One night in college, my friend Jeff and I had a little too much to drink. I do not recommend this course of action, but it happens.
We walked to a party at some point and found ourselves a corner where we could hang out. We spent the rest of the night speaking to people – or more accurately, at people – pretty much using nothing but lines from Monty Python skits and movies.
This was the late 1980s. I was young. You can’t make fun of me for this.
So we affected British accents all night long, worrying and confusing friends and strangers alike. I don’t particularly know why we did it. I guess the mood just struck.
I have thought of this night a lot lately because I have decided to take another stab at acting in a play at the Hanover Little Theatre. I have a part in “Murder by the Book,” which runs in the middle of April.
I don’t plan on drinking during the show, although the script does put drinks in people’s hands a lot. These two events are connected because I need to use a British accent in the production.
I knew this from the start, but still have to wonder how I will pull this off. When I parrot the words of Eric Idle or Terry Jones, I have absolutely no problem with an English accent. On my own, I get a little nervous.
So I did what any smart person does these days – I headed to the Internet. Instead of using the many useful resources which exist online for this purpose, I went to Twitter, where I follow Bill Lawrence, the creator of TV shows like “Scrubs” and “Cougar Town.”
Lawrence very gratefully answers fan questions all the time so I prodded him for directorial advice for using a British accent. He had one very simple tip.
“Call everyone ‘guv’nor.’ Always works. ‘ello guv’nor. Gold.”
He has written, produced and directed some of of my favorite television shows. I could not ignore his advice, but I didn’t feel like I could change the script that much without getting myself in trouble.
So I had to think of my other options. I could simply say every line as if it were coming from the mouth of Thurston B. Howell III. He’s not British, but I could probably pull that voice off even though my character doesn’t seem like the sort who would take all his luggage on a three-hour tour.
I racked my brain for all other kinds of characters I could imitate, but then realized that I had to take on the same philosophy which got me into this whole acting thing in the first place 18 months ago – winging it.
To tell the truth, that’s kind of how Jeff and I ended up answering almost every question with Python lines that one night. We didn’t plan for anything like that to happen. The mood just struck us and we realized we could come up with an endless supply of lines so we just went with it.
I guess that’s my plan, sans the drinking. But if a spare “guv’nor “ slips out, don’t blame me. I’m just taking the advice of a pro.