The first time I worked with Tom Sansone, we filmed a gritty drama scene about two siblings dealing with a family issue. I don’t think either of us expected to follow it with a collaboration that would last many years and lead to our videos going viral in Huntington, West Virginia, but that’s exactly what happened.
Over the past two years, I have written and directed numerous comedy sketches about an Englishman’s obsession with the Marshall University Soccer team. All of these videos have featured the brilliance of Tom Sansone.
Tom is one of the most likeable people you could ever hope to meet. It’s no surprise that people relate to him when they see him on screen – he infuses his characters with heart and humour. In this interview, we reflect on our comedy sketch collaborations, and we find out how becoming a little famous in West Virginia has affected him.
What made you want to get involved in the sketches when we started doing them?
Before the sketches, I’d already worked a fair bit with you, first as a showreel client, and then as a scene partner. I’d always loved the atmosphere you create on set, you’re great at helping us actors be at our creative best, and you also have nice coffee, which is obviously very integral. So, when you asked if I was interested, it was really a no-brainer.
Since working on these sketches, I’ve had the opportunity to connect and work with fantastic actors and have been able to hone my craft through the process. Also, I now know a little bit more about football, and could potentially blag my way through a conversation with a footie fan at the pub, which is a skill I should probably put on my CV.
Could you share a little more about how working on these sketches has helped you hone your craft?
Gaining any on-set experience is invaluable for an actor, and on this set in particular, I’ve felt my confidence in front of the camera grow. I’m able to take risks, some of which have worked and some haven’t paid off at all, and those takes thankfully will never see the light of day. But just being in an environment where I’m able to take those risks has helped me develop creatively. Also, you have this knack for picking talented people to work with, so there isn’t an opportunity to drop the ball, which has forced me to try to bring my best when opposite these wonderful actors.
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How much thought do you put into the characters when you prepare them? We work very quickly and I don’t think there’s a lot of time for you to think too deeply about it, but what kind of preparation or thought do you put into who these characters are?
None. But in all seriousness, because of the quick turnaround, there isn’t enough time to do a deep dive into the character, and so the acting becomes more bare-boned. Which I feel removes a lot of the ego from the scene, and you need to focus more on the character’s needs and wants, and the structural rhythm of the scene.
Due to the nature of TikTok and Instagram, there isn’t enough time in the videos to fully develop a character in the scenes, so I primarily look at how the character starts off and how they end up, so I can focus on what I need to do to make that journey happen. Then obviously learning the lines is also quite important, I suppose.
The Marshall University sketches have been a lot of fun to create. What do you particularly like about those?
The Marshall sketches are a wonderful thing. I love how utterly unexpected the whole experience has been. It started as a nice ode to the hometown of your wife, Hannah, and then it just escalated so quickly. It was crazy how much love these sketches were getting, and it was wonderful to see how enthusiastic the community of Marshall was for the content.
The character itself is really fun to play; he’s just a Marshall fan trying to get by, and he only wants to share his passion with the world, even if sometimes it’s a bit much. He’s completely unaware of how strange and random his obsession is, which is why it’s so fun to just pop him into different situations and see how far he gets.
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The sketches have really connected with people in the Marshall community. When I last visited, many people asked after you, and hoped you would some day visit. What is it like to play a character that resonates with people on the other side of the Atlantic?
It’s a bizarre feeling, knowing that work you’ve created has resonated so much with people in a completely different part of the world. The Marshall community has been so wonderfully positive and warm in their response to the sketches, that it makes playing this character a genuine pleasure.
I’ve had so many lovely messages from people, and if I ever had the opportunity, I’d love to visit, watch a couple of games, and show my support for The Herd. I’d have to visit Oscars for coffee as well; it seems like a crime to go there and not visit.
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What’s a typical sketch filming day like? What are the challenges?
The filming days can be quite varied—sometimes we’ve filmed about 5 sketches, other times we’ve filmed 9 in a day, so it’s a good thing you have nice coffee. The hardest thing is trying to stay quiet and not laugh while filming the sketches.
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