Dear Brits of Monroeworld... (helping a US kid with an English accent)

[Rab Mush]

Greetings Outside of gaming, the things that I participate in are usually theatre related activities. I tried out for my school's main stage production of Noises Off, and managed to snag a part. There's a movie version of the play, which some people here might have seen, but if you don't really know what it is... here's a wiki snippet:

"In his plot for Noises Off, Frayn (the writer of Noises Off) plays on the concept of a play within a play, in this case a parodically dreadful sex comedy entitled Nothing On—"

Basically, my character in Noises Off is an actor in the fictional play Nothing On, named Selsdon Mowbray who plays a burglar in.... Nothing On. He's (or, he's seemed to me from my reading of the script) an old old man, great actor, but totally losing it. A lot of his lines revolve around his bad hearing and memory, and also from his alcoholism. And though from what I've read, his general "self" isn't defined within the script. Since while reading I've imagine him as a sort of frail, but still dignified "gentleman" old man... who also has a drinking problem. Aka, I'd use more of a Jeeves the butler accent for him as opposed to a Steve Irwin.

The interesting thing is, I'm also doing a separate voice Selsdon's character, the burglar, for the play inside the play Nothing On. Selsdon's character in Nothing on is attempting to rob the house while the house is already in chaos, and just adds fuel to the fire and makes Nothing On even more ridiculous. Whenever I read the burglar character, I usually give him some sort of.... well, I've seen on TV... chimney sweepers voice? Whatever they're called, I dunno, but the burglar has some sort of voice like he's uneducated, grew up in the bottom class, doesn't know much. He just robs places... If I manage to pull it off, there might be something funny in my transitions from Selsdon (physically frail, distinguished, upperclass speak) to the burglar (not physically frail at all, but actually fit from all of his days robbing houses, really uneducated/rough sounding) And I suppose uneducated isn't the right way to describe the burglar's accent, I mean to say... not necessarily uneducated/stupid sounding, but definitely lower class.

Basically I'm posting this because I've never had a large role in a large production, and I've also never been forced to do an accent for a character in a production... and if I'm going to be doing an accent (well, two ) I want to try and make sure they're right. I've seen other high school performances where someone has tried to pull off an accent, and just messing up on a single syllable pulls me or any audience out of the world the actors are trying to create, and makes you think "Ew, that didn't sound right"

My experience with hearing British accents comes from A Clockwork Orange, Monty Python, and Simon Cowell. What I'm asking is... is there any subtleties within speaking to having a sort of upperclass accent? Any "always pronounce this vowel like this" things that I should know? Same goes for the burglar.

I posted this here since I think there are a few non-Americans on MW who aren't Flare. Any help is appreciated, and hey, you might just help me get one more laugh from the audience if you can give me some insight Thanks!

[Cammey]

Well I am from the UK but I am from the other end of the country to London.

I presume you are going for a "Cockney" accent?

If so I cant really help you on that one I am afraid.

There are many different sounding accents from all around the UK.

It just depends what you are trying to acheive.

Sorry I cant be more helpfull

[Rab Mush]

I looked through that one forbidden video site for a video of an authentic "cockney" accent, and only got some American dude's bad attempts at one. Is there a specific actor/speaker who either naturally has/can pull of a cockney accent? I had heard the word Cockney before, and it might be what I'm imagining the burglar as having. Just need to see a good example of one.

[Cammey]

have a look on a flash video hosting site for a programe called "Eastenders".

[alexjlopez]

Here's my "Latino Guide to Speaking with an English Accent" lol:

1. Watch plenty of British TV--pick a particular actor or newscaster and try to emulate them by repeating words and phrases as they speak.

2. Enunciate each word--we Americans tend to cut out consonants in many words. Enunciate each word from start to finish, syllable to syllable including all vowels and consonants. Do this for all consonants except "r" (see #3)

3. Only very lightly pronounce your "r's" when they are at the end of a sentence. Brits tend to only tap over their "r's" ever so lightly in these cases. Think of the way they say "car" or "bar" or "answer" or "helicopter".

4. Pronounce your "t's" clearly. We Americans tend to "tap" over them lightly like the Brits do their "r's".

5. Pronounce your "u's" the way you would if there were an "ee" in front of them. Don't pronounce the word unicorn "yoonicorn", pronounce it "eeyoonicorn".

Hehehe, hope this helps!

[Rab Mush]

Here's my "Latino Guide to Speaking with an English Accent" lol:

1. Watch plenty of British TV--pick a particular actor or newscaster and try to emulate them by repeating words and phrases as they speak.

2. Enunciate each word--we Americans tend to cut out consonants in many words. Enunciate each word from start to finish, syllable to syllable including all vowels and consonants. Do this for all consonants except "r" (see #3)

3. Only very lightly pronounce your "r's" when they are at the end of a sentence. Brits tend to only tap over their "r's" ever so lightly in these cases. Think of the way they say "car" or "bar" or "answer" or "helicopter".

4. Pronounce your "t's" clearly. We Americans tend to "tap" over them lightly like the Brits do their "r's".

5. Pronounce your "u's" the way you would if there were an "ee" in front of them. Don't pronounce the word unicorn "yoonicorn", pronounce it "eeyoonicorn".

Hehehe, hope this helps!

When you do your English accent yourself, does it end up sounding like Jeeves or Steve Irwin?

[NadeemF]

have a look on a flash video hosting site for a programe called "Eastenders".

A good idea, but please be careful - there's nothing upperclass about Easteners.

[Rab Mush]

A good idea, but please be careful - there's nothing upperclass about Easteners.

Heh, I'm trying to learn both sides of the spectrum for my character, and some guy on Eastenders named Den (who was apparently sleeping with Zoe, which Dennis does not like) had something similar to a lighter version of my Burglar.

[Nectar]

Basically, my character in Noises Off is an actor in the fictional play Nothing On, named Selsdon Mowbray who plays a burglar in.... Nothing On. He's (or, he's seemed to me from my reading of the script) an old old man, great actor, but totally losing it. A lot of his lines revolve around his bad hearing and memory, and also from his alcoholism. And though from what I've read, his general "self" isn't defined within the script. Since while reading I've imagine him as a sort of frail, but still dignified "gentleman" old man... who also has a drinking problem. Aka, I'd use more of a Jeeves the butler accent for him as opposed to a Steve Irwin.

Study a particular english actor like Patrick Stewart or Alan Rickman. Watch all their films. Try to be them.

I looked through that one forbidden video site for a video of an authentic "cockney" accent, and only got some American dude's bad attempts at one. Is there a specific actor/speaker who either naturally has/can pull of a cockney accent? I had heard the word Cockney before, and it might be what I'm imagining the burglar as having. Just need to see a good example of one.

Michael Caine is the most well known. You should also rent some Guy Richie movies like Snatch and Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

[Spike]

Basically, my character in Noises Off is an actor in the fictional play Nothing On, named Selsdon Mowbray who plays a burglar in.... Nothing On. He's (or, he's seemed to me from my reading of the script) an old old man, great actor, but totally losing it. A lot of his lines revolve around his bad hearing and memory, and also from his alcoholism. And though from what I've read, his general "self" isn't defined within the script. Since while reading I've imagine him as a sort of frail, but still dignified "gentleman" old man... who also has a drinking problem. Aka, I'd use more of a Jeeves the butler accent for him as opposed to a Steve Irwin.

One TV character immediately springs to mind.


"I was very, very drunk at the time."

Rowley Birkin QC

I'm sure if you do a search on "u pube" [alt spelling to get round banned site fourm macro] for "fast show" you will find numerous sketches featuring Rowley.