I've read I, An Actor a few times and it's always been a lovely experience. Within a few minutes of picking it up I have a big grin on my face. As well as being amusing it's also very thought provoking. I believe we all have a bit of Nicholas Craig in us and that is no bad thing.
Craig is an actor who has trod the boards at both The Royal Court and "The Nash". He starred in the controversial play Fist F***ing and also as Lord Foppishness in School for Fops. On TV he appeared in both Drizzle at the Bus Queue and Oh No! It's the Neighbours.
In this classic book Craig reveals everything you needs to know about the secret of comedy, Shakespeare, Politics, Improvisation and so much more. Maybe the last word should be from the great man himself? What follows is a tiny extract from Chapter 8: All About Me...
"I suppose the most remarkable thing about me is that although I'm a complete anarchist who totally rejects rules and regulations, although I can carry a packed theatre to the plains of Siberia and back with the flare of my nostril, and although I must seem like a god to some people, I am really a very ordinary sort of sausage-and-mash type of bloke. Just like everyone else, I get drunk, go to the launderette, fall in love. What is godlike about that? No, I'm Mr Normal, I'm afraid. I lose my temper, I run out of milk. And you know those days when you lie in bed till the evening sing 'Fly Me to the Moon' in different accents and flicking bits of chewed up paper with an elastic band? Well, I have them too."
I An Actor is published by Methuen
Text by Simone Hoffs 2017
