I went for an audition late yesterday for a commercial -- a spec commercial I suspect (you'll see why). The commercial was for a well-known board game with a twist -- it was the "strip poker" version. As your opponent scores a point or two, you would have to remove an article of clothing and vice versa. Okay. It was all presented as being a game between a married or committed couple and all in good, private fun. Personally, I have a hard time believing that a major manufacturer of children's games would ever go along with this sort of thing but I could be wrong.

When called in to audition, the men were asked to wear a t-shirt and a pair of shorts. When we got to the audition, we were asked to improv and 1) explain to a friend why it was such a great game and 2) dance to a clip of music while removing our shirts while pretending to be a little drunk.

The casting person did her best to make everyone feel comfortable but I've never seen a more scared group of actors in the waiting room in my life. I don't think anyone walked out on the audition but I'm guessing few would have shown up had they know what they were in for.

While trying to break the tension, I commented to another actor, "yeah and the funny thing is, there's actually no commercial . . ."