August in Review

August 31th, 2020
August in Review
August in Review.

August 2020 started with Padstow! Two weeks in Cornwall enjoying all the things the sun and coast had to offer. This was a delightful time and honestly couldn't have gone better, we had such good weather and everyone got on really well (apart from one spat See: 8+15/8/20).

My calendar after getting back from Padstow is completely empty, though I'm sure I did things I have no idea what they were (I'm writing a month a half later), probably just more of the same lockdown activities, as well as writing which I did do some of back then (playing some serious catch up now). The only things in there are towards the end of the month, two events around Will moving to London, very exciting. I collected his keys on the Friday, then dropped them round with a couple of bottles of wine of the Sunday. Though I haven't since seen them, thanks to moving and all, I am excited to have them here, more of the Irish cohort (Hannah now as well, bringing a bit of the good old days to London.

One thing I did do when I got back from Cornwall was get my teeth back into the Agent hunting game. On the 19th I did a series of Tweets:

1. Hello Twittersphere (and broader net). Today is the day! Here it comes... The Self-Promotion You Were All Waiting For, But Didn't Know When to Expect - a Thread. @SupportBritish #seekingrepresentation #headshotcvshare #actor #writer #composer #theatre #Ben #ImBen
2. #seekingrepresentation YES I AM. I am seeking representation. I would LOVE to be represented. CDs, Agents, Theatre Companies, I would very much appreciate you taking the time to consider me for your books, spreadsheets, and contact lists. First up, my fav! #headshotcvshare *A black and white picture of me, lovely*
3. Now some more of my face... and my SPOTLIGHT LINK spotlight.com/3490-9055-5672 #actor #headshotcvshare #seekingrepresentation *three more pictures of my face, lovely lovely lovely*
4. In lieu of a 'Showreel' as per, please watch this video of me doing impressions of VERY FAMOUS actors and characters from VERY REAL life. Excuse the early attempt at Quarn-tashe. #actor #impressions #seekingrepresentation *a video of me, Impression2.mov*
5. The above was of course inspired by the inimitable @serafinowicz, and I also did impressions of his impressions... #actor #impressions *Impressions.mov*
6. Next up, here are some delicious pictures from theatrical productions of yore. Starting with the Joy that was Halleloo, Dir. Molly McAvoy and Kerill Kelly. Mime. Clown. Dinosaurs. And yes, those are my enormous eyes on the curtain. #actor #seekingrepresentation #mime #clown *Some pictures from Halleloo. Me in intro, as teacher, as dinosaur, as moon milk man?*
7. From my time at @FourthMonkeyTC, where I got the chance to play a bit of a once-in-a-lifetime in Jim Jones (of the Jonestown Massacre), in 909 by @AbiLouiseEve_x *lol*, Dir. @TamaraTooher. #actor #seekingrepresenation #jimjones *Pics from 909*
8. From my final year with @DramaTCD, here's some stillest from a production of R&J I directed. Thank you @HiramEph for capturing these stunners. #director #Shakespeare #RomeoandJuliet #Trinners4Winners *Pics from Romeo + Juliet*
9. Lockdown Fruit? You hungry? How about a demo album for a mighty musical I've been working on? Produced by @jackgfarrell Written by @willdunleavy1 Music composed by Yours Truly. Have a listen on Spots and Appls! #composer #seekingrepresentation #Dangerous *Pic of DL Demo Album on Spotify*
10. More Lockdown Fruit? Well you can't have it, but here's the titles from two weeks of short stories (Part of a MUCH larger ongoing project, more details to follow) *Pic of 3-16/8/20*
11. Type Castings include: 18th Century Man, Doctor Who, Awkward Man, The RSC, Generic Prince, Manic Person, Gaunt Villain. Interests: Movement, Comedy, Clown, Character, Being Very Serious, Stern Looks, Sultriness. Skills: Playing instruments, Not Blinking.
12. If you've made it this far, or accidentally found yourself here without any context then thank you for taking the time to check out this #TwitterCV and I would appreciate any support you may feel inspired to give. If it wasn't clear, I am an #actor who is #seekingrepresentation
13. So... *GIF of Ron Burgundy from Anchorman saying Stay classy.*

Absolutely nothing has come of doing this, though it was quite a lot of fun to put together I must say. @SupportBritish did share it and it made an Impression on 3,232 people, who all immediately called me on the telephone and offered me the roles of my many lifetimes. Or... nought. Emails to agents big and small proved equally fraught, with only a few getting back to me with kind rejections. One did send a longer saying I should get a showreel, which was quite nice actually, I'll email them back now.

The last day of August I was at Will's in the afternoon, then went to Maison Bab in the evening with Ollie and Dan. It was... exceptional... I think I'll probably have to write a whole piece about Maison Bab, Dirty Babs, the whole juicy meaty spicy experience.

Towards the end of the month, and more throughout September I started writing life updates and stories that were essentially diary entries which is a hell of a lot easier, though feels somewhat lazy. I was quite surprised to only be able to send mum 11 full on story stories when I was there at the end of September. The creative impulse is inordinately hard to get hold of, though when it does come, I do find I am often able to sail through 1000 words of whatever happens to crop up. The struggle comes when I try to put more research-based effort into something, for example the story about the man in Spain moving house, I've found myslef easily distracted on Maps and Wikipedia learning about Murcia, which I picked for God knows what reason. From today (October 1st) I will get on it, as it were, and be more strict on making creative endeavours, though I'm sure at some point these personal ramblings will be interesting to look back on.