Absolute is cancelled!

Jul 29

Er…..this is becoming a bit of a habit recently. Just to let you know I won’t now be appearing at Absolute Comedy tonight. But there’s a really good reason! I’m now going to be in at least three episodes of “Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures” and I have a lot of filming to fit in between rehearsals for “Toronto Noir”. I’m so...

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Living the Dream

Jul 23

Living the Dream

When it’s going well, being a professional performer is the most fabulous job ever. I am having the best time (see the cheesy grin, left). It all happened so fast. I hadn’t had a job in six months and suddenly I landed a theatre job with Summerworks out of the blue. Just after rehearsals began I had a tv audition for “Bloodletting and Miraculous...

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The Quiznos Commercial

Oct 26

The Quiznos Commercial

A couple of years ago I was cast as one of the Twelve Chefs of Quiznos for their new campaign. My character didn’t have a name at that point – I was not going to be featured, simply part of a chef line-up. However, at the costume call I auditioned for the director (as did all the other chefs) for the role of the shirty chef who didn’t like the idea...

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Writing is annoying…

Oct 19

Writing is annoying…

Or it can be. When it’s not going well. I get cross and impatient and want whatever I’m writing to be fantastic in a very short time. Which rarely happens. There are occasional flashes of inspiration which create a fully-formed joke in a couple of minutes of frantic scribbling. But mostly I end up doodling in my little black book or staring at my laptop...

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Preparing for an audition

Oct 07

My kid asked me why I was reading six short plays by Noel Coward. I told her it’s because I have an audition for the Shaw Festival and I wanted to read some of the plays they were doing so that I could choose some appropriate audition pieces. She asked me why I had to read so many. I explained that they were doing quite a lot of Coward and that if I read at...

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Why testing your material rocks

Jul 31

Why testing your material rocks

Would you rather get your ass kicked in front of a live audience or get constructive feedback from a group of your friendly peers? Whether it’s stand-up or an audition piece always consider giving it a go in front of your mates. I don’t do it often enough and every time I do I wonder why I don’t do it more. I go to an artists’ salon that my...

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