John Moschitta Jr.
John Moschitta Jr | |
|---|---|
 Moschitta Jr. at the Retro Con inOaks, Pennsylvania,in 2015 | |
| Born | August 6, 1954 New York City,New York,U.S. |
| Other names | Motormouth, The Fast-Talking Guy |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1979–present |
John Moschitta Jr.(born August 6, 1954), also known as"Motormouth" John MoschittaandThe Fast-Talking Guy,is an American actor, singer and spokesman. He is best known for his rapid speech delivery. He appeared in over 100 commercials as "TheMicro MachinesMan "[1]and in a 1981 ad forFedEx.He provided the voice for Blurr inThe Transformers: The Movie(1986),The Transformers(1986–1987),Transformers: Animated(2008–2009) and two direct-to-video films.
Moschitta had been credited inThe Guinness Book of World Recordsas the World's Fastest Talker,[1]with the ability to articulate 586words per minute.His record was broken in 1990 bySteve Woodmore,who spoke 637 words per minute[2][3]and then by Sean Shannon, who spoke 655 words per minute on August 30, 1995.[4]However, Moschitta questions the legitimacy of those who claim to be faster than he is.[5]
FedEx commercial
[edit]In 1981, Moschitta appeared on theABCTV seriesThat's Incredible!,[6]where he recited the lyrics from "Ya Got Trouble"fromThe Music Man.The appearance led to many other television offers, such asThe Tonight Showand theMerv Griffin Show.[6]Also, after seeing the show, Patrick Kelly and Michael Tesch, employees of theAlly & Garganoad agency, hired Moschitta to appear in aFedExcommercial; the package-delivery company was then still known by its original name, Federal Express.[7]In the ad, "Fast Paced World",[8]directed byJoe Sedelmaier,Moschitta played a fast-talking executive named Jim Spleen. The commercial garnered sixClio Awards,including Best Performance–Male award for Moschitta and earned him the nickname "Motormouth". Turn-of-the-century polls named it the Most Effective Campaign in the History of Advertising and named Moschitta the Most Effective Spokesperson.[citation needed]The 40th-anniversary issue ofNew York Magazine(October 6, 2008) listed it as number one in "The Most Memorable Advertisements Madison Avenue Ever Sold."[9]Advertising Ageranked the ad number 11 among its "Top 100 Campaigns" in March 1999.[10]According to Moschitta, he did 29 flawless takes of the final scene of the commercial, prompting the director to remark that he is "like a machine" who never makes mistakes. In response, Moschitta deliberately fumbled on a line, which was ultimately the take that was used in the final cut.[11]
Other television work
[edit]He was a contestant onPyramidin the 1970s and then was a production assistant onPyramidproducer Bob Stewart's game showShoot for the Starsin 1977 and later played two weeks ofPyramidas a celebrity, one in 1983 and one in 1988.
In addition to his commercials for Federal Express, Moschitta completed over 750 television and radio commercials, including national campaigns forMinute Rice,Quality Inn,Northwest Airlines,Olympus Camera,Mattel,Post Cereals,Tiger Games,Continental Airlines,Burger King,ABC,NBC,CBS,PBS,HBO,Micro Machines,andJetBlue.The "Great Cable Comparison" spot for HBO, in which he played a dozen characters, earned him his second Clio recognition and a Silver Medal from the International Film and Television Festival of New York (1985).[citation needed]In 1996, Moschitta was honored by theAcademy of Television Arts & Sciences(theEmmyorganization) for his contribution to outstanding commercials.[citation needed]
Moschitta also appeared in a number of movies and television shows. For example, he voiced the character ofBlurrinThe Transformers: The Movie,[6]and reprised the character onTransformers Animated.
Moschitta has been an announcer on two television game shows:Hollywood SquaresandBalderdash.
In 2016, Moschitta appeared on an episode ofSuperhumanonFOXas a part of the challenge "Fast Car" in which he rapidly explained the various prices of three different vehicles to mental calculatorMike Byster,who had to calculate the sticker prices of each one correctly.[12]The episode aired on June 26, 2017.
Audio recordings
[edit]In 1986, Moschitta recorded a spoken-word album entitledTen Classics in Ten Minutes.In this recording, Moschitta summarizes tenclassic literary talesin one minute each. The collection includes stories such asHerman Melville'sMoby-Dick;William Shakespeare'sRomeo and Juliet;F Scott Fitzgerald'sThe Great Gatsby;Margaret Mitchell'sGone with the Wind;andJohn Steinbeck'sThe Grapes of Wrath.[6]Soon after, the team produced a second recording,Professor John Moschitta's Ten-Minute University.In it, Moschitta delivered 60-second lectures on various subjects such as comparative literature, physics, economics, psychology, and football. Both were originally released on audio cassette in the 1980s; they were released on CD in 2004, with accompanying books.
Selected filmography
[edit]Film
[edit]- Young Doctors in Love(1982) — Complaining man
- Starchaser: The Legend of Orin(1985) — Z'Gork (voice)
- The Transformers: The Movie(1986) — Blurr (voice)
- Going Under(1990) — Defense Contractor (as John Moschitta)
- Dick Tracy(1990) — Radio Announcer
- Blankman(1994) — Mr. Crudd
- John Bronco(2020) — Himself
Television
[edit]- Nickel Flicks(1979) — Host
- Madame's Place(1982) — Larry Lunch
- Matt Houston(1983) — Myron Chase
- The Transformers(1986–1987) — Punch / Blurr / Blowpipe (voice) (as John Moschitta)
- Sesame Street(1989) — Porter Pepper of Peter Piper "P" Products, a new baby with names from the alphabet
- Saved by the Bell(1989) — George Testaverde
- Mathnet(1991) — Johnny Dollar
- Garfield and Friends(1992) — Super Sonic Seymour (voice)
- Pinky and the Brain(1997) — Kurt Sackett (voice)
- Hollywood Squares(2003–2004) — Announcer
- Balderdash(2004–2005) — Announcer
- Robot Chicken(2007–2012) — Elrond, Azmuth, auctioneer, NASA crew member, hostage, Micro Machines Man, Trap-Jaw (voice)
- Transformers: Animated(2008–2009) — Blurr (voice)
- Family Guyepisode: "Fox-y Lady"(2009) - FedEx Guy (voice)
- Adventure Time(2010) — Key-per (voice)
- Oddities(2013) — Himself
See also
[edit]- Fran Capo,fastest female speaker
- Tachylalia,term for extremely rapid speech
References
[edit]- ^abBellomo, Mark (September 2010).Totally Tubular '80s Toys.Krause Publications.p. 171.ISBN9781440216473.RetrievedAugust 26,2013.[permanent dead link]
- ^Mathews, Peter (1992).The Guinness Book of Records 1993.Guinness World Records Limited. p. 64.ISBN9780851129785.
- ^Callihan, Jon R. (February 2002)."Here This (Or Try To)".Popular Science.Vol. 260, no. 2.Bonnier Corporation.p. 76.ISSN0161-7370.
- ^"Faster Talker".GuinnessWorldRecords.com.RetrievedNovember 25,2012.
- ^Ruiz, Michelle (December 9, 2016)."Is the Micro-Machines Guy Still the Fastest-Talking Man on the Planet?".RetrievedNovember 16,2018.
- ^abcdGervais, Marty (November 8, 1986)."Motor-mouth led to his rapid success".The Saturday Windsor Star.RetrievedJanuary 9,2013.
- ^Walker, Ben (March 6, 1983)."Quick quip: Actor talks his way into Federal Express commercials".The Daily News.RetrievedJanuary 9,2013.
- ^"Federal Express 'Fast Paced World' commercial from 1981".Archivedfrom the original on December 21, 2021.RetrievedDecember 28,2015– via YouTube.
- ^Parish, Nick (September 28, 2008)."The Most Memorable Advertisements Madison Avenue Ever Sold".New York.RetrievedOctober 2,2013.
- ^"Ad Age Advertising Century: Top 100 Campaigns".Advertising Age.Crain Communications. March 29, 1999.RetrievedOctober 4,2013.
- ^Great Big Story (October 24, 2017)."Talking Fast With a Record-Setting Speed Talker".Archivedfrom the original on December 21, 2021 – via YouTube.
- ^"Mike Can Catch The Prices In A Really Fast Sales Pitch".June 16, 2017.Archivedfrom the original on December 21, 2021 – via YouTube.
Further reading
[edit]- Bellomo, Mark (2010).Totally Tubular '80s Toys.Krause Publications. p. 171.ISBN9781440216473.
- Birla, Madan (2012).FedEx Delivers: How the World's Leading Shipping Company Keeps Innovating and Outperforming the Competition.John Wiley & Sons.ISBN9781118428979.
- Butler, Jeremy G. (2012).Television Style.Taylor & Francis. p. 120.ISBN9780415965118.