- Talk about pizza. (laughs)
- I'm a vegan.
- And do you take the subway when you're in New York?
- Yes.
- What's the like typical snack at a baseball game?
- Normally just go get a hotdog.
- Hey, everyone.
My name is Jack Wallace and I'm a dialect coach
here in Hollywood.
Today, I'm going to be trying to find out
who has the authentic New York accent.
(National Anthem plays)
- Hi, my name's Rachel and I'm from New York.
- Hi, my name's Hailey and I'm from New York.
- What up?
My name is Zeus and I'm from New York.
- Now this is a tricky one.
- I don't think he's gonna have any idea
that I'm the person from New York.
- There are lots of variation within the city of New York
when it comes to New York accents.
- I'm banking on the fact that I'm from the hood of New York
and he doesn't know anything about that.
- Potentially one of the pitfalls for our fakers out there
could be going too hard into a stereotypical sound
that you would think of, like "hotdog".
Rather than like keeping it subtle and keeping it natural.
Let's see who we've got today and let's hope I get it right.
(upbeat music)
All right, so let's start with our first victim of the day.
What is your name, sir?
- My name is Zeus.
- How long have you been in LA?
- About three years.
- What's your favorite thing about New York?
- Bodegas.
Go there, get a little chopped cheese
or something like that at the bodegas.
Like they don't really have them out here in New York,
I mean in LA, like that, so I kinda miss that.
- What do you like to do?
- I just like spend a lot of time with my daughter.
I edit a lot, watch a lot of movies
like Kung Fu movies and things like that.
- What's the like typical snack at a baseball game?
- Normally just go get a hotdog.
- There are various characteristic New York sounds
coming out when you're talking.
That last word, especially, kind of showed the difference
between the "hot" and the "dog".
Whereas, in other accents, they're merged.
It goes "hot" "dog".
It has two different sounds, so you know,
you didn't trip up there.
You also have quite a lot of words
that you're using the right sounds at the right places.
So it seems kind of natural.
A little bit of tension that I noticed, but again,
I'm judging the world's accent, so.
Yeah, I'll keep thinking about you.
If I can get you to stand back in the line.
Let's try our next person.
Hello again!
- Hello.
- What is your favorite thing to do?
- I like to meditate.
I do yoga.
I like to do breath-work.
I like to go to shows a lot.
- What do you miss most, being in LA, from New York?
- The people, probably.
It's very different on the West Coast.
- Talk about pizza. (laughs)
- I'm a vegan.
- Do you not have vegan pizza with like cauliflower crust
and cashew cheese? - Like vegan pizza?
No.
- So what do you like to eat, then?
- A lot of fruits and vegetables,
that's pretty much the majority of what I eat.
I eat a lot of rice, a lot of beans, a lot of tacos,
'cause I don't know what else to eat as a vegan.
- Briefly tell me about some of your tattoos.
- They are a different mix of things.
This is my science arm.
I probably have like three different exes
on my body, somewhere.
- As I said at the start of this,
a plethora of accents you can have
when you're from New York.
At the moment, there are no distinguishing features
that immediately place it in that city,
but again, she's talking very naturally.
It doesn't seem like she's necessarily
putting on an accent for this.
Yep, if I could have you get back.
And, finally!
What do you like most about the city?
- Central Park.
- What do you do there?
- I like to read there.
- You said you're an actor. - Yeah.
- Do you watch a lot of shows when you're over there?
- My favorite musical right now is
"Natasha, Pierre & the Comet of 1812".
Blanked on a name.
- What do you like about it so much?
- It's a simple plot, but it's also like very compelling.
- And do you take the subway when you're in New York?
- Yes. - Or do you take cabs?
- Definitely the subway, even though it's nasty.
- If you are doing some dishes,
what's the thing that you wipe everything with?
- A cloth?
- What do you walk in the streets?
If it's not a cat on a leash, it's?
- A dog.
- If something goes "kapow"
after like a timer, it might be a?
- A bomb.
- Tell me the four kind of relatives
you would generally have in like a family,
if there are two parents and two children.
- Ma, dad, sister and brother.
- And what are the sister and brother
in relation to the parents?
- Son and daughter.
- Okay, great.
Thank you.
- The joy of the internet is you can pause and rewind this
and listen to everything they say ten times over.
But as a dialect coach, you don't get that joy.
You have to just listen out for little things
and that's what I've been doing this time.
The person that has the most signature sounds
with a typical New York accent, so far, would be Zeus.
Rachel is talking very naturally,
she seemed to be doing something extra with her "D"s.
With Hailey, she's got some of the signature sounds.
Seems a little more reluctant to speak this time,
so I don't know if this might not be her accent.
Going into the death match round,
we have 30 seconds left with each person.
It's the final round.
It's my last chance to glean any information I can
and see if they're really from where they say they are.
I have 30 seconds with each person.
Let's go in reverse order.
If you are going into court, you need this person with you.
- A lawyer.
- If you up and wanted to go to Dunkin' Donuts,
you have your doughnut and you have?
- Coffee.
- And is it cold, usually?
- It's hot.
- Those two words together?
- Hot coffee.
- I think that's it.
(whispering) Professional.
- What are the five boroughs?
- I feel like I'm on Family Feud.
Five boroughs, okay.
Staten Island, Manhattan, Brooklyn,
Queens, the Bronx.
- Out of all those, where are J-Lo and Cardi B from?
- The Bronx.
- If you're in Manhattan and there's no fruits or vegetables
like in their raw form, what would you eat?
- Hummus.
Falafel.
- Okay, we were talking about hot beverages earlier.
Can you tell me the three main kind of genres?
- Hot chocolate, tea and coffee.
- Excellent.
Thank you.
- All right, internet.
My career is on the line.
One of the things you have to understand with accents
is that what are they being used for.
Are they being used in real life?
Are they being used to convince yourself
that you are someone else?
In this case, if I'm not correct,
this person has done a really good job
of doing all the things they need to
in order to sound like they're from where they aren't from.
My final guess for this
is gonna be Zeus.
(depressing knocking)
- I knew it.
Goddamn it.
(laughs)
- Staten Island, New York.
- There aren't very many signature sounds in your accent.
- I can usually tone it down,
but I tried not to tone it down too much.
But I also went around a lot of your words.
- Here I am, a dialect coach and I was fooled.
- I feel good and bad that he didn't catch me.
Good because I fooled him,
bade because I want everyone to know I'm from New York.
- He got me of the "hot coffee" thing.
We both like made eye contact
and it was just like, "Oh, everyone knows
"what's happening here."
- I think I did it because, one,
I'm actually from Norfolk, Virginia.
Two, I used to spend summers in Long Island with my cousins.
I just channeled my inner Wu-Tang, you know what I'm saying?
Like, the Wu!
The Wu is strong with you, baby!
But he did ask me about the hotdog,
so I was like, "All right, he's trying to see
"how I pronounce the word 'dog'."
So I just ran through that, didn't sweat a bit.
Undercover brother.
(groovy music)