"I was going out for absolutely everything that was in Backstage"
About this Quote
The line captures the grind of an unknown actor hustling in New York, scouring Backstage and sprinting to every open call or cattle-call audition that might lead to a paycheck, a line on a resume, or just a foot in the door. Backstage, the long-running casting publication, is a lifeline for aspiring performers who do not yet have an agent or a network; it is also a great equalizer, a crowded marketplace where anyone can show up and compete. Saying he went out for absolutely everything signals a scattershot, nose-to-the-pavement phase when the only strategy is volume: stack the reps, learn the room, get seen.
For Rob Corddry, whose career later thrived through The Daily Show, Childrens Hospital, and a steady stream of film and TV roles, that early phase matters. Comedy rewards speed, thick skin, and an appetite for failure, all of which are forged in hallways outside audition rooms. At Upright Citizens Brigade, where he trained and performed, you are taught to say yes, take the stage, and build your chops in front of strangers; Backstage auditions are the practical extension of that ethos. The work is not glamorous. Nonunion commercials, industrial videos, student films, off-off-Broadway gigs with folding chairs and shared dressing rooms: these are the classes before the classes.
There is also a sly humor in the absolute of absolutely everything. It acknowledges the absurdity of the hustle while honoring its necessity. Auditioning becomes its own craft, a laboratory where timing, presence, and resilience are tested far more often than they will be once you are established. Behind the joke is a blueprint for getting good: outwork the odds, say yes to reps you cannot get any other way, and let the volume of attempts sand down fear. The big breaks arrive later, but they are built on countless tiny doors you knock on first.
For Rob Corddry, whose career later thrived through The Daily Show, Childrens Hospital, and a steady stream of film and TV roles, that early phase matters. Comedy rewards speed, thick skin, and an appetite for failure, all of which are forged in hallways outside audition rooms. At Upright Citizens Brigade, where he trained and performed, you are taught to say yes, take the stage, and build your chops in front of strangers; Backstage auditions are the practical extension of that ethos. The work is not glamorous. Nonunion commercials, industrial videos, student films, off-off-Broadway gigs with folding chairs and shared dressing rooms: these are the classes before the classes.
There is also a sly humor in the absolute of absolutely everything. It acknowledges the absurdity of the hustle while honoring its necessity. Auditioning becomes its own craft, a laboratory where timing, presence, and resilience are tested far more often than they will be once you are established. Behind the joke is a blueprint for getting good: outwork the odds, say yes to reps you cannot get any other way, and let the volume of attempts sand down fear. The big breaks arrive later, but they are built on countless tiny doors you knock on first.
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