Michelle Tamburini

Accents: fantastic Spanish, good British English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Argentinian Spanish, formal Japanese, "hillbilly hick", USAdeep southern, exaggerated versions of all of these in happy, sad, pathetic, whiny, sexy, sultry, idiotic slap-stick. Excellent 'bullshitting' in above accents and pretend languages. My father was Argentinian. As children, my sister and I would pretend having dinner parties, cocktail parties, etc. in gibberish pretend Spanish, using the "lilt" that we were so accustomed to hearing in our home. We used to imitate our dad's Spanish curse words, not having any idea what they meant until we tried to show off for some South American and Cuban dignitaries who frequented our home. Poor Dad. During my university level theatre experiences I was required to do improvisational scenes in many moods and accents. I usually slipped into an intellectual mode when put on the spot. I love humor, but must admit to being more serious in such situations. Improvisational acting is not my forte.

Ever heard a chicken laugh? Neither have I but that is the sound of my laughter, according to those who love me, my friends, my family and even complete strangers. I have been known to start laughing, unable to stop 'till I drop. Those who have told me that I laugh like a chicken do so endearingly. They sweetly remind me that my laughter is infectious, unique, genuinely lovely and a joy to all of humanity. Living with myself since birth has made me come to the conclusion that my laughter is a genetic anomoly, one that for better or worse slid into one of my daughters simply by taking a dip into the genetic pools of our ancestors. Laughter aside, I have a serious side as well, and admit to being more of an amateur academic, secretly quiet in nature, though as a teacher and public speaker I quickly became adept at switching persona like Jekyl and Hide as needed. I derive great pleasure in reading aloud the detailed tomes and translations of the great speeches of the infamous philosophers of Western Civilization; the political, theoretical, historical and anthropological aspects of the rise and fall of the Roman Empire! Oh, how I could go on! This genre too, I carry in my bag of vocal talent and interest. During my college days at the Univ. of Missouri at Kansas City, renouned for their theatrical repertoiry department, I saw an ad in the student union for theatre students willing to participate in a research study. THe ad included that a small stipend would be given for those selected. Dollar signs flashed before my eyes on the way to my audition. I got the job. All I had to do for several hours a week was to show up at the recording studio and read a variety of "news" in varying moods. My favorite was reading a beautiful weather forecast, sobbing like an orphaned child and then as if I were evil incarnate. Not a lucrative job, but fun. I think it may have been that experience that lured me to a microphone and falling in love with the sound of my own voice. I felt like WonderWoman! My five-year stint as a live radio broadcaster for the visually impaired, (Audio Reader, Univ.of KS, Lawrence, KS) was a wonderful experience in my earlier days of voice work. I am highly decorated and nationally recognized for my accomplishments and adherance to breathtaking standards of excellence in teaching Spanish and English with blinding brilliance to countless 21st century teenagers. I know this not because of my academic accolades in education, but because I am still living and breathing and able to remember whether or not I brushed my teeth in the mornings of my 50th year of life. (Names, dates, and places of my teaching experience are somewhere in the recesses of my mind, out of which I was going before I decided to change careers).