Nick Atkinson has set the benchmark over the course of a decade in his Master of Ceremonies (MC) role in Malaysia.
The challenge with Atkinson’s job is that the next job is never guaranteed.
Until a certain virus as transmittable as Nick’s effervescent energy on stage curtailed his journey.
He was enriching the nights of countless Malaysians with his dulcet tones.
Nick recently spoke to Nordin Abdullah on his show A Working with Lunch Nordin about the lessons learned from living a life where no word is wasted.
Life is full of sliding doors moments, where a chance meeting with a man who Atkinson was selling newspapers was the catalyst to leave the back page of selling newspapers to enter centre stage with his Master of Ceremonies career.
Nick’s first major event was for the Masters Football Gala dinner at the Shangri-La, which still lives long in the memory.
“We had the likes of David May, Viv Anderson, John Barnes, Ray Parlour, and I even had to take them out one night. After that opportunity, someone came up to me and said Hey Nick, I need your voice. I am doing a radio advert and I need a different British voice, so it all started from there.”
A career so far spanning royalty, government, and even the pleasure of launching Jimmy Choo’s shoe festival twice at his request, many would be surprised to hear that Nick is not utilised by British expats nearly as much as Malaysians.
“The joke is the British use me the least, here in Malaysia, I do more work for the Australians, Canadians, Dutch, German, Swedish. I am hoping to change that.”
“I am very happy to have done the job for over ten years, what makes me laugh though, is when you do an audition, or someone says can I send your voice in.
“They then come back and say you didn’t get the job, can I ask why, oh no, they were looking for a younger voice and I still don’t believe them. As I’m still young you see, I still don’t get it.”
Talent, flair, and charisma are all pieces in the toolbox of voice work.
Nick paid homage to one of the greatest lessons that formed the foundation of his speaking career.
“I always remember, the first studio, it’s called Maveriq Studios, and it was called Wasp before that. I remember I entered there, met the guy, the director, and I said to him, can you give me some advice, he said ‘always be reliable.’’’
“As the thing is with voicework, you are never booked for next month or even next week. It’s always tomorrow, the day after, three days maximum, everything is always last minute. So it’s about them (the organiser) being able to know that you will make the time for them.”
Nick has always relied on his personality, sharp intellect, and natural ability to have an audience in the palm of his hands.
“There is always certainly a level of talent, you will have to do it, the rest of it, you pick up, as you go along and even with voice work.”
Life is all about learning by doing.
Nick is the personification of this mantra, as others will find excuses and barriers to hold them back.
Nick has always found a way to try something new, to reinvent himself, even during the most challenging times of a global pandemic.
