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BattleBots: Faruq Tauheed Discusses Season 6, Favorite Battles & More

BattleBots is coming back with a sixth season on Discovery & Discovery Plus on January 6th, but before the ultimate showdowns begin check out my interview with the announcer himself, Faruq Tauheed. From voice acting to multiple appearances on big-name shows like New Girl and NCIS, Faruq has plenty of experiences from his work to talk about but I'm so glad we got to chat with him about this major role. With a recognizable voice combined with a fantastic theatrical presence, Faruq gets the fans pumped and excited for battles every season but I dig in to see how that all began and what makes the role so important to him.

Bleeding Cool: It's really cool to connect with you. I've been watching "BattleBots" for a while now and it's been a really great series. I was wondering, what was it about the series that excited you when you signed on to announce?

Faruq Tauheed: When I first signed on to announce "BattleBots," I had no idea what I was going into. I knew what it was before when it was a first iteration, the first generation on Comedy Central. But I had no idea exactly what I was getting into. But when I saw it I was hooked from the moment the first match happened. Just the excitement, the devastation, the passion that the builders have is just truly amazing. I just love being a part of it.

BC: Why do you think that "BattleBots" appeals so much to fans and audiences and makes them come back for more?

FT: That's the secret sauce that I've been trying to figure out. And I really think it has to do with the passion and the excitement that the builders bring to it. Our builders and the robots… they have characters themselves and they are characters themselves. So people love seeing the personalities come through and then when you mix that with robot combat where you can see two things go into a ring and destroy each other and nobody really gets hurt. That's beautiful.

BC: True, I remember someone saying that it was really great to experience this kind of event, like a sort of great clash, without it really hurting people and it's just robots in there. I love your introductions for the teams. They're really great. I'm curious who comes up with those introductions. Is that a writer or is it the teams themselves?

FT: It's the writing team we have, through all seasons of "BattleBots." We've had the most amazing, amazing writing teams. But the crazy thing about it is that even when the writers write it, they have no idea how I'm going to deliver it. Nobody knows how I'm going to deliver it, how I'm going to say it until I actually get there and do it. Sometimes I don't even know what I'm going to say or do until I go in there and do it. I always compare it to like, you know, Frankenstein, like they are the doctors that put it together, and then I'm the electricity that brings it to life.

BC: Has there ever been an introduction that surprised you?

FT: We've had a couple that I've had to veto, so, you know, because I'm like, this might be a little too racy or this might be coming after a certain group of people who you may not want to come after or this might alienate some people. So we decide not to do those. But then there are other ones where it's like, I cannot wait to go and give this introduction because this is literally like one of the best things ever. One of my favorites is when I did a tantrum introduction, and I literally threw a tantrum in the middle of the battle box, to me that was awesome, and nobody knew I was going to do that, not even the cameraman, I just told him to follow me.

BC: It must have been great to see the cameraman's face at that moment.

FT: Everybody erupted like, everybody started laughing and you hear all of the, you know, directors and producers and they were like, "Oh, that was fantastic! Oh my god!".

BC: It takes a lot to get that energy up and going. You're a host and an announcer and everything in-between in order to get that energy from the audience. Do you have a specific battle that surprised you the most from the series?

FT: You know, it's always a 50/50 chance for each team that enters the battle box. I mean, yeah, of course, on paper, just like with any other sporting event, when you look at the builders, the robot, the weapons, and the speed and all that. On paper, you might have a favorite and you may have an underdog, but once you get in that ring, anything can happen. For instance, Tombstone? Sometimes his forces are powerful, he knocks out his own engine or gets killed by himself. A lot of times it doesn't have to do with the actual battle, sometimes you've got drivers that are better than other drivers, and sometimes weapons break down. A lot of things go wrong. The matches don't really surprise me because anything can happen. But I will say I am surprised when an underdog does take out one of the main favorites. I do like those.

BC: Those are insane, I remember watching some Tombstone fights and you're right, they can get crazy real fast. What's your favorite part about working on "BattleBots"?

FT: The thing that stands out to me the most about my time on "BattleBots" is the fans. We have like the best fans in the world and I know a lot of people in their shows, they say that, but I get so many notes and messages from fans talking about how "BattleBots" is the only time that their family actually comes together to sit down and watch TV together. Or it's the only time in the week that their family gets together that week. Then you have fans that come from all over saying, "I'm going through something", "I'm going through this", "I was going through a hard time, but "BattleBots" helped me get through and watching you guys, seeing your energy, and Faruq, seeing your intros made me laugh so much. It just really gave me a new lease on life". Those kinds of things are what stand out to me about "BattleBots" the most. It's the fans. It's really all about the fans.

BC: You have a very unique voice and must have certain methods to help prepare for announcing on "BattleBots," what do you do to prepare for those moments?

FT: Well, it's crazy that you ask that, because I remember when I first signed on to "BattleBots," I had no idea what I was getting to, but we only did maybe three days of shooting because they only did six episodes, really only 30, maybe 40 fights max. By day two, I lost my voice. I had no voice left. So I literally was not talking until my introduction, for like three days. But now I've learned over the years to just really take care of my voice. I have a whole regimen. I do everything from vocal exercises to vocal warm-ups to tongue twisters. I make sure I have a routine of resting, doing aromatherapy on my throat, I do steam, lozenges, and a whole bunch of other boring stuff I'm not going to go into, but I spend probably about an hour or two hours a day on just making sure my voice is good.

BC: It's a big asset to take care of, so it makes sense. You go through that every day, correct?

FT: The first season I did only like 30 or 40 introductions. And now, like this past season I did over 250.

BC: Lastly, this is a fun question. If you could design your own bot, what would be unique about it or set it apart from others? And what would you name it?

FT: I already know the name of my bot will be "Brotherly Thug," because I'm from Philadelphia and, you know, brotherly love and brotherly thug, that's the kind of thing I would be playing on. For me I would want to do how Rotator is, I would want to have a two-weapon system on my robot. And then, of course, I would need to just make sure that I got some defense, I wouldn't want my wheels getting blown off because that's another thing that people lose. You can lose your match because you lose your wheel. You know what I mean? So I want to be protected for that. But for me, I think I'm definitely going to go with a saw, and I think I'm going to go with probably like a drum-spinner. I'd like to have both on my bot, Brotherly Thug.

BC: Smart choices, especially with the wheels. I can totally understand that.

FT: The amount of hours that these builders put into these robots and to go into a match and just have one wheel blown off and you can't move, it's devastating. You've got to protect yourself.

BC: Thank you so much for talking with me. It's been great watching you on "BattleBots" and your announcements have been fantastic to watch. Really funny with a lot of personality.

FT: Thank you so, so much. I really appreciate it and a new season coming in January on the sixth on Discovery and Discovery Plus, so check it out.

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