His bombastic boothman persona in NBA Jam isn't Tim Kitzrow's only gaming credit. The guy also was the voice of Rod Serling in the classic Twilight Zone pinball table. He got his start from his bandmates, who worked for Midway.
"In a lot of ways, it was the most fun I ever had," Kitzrow (left) told Danny Gallagher, writing for Asylum. "I was going into a studio and doing improv and coming up with crazy voices for things like 'Attack From Mars' or 'WHO dunnit.' It was like being an old radio actor where I got to use tons of different voices. It was an improv fantasy to do that."
That's where Kitzrow earned his chops, in Chicago's world-famous improv comedy circuit. But he was such a strong performer in the pinball gigs that when Mark Turmell, the guy charged with developing an NBA-licensed two-on-two basketball game, needed a voice, Kitzrow was put on his team.
"It was all just right place, right time," he said. That's the complete birth of the boomshakala.
'NBA Jam' Voice Man Tim Kitzrow on Being the 'Ambassador of Fun' [Asylum]