Talk:Cecil Portesque

In re the Cecil Portesque page, what is this garbage about a consensus that the first few were Mr. Linnell and the rest are Mr. Flansburgh? The guys who run the wiki think that, not the entire online community. It's stated on the Cecil page as if *everyone* agrees on this, and in the TMBG community at large, there is no agreement on this point.

AND, most importantly, TMBG itself is not talking.

So, as long as neither Mr. Flansburgh nor Mr. Linnell 'fess up, it is silly to definitively credit either man with any of the podcasts. The Cecil page should be changed to reflect that lack of consensus. ~Christina Miller, May 2006

Huh? It's perfectly fine to write that the users of this website have decided something amongst themselves after conducting some tests, especially when it's being stated only on said website. Where does it say that everyone outside of TMBW agrees on this, and where was anyone definitively credited? -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 17:23, 17 May 2006 (CDT)

Excellent points! However, I don't even see consensus on this page, if you'll pardon me saying so. As I read down, I see several people not agreeing, I see hashing, discussing, but I don't see consensus. Maybe I read this incorrectly, of course. The Cecil page points to this one under the word "consensus" so I was expecting to link here and see that clear agreement.

What I was primarily objecting to is the declarativeness, the authority with which the identification is stated, given the link here. Certainly, someone who is not a careful reader might get the impression if they only looked at the Cecil page that Portesque had been identified in fact, when at this point, people are still speculating and the subject is under debate. Can we put in a few words about how this is still up in the air? For the sake of completeness and accuracy? We don't want to misrepresent the band, I assume? ~ Christina Miller

Way ahead of you, I added a few more words to the main Cecil page before you replied back. Is that sufficient? -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 17:50, 17 May 2006 (CDT)

That looks more even-handed to my eye, more dry and factual. Thanks a bunch! ~CM

---

"Much else is unknown about Mr. Portesque. Rumors abound that he is, perhaps John Linnell pitch-shifted down, but the people who put forth such a horrendous theory are clearly godless communists"

I'm assuming that claim is a joke, because I laughed at it. ;) Anyway, the person at the end of the show doing the long disclaimer thing is clearly Flansburgh being pitch-shifted _up_, so why not have a more bassy Linnell as the host? Also, if you google for Cecil Portesque, you get nothing but TMBG-owned links.

Cecil _Fortescue_, on the other hand...

• I'm guessing it's Linnell, but NOT shifted down. --Nathew 03:23, 14 Dec 2005 (EST)
  • Regardless of humor, this page is not very wiki-fyed. -AtionSong 19:13, 17 Dec 2005 (EST)

Well, someone take a podcast, and turn the pitch up (I recommend Audacity). I might be able to get to it later, but maybe not.

People have done it, and it sounds like no one. I'm fairly certainly it's just Flansburgh doing a voice with no pitch shifting at all. -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 21:10, 13 Mar 2006 (CST)

The person doing the disclaimer sounds to me like Goldie talking through her nose. — User:ACupOfCoffee@ 01:03, 17 Mar 2006 (CST)

Um... why does the page say "See John Flansburgh"? This is issue is very much a debate and definitely hasn't been decided on for sure... I'm guessing it's a joke or something, but still. -oreos_are_crack

Here is the sped-up version of the podcast. If anybody, it sounds like Linnell.--tehbagel 22:04, 27 Mar 2006 (CST)

That's just plain weird. The sped up version has some of Flansburgh's verbal flourishes, but sounds like a much younger man, like 25 to 30. I don't hear Mr. Linnell in it at all. Has anyone considered that Flansburgh might have assigned some young buck in his employ to pretend to be him so he doesn't have to do it? The pitch-shifting might be to mask that fact. ~[Christina Miller, March 2006]

That's because no one's voice is sped up or slowed down. It's just Flansburgh speaking in a funny voice, possibly pitched down a few notches. -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 15:53, 27 Mar 2006 (CST)

If I recall, I think the first and maybe the second podcast was done by Linnell (I can't exactly go back to them now), but if you sped up any of the podcasts 3 through 5 you'd find Flansburgh's voice (still, though, with JF doing something to his voice). --Magbatz 16:35, 27 Mar 2006 (CST)

No. The same voice is on podcast 1-5. No offense, but you'd REALLY have to be deaf to think otherwise. Flansburgh just got lazier after 3 and began making it more obvious with his vocal nuances. -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 19:14, 27 Mar 2006 (CST)

How can you be so sure? I have never heard either John talk that low without using some sort of aid. Listen carefully to the sped-up version...right around "year end, 'round the holidays" part, there are some very Linnell-like qualities to the voice. I'm impressed the band could confuse us as they have. Usually, the wikians are experts at detecting which John is talking.--tehbagel 22:04, 27 Mar 2006 (CST)

I can admit when I'm wrong. :D I just went back and listened to 1A-5A with a bunch of pitch tuning effects, and while I'm not 100% concrete sure about anything, I'd put money on Linnell doing 1A and 2A, and Flansburgh providing the voice for everything since. Both Johns have super-unique qualities and nuances in some of their pronounciations, and they're all audible after changing the pitch, and even before doing it. Sorry I doubted anyone, but I would've never suspected Linnell. -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 20:11, 27 Mar 2006 (CST)

I just watched the QuickTime video on tmbg.com of Robot Parade, and there are some parts where it totally sounds like Cecil. I'd only heard that song once before today which is why the song made me think of the podcast, and not the other way around. It could totally be Flans with whatever effect they used there minus the reverb. — User:ACupOfCoffee@ 21:01, 31 Mar 2006 (CST)

If you listen to Minimum Wage and then listen to the Pdcast 3A-5B you can tell those are John Flansburgh. Possibly, we have to speed it up/pitch correct it at a different rate to know for certain who did the first two podcasts. - apfelbitsliam

This is a completely different subject, but Cecil may have been inspired by "college radio" from Strong Bad Email #120. Not only does the voice have the bewildered air of Cecil, but Strong Bad also says, "College radio can pretty much be summed up in 5 words: Dead air, um, dead air. " That can't just be a coincidence, especially since TMBG have done multiple projects with the site, Homestarrunner.com. -Anonymous Contributor 16:48, 26 Apr 2006 (EST)

Ah, I think it just is a coincidence. Dead air is a pretty common phrase. It would be pretty cool if it were a reference to H*R. But I doubt it. Way to go on naming your kid, too. --Valerie 08:09, 12 May 2006 (CDT)

I really don't think it's either of the Johns for 1 reason: in Podcast 6A, right after Cecil says "Come out and see the shows" or something like that, you can hear Linnell laughing and Flansburgh saying something like "Well, if you want to do it again, that's fine", obviously talking to Cecil. So, Flans was talking to someone else (Cecil) about sayng "wrapping up in Pittsburgh on the 10th at Mr. Smalls, and then the 11th at the Theatre of Living Arts in Philadelphia", because he said the tour wraps up in two places, while in correct grammar, he would have said it only once for Philadelphia. Although, there are two other possibilities: the sound clip was recorded previously and for some reason put in deliberately, or it is talking at the beginning of E Eats Everything (Elegant Too Remix). The only way to find out the latter possibility is to wait for the Podcast Highlights to be released, and the first one is very unlikely.

I think that the John and John talking is from the end of the Complete Paranoia (Instrumental Version) that was playing in the background. They were playing along with the credits on Direct From Brooklyn, and I think that it's from the end of that recording. Makes sense. At least to me. And Cecil was saying that they were wrapping up the tour; they just had a few places they were gonna play. And I think Flans is Cecil in all of the podcasts, just pitch shifted. --Valerie 10:15, 19 Jun 2006 (MDT)

I agree with this theory, and I wish to make another point. Simply because Flansburgh says, "Well, if you want to do it again, that's fine", doesn't mean that Cecil can't be him. If that sentence is indeed from the narration (rather than from the patter music), then he could simply be discussing with Linnell the possibility of redoing his own narration, due to his horrible grammatical error. --pat 10:11, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

I still think it's Linnell.--71.227.156.73 19:24, 8 January 2007 (UTC)

Podcast 7A

Cecil REALLY sounds like Flans in this one. There is definitely no Linnell-like qualities to the voice (especially the way he says certain vowels). Can anybody else hear it?--tehbagel ( o ) 13:33, 23 Jun 2006 (MDT)

Mp3

Here's an mp3 [[1]].

Who's Voicing Cecil - Continued

I just strung together a little file that I've entitled "Cecil dot mp3." It contains Cecil introducing Podcasts 1A-5B, and 22A (just as a comparison), and the entire file has been pitch-shifted up about 2 semitones (if that's the correct terminology). Basically the file is completely inconclusive and confuses me more than ever, but it sure is fun to listen to. The only thing I can pretty much concretely determine from it is that Flansburgh was definitely Cecil in 2A and 4A. Give it a listen: - File:Cecil dot mp3.mp3!

Any thoughts, fellers? -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 00:23, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

Best I can hear (and you're right, Q) is that they are different. And from what I heard, probably goes something like this:

• 1A - JL
• 2-4A - JF
• 5A - JL
• 5B, 22A - JF

Might be neat to check them all and add it to the page. I dunno, for funsies? XD --Luke 05:41, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

One response I got over AIM was that Flansburgh was doing all of them, but also doing a Linnell impression in 1A, haha. I don't think we'll ever know for sure unless they go back and talk about more than the content of podcasts in future interviews. -CapitalQ ♫ talk ♪ 17:07, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

Wow, 22A doesn't sound any different in that. Just weird. I still maintain that some sounds in Robot Parade are identical to Cecil. — User:ACupOfCoffee@ 20:04, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

On the Cecil page itself, there are some of his mistakes and things, and going along with that, in podcast 24 or so, Cecil says his own name wrong: Portes-kew, instead of Portes-k. That's definitly more evidence that the Johns are messing with us :) - anonymous

I don't know if anybody cares about this anymore...

...but can't somebody just ask them who it is? Like, go up to Flans after a show and mention it? (Unless you think he wants to maintain the mystery and would refuse to divulge.) --Self Called Nowhere 11:12, 26 February 2010 (UTC)