began because voice actress Grey Griffin couldn’t just keep telling jokes on Twitter.
Grey started exploring stand up comedy in 2017, and as she began to find some early success, veteran comic Carlos Alazraqui suggested that she open for him at an upcoming show. Fellow voice actor Ken Pringle agreed to host the event, and had the idea to market the show to animation fans in addition to the club’s normal stand up comedy crowd. The effects of this switch were obvious when the sold-out crowd was more excited about listening to the voice actors talk than the unexpected appearance of not one but THREE celebrity stand up comics who also happened to drop in to perform at the club that night – Whitney Cummings, Marlon Wayans AND Keenan Ivory Wayans!
Fresh off that successful first show, Ken suggested producing the show as a regular themed event, adding in a variety show element so as to showcase a wider variety of voice actors, and including a goofy “no holds barred” Q&A session with the fans at the end of the show… and We Talk Funny was born!
Today, We Talk Funny has reached thousands of fans and featured an incredible variety of moments that can’t be seen anywhere else, from the voices of Uncle Ruckus and Emperor Palpatine freestyle rapping with the audience, to the time an entire stage of voice actors all decided to tell competing stories about Rocky star Carl Weathers, to a packed (and plastered!) crowd singing Christmas carols with a 14-piece band and Spongebob Squarepants!
…And of course, who knows what’ll happen next?
