Corby Stephens has had a very varied career with experience working as a pastor, an IT professional, a stand-up comedian, a yoyo performer and a voiceover actor. In this episode of Second Act Actors, he tells me his life story and gives advice to other people looking to break into the voiceover industry.

Corby begins by telling me about his upbringing in a musical family and how he discovered drama class at university, which introduced him to the techniques of improvisation. We talk about what his improv skills brought to the other acts in his career, including his preaching in the church, as he feels like he’s a better pastor when he can go off-script in his sermon and adapt his message to the people in front of him.

We move on to talk about Corby’s second act as a voiceover artist, which he sees as being closely linked to his stand-up work. Corby walks me through his audition process and his mindset around voiceover work. We also discuss what it means to be a ‘selfless’ performer and how performing selfishly can be destructive to yourself and to the production.

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Timestamps

[1:00] Corby tells me his story and how he got into improv

[3:52] How Corby got married and became a pastor

[6:05] Getting into the yoyo

[11:40] How Corby rediscovered the theatre through his children

[13:30] Corby explains why he started doing voiceover work

[16:55] What’s the overlap between stand-up comedy and voiceover work?

[18:20] And is there an overlap between being a pastor and a stand-up comedian?

[20:05] Corby explains what he’s carried from his first act into his second

[21:52] What’s surprised Corby since he started voiceover work

[23:49] My experience of voiceover and Corby’s behind-the-scenes voiceover secrets

[28:03] “My mindset is to serve the script”: How Corby auditions for voiceover roles

[30:10] The advice that Corby would give to people interested in voiceover work

[32:00] How would Corby’s family describe his career?

[33:36] Selfless vs. selfish performances

[35:30] Getting back into stand-up: What Corby’s looking forward to this year

[38:38] How Corby keeps his motivation levels up in stand-up

[42:40] Corby’s final words of wisdom

Links

Corby Stephens website

Corby Stephens on Instagram

Corby Stephens on Facebook

Corby Stephens on YouTube

Corby Stephens on Twitter

Second Act Actors website

Second Act Actors on Instagram

Second Act Actors on Facebook

Second Act Actors on YouTube

Janet McMordie website

Janet McMordie on Instagram

Janet McMordie on LinkedIn

Janet McMordie on Twitter

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