Benjamin Koenig: Narrator and Voice Actor

Praise for Liar, Alleged:

"Benjamin Koenig laudably creates the vibrant personality of 70-year-old writer/performer David Vass. Koenig skillfully captures uproarious humor and erotic descriptions."-AudioFile Magazine

"The narrator, Benjamin Koenig, captures the personality of each character and projects it accurately to the listener.  The emotional experiences of the characters are vividly portrayed.  Koenig delivers with deliberate precision, amplifying the emotional turmoil and speech patterns. His voice-acting skills are perfect for this audiobook!" -Audio Book Reviewer.com

Working with Ben was a dream.  He was always available, open to discussions around different approaches to take with different parts of the narrative and was flexible relating to incorporating my ideas and feedback into his masterful voice work on the book.  That is not an easy combination to find.  And Ben hit every timeline, not once did I have to ‘chase’.  How refreshing.

It’s a pleasure to recommend Ben without any reservations whatsoever – his work was spot-on, timely, sensitive and his creativity allowed him to use his vocal skills to produce this very challenging book the way I heard it in my head. I lucked out!

-David Vass, author of Liar Alleged, A Tell All: Celebrities, Sex, and All the Rest

This project was only possible thanks to the brilliant narrator I collaborated with, Benjamin Koenig, who did an utterly amazing job! I listened to over 80 sample audio resumes of voice actors/narrators before deciding on Ben. I’ve been asked why I didn’t do the audio myself – after all, I have the one-man show and the PPV versions under my belt. My reasoning was/is two-fold: There is an art to reading a 278-page book (appx nine hours as a read – try that onstage!) requiring cadence, timing, speed, emphasis, clear pronunciation and so many things skilled voice actors have learned from experience. I didn’t want to fuck up my own book by not knowing the ‘tricks of the trade’. And when I heard Ben’s voice, some psychic instinct within me said, “he’s the one, that’s the voice!” \

Contacting Benjamin Koenig was a process. It is done through a division of Amazon that controls most of the audiobook business, ACX. Hoops were jumped, a reader’s fee was agreed on, and I received a five-minute sample of Ben reading the first pages of my book. And he was perfect! But he hadn’t read the entire narrative yet and I was a little freaked that the adult material and language, and the on-page gratuitous sex scenes (necessary to the plot IMO) might put him off. But pro that he is, he jumped right into the deep end of the pool and fearlessly took on the project. It is not just my ‘blue’ use of language in the narrative, but the Bonus Chapter includes nearly 30 celebrity profiles of major celebrities. 

I needed a narrator who would be able to differentiate the various award - winning stars without trying to impersonate their voices (it’s an audiobook, not a drag show). Ben ‘grokked’ this. I explained it this way, “pretend you are sitting in a comfy, overstuffed chair by a roaring fireplace and surrounded by several adult friends sipping wine while you read them a book.” And that’s exactly what he did! To perfection!

-David Vass, author of Liar Alleged, A Tell All: Celebrities, Sex, and All the Rest

I was so lucky to have Benjamin Koenig narrate the audiobook for Deficient. I was a little nervous about what someone new to the book would bring to it and was secretly afraid that he might mispronounce something (people often get confused with Yalamba…it’s yuh-lahm-buh ICYWW). I really wanted someone who could get the basics right while bringing the characters and story to life.

I could not have asked for a better voice actor! Benjamin is so fantastically talented. He read the book and studied each of the characters in detail before diving into the recording. He created a unique voice for each character in a courageous way that worked perfectly for the diverse cast. He hit the somber moments with mastery, built intensity when the pace picked up, and had excellent comedic timing for the funny moments. He even made me laugh out loud, which is hard to do when you’ve read your work so many times.

Benjamin got all the names, places, and made-up words right, and he had perfect pronunciation with the Spanish words scattered throughout the book (including my surname, which has been botched for as long as I can remember…it’s “soh-lees” ICYWW). This attention to detail meant a lot, and it’s not something I hear all narrators do.

All in all, Benjamin honored the story, the characters, and my background through his narration. I’d love to work with him again in the future. Check out some of his narrations if you get the chance!

-Michael Solis, author of Deficient