The first words Abby Carter ever wrote to me were ‘Hello! I found your website on Google on a whim search about showreels!’ I’m glad she found me on a whim, because that contact has led to a fruitful collaboration over many years. First, with a showreel project – and then with our comedy sketches, which have garnered millions of views.
There has often been a hectic nature to our sketch filming days. Abby will say something like “I’m only available until 1pm,” and I’ll say, “okay we’re going to film six sketches between 10am and 1pm.” Abby is insane enough to always says yes.
I was just thinking about the first time we worked together, I remember shooting a showreel scene where you played a young girl who’d been grounded by her Mum. The years have flown by! We saw each other sporadically over the years but didn’t really have a collaboration of note until the football sketches.
I can’t believe how quickly time has flown! It’s great to see how we have both grown and changed in our crafts over the years.
What do you enjoy about doing the sketches?
With how quiet the industry is right now, the sketches are such a fun, creative outlet to put energy into. Social media being so poignant and available today too, it’s nice to know millions of people are able to enjoy what we do!
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Interesting what you say about social media. I think for me it has been really special to find an audience who cares for our material, who look forward to what we release. How has it been for you? I feel like you’ve developed a nice following from it also.
It’s been interesting, definitely built up a following from it which can only be a good thing for this industry and it’s amazing to see how much people enjoy the sketches! I’ve felt quite proud when I’ve been recognised a few times or had people message me about them.
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You’ve been involved in some crazy filming days, where 8 or 10 sketches have been filmed – what is that experience like for the actors involved?
Madness! They are brilliant and full of creativity, a lot of fun to do with other actors as we are all likeminded people, just wanting to do what we love for a living.
I especially love the extra challenge of getting a script that day to learn and film! It really flexes those performing muscles that may otherwise not get used for a while.
What is your favourite sketch, and why?
My favourite one I’ve done is one of my first ones with the lovely Durone Stokes, “When football ruins a night of fun”. From just that sketch I’ve got to span a whole storyline, referring back to it a few times in other sketches.
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Another favourite I’m not in, but was lucky enough to be there when it was filmed is “when your partner realises your gambling issues” with Stephanie Marion Wood and Aaron Gordon. Honestly watching her reel off players and various accumulator bets with the intensity she does was incredible!
I like that you mention Steph’s performance in that scene; I remember us all giving her a round of applause after one of the takes because it blew us all away. That’s another special thing about these sketches – we’ve built friendships on set and we all support each other. There’s no jealousy if one person has a great sketch or if one video goes viral and not another. What is it about this group that has kept it supportive? I feel like not all projects are like that!
It honestly blew me away how she navigated that sketch and its contents! Another great thing about the sketch days, constantly being able to learn off the other actors.
I’m not sure what’s different in all honesty! Everyone is in the same boat, just doing what they can to remain creative and keep working on those skills; we all just have a laugh! There being no pressure to the situation as well really helps!
I love it when something surprisingly happens, that shows us the power of these sketches. A few weeks ago you sent me a voicenote from Perugia, Italy. You were in a museum and someone said “Are you an actress with Daniel Johnson Films?”
What happened, and how did it make you feel?
I was absolutely gobsmacked in all honesty! To be in a small town in the middle of nowhere in Italy and recognised from TikTok was incredibly surreal. I have never voicenoted someone quicker than I did you! He spoke about your channel then asked if I was Abby from the sketches then spoke about how much he enjoyed them and was pleased to meet me!
It was such a warm feeling being recognised for something I’m so proud of. All the hard work and love you and all us actors put into these, it’s slowly but surely paying off.
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