I am not Josh Peck

If you are familiar with the world of teen sitcoms you might have come across a show called Drake & Josh. It aired on Nickelodeon from 2004-2007, but can be seen in the re-run format somewhere I'm sure. It apparently was a popular little show although I've never had the pleasure of watching a single second of it. What brought it to my attention years ago is that the "Josh" in the title referred to a chubby teenage actor named Josh Peck. Same name as me, not me.

Having this other Josh Peck has never entered into my life, especially since that Josh Peck is more known for being a teen-actor who is now trying his hand in more serious fare after slimming down. So we have the same name, who cares. Since I've moved to Los Angeles though, evidently there is some kind of online celebrity information dispenser that has confused that Josh Peck with the Joshua Peck that I know as me. Maybe people see my name, number and city I reside in and think I am the other, famous Josh Peck who just happens to have a mobile phone listing? Then they call me.

The first time I got a phone call asking to speak to Josh Peck was before 7am. The number that came up on my phone was an international number and I thought it might by my good friend Scott who lives in London and will call me from time to time with the strange string of numbers from whatever location he is calling from. It wasn't Scott, although the person on the line seemed to be asking to speak to me.

"Is this Josh Peck?" A youthful voice with an slight accent asked me.
"Yes. Who is this?" I responded.
"This is Ocha. Is this Josh Peck?"
"Yes. What do you want?"

I loathe phone solicitors and am usually on the rude side to any stranger who phones me out of the blue until I find out this unknown person is not selling something.

"My name is Ocha and I am watching Drake & Josh and wanted to talk to you."
"Uhm, I'm not that Josh Peck. I didn't have anything to do with Drake & Josh. Sorry."
"Oh."

The phone line goes dead. I guess Ocha disconnected it with a sad obliteration of his dream to talk to the right Josh Peck, not some doppelganger with a drawl and brusque attitude at 6:50 in the morning.

Then I got another call wanting to speak to Josh Peck. It was a female voice this time and her name was Sandy. After she asked, "Is this really Josh Peck?" I realized we had another phone stalker at work and told her I was Josh Peck, just not the right Josh Peck. She too sounded a little crestfallen that she wasn't talking to the person she hoped to be talking to. Ocha and Sandy probably spent days mustering up the courage to call Josh Peck and talk to him and within a few seconds, those fantasies had been crushed.

A few minutes after I got off the phone with Sandy I realized I had an opportunity if and when this happens in the future. I have always loved pulling practical jokes and the opportunity to prank some random Josh Peck fan is impossible to pass up. Here's what will happen if I'm called again: I will pretend to be the Josh Peck that these people are calling and see what they have to say. I have read Josh Peck's Wikipedia file to familiarize myself with his career and background. If they ask why I sound different than on TV or in movies, I will say I'm preparing for a role and am trying to stay in character. You know, method acting. Our phone conversations might go into strange, unexpected places for the people calling me as Josh Peck might be getting up to some shenanigans that he might not be aware of.

Any suggestions of things I can tell the future callers? Any ideas for the movie I can claim to be working on? Any weird or off the wall topics that we should discuss? I'm hoping to get some more of these calls just to see if I can fool these fans of the other Josh Peck and entertain myself for a few minutes. Details of those conversations will be posted if it happens again.