Comedy Dinner Shows: Part 1
A Good First Impression
In the acting world, it’s incredibly hard to find most jobs. Getting training, finding an agent, networking, forming working relationships, practising, applying for auditions — most if not all of these things apply.
So when a friend of yours talks about how they just “fell into” their career, it can be a tad infuriating.
Now this friend of mine meant nothing malicious or conceited, and they absolutely worked hard for where they are. It would just have been nice to have been able to share that feeling, when a job manages to find you.
Well it happened not long after.
Whilst house and catsitting for the same friend, I received a message on my Facebook page: “Hi David. Bit of a strange message I’m sure, but I have come across you on Spotlight (whilst searching for someone of a similar name!)”
It was a unique start to a message, and while I was intrigued as to who they were actually searching for, I continued on…
“We are currently casting for our Only Fools and Horses Comedy Dinner Show, so I was wondering whether this would be something of interest to you.”
It certainly was! Being a child of the 80’s, I was practically raised on shows like Only Fools. I had seen many posts and articles about companies putting on dinner show tributes like this, so I responded and arranged an audition for a few days later.
The thought of performing as an established character in an intimate environment can be unnerving, depending on your skill set. With my improving improvisation skills and my penchant for impersonations, I felt this was something I could do. Having a good knowledge of the show was also going to help, particularly when recalling famous moments that would likely be recreated.
While I feel I can make a decent go at impressions of most people, there are some characters I just cannot do. Del Boy is one of them. Aside from not resembling David Jason in any way shape or form (too tall, for one thing), his mannerisms and voice I find inimitable, which thankfully is not the case for the actors that do play the character in the shows.
With some relief, I was informed I would be auditioning for the roles of Boycie and Trigger. Boycie is one of the more imitated characters, with the distinctive nasal quality and uppity laugh. These are qualities that I had to nail.
My method with a lot of impressions is to perfect a single sentence in the voice. My favourite Boycie moment is an off screen bellow of “MARLENE! THAT DOG IS IN MY AQUARIUM AGAIN!” Having quoted this moment many times over the years, other lines of dialogue came naturally.
The laugh can be very tricky. A lot of people do it with a ‘b’ or ‘m’ sound at the start, which is not how it goes. My tip for the best Boycie laugh: breath out with the laugh being the last thing to come out. It might not read well, but try it — it works.
With Trigger, I was more nervous. Roger Lloyd Pack’s portrayal of Trigger is legendary and I had not previously been able to do justice to any impression of him I had done. Researching the character, I noted how Trigger didn’t start out as the dim witted slow character we all remember from the later series. He was actually livelier and more well spoken in earlier episodes. The main things I took from my research was keeping a low register to the voice throughout, with a level mix of well spoken and cockney accent, with a confidence behind his utterly ridiculous statements.
I went into the audition feeling confident that my preparation would get me through. The script reads went well and I surprised myself that I was able to improvise as both characters to a high standard. The next day, I was informed I got the job! And off I went to rehearse for the Only Fools dinner show and a prototype coach tour. How did they go? I’ll tell you in another blog! Ooh I am a tease.
If I can use this blog as advice for other walks of life, I suppose it would be the approach to an impression could be similar to how you approach anything: start by perfecting something small and gradually build upon it.
