Q: Hi Jeffrey Virkus. Tell us a little about yourself.
A: I’ve been enamored by narrative art my whole life. I love telling stories visually. I’m currently shooting my first feature film, TOUR GUIDE RISING, the first under the CreativeLeapTV banner. In this story about personal redemption and finding one’s voice, I embody characters from all over the world and speak in many dialects.
Jeffrey Virkus (The Dialect Guru)
Throughout the years as an actor, I’ve always been intimidated by dialects. This project has been liberating in that it has helped me face and overcome my fear. The Accent Sage Series has evolved during my filmmaking process. It’s been a great way for me to learn dialects and teach others. It’s also been a fantastic way for me to develop characters. I sure hope it has inspired others to take on dialects in their own work.
Q: How long have you been doing this? How did you become a master dialector?
A: I’ve been producing tutorials for the past year on YouTube. I’m far from a master but have become quite efficient in dialects since I made it a daily practice within the past couple of years. I’m constantly applying them in my YouTube short films and sketches.
Q: Do you remember the moment you fell in love with learning accents?
A: Yesss! When I first got into improv some 20 years ago. I was always enamored by other performers who could incorporate different accents at the drop of a hat on stage. I shied away from trying for fear of screwing up and being judged. When I first attempted an over-the-top British dialect that worked in the scene and drew laughter from the crowd, I was hooked.
Q: Which dialect did you have the most fun learning and/or teaching?
A: Scottish is a blast because it is almost a sing-song dialect that offers many unique and fun sounds stemming from pitch variation, vowel changes, and isolated changes such as the R-roll and glottal stop.
Q: Are there any advanced techniques or particular tricks you’ve learned in studying dialects?
A: As you work with changing the pitch, tone, and inflection of your voice, try to accompany that change with experimental body language, character traits, and demeanor transformations. You’ll begin to create characters.
Q: What has been the hardest accent to master?
A: French. Some of the sounds are very distinct from the standard American English dialect. The variation in nasality is especially challenging.
Q: Any advice for young actors/impressionists trying to learn accents?
A: Go big early on and fully commit. It’s always easier to pull back. Don’t get discouraged when you can’t seem to pull off certain sounds. Keep adjusting the position of your mouth and over time you hit the sweet spot and then… Eureka! It may come and go for a time but after awhile it becomes second nature.
Q: How can people contact you to learn more or work with you one-on-one?
Q: What are the best ways to follow your progress as the Dialect Guru in addition to all the other projects you got going on?
A: Either visit CreativeLeapTV.com or check out the CreativeLeapTV Youtube channel. Coming 2020, the first feature film under the CreativeLeapTV banner.
Hey, thanks for the story bud! And for doing your part to help artists. Great stuff. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out some of the videos and CreativeLeapTV.com.
Jeffrey Virkus (The Dialect Guru)
3 thoughts to “Meet The Accent Sage”
What talented phrase
Hey, thanks for the story bud! And for doing your part to help artists. Great stuff. If you haven’t already, be sure to check out some of the videos and CreativeLeapTV.com.
Thanks for the shout out. Goes a long way coming from someone whose at the top of his game and offers a valuable service in the comedy realm.