John Moschitta Jr.

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John Moschitta Jr
Moschitta Jr. at the Retro Con in Oaks, Pennsylvania, in 2015
Born (1954-08-06) August 6, 1954 (age 69)
New York City, New York, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Other namesMotormouth, The Fast-Talking Guy
Occupations
  • Actor
  • singer
  • spokesperson
Years active1979–present

John Moschitta Jr. (born August 6, 1954), also known as "Motormouth" John Moschitta and The 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 "The Micro Machines Man"[1] and in a 1981 ad for FedEx. He provided the voice for Blurr in The Transformers: The Movie (1986), The Transformers (1986–1987), Transformers: Animated (2008–2009) and two direct-to-video films.

Moschitta had been credited in

The Guinness Book of World Records as the World's Fastest Talker,[1] with the ability to articulate 586 words per minute. His record was broken in 1990 by Steve 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

In 1981, Moschitta appeared on the

Advertising Age ranked 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

He was a contestant on Pyramid in the 1970s and then was a production assistant on Pyramid producer Bob Stewart's game show Shoot for the Stars in 1977 and later played two weeks of Pyramid as 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 for

Emmy organization) 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 of

Blurr in The Transformers: The Movie,[6] and reprised the character on Transformers Animated
.

Moschitta has been an announcer on two television game shows: Hollywood Squares and Balderdash.

In 2016, Moschitta appeared on an episode of Superhuman on FOX as a part of the challenge "Fast Car" in which he rapidly explained the various prices of three different vehicles to mental calculator Mike Byster, who had to calculate the sticker prices of each one correctly.[12] The episode aired on June 26, 2017.

Audio recordings

In 1986, Moschitta recorded a spoken-word album entitled Ten Classics in Ten Minutes. In this recording, Moschitta summarizes ten

F Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby; Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind; and John Steinbeck's The 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

Film

Television

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 9781440216473. Retrieved August 26, 2013.[permanent dead link
    ]
  2. ISBN 9780851129785
    .
  3. ISSN 0161-7370
    .
  4. ^ "Faster Talker". GuinnessWorldRecords.com. Retrieved November 25, 2012.
  5. ^ Ruiz, Michelle (December 9, 2016). "Is the Micro-Machines Guy Still the Fastest-Talking Man on the Planet?". Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d Gervais, Marty (November 8, 1986). "Motor-mouth led to his rapid success". The Saturday Windsor Star. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  7. ^ Walker, Ben (March 6, 1983). "Quick quip: Actor talks his way into Federal Express commercials". The Daily News. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
  8. ^ "Federal Express 'Fast Paced World' commercial from 1981". Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved December 28, 2015 – via YouTube.
  9. ^ Parish, Nick (September 28, 2008). "The Most Memorable Advertisements Madison Avenue Ever Sold". New York. Retrieved October 2, 2013.
  10. ^ "Ad Age Advertising Century: Top 100 Campaigns". Advertising Age. Crain Communications. March 29, 1999. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
  11. ^ Great Big Story (October 24, 2017). "Talking Fast With a Record-Setting Speed Talker". Archived from the original on December 21, 2021 – via YouTube.
  12. ^ "Mike Can Catch The Prices In A Really Fast Sales Pitch". June 16, 2017. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021 – via YouTube.

Further reading

External links
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