Arguably the GREATEST Late Night Talk Show Sidekick Joins Today's Episode of Vocal Q's
Josh Robert Thompson is one of the greatest impressionists and voice actors out there today, but has struggled with the personal and professional journey of trying to escape the shadow of a robotic-skeleton.
Craig Ferguson’s “The Late Late Show” reinvented late night television. It purposefully went against tropes and format that had been established since the Johnny Carson era. In doing so, it was unlike any late night talk show still to this day; it had puppets, it had interns in a horse costume, it had coordinated dance responses like an adult version of Pee-Wee’s playhouse, but more importantly when it starting going against the staples of late night TV, it showed audiences what you could do with them.
Take for instance the ‘sidekick’ - a comedian in his own right (often ‘his’), or a band leader who laughs at the hosts jokes, and quips back and forth, sometimes taking the pressure off of the host. Ferguson started mocking this format when he brought in a robotic skeleton (designed and built by the great late Grant Imahara) and this robot spewed out only preprogrammed responses; the occasional catch phrase and mechanical canned laughter. Anyone familiar with the format would see how it was satirizing late night. But then something strange happened. This robot, named Geoffery Peterson began to evolve. His movements were puppeteered, he was responsive, and more importantly, he could do that familiar banter back and forth with the host. Even more important, he was hilarious, making even the great Craig Ferguson cry with laughter on several occasions.
Peterson (voice by Thompson) and Craig Ferguson. Ferguson is the one in the black suit.
This was due to Voice Actor and Comedian Josh Robert Thompson, a name that may not be ‘household’, but a man whose work is everywhere. Thompson used his uncanny impressions (his Morgan Freeman impression even impressed Morgan Freeman, look it up on YouTube), break-neck comedic timing and unparalleled rapport with Ferguson to create unforgettable characters and comedic moments. While watching the show, I would often tune in specifically to watch the opening monologue, tweet-mail time and banter between the two of them, and it was always the highlight of the show.
When Ferguson had decided the show had run its course, Thompson went through an extremely tough personal journey in order to redefine his career. Granted, he had been extremely successful as a result of the show, but that success was literally anonymous. Thompson says in this episode of Vocal Qs, he expected the Late Late Show to be a ‘springboard’, but ironically, no one knew it was him behind the skeleton.
“It was a strange double-edged sword, where I wanted people to know I was the voice behind [Geoff] but I also wanted people to know {what else I could do]”
Thompson represents the struggle that many performers and actors go through; the struggle to be recognized, the struggle to maintain success, the struggle to provide for yourself and your family, all while trying to remain creative and forge forward with your art. There was a dark time post-Ferguson (and Thompson himself admits it) where coping with that balance was extremely difficult. Thompson says in the podcast he’s in a much better place now, but there was a time when social media posts and livestreams showed his frustration. This episode of Vocal Qs is rife with real advice to anyone looking to break into Voice acting and performance in general.
Yet Josh keeps creating. He has voiced several fun projects; for the past decade, he has made regular appearances on Family Guy, even voicing both Trump and Trudeau. He had a project on Quibi before that service shut down, and he is reinventing some of his older characters to create new internet content and reach a new audience. Josh often talks about the love/hate relationship he has with the internet, but ultimately realizes it is a necessary evil in today’s world of entertainment; we all need it these days, and yet ‘likes and views’ are killing what is truly important - creating.
Check out a fantastic episode of Vocal Qs (our penultimate of Season 1) as Josh and Managing Editor of FilmSpeak, Michael Winn Johnson talk about George Lucas, SCTV, Trump vs Trudeau and his encyclopedic knowledge of the Muppets!