When it comes to TV moms, no matriarch loves her kids more weirdly than Bob's Burgers' Linda Belcher. Linda enjoys singing and helping her children, Tina, Gene and Louise, get out of and into crazy situations. She's the sweetest thing about moms, and I can't wait to see what kind of shenanigans and mischief Linda, husband Bob, and the rest of the Belcher family get into on Sunday's premiere of Bob's Burgers Season 5 confusion. But what you may not know is that Linda's voice does not come from a woman. Male comedian John Roberts voices Linda Belcher, and he's so good you can't even tell he's not a real mom.
Transgender voice acting is nothing new in animation. Comedian Dan Mintz voices eldest daughter Tina Belcher on the show, while sisters Sarah and Laura Silverman play brothers Andy and Ollie Pesto, respectively. Most famously, Nancy Cartwright voiced Bart Simpson, a position she held for 25 years. Additionally, Roberts is famous on YouTube for her videos of female characters, which have been viewed more than 20 million times. The popular videos featured guest appearances by Debbie Harry and Margaret Cho, and Roberts sounded very much like Linda Belcher today.
The inspiration behind Linda's voice
You can hear an early version of Linda's voice in a YouTube video by Roberts, who played a female in the "Jackie and Debbie" series. In an interview on Fox's "Good Day New York," Roberts said (in his normal voice) that the female voice was an impression of his mother, Maggie. The videos earned him Broadband Emmy recognition and millions of viewers, as well as numerous meetings in Hollywood, including one with "Saturday Night Live" executive producer Lorne Michaels .
funny on stage
Roberts' ability to parlay his YouTube success into hilarious performances as Jimmy Fallon's mom on "Watch What Happens Live" and NBC's "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" undoubtedly took a cue from his own mother Got some inspiration. He is also a stand-up comedian who performs frequently in various venues and has been on two national tours with Cho.
Toon Town
Becoming Linda Belcher opened the door to a number of other animation opportunities for Roberts. In the Bob's Burgers crossover on FX's Archer , Roberts voices Linda, who expresses concern and shock at the insane violence the new Bob brings to the burger joint. Fun fact: This crossover EP came about because actor H. John Benjamin actually voiced both Sterling Archer and Bob Belcher.
In the Disney Channel cartoon Gravity Falls , Roberts provided the voice of Xyler, a character from the first and second seasons of the cartoon film Fantasy High .
So what would Linda think of the progress Roberts has made since her YouTube days?
That's it, Linda. at.
Picture: Fox; John Roberts /Facebook
