The many voices of Billy West

Penn Jillette interviews the infamous Billy West and asks him to perform his many characters. For the rest of this show, or to see other episodes visit pennsundayschool.com/ or subscribe on iTunes.

[@classicstupid-tom]

All i hear when i hear his natural voice is like a calmer fry omg.

[@taylorabdon856]

TheHeirofCosplay I always like that when he does Lars (the older Fry in Bender's Big Score), it's totally just his normal voice.

[@DavidTretheweydtreth]

TheHeirofCosplay He allegedly made Fry's voice basically his own to make him harder to replace.

[@melanie_felony]

I freaking love his Nixon expression 😍😍😂😄😝

[@Nalianna]

+Melanie Lick AROOOOOOOOO i'm not a crook.

[@schmidtythekidd]

+TheHeirofCosplay Sounds like Lars

[@KauanRMKlein]

Futurama had everything... Matt Groening, David X Cohen, Billy West, John DiMaggio and an actual soul.

[@DrakeSilmore]

That's why they stopped at a certain point

[@KauanRMKlein]

DrakeSilmore very true. Everything that trully lives, one day dies.

[@SynchronizorVideos]

Or turns into a zombie by being dragged way beyond the point of merit or relevancy. I would have hated to have seen that happen to Futurama.

[@samaelmalkira9420]

@Krogg Rache Fuck off nazi

[@quinncide]

And nobody cares to mention Frank Welker?!

[@chcknpie04]

That moment you realize Billy West has voiced your entire existence

[@joshualester5154]

Yup he was Bugs Bunny in the original Space Jam too.

[@petezy8892]

Him and Tom Kenny lol

[@youisiaint]

Charlie Adler

[@SA1NT53]

Beta Popeye voice ever

[@Goctagon]

He just naturally sounds like Phillip J. Fry

[@elizabethyow6179]

+Goctagon He did that on purpose! So no one could steal the role basically. I'm doing a speech on him for a communication class, he's the best, and so down to earth I was so honored to meet him at comicon!

[@Goctagon]

***** Really? I never knew that. haha weird.

[@YZ-yp1dd]

No he sounds like lars

[@emanhacker]

+NippelousErectous nothing they are all still friendly they wanted him as a full time member after jackie left but it never panned out im still glad artie got the role cause no one could replace artie but billy west still loves billy west and he loves them all

[@bartymatrix7]

According to Billy West, Fry's Voice is based on what West thought he sounded like when he was 25 years old.

[@icuseriously3346]

Voice actors are fascinating to watch. His Zoidberg doesn't sound like it should be coming out of his body.

[@Sabrowsky]

"the way to a woman's bed is trough her parents, sleep with them and you're in" I'll take that to heart

[@GalenMarekOfficial]

Lets hope your soon to be partner isnt afraid of bisexuals then :D

[@chewychibi03]

Sabrowsky 😂😂

[@Ksixxable]

Abducted in plain sight?

[@Mike-my7uf]

I think you should take it to their bed. It'll be more effective.

[@jamesb1988]

He made Fry's voice sound like a younger version of himself so he would be harder to replace! When watching videos online of amateurs imitating voices you'll notice that Fry is never even attempted

[@magicnubs]

time/link -- character: 0:27 Ren 1:16 Popeye 1:34 Daffy Duck 2:14 Elmer Fudd 2:53 Doug Funny 3:05 Roger Klotz 3:27 Philip J. Fry 3:36 Dr. Zoidberg 4:41 "Narrator Voice" 5:23 "Big Dumb Disc Jockey" 5:42 Zapp Brannigan

[@timthuo2498]

Thank you

[@whiskeyoo7]

thanx

[@robertmartin3490]

They forgot the red M&M.

[@RobertHurleyJr]

They forgot the Catdog gopher

[@thesmirker2909]

"I suffer from a very sexy reading disorder....Kiff, whats it called?" "(uuughg) 'Sex-lexia'. "

[@bumbledouche3323]

+Steven Arredondo I used to own a T-shirt with that on it! When it finally arrived (ordered from eBay), I was too embarrassed to actually wear it :-P

[@TheMastermind729]

+Stevie “Jo” Dondo I find the most erotic part of a woman to be the boobies.

[@TXRager]

Leela I’ve never seen space look so sexy

[@joepeak8025]

Ren & Stimpy - 0:27 Popeye - 1:12 Bug's Bunny - 1:33 Elmer Fudd - 2:23 Doug - 2:52 Fry - 3:27 Dr. Zoidberg - 3:35 Zap Brannigan- 5:42

[@theoturner1282]

Joe Peak Thanks!

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

+FabTheGamer Than that may be no "Good news, everyone!"

[@THERIPPER216]

Joe Peak not all hero’s wear capes

[@danielferstendig]

he did shaggy rogers

[@carlocalderon3659]

No Professor Fransworth

[@oldirtybrza]

I'm totally enjoying this. He also does the red M&M voice.

[@LeagueofWut]

yeah and buzz the honey bee from the honey nut cheerio's commercials as well :D

[@psychoracer200]

LeagueofWut lol wikipedia

[@rabidllama2905]

***** lol

[@cherlykoki]

oldirtybrza THANK YOU FOR TELLING ME

[@AirKangLocker]

Noooowwww the biting makes sense

[@crieverytim]

dresses like a voice actor

[@SirSpinalColumn]

“The ship is built like a steakhouse, but she handles like bistro.” Best Zap line ever

[@YourPalHDee]

I wasn't expecting a HUGE smile to come over my face when he did Fry and Zoigberg.

[@Sonichero151]

Oh God this guy is a true legend of Voice acting.

[@GeeTrieste]

Yup, on par with Mel Blanc

[@LerRhann]

Tara Strong

[@monkeesbackuptambourinepla7346]

Of comedy too. If you listen to him on the old Stern show, or his episodes of Gilbert Gottfried's podcast, Billy's one of the rare voice guys who has the voice chops but also the CONTENT. Many of them just have the voices. Billy is much more.

[@SwapBlogRU]

He is incredibly talanted

[@BoiWonda02]

This man was my childhood.

[@TheKnuckleneck]

He's STILL my childhood, and I'm 38.

[@yamigivo2693]

Joe Casson where have you been all your life

[@gojithereploid7623]

Same man

[@ElementAndrew99]

That Zoidberg clicking noise was amazing and weirdly relaxing

[@Kev95682]

Holy shit. I never knew Billy West did Doug and Roger's voices until now.

[@CyriilB]

Billy West does it all man.

[@DeadTom22]

Yea and I didn't know Doug was 11 years old! I thought he was in high school!

[@thetikitony]

***** That's what I was thinking

[@lenisemicolon]

***** I feel like Doug references his age pretty often in the original Nickelodeon run of the show, but once Disney picked it up things started to change and the characters did seem older like they could be in high school, even though they had only moved up to 7th grade.

[@SonofMrPeanut]

***** I think the ABC show put him in High School, but I'm not positive. Maybe it was just Middle School, because I recall he was a 6th Grader on the Nick show.

[@sonicpulse535]

It's incredible without missing a beat he changes his voice from one character to another without thinking about it. I'm so happy i got to meet him.

[@forthebowies]

This fuckin’ guy

[@daniapfel2825]

@@forthebowies It’s a compliment

[@Oh_its_Mike]

I love the way voice actors talk about their art. The great ones bring so much genius to it.

[@socal808]

Billy West and Hank Azaria are the men of a million voices.

[@saruniz]

Zoidberg is so impressive to me. To achieve that type of blubbery voice when you don't have it naturally takes some serious skill.

[@crysis860]

i seriously didn't know billy west did zoidberg and zap branigan. seth mcfarlanes characters all sound the same.

[@Eric-ux7uy]

i can hear trey parker in tons of south park characters.

[@crysis860]

Eric Anderson yep. me too. i just dont like seth very much

[@TheNeverNight]

What does Seth McFarlane have to do with this? Futurama's creator is Matt Groening.

[@madtonesbr]

Rodrigo Mancera He's comparing the two.

[@Eric-ux7uy]

crysis860 yeah it actually ruined the stick of truth for me b/c i kept picturing trey voicing all the characters

[@EviLNox8]

Kiff! I'm feeling the captains itch.

[@Jcush21]

I'll get the powder, sir.

[@CyriilB]

Jcush21 No, not that itch.

[@fr3k4z0id]

Jcush21 The itch for Adventure!

[@Samrules888]

EviLNox8 If it's a lesson in love watch out. I suffer from a very sexylearning disability. what do I call it kif? ugh. Sexlexia.

[@katherinebentley349]

I'll get the powder, sir.

[@daltonmoen1404]

Its unreal hearing voice actors actually doing the voice. You can barely recognize it. But Billy has such a unique voice, its so recognizable.

[@masonlee5866]

He is one of the few voice actors where his characters actually sound completely different from one another like it doesn’t sound like the same guy doing all of them with the exception of Doug and fry

[@still2weirdfoU]

No matter what he does, I still hear Phillip J. Fry.

[@PrincessKagayaki]

for me it's Doug! I always hear Doug in everything. :')

[@4exgold]

unreal, never realised he did Brannigan & Zoidberg too.

[@bazawhacha]

I didnt realize he did fry and kif

[@zantman1000]

He auditioned for all of the voices

[@Downhollowfication]

bazawhacha when i listen to billy west his voice exactly like when he voice Philip j fry

[@NEETfrog]

He also does Professor Farnsworth's voice.

[@Downhollowfication]

i know

[@myrandomstuffchannel8878]

I once watched all the Futuramas with the DVD commentary on and this guy is freaking hilarious

[@AdamHolland-Adz]

+MyRandomStuffChannel Me too! They're so funny!

[@babalon7778]

+Adam Holland (AdzAdz7) I read that name as "Random Stuff-Chan"

[@thepageofawesome]

Watching VA’s physically change to do characters delights me

[@rockermanpre747]

Wow Billy West is a one man Futurama program.

[@Eric-ux7uy]

watch the futurama comic con table read, he doesnt do all of them

[@carultch]

Rockerman pre Almost. He has a lot of help from John Dimaggio, Katey Sagal, Phil LaMarr, Moe LaMarche, Tress MacNielle, and Lauren Tom. By the way. John Dimaggio called. He told you to bite his shiny metal ass.

[@notsureiL]

@@carultch lol cheers.

[@kalphil4385]

I hear some Phil Hartman in his Zap Brannigan character

[@bigkuntry112]

Phil was supposed to be Zapp

[@LadyhawksLairDotCom]

That's actually not an accident. Hartman was supposed to voice Zapp, but he got murdered. :( Billy had talked with Hartman about what they call "BDA's" or "big dumb announcers" and Hartman was planning to use it. Mr. West's Zapp is homage to Phil Hartman.

[@LadyhawksLairDotCom]

Exactly. Billy's Zapp is homage to Mr. Hartman. I don't believe in curses, but we've lost way too many good SNL players.

[@bigkuntry112]

+Ladyhawk Feathers-in-her-Hair that's true

[@Retrofanatic10]

That's the first guy that came to mind when I first heard Zap Brannigan.

[@BoomDYadda]

Billy West is such a vibrant man, filled with such personality. The world would be a terrible place without him.

[@2012201220122012YEAH]

That was way cooler than I expected.

[@SpeedDemon1152]

His actual voice sounds mostly like Fry

[@acezombiee1607]

He intentionally kept his Fry voice as close to his normal voice for job security.

[@RainAngel111]

Wow I had no idea so many of those voices were all done by this same guy. Super talented!

[@BillyJango]

+RainAngel111 Not a patch on Mel Blanc.

[@SuperAdnan117]

Duh, it's common redditor logic, use one actor for all the lead roles and save money!

[@GamaScythe]

Billy West, Charles Adler, and Frank Welker were the men behind nearly every animated show of my youth.

[@Mhj30596xxok]

Does anybody else think his normal voice kiiiiinda sounds like Marty McFly?

[@UrSammich]

Yeah kind of. He sounds similar to young Micheal J Fox, which is probably could if they ever need him to do the voices Micheal can't really pull off anymore. Specially since his disease and old age has kind of taken a toll on him

[@mathewhastings9485]

GaarasIchibi88 he sounds more like stimpy in his normal voice.

[@UrSammich]

Mathew Hastings Yeah he does. XD Kind of sad, I barely remember Ren and Stimpy...probably because Nick took it off the air when I started watching some episodes

[@mathewhastings9485]

GaarasIchibi88 I watched it as kid, just like Bevis and Butthead. And Doug as well. I remember Nickelodeon and Mtv from way back in the day.

[@Dinofly4]

I think he sounds a tiny bit like Fry from Futurama at times.

[@LJ808]

I love Billy West. The man is a voice legend.

[@Krondelo]

Ha, anyone hear a similarity to Fry's voice and young MJ Fox?

[@roddydykes7053]

Yeah as a kid watching Back To The Future I thought Fox was voicing some of the characters

[@jamesw8674]

Billy West, I love you sir. I was actually named after Doug, and seeing you do his voice made me feel like a child all over again. You sir, are a legend, a boss in the business & I thank you for sharing your many talents with all of us.

[@DisneyMusicVideos]

Billy West is amazing! He's been my favorite voice actor for years & I grew up watching many shows that he worked on.

[@KleWdSide]

What Bob Dylan is to songwriting, Billy West is to voice acting.

[@AdamThorton]

Terrible? (Ha! No, in seriousness, I like Dylan.)

[@yourefatandlazy]

bob dylan never sold out fuck billy

[@jsilence418]

Mister sarajevo wish i had said that .

[@Longrod.vonhugendong]

So billy west is shit?

[@jsilence418]

Free-samples234 I don't think his comment was aimed at fuck wits with their heads up their asses, so you are exempt.

[@XC777]

voice acting is truly an art

[@xbraidx]

this guy is the best voice acting talent of all time.

[@elijahrobinson2362]

Billy West is just amazing. He was just incredible in Ren & Stimpy and it was such a pleasure to hear him in some King of the Hill episodes.

[@iconofsin5886]

This guy voiced a lot of my favorite cartoon characters!? Well I'll be damned. Ren and Stimpy was my most favorite cartoons.

[@mannyja]

I met Billy once at a comic con he was really cool we chatted about music.

[@eddiecoyle9152]

@ Manny: Billy's a great guitar player in addition to his many talents, pretty sure he released a 45 of his music in the late 80s or so..

[@aferraro92]

Billy West is one of greatest gifts this world had ever given us

[@xSasuNaruAmutox]

wow.. so impressive O.O his voices all differ so well from each other that it really sound like different ppl

[@4400seriesFAN]

His normal voice is similar to Phillip J Fry's!

[@4400seriesFAN]

***** not quite.

[@averagesqueaker7121]

He only makes his voice a little higher.

[@irishdisaster1988]

You know how long it took me to realize that this guy voiced Doug Funnie? I love this guy he's super talented

[@DaniiLysette]

OMG.! This guy is a legend! He was the genius behind all the best 90's cartoons. He is the reason why I spent my childhood glued to the tv instead of playing outside on hot sunny summer days.....no regrets :)

[@nottommy8008]

Billy West really was amazing. Fry's my favourite of his (and favourite character in Futurama) but Zoidberg, Ren, Stimpy, Daffy and Zapp were really good too.

[@salsamancer]

Billy West is such an amazing talent, it's awesome to see him do so those voices

[@BryantCabrera]

He's a kid at heart! What a perfect personality for a voice actor :]

[@Tobiworksproduction1]

i love how easily he can shift between character voices

[@al145]

I had no idea he did THAT many characters I knew. I knew he did a lot of them, but good lord.

[@rich1051414]

Amazing how he makes his words outpace his train of thought when doing fry, really sales the 'stupid'.

[@junsol2473]

Oh my God. This guy is amazing. I didn't know he did all these voices. He is a magician 😶

[@espio7102]

Him and seth mcfarlane never cease to amaze me with the array of different voices they can do

[@jamesb1988]

Espio 710 Let me preface this by saying I love Seth, but if you want to be blown away look at the voices that Harry Shearer and Hank Azaria do in the Simpsons. Pretty much every adult male character outside of the main family. Shearer especially is incredible.

[@paxromana301]

Billy West is incredible. That Elmer Fudd was awsome, and the other stuff he does is marvelous too. Didn't realize I had been listening to that voice since Ren and Stimpy!

[@ThePassionateJetSetter]

He is just so talented and the back story behind the voices... ah, love it!

[@rippingjeans7232]

No wonder I love Futurama; it is voiced by the same person who voiced my favorite childhood cartoons!

[@steve1978ger]

guy's a national treasure

[@jamesblond516]

the zoidberg is unreal man!

[@selvig3940]

Why would they not show us the Professor?

[@exceedcharge1]

Selvig Sad news everyone

[@bwdoggrooming4482]

I love how West sounds like Fry when he talks normally

[@karakelly7577]

my uncle♡ billy west used to be friends with my dad when they were younger.

[@SpeedyDePalma]

His Howard Stern show impressions are the best, Jackie Martling, Marge Schott, Ed McMahon, Pat Cooper, Lucy.

[@Goffix2009]

A great Larry Fine and the "blue"Jay Leno also!

[@pussydestroyer87]

Greaseman.

[@matthewgray469]

The bit they did with Larry Fine doing the stage announcements at Woodstock is a gem. "Don't take the brown acid! I'm warnin' you !"

[@AKIRATV2]

This guy is my idol, Ren & Stimpy and Fry alone make him the man forever.

[@goregeek81]

He is Amazing!!! Thanks for putting this up!!

[@jtszabo1691]

I love Penn Jillette and Billy West. This is a dream come true!

[@BACKinBLACK1080]

His Zapp Brannigan character is based on his time with Howard Stern...I just realized this.

[@SonofMrPeanut]

***** As sad as that news of Phil made me, I'm glad Billy was the one to do it. Apparently Phil was also going to work on a live-action Troy McClure movie.

[@SMBChmmr]

***** "some"... RIP Phil Hartman. May your (ex)-partner rot in hell.

[@ok_studios]

No, HS was p much the first anti-classic disc jockey who hated on the same announcers Billy were making fun of here.

[@carultch]

SMBChmmr Is Brynn really Phil Hartman's ex-wife, even though they were never ex-husband and ex-wife while they were alive?

[@SMBChmmr]

carultch I'd say yes since she killed him when he said he was going to leave her.

[@davidgargiulo1012]

I LOVE BILLY WEST! What a genius. I always wondered who did the voice for Dr. Zoiberga and Zap Brannigan. I don't know any details, but I think there was some friction between Billy and Howard Stern back in the 90s. But that's when I first noticed how extremely funny Billy West could be and the hilarious ideas he came up with. I sincerely hope he's still working, healthy, happy and making money. The guy's got it in spades.

[@Chameleam]

I could watch this guy talk for ages!!

[@julia3354]

I come back to this all the time, he's so insanely talented

[@originalJoeKing]

Who's watching this in 2019?! 😎👀👀

[@timothymbess]

Unfortunately, they never paid him enough money to buy a complete shirt. So sad.

[@ermagerd101]

Great video, what a treat! Thanks for posting!

[@filippians413]

This dude is a legend.

[@WatevBoi23]

am I the only one upset he didn't do Professor Farnsworth?

[@joeyjohnson5850]

no you are not.

[@InnocentSweetie123]

No you're not.

[@PANZERFAUST90]

yes

[@pierredollony701]

Zapp and no "velooouuurrr..."? I am dissapointed.

[@gm24ace]

We have failed to uphold Brannigan's Law. However I did make it with a hot alien babe. -Z.B

[@Jellyforge]

Brannigan's law is a lot like Brannigain's love. Hard and fast.

[@FrankCastle-he8fl]

Love his work

[@churchkyloren1703]

Happy Birthday Bugs Bunny, Philip J. Fry and Murfy. May the Peace be with u. From Harlingen Texas. April 16, 1952 April 16, 2020 through April 16, 3020

[@bowmaj8666]

"This is Roger Clotz, I'm running for office SO VOTE FOR THIS!" I don't remember that episode of Doug!

[@melloe]

a true artist.

[@JonasClark]

Beautiful! Love to see talent like that doing their thing, especially when they really let loose about it.

[@aeowid]

I can hear Fry in his regular voice. Awesome!

[@_laurenolo_]

omg I love Billy West

[@goodnewsgeek42]

That "sstupid" at 4:05 gets me every frickin time!

[@joseguillen1157]

AAAAAAAsaaaaaa this is so crazy!! I can't stop fan girling!! And I can totally hear Fry in his regular voice, too. This is so weird but I love it! Woooow his young voices!!

[@runeplate123]

It’s like a Jello in that seat with a amazing voice talent

[@reinforcedpenisstem]

John K. voiced Ren for the first couple of seasons. He did an awesome job.

[@ApemanMonkey]

I believe he was indeed influenced by DJ's for his voice for Zapp Brannigan... but what he failed to mention is the influence of Phil Hartman, who did very similar voices like Zapp's on other animated shows, like The Simpsons. Phil Hartman was supposed to be Zapp Brannigan, but then he was murdered by his wife. Billy was brought in to do a similar voice as Phil's.

[@clamdigger8118]

I can also hear the Phil Hartman in Zapp's voice.

[@JasperLeroux]

Brandon Stumbo Yeah I hear Phil in Zapp too, with a slight hint of William Shatner.

[@Tholman30]

Brandon Stumbo jdn&

[@Tholman30]

Freakazoid ktxai country song about a picture dictionary on Tonio Costa Mesa

[@averyellis]

Totally an homage.

[@J20M]

Such a supremely talented human being

[@TheJayMarsh]

I love his energy, looks like he's having a really good time!

[@ian234234234]

i fucking love zapp!

[@DanFrederiksen]

He's not every character on Futurama except Katey Segal. He's not Bender.

[@churchdcta]

Yeah they left out a lot of people, like Maurice LaMarche, who dose around 12 plus voices on the show. Few for example: Kif, Agnew, Calculon, Clamps, Donbot, Hedonismbot, Horrible Gelatinous Blob. so on and so on. Tho not taking away that Billy West is a legend among the voice actors.

[@slanderman3296]

Absolutely amazing.

[@sibby6554]

The way he laughs is so animated and so him!