The Power of Nonsense to Free Your Voice (gibberish, grammelot & sounding silly)

Today’s scrappy video is all about nonsense — gibberish, grammelot, babbling, glossolalia, scatting — whatever name you prefer.

Why on earth do voice coaches, improvisers, and clowns spend so much time speaking in sounds that make absolutely no sense?

And what are the actual benefits of doing it?

I talk about:
The different traditions of nonsense (improv, Commedia, clown, jazz, religion)
Why the word “gibberish” is questioned by some people (and where it actually came from)
Why nonsense helps you stop overthinking and start listening to sounds
How gibberish frees emotion, expression, and vocal play
Why babies do it instinctively (and learn languages faster than we do)
The real reason adults struggle with nonsense: wanting to look clever
And how to actually practise nonsense without freezing up or feeling ridiculous

If you want to get better at improv, acting, voice work, accents, or languages — nonsense is your friend. But only if you’re willing to sound stupid first. (Which is the entire point.)

👉 Add yourself to the Voice Lab Online Program Waitlist:
https://sendfox.com/alexowenhill

🎭 I’m Alex Owen-Hill — a voice coach, performer, and researcher exploring voice, authenticity, and neurodivergence. If you like scrappy, unedited videos about voice and being human, subscribe (or speak nonsense at the screen, that works too).

Chapters:
00:00 – A load of nonsense
00:11 – Why learn to speak nonsense?
00:20 – Gibberish, grammelot, clowning & improv terms
00:45 – Yes, I have a list (and no, I’m not editing this)
01:20 – What counts as “gibberish” anyway?
02:00 – Babbling, glossolalia, scatting, echoic sounds
02:49 – The real etymology of “gibberish”
03:35 – Why nonsense is useful: removing sense
03:53 – Focusing on sound over meaning
04:09 – Emotion without words
04:24 – Nonsense for language learning
05:03 – Bad French vs real French
05:15 – Why people struggle: wanting to make sense
05:47 – And wanting to look clever
06:12 – Clowning, embarrassment, and letting yourself be an idiot
06:57 – How to actually practise nonsense
07:24 – Start with one sound
08:00 – Build it like babies do
08:26 – Avoid letting meaning block you
08:59 – Copying people as an exercise
10:05 – Caricature, imitation, and building impressions
10:53 – The value of sounding ridiculous first
11:00 – A nonsense video about nonsense

#voicecoach #improv #clowning #gibberish #voicework #acting #neurodivergent #adhd #languagelearning #performance #authenticity