The question came to me while watching this clip from Collegehumor (nothing awful, but probably NSFW, so I’ll break the link):
http: //www.collegehumor.com/video:1800887
How do they find the Bear Grylls semi-lookalike/talkalike? Where are casting calls for such an actor placed? I’ve run into several videos that make me wonder the same thing… is there a “Pop Culture Spoof Actor” magazine? A “Good Impressions of TV Hosts” quarterly? An obscure section of the Financial Times? I would love to know.
I have found a notice in a place where college kids are will work. Or anywhere high school kids are works. They seem to be the only ones who will do something for fun.
Plus if the school has an drama department, all you need to do is give them credit on the video and they’ll jump.
Everyone else seems to demand payment.
I have a couple of websites I’ve been working on (one involves old Chicago Hospitals) which is just a fun historical lookback, and I get so many people saying “I have old pictures of my Aunt Ettie from 1920, how much will you give me to put them on your site.”
I’m like nothing.
I ran a website for a cold case in Chicago, and I even get emails saying “I have tip, how much?” (I just forward them on to the victim’s family)
It’s sad with reality TV and such everyone wants $$$$$
The guy playing Bear Grylls is Josh Ruben, from Dutch West, another internet comedy group (around a lot earlier than that clip). A lot of these videos are all people who know each other, comedians and actors.
So it’s not so much “Who can we find that does a Bear Grylls impression,” it’s “Who do we know who does a Bear Grylls impression?”
There’s only person I know of who’s hired people to star in internet comedy videos. His name is Steve and he’s a terrible creep. It doesn’t say where he found those poor actresses (he is or was an entertainment lawyer, so the industry can’t be entirely alien to him - he might not have simply posted an ad on Craigslist) but emulating his behavior might not be the thing to do.