By Nermeen Nabil Khear 
The magic of Dungeons & Dragons captured in an immersive improv theater experience. That’s what you’ll get to be a part of if you visit Dungeons & Dragons: The Twenty-Sided Tavern in New York City. You’re always the most important guest at any showing, of course. But recently, another epic figure joined the party, or The Party, if you will. Neil Newbon, the beloved voice actor who portrays Baldur’s Gate 3’s Astarion, took to the stage as a Featured Player at The Twenty-Sided Tavern. (Much to the great delight of fans everywhere.)
On the heels of one of his final performances at The Twenty-Sided Tavern, Neil Newbon sat down with Nerdist to discuss his time on the show, the magic of the show and its community, and his strong Dungeons & Dragons roots. We even touched on Newbon’s first-ever Dungeons & Dragons character and discussed some of his personal favorite campaigns.
You can read the full interview below, but first, we must share with you this clip from the performance we attended. In it, the power of the die compelled Newbon to suddenly enter the Regency era and engage in a romantic interlude with the villain of the tale.
Nerdist: Amazing job tonight. It was a beautiful story.
Neil Newbon: Yeah, well, the whole point of The Twenty-Sided Tavern is that it’s different every night. We have zero idea where it’s going to go, which is the fun of it for us. And I think the audience as well. No two shows will ever, can ever statistically be the same.
We’ve had ones that are more like jokey chaos, kind of. This was nice. I enjoyed this one’s narrative.
When did you first hear about The Twenty-Sided Tavern, and what made you want to be a part of it?
Newbon: I actually met the creators of the show and a few other members of the cast at a convention last year. They’d asked me to just talk about my experience in MOCAP and D&D, that kind stuff. It was a panel they doing about this show, and that was the first time I heard about it. And I saw their stuff, and it just looked awesome. So I met them, and we had a chat, and we just went, maybe we can work together. So then when they approached me, I said, yes.
There are three main roles in The Twenty-Sided Tavern‘s party. Did you get to choose to be the Spellcaster?
Newbon: They actually suggested it. And to be honest with you, the Trickster is too obvious. I’m kind of too rogue-coded already. So, for me, it was really nice to play something that I don’t always get to do.
They’ve been really silly, fun characters, but very, very different from other ones I’ve played in some regards. So I really appreciated the fact that The Twenty-Sided Tavern was thinking about me in terms of, “Well, let’s try something else that you’re not used to.”
What surprised you the most about being a part of the show?
Newbon: It really exceeded the fun factor for me. I thought it was going to be a lot of fun. I didn’t think it would be this much fun. This is way past my expectations of how fun the show would be.
I didn’t have any expectations of how the show should be, but it was a beautiful moment to be welcomed in by everybody and realize that genuinely, there is an amazing atmosphere between the group, the cast, and everybody really. They’re just amazing people. And you don’t always get that on a production, especially like this one, where there are lots of moving parts, and many people rotate in and out. But they all get on with each other. And they’re just incredibly welcoming to people like me, guests coming into their family. So that was amazing. I loved it. That’s one of my favorite parts of this experience.
I have my Off-Broadway family now. It’s great.
As a longtime Dungeons & Dragons player, do you feel being in The Twenty-Sided Tavern is like being in a game of Dungeons & Dragons?
Newbon: Oh, totally. I used to do LARPing back when it was deeply unpopular and very uncool. So for me, this is a kind of weird mishmash between all of my childhood fantasies, my aspirations of being an actor and my adult geekiness to be able to perform a LARP and play D&D, the whole thing in one hit is insane. Yeah, it’s really cool.
So you’ve done quite a few of these performances now. Is there one that struck you as the funniest version of the character? One that really hit?
Newbon: Not really. I think that’s the thing because we’re not entirely sure what kind of version of the character you want to portray going in. We tend to have ideas just to kick off the very first bit when we walk in. We tend to improvise like, “Okay, we can do this, do that.” As you walk into the pub after that, it’s really whatever comes out of people’s mouths and the dice has a big factor in that as well.
I think one of the things that we’ve definitely had, which has been amazing, is the right nat 20 or the right Crit 1 at the right moment, just when you absolutely need it. Those moments are electrifying. They’ve happened so far at the most pivotal moment where it can happen, and that is just mind-blowing. There’s no trickery. It’s just rolls. It’s statistically unlikely rolls.
So we’ve definitely had Nat 20s that have come literally at the right moment, and it’s just been awesome.
Amazing. And is there a joke or a line or a piece of banter that you’ve done with one of your fellow performers that you were like, ah, that one really hit at the right moment?
Newbon: Again, loads of things. There’s not a particular quote of the whole run. I think it’s just different. I like the moment when you know that you’ve got trust for people and that you can try anything, and they’ll go with you. All the “yes, and” or “no, but” experiences, which is wonderful. I think I had that moment very early on, basically in the first show. I suddenly realized I was completely safe here, and this is amazing, and this is awesome.
Your previous performances come up quite a bit from the audience. Have you injected them into your performances at all?
No, I try not to, but the audience are a whimsical bunch. So they have tried to shoehorn many characters in there. It is quite funny at times. But you don’t want to get too derailed by all that kind of stuff. But it’s funny; it’s very sweet that people like my work, so I appreciate it.
Tonight, you had to act with all your limbs turning to stone so you couldn’t use them. What has been the toughest curve ball that was thrown onto your acting from the blue?
Newbon: I don’t know, actually. I think I had to play Astarion in a scene. That was tough because I was kind of trying to avoid playing Astarion. So we had to do that. I think a few sessions ago, I was playing Dustin, and he ended up being forcibly morphed into Astarion. So that was tough, I kind of just wanted to play Dustin, do you know what I mean?
But losing my limbs—all that stuff—that’s funny as hell because it gave me the ability to be a Stone Fonzy.
How does performing in an improv show like this compare to the other acting that you’ve done so far?
Newbon: I come from a classical theater background. Originally, I started National Youth Theater in Bloomsbury, Edinburgh Fringe, Royal Court, and other places. Some really heavy theater stuff. And Shakespeare as well. I love improv because you are required to understand the baseline foundation of what you’re doing. We’re playing a kind of character, so you have an idea of character, and then everything is purely reactive and up for grabs, and it keeps you working continually.
And happy accidents happen continually. And if something doesn’t quite land, you don’t get another chance to go. You have no way of salvaging it. You just got to make it work and move on. I think it’s a really interesting exercise for actors. It’s a very good lesson in humility as well. I think an actor may feel they’re good. But to come into improv comedy, it’s a hell of a skill, and it will humble anybody, I think. But it’s also great to work with these people who are so experienced in this. It’s nice to see my fellow cast members fly and learn from them, as well as to be able to offer up.
Switching to Dungeons & Dragons generally, I know you mentioned you’ve LARP-ed and played Dungeons & Dragons since you were much younger. Do you remember your first Dungeons & Dragons character?
Newbon: Oh, interesting. I dunno if I do. I want to say it was a swashbuckler, but I think that’s wrong. It was probably like a fighter, a thief, like a dual class. I can’t remember which edition we used now. But it was definitely multi-class. I think like a fighter thief. I’m pretty sure that was probably one of the first one we played.
And do you have any early stories of playing Dungeons & Dragons you could share?
Newbon: I do remember derailing a friend of mine who made an entire quest and campaign for me. And he was going to introduce other people. But it was just the two of us around, none of our other friends could make it, it was like summer holidays or something. And so he made this whole campaign up for me, and I was playing a swashbuckler.
And I derailed the entire campaign by, right at the beginning, as opposed to jumping off the ship that I’m escaping from… I just decided to turn around with two crossbows and take on the entire pirate ship who promptly killed me and ended the entire campaign.
So that was an interesting moment. My friend just looked at me like, “You want to do what?” He was like, “Really? You mean you’re going to die?” I was like, “I don’t care, let’s go for it. I like those odds.” And then I died. He went, you died. I told you you’re going to die. That’s it. The campaign, the story’s over, and he’s like, “That’s it.” There was a moment of silence, and I was like, “Well, thank you all that work that you did.” Yeah. Lasted half an hour that game.
And is there a character that you’ve played that has been dear to you or that you’ve been really proud of creating as a Dungeons & Dragons player?
Newbon: Actually, I really like the character I’m playing in Baldur’s Gate 3 at the moment called Bow’ee, who’s a half-elf, wood-elf, Circle of the Moon Druid, pansexual.
She’s very cool. I like her a lot. She’s very emotionally intelligent and pretty stupid, so she’s a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic, really. I like Bow’ee immensely. She’s a good-hearted person who makes bad decisions because she’s naive.
You’ve mentioned before that you’re a rogue for life, but what is it about being a rogue that really appeals to you?
Newbon: I think I’m always a perpetual Loot Goblin. That’s pretty well-known. I like playing by and breaking and bending the rules. I know that rules are often in place for good reason. Sometimes, they’re not. I always believe that sometimes it’s okay to abandon and sometimes break the rules because life sometimes demands that.
So, rogue for life.
I love that. And what exactly is it about being a Loot Goblin that calls to you so much?
Newbon: I haven’t done enough therapy to deal with that. I’m not sure why.
Do you feel like you’ve been a Loot Goblin on The Twenty-Sided Tavern?
Newbon: No, I’m not playing a Loot Goblin. Tonight, for instance, this particular character, Leighton’s not a Loot Goblin at all. I think he doesn’t really care about any kind of earthly possessions; he’s more about the experience of life. So, I like to try and always veer away from me as a person in my characters. It’s easy to share your own characteristics with them, I guess. But I quite enjoy coming up with a recipe for a new character and try to avoid doing what I would do to do what I ought not to do, if that makes sense.
And as far as your D&D alignment, what calls to you as a person and a character?
Newbon: As a person? I think it’s up to other people to choose my alignment to perfect, honest. But I like sort of chaotic characters. Chaotic good characters are fun to play Me as a person. Couldn’t tell you, can I? Not sure.
And do you ever DM in the sphere of the D&D?
Newbon: Yeah, sure. I used to Games Master and DM for quite a long time. In fact, I was almost the perpetual Games master really for many, many years. So, in fact, I very rarely get to play characters these days. I still have a D&D group, and we’re currently playing at the moment and I’m DMing that. I dunno what it is, but I really enjoy the DM position.
But for something like this, I’d much rather be a player. That’s a lot of work. Both Stomp and Connor, who are amazing, have to do extraordinary, huge amounts of work, all while still being on the same “Yes, and” page and offering constant variation. It’s a lot of work, man.
I was going to say The Twenty-Sided Tavern are having their very first guest DM, upcoming.
Newbon: Yes, Aabria Iyengar!
Would you ever be interested in trying it out on the big stage?
Newbon: No. But I’d love to give her a run for her money by being a player with her, though. That’d be cool. I’ve done that before. I’ve been a player with her before with at one of the cons. We had a convention together where we played a game of D&D together. It was lovely. She was our DM with Brendan Lee Mulligan, Anjali Bhimani, Brennan Lee Mulligan and Samantha Béart. It was amazing. It was really awesome.
And if you ever came back to The Twenty-Sided Tavern, would you want to try a different character on?
Newbon: Sure. I mean, I’m kind of open to anything, really. I quite like the Spellcaster. Warrior could be interesting. I think avoiding Trickers would be probably better. Just because it’s a bit obvious. But never say never.
Although I have enjoyed the Spellcaster a lot, actually. So I wouldn’t mind coming back for Spellcaster.
Neil Newbon’s run has ended on The Twenty-Sided Tavern, but the show continues. Check out how you can go see it at the official website for the experience. And make sure to follow Newbon on his channels to keep up with all his latest projects.
The post Neil Newbon On His First DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Character and THE TWENTY-SIDED TAVERN appeared first on Nerdist.
This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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