My Worst Audition

Actor/producer Billy Beyrer shares some stories from his UCB wrestling days (1:18) and shares the tale of the time he thought he blew an audition for Law & Order (12:07). Billy Beyrer is an actor/producer from Queens by way of Long Island who has performed up & down the east coast and appeared on several network & premium cable shows as well as regionally specific commercials throughout the years....

Actor/writer/director/producer Jeff Ayars brings a unique take this worst audition story because he actually turned his experience into a short film. Jeff even invited me to play the lead. Thanks Jeff! Jeff briefly touches on his first viral hit (and a personal favorite of mine), Canadian Sniper (2:25) before jumping into his worst audition story (4:28). I talk about my first time performing naked...

Actor/director/producer Greg Burke briefly touches on his experience as the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup kid in those classic 1980s ads (4:15) before sharing his never-before-told story of quite possibly the rawest, cringiest audition story I have ever heard (5:25). He finishes up with some sincere most story catharsis (17:22), what "making it" as an actor would mean to him (24:15), what he'd be doin...

Actor, producer, and think tank fellow Robert Anthony Peters (@robert3names) reminisces about the time his mom acted as his reader for a rather risqué self-tape audition (5:40). He also recalls the time he had to go very out of character for a Tower Records commercial audition where the director later described him as "a heavy metal Peter Pan" (9:45). And, of course, he shares the ridiculous Murph...

Actor/producer/casting director Paige Jennifer Barr (https://paigejenniferbarr.com/) shares her tale of a $20,000 cruise audition gone wrong (7:05). She also shares a couple of stories from the casting director perspective including the time she gave some clueless advice to an actor in a commercial audition that resulted in a not-so-happy call from the actor's agent (11:00). Paige Jennifer Barr is...

Please forgive the rough audio (my fault) as actor/author/musician and motorcycle coach Jimmy Pravasilis (http://www.jamespravasilis.com/) joins me in my basement to talk about his new book "The Assholes Guide to Everyday Living" (4:50), his first stroke (5:15) and how it later impacted a a couple of rough auditions (7:45), how he got started in the entertainment biz originally as Danny Aiello's g...

Actor/director/VO coach Shelly Shenoy (https://www.shellyshenoy.com/) talks about voiceover directing for Netflix, the BBC, and The History Channel (2:00). It was definitely aliens, by the way. She also talks about what inspired her to get into the acting biz (7:10). And finally she shares a delightfully cringey story about her first anime VO audition with only minimal knowledge of what "anime" is...

Actor/producer/comedian Josh Hyman (https://mrjoshhyman.com/) recalls the time he performed with Naughty By Nature in front of 40,000 people at Met Life Stadium (2:15), laughs with Gary about how they would always get called in to audition for the exact same roles (6:20), shares the story of full-on butchering Bon Jovi's "Blaze of Glory" for a Broadway audition (8:25) and then making an even bigge...

Actor/improviser Travis Mitchell (https://www.travistravistravis.com/) and writer/performer David Ingber (https://twitter.com/davidingber1) head out to my suburban NJ backyard deck to join me for a special in-person episode of My Worst Audition. Dave discovers very early in his acting journey that he has much more to offer on the other side of the camera (4:26). At the 8:47 mark, Gary brings up Da...

Actor/musician/improviser Ann Marie Yoo (http://www.annmarieyoo.com/) shares the story of the time a casting director gave her quite possibly the worst mid-audition "adjustment" an actor could receive (3:19). And Gary shares the story of one of his cringiest ever audition experiences for a role that Ann Marie actually ended up booking (11:05). Note: In the interest of preserving this podcast, Gary...

Actor, improviser, and native New Yorker Michele McNally (https://www.michelemcnally.com/) shares the stories of: the absurdly misplaced confidence she brought to her first cattle call musical audition (5:20), the time she was caught without a prepared monologue for an indie film audition and thought she was being pretty clever by making one up on the spot... until she was asked to repeat it (13:1...

Actor/writer/comedian Craig Geraghty (https://craiggeraghty.com/) shares the stories of his "big" Sopranos audition (2:16), the time he accidentally scared the pants off some NYU students with an intense audition for the wrong student film (6:45), the time he came up with a Cajun accent on the spot that booked him a Popeye's Chicken commercial (9:53), and his experiences learning to play to his st...

Actor/writer/comedian Andrew Kimler (https://www.andrewkimler.com/ https://twitter.com/AndyKimy) shares the gut punch story of the time he completely blanked in the middle of a Shakespeare monologue (4:50) during an audition for a role he truly wanted. His story reminds Gary of the time he accidentally skipped over two pages of important plot dialogue in the middle of a play and what he did to try...

Actor/writer/producer Matt Van Orden (Law & Order SVU, The Affair, The Listener) shares the cringey and stupidly funny story of his first major Broadway musical audition at New York's premier Broadway casting company (6:40). Book? What book? This story ends with the casting director kindly taking the time to give Matt some valuable audition advice. Gary also shares the audition lesson that a very...

Actor/writer/producer Rob King regales us with his first musical theater audition for In the Heights (5:53) and his first web series audition where he was asked to play a very different type of person than his natural corny self (11:53). And Gary tells the story of the audition 15 years ago that started him down the "My Worst Audition" road and inspired many fun (or cringey) auditions thereafter (...