Warning: listening to Michael Winslow via a telephone may be injurious to your health.
Best known for his role as Sgt Larvelle ''Motor Mouth'' Jones in the Police Academy movie series, Winslow has a gift for making noises.
From barking dogs to the squish of a soggy shoe, a jet-plane's roar to scratches down a blackboard, radio dial squawks to the wail of a Jimi Hendrix guitar solo, Winslow's onomatopoeic ability has taken him far.
On the line from Florida, another stop on a United States schedule that has included occasional appearances at music festivals, Winslow is set to pack his bags for a New Zealand tour that includes a show at the Dunedin Town Hall on August 16.
Injecting disturbing squeals and a range of high-volume voices into the conversation, Winslow describes the format for his New Zealand shows as a kitchen-sink approach: there will be ''weird surprises'', musical impersonations ranging from Louis Armstrong to Led Zeppelin as well as stand-up comedy, theatre and improvisation.
''I grew up with stand-up,'' Winslow said.
''I also moved around a lot and when you do that you get to see a great cross-section of performers. You name it, I've seen it.
''I've listened to everything from Mel Brooks to that horrible show they used to have in the UK called The Young Ones, on which they had a hedgehog that would try to kill its owner.
"I would look at that and try to put noises to it,'' he pauses before letting loose with a burst of dialogue that sounds like a small animal (albeit one with a Cockney accent) in pain.
It prompts an obvious question: was he a particularly annoying child, one who would grab any chance to show off his latest trick?
''What, you mean like imitate food in a Chinese restaurant?'' Winslow answered.
Born in 1958 on a US Air Force base in Fairchild, Winslow moved around a lot as a child.
He admits he was, at heart, a shy type. Thus his vocal dabbling also served another purpose.
''Then it wasn't me; it was the character talking. I did that a lot. I didn't have a lot of friends growing up. Consequently, I had to make up my own friends.''
Although Winslow's ability to mimic, twist and/or amplify sounds both everyday and otherworldly arrived at an early age, he can't recall exactly how it developed.
''It was odd. No-one told me not to do it. Everyone has a skill-set of sounds, but we just don't try to do them.''
Winslow's ever-expanding vocal repertoire has taken him places.
Homeless in Venice Beach at the age of 20 (''I'll never do that again . . .''), he auditioned for the Gong Show, and went on to perform in Los Angeles comedy clubs, where he was discovered by Bud Friedman, founder of the New York Improvisation Comedy Club, a man who helped launch the careers of Bette Midler, Andy Kaufman and Jay Leno.
Friedman featured Winslow in the televised Evening at the Improv and in 1984 film producers Hugh Wilson and Paul Manslanski wrote him into the script of the Police Academy movies. Winslow says he hasn't looked back.
In fact, Nu Line Cinema is set to begin production of a seventh film in the Police Academy franchise later this year.
He also provided the voice for Stripe in Stephen Spielberg's Gremlins as well as starring in National Lampoon's Robo Doc and Mel Brooks' Spaceballs.
You can also hear Winslow in animated television series Family Guy, King Of The Hill and Robot Chicken. More recently, he has contributed more than 500 sounds to Wizard Ops, the first video game to feature all-human sound effects.
In short, Winslow says he has made a career out of acting, well, like a child.
''And I don't know how that happened,'' he said.
''I remember getting a phone call from Bill Cosby one time after he saw a TV ad I did. He called me up and asked me what the hell I was thinking.
"My wife hung up on him twice - she didn't believe it was him.
''He rang up and said 'you interrupted my flow - that commercial was so stupid, I forgot what I was thinking about. Why don't you take those noises and tell classic stories with them'.
''I thought, 'he's right'. I could take any old story, add some noises to it and it's a whole new thing.''
Winslow might be able to roam from robots to a jet-engine roar, yet he admits there are some impersonations that have sorely tested his vocal cords.
''I come across hard ones all the time. Every country has its own sounds.
''Most recently, a tough one has been the Scottish bagpipes. I didn't know a sheep could make that kind of noise, but when you get it right ...''
Ouch. Point taken.
See him, hear him
Michael Winslow performs at the Dunedin Town Hall on Friday, August 16. He will be supported by New Zealand comedian Simon McKinney.
