mostly david ephgrave

As of today, I've been a professional actor and musician for twenty years. Allegedly.  Doesn't working in the same field for two decades technically constitute a career? If so, I look forward to the sense of security kicking in, both psychologically and financially. However, I know I should at least give myself a pat on the back for managing to stay in an industry so notorious for people dropping out. To still be acting twenty years after my showcase at London's Fortune Theatre is not to be sniffed at, whatever my bank balance/sinus issues say to the contrary. All in all, I haven't done too bad. My first two jobs - both No. 1 tours for Bill Kenwright - set a high bar in terms of the scale of theatre I was playing and the work I was doing. Being a musician definitely increased my opportunities in the early days, though I risked being typecast in a genre I was determined to not get stuck in. However, it gave me some great opportunities of which playing my heroes Paul McCa...

Today's the first day this week that I haven't set myself the task of editing one Glyn's and my podcasts, though I've still got one to do to clear the way for the others ahead. While I'm pleased to be recording them, I can't shake the background noise of "Why am I doing this?" in my head. "What's the point?" and "It's not like they'll bring in any money" also jostle for attention in my subconscious. I know it's all part and parcel of bridging the gap to Mostly Comedy being a going concern as opposed to just a growing one, but it's another example of putting in far more work than the money I can take out. And more importantly, I want my career to move on , after years of relentless self-generating without the support of the right agent; being honest, I haven't had good representation since my first agent retired in 2004ish. Even the nature of the interviews themselves can serve to remind me I'm no...

I put too much pressure on myself.  I've always been driven. It's a blessing and a curse. Conversely, I'm instinctively lazy. This combination of apathy and propulsion may seem incongruous. It goes back to my original point; it may not be that I'm lazy, just that I'm never happy with what I've done.  Even my blog is a case in point. Rather than being content to write something now and then when the mood took me, I told myself I had post something every day. If I didn't do this I wasn't doing enough. Reaching the milestone of my first year was satisfying, but this sense of pride was temporary; I instantly turned my mind to completing year number two.  I've always had high expectations. When I was in a band as a teenager, I told myself that we had to be as big as The Beatles or I would have failed. It was as black and white as that, with no room for shades of grey. This all-or-nothing mindset was ridiculous in ...