Hi!!
If you’re reading this, you probably already have some kind of idea about who I am. You may see me as a friend, athlete, actor, artist, or comedian or all/ none of those. I call myself a creator - thats the title that embodies pretty much everything I do. What I am is a series of processes that result in creative expression, in creation.
Currently I occupy the majority of my time with routines to promote creativity, pursuing my acting career, doing parkour, reading, and writing comedy in various forms.
I wouldn’t say I was particularly gifted as a young child. I did not excel in athletics, school didn’t really interest me, and I mostly kept to myself, but what I did have was a rich imagination and fertile soil for growth. Most of my time I spent playing with my imagination no matter where I was or what situation I was in. Even when my mother would bring me along for her trips to the mall, I pretended I was Captain Jack Sparrow but instead of sailing a pirate ship I was in the cockpit piloting Mecha Godzilla, who was now gold and used Lightsabers as weapons. I was fixated on creating absolute maximum awesome imaginative situation.
My imagination began to siphon into skateboarding and longboarding as I entered adolescence, and at the age of 14 I found my first creative vehicle: parkour. My whole life, even today, I feel as if there is an invisible string tied to my heart that takes me exactly where I need to be. Sometimes the string is more visible than others, or it is off centre or too tight or taught. When I did parkour for the first time, I felt like my Heart String was exactly where it was supposed to be. The activity was exhilarating, I had a degree of natural talent (something I had never experienced before), and the community was incredibly welcoming. Up until that point in my life I had always felt like a drifter and an outsider. The parkour community gave me the sense of belonging I never knew I needed.
Most of the positive aspects of my life, I have parkour or parkour-related individuals to thank. Namely Brodie Shaw and Amanda Voll. Brodie, for introducing me to the sport (anything Brodie did I found insanely cool and worth doing), and Amanda for her kindness and welcoming nature.
For a while after learning about parkour I still believed I was destined for a
largely normal existence (a thought I despaired), until I earned my first parkour sponsorship at the age of 16. That’s when I knew I was capable of more than I gave myself credit for, and from that point forward I promoted myself to the position of Master Sculptor of my ideal existence.
I set a variety of goals in parkour and sharpened my determination to a nearly surgical degree. Many of the things I set out to accomplish I completed, along with many more serendipitous positive experiences that in my wildest dreams I never could have imagined.
Due to family circumstances I moved to Cold Lake, Alberta for a few months where I enjoyed a routine, monk-like experience. The day I arrived, Cody, the owner of the local gymnastics gym, gave me a job and the keys to the gym. So I spent my days eating healthily, researching top-level performers, and reading poetry on the “beach” of the Cold Lake in Cold Lake. On a nightly basis I trained parkour and pushed my skill to world-class level, and then took those skills on tour twice across America with Team Storror and back to England, where I created my dream project with Storror member and now dear friend, Josh Burnett-Blake.
Upon my return to Cold Lake I couldn’t sit still knowing the whole world was out there waiting for me. The universe was calling me to continue to push myself in the direction of my heart.
This created an unnameable frustration and conflict inside me, and one day while going about my routines I decided to look up architecture schools, as parkour instills a deep admiration for public spaces, architecture and its many uses.
I was dissatisfied with what I found and decided instead to look into acting schools, especially in Vancouver where I knew a film industry existed and was growing.
I stumbled across the website of New Image College where my close friend and fellow parkour practitioner Lucas Othmer was listed as one of the alumni to my surprise.
I contacted the school regarding a few noncommittal questions about the audition process and they booked me for an audition which I decided I had no choice but to accept. It felt like the invisible hand of the universe once again moving me in the direction of my heart string. I had recently signed with an Alberta agency (thanks once again to Amanda Voll) and booked my first Lead role in a college indie film, and once again I felt the feeling of my heart string being in the correct setting. Acting had always felt like something I’d move on to do later in life when parkour was no longer an option. I figured I’d capitalize on parkour’s stunt and Hollywood connections (namely in LA) and I’d find a way in... somehow. The rush audition moved that hope from something I’d do at 40, to something I could begin NOW.
So I moved to Vancouver in 2017, and thoroughly enjoyed the two year, full- time film acting conservatory at NIC under tutelage of absolute acting wizards such as John Emmet Tracy and Phil Granger. I graduated in 2019, did a load of travelling, I took a series of improv lessons at UCB in New York (Intensive 101), and upon my return to Vancouver I found myself in the middle of a global pandemic.
That leaves us at the present date; still in the middle of a global pandemic.
I would say I have thrived in this setting. I have been blessed enough to be able to monetarily support myself and live in comfort through the entirety of the pandemic, big shout out to the Canadian government for CERB. That was a great choice.
I consider myself a master of using my free time and the pandemic has given me a lot of that, and a lot of space to continue to shape myself as the Master Sculptor of my life. I asked myself, what does my ideal life look like? And for the most part it just looks like me, a little wealthier, getting paid to do the things I am currently enjoying such as acting, stand-up comedy (began late 2019), and the only real thing missing was a podcast! So I started doing that in April of 2020, doing the podcast on a weekly basis for an entire year. I didn't know exactly what I wanted the podcast to be in its final state, but I did know that it was something I had to start doing NOW or it would never happen. After about 52 episodes life got pretty busy! So I took some time off in 2022 and am now looking at beginning a newer, better, similar looking podcast about parkour in a brand new studio space sometime Fall 2022! I'm thinking I'll call it The Sesh and I'll go in with the intent of talking about parkour, the community, and my experiences. I have a lot of material to work with
The last time I updated this blurb, I had just booked my first official network acting role on the Lifetime Channel. Shortly after I booked my first acting gig in a commercial and I also booked a principal role in CW's The Flash where I had the pleasure of acting opposite The Flash himself, Grant Gustin!
Here's where things get even more exciting: It's now 2022 and I came in HOT this year! Early January I auditioned for a lead role in a SAG-AFTRA Indie Feature, and even ended up doing one of the callbacks while I was in Mexico with my family LOL. I booked it and holy shit that made my heart feel good. I'm making big steps towards supporting myself through my passions. I had 6 months to prepare for the role - I got coaching, did a lot of research, and in June 2022 flew out to Niagara Falls to film and had the time of my freaking LIFE. The role was awesome, the director Nick Butler was cool as heck and it was just all around an amazing experience. I cannot get over it - I am a working, professional actor!!! The film is slated to be finished in the Fall and I'm very very excited to show you. The film is not for children as the subject matter is adult in nature, so as excited as my little cousins are to watch it I can't recommend it. The film will hopefully be doing the festival circuit and as cliche classic beginner actor as this sounds - I think its going to do very good. It could potentially sell to a streaming service, I could get flown out to film festivals to see it screen and talk on a panel about it. It all sounds very exciting to me. Cant wait to potentially do that. If nothing - The film will look GREAT on my demo reel because the footage looks LEGIT. Now after 6 months of knowing my next move and having the artistic security of guaranteed work, I'm back to not knowing what's coming. That's kind of cool though. It's time to regroup, re-focus and work on myself whether through personal projects or self-work. I'm very hopeful. The future is bright.
I'm enjoying stand-up a lot and am focusing on collecting ideas I'm excited to bring on stage. Parkour is a lot of fun for me lately without the pressure of "being a PRO ATHLETE" AND AND AND I'm stoked to announce that this year for the SPL Championships (a top-tier parkour competition developed for and by the community((better than the olympics or any FIG-sanctioned event))) I will be one of the two ONLINE COMMENTATORS!! Holy shit awesome. Looking forward to trying that. No re-do's or retry's when its an online LIVE EVENT! So get ready for that.
Thanks for reading this far. That means you really care! Lots more on the way.
BIG LOVE!
- Dohy
