mostly david ephgrave

Like most people, I'm gradually easing into 2023, quietly hopeful of what it may bring. Admittedly, current world events don't create the most optimistic backdrop. Only today, the attention-seeking, Tribble-headed man-Muppet Boris Johnson disclosed a phone conversation with Putin early last year, in which old Vlads let slip that a UK missile strike "would only take a minute" (a statement I found less upsetting than Boris saying, "He called me on the blower" like the walking caricature he is). Optimism is a matter of perspective, really. Personally, my January's been a drudge, as it often is. I had a near-miss workwise when I was pencilled for a job that I ultimately didn't get, which was frustrating, though at least it broke the seal casting-wise. By this stage of my career, I've had enough pencils to fill a Ryman the size of Jupiter, but what can you do? It's better to be nearly wanted than not wanted at all (and the less said about my recen...

I had my first casting in months this morning, which I enjoyed, despite having to get into Central London first thing. There’s something distinctly dissatisfying about buying a peak-time train ticket, only to have to stand the whole way; what you have to do for a discounted rate: a journey-long headstand? I managed to meditate for a bit whilst on my feet, but it was hardly the most relaxing way to do it; I also dropped half of my tablets on the floor when I pulled out my pillbox; as long as any passing dogs have similar health problems to me, we should be okay. The casting was the sort I prefer, as there was no dialogue, so I didn’t have to cram lines into my head when it came in yesterday with little notice. I just had to react subtly to a comedic situation ( which pretty much sums up my life). It was over in a flash and I was on the train back to Hitchin, seated this time, ready to get on with what I’d planned for the rest of the day. When I got home, I ran my set...

I’m starting to wonder if being pencilled for a commercial actually means anything. When you're pencilled, the production company want you to keep the shooting dates free in your diary; in other words, you’re down to the last few. It’s a step up from the alternative, which is not hearing anything, and assuming – but not knowing for sure – that you’re out of the running. I’ve been fortunate enough to get to this point a fair few times in the last couple of years, but have been unlucky enough to not get any further. In some senses, it’s a boost in confidence: I must be doing something right. Then again, maybe I’m not getting it quite right enough. I'm aware that's a stupid thing to say, knowing how fickle the world of commercial casting is. A lot of it is down to how you look – but it’s frustrating to get close so many times, without getting the money in the bank. The worst thing is you often don’t hear anything else after being pencilled. The filming dates ge...

I’ve enjoyed the last few advert castings I’ve had, including the one I did today. I go in and out of phases with them. It usually depends on how many are coming in. If I have a few audition-dry weeks, I start to go off my game. Another factor is how right - or not right - the jobs are for me. I’ve always felt very comfortable doing small-scale, naturalistic, comedic stuff to camera – regardless of how good – or not good – I may be at it. I like the spontaneous, minimalistic, reaction-based nature of an advert casting; there’s generally not much dialogue to remember and little time to over-think what you do. Strangely, the sort of characters that tend be right for me in castings are slightly at odds with the persona I adopt for Doggett & Ephgrave’s sketches, or our duo-based / my solo stand-up. I usually play the strong-minded, sarcastic and faux-arrogant one of the two of us, whereas my breakdowns tend to be for awkward, nerdy, self-conscious ...

Yesterday, I had my first casting for a few weeks.   Unfortunately, it didn’t go as well as I would have liked. This was due to a combination of not being on form (I have a rotten cold) and the job not being quite right for me. What pleased me most was I didn’t take this to heart. When you’re an actor, you don’t get a lot of outside affirmation. You have to keep yourself on an even keel when things don’t go well and keep your own standards in check. A director seldom tells you when you get something right, but will give you a raft of notes when you get it wrong. Or maybe that’s just me. The psychological scales are often tipped toward the negative. (Is that a clear analogy?) When I left the casting suite yesterday, I didn’t ruminate about the audition (other than keeping it in mind to write this). I knew I hadn’t got the job, but I didn’t let it get to me. It helped that I somewhere to be. Not only that, I came out to an answerphone message from my agent about anot...

I feel surprisingly Zen after today's casting.  I think this is because, despite telling myself this constantly, I'm finally starting to accept that there's no point in giving an audition a second thought once it’s done. Particularly when you're up for an advert. There are so many reasons why you might not get the job; the casting director might, for example, just have taken a particular dislike to your shirt. It’s that fickle.    It's all about maintaining a sense of self, both inside and outside of the room. A casting is a chance to give a handful of people a very brief window into your ability, however great or small that ability might be. You're either right for the part or you're not. There's nothing personal about it.  There's something Phil Kay says in his Autoblography that rings very true for me. He defends his occasional bad publicity by reminding the reader that he has been a...

I’m currently killing time in-between two castings, sitting in a café adjoined to a bookshop in Central London. My first casting was at 11am this morning, and the next one is at 4:50pm; just enough time between the two to consider a different career in the interim. I’m sure I could fit in a short Post Graduate course somewhere, if I had a quick scout about. The first casting went quite well; it was very in-out (with a distinct lack of ‘shake it all about’). I went in with another actor who was a very nice chap – and afterwards we popped into a greasy spoon around the corner from the casting suite, to kill some time before he went off to another appointment - and I found somewhere to loiter for the intervening hours. (We both opted for green tea, so I guess it wasn’t that greasy.) While we were there he told me of how he’d recently secured a part in what has become a recurring series of adverts – and how financially it had turned his...

Recently, I caught the train into Central London with the express purpose of holding a fish.  I walked to my local station, bought a peak-time Travelcard (£31.00), took the train to King’s Cross and then the tube to Farringdon, located the right address, pressed the buzzer by an unmarked door, walked up four or five flights of stairs, held the fish (a mackerel) - and then reversed all of the above (minus buzzer and Travelcard) until I was back where I started. All-in-all it took about two hours, and the key moment – the fish moment – was filmed for posterity. Why? I was after a job, that's why. I've recently signed with a new agent who specifically represents me for commercial castings. As a result, for the first time in about nine years, I’m often to be found trudging my way into town with a similar objective to this dangling of a mackerel in front of a high-definition camera. Imagine the detail it must have captured. All those shiny, tessellating scales...