Actor Marc Hickox has still not seen the ‘Blind Date’ spot for which he is currently receiving such praise. His excuse: ‘I’m back at Second City so I’m at the theatre every night. I know it’s on all the time but I’m never watching tv!’

The Toronto-based thespian is featured in the comedic gm spot helmed by Imported Artists’ Richard D’Alessio. Hickox plays the quintessential nightmare dinner date for any self-respecting young woman: he tosses his napkin aside after wiping his mouth; he laughs at his own jokes; he grabs food off waiters’ trays as they pass by – he even goes so far as to ogle other women. In return, his date locks him out of her car and speeds off, abandoning him on the street.

‘I wouldn’t say it comes naturally to me – to be an ass like that – but it was fairly easy,’ says the young actor. Hickox reports that he really enjoys acting in spots set up the way ‘Blind Date’ was, where he can let loose and improvise, as he does in his current day job at Second City in Toronto.

According to Hickox, the character he created for the spot met director D’Alessio’s approval after two auditions. He says that in the make-up room on the day of the shoot, however, he was asked to tone down the over-the-top sliminess of the character – but in appearance only.

‘The character was actually going to be a lot greasier,’ says Hickox. ‘When I got to the set, the make-up girl penciled a nice little mustache on me and I was going to wear these cheesy glasses, but we thought that he was just a little too greasy. We removed that stuff, but kept the essence of `the jerk.’ ‘

He says his collaboration with D’Alessio was a success, with the two working well together to find the right quirks for the character. Hickox reports that the scene where he performs a spit take (the oral spraying of water, when unable to control a laugh) was something that D’Alessio ordered, as was the ogling mentioned above, but the rest were just bits more or less improvised on the set.

‘The best stuff I’ve ever done [in a commercial], is the stuff where I’m working with a director who lets me do what I want to do and then says `more of this’ or `less of that,’ and then I alter it and go from there,’ says Hickox. ‘Richard (D’Alessio) was like that. He was very good to work with.’

According to the actor, the auditions where he is expected to create the character on the spot are his favorites.

‘Coming from Second City and being able to improvise, I am very comfortable in situations like that,’ he says, crediting Second City as an excellent training ground for young comedic actors.

‘Second City, for an actor, especially in comedy or improvisation, is like going to the gym every night,’ he says. ‘You get to work out and goof around, so when it comes time to do a spot or audition you’re not all wound up and nervous. Being able to do this on a regular basis builds up a bit of confidence in you.’

At present Hickox can be seen in the current offering from Second City’s Toronto chapter, ‘Pinata Full of Bees.’