Playchecks

When I moved to California and was trying to get my acting career going in Hollywood, I was spending a lot of time with two friends. These two live together, and at their apartment I noticed all these paychecks they had taped to the wall next to their computer. They were self-made paychecks from production companies they hoped to one day work for/be paid money from. They, especially the girl in the relationship, is really into the belief of human influence or.. influence.. whatever The Secret is. That. The idea that i you put your goals, wants, and whatever else you’re trying to put into your life out their for the universe to notice and deliver to you. One means of doing this was to create paychecks they wished to one day receive. Their idea was supported by a playcheck (just came up with that) written to them from Judd Apatow’s production company. On the day the check was made, one of them received a check from that same company from doing extra work. Obviously the check was for a much smaller amount than they had predicted, but they got it on the same day!
I thought, why not, sounds like a cool idea. Well, I didn’t get around to actually doing it for about half a year. I kept thinking about it, but accurately designing playchecks and printing them up seemed like a lesser priority to job hunting and other activities. A week or so ago I finally made up playchecks for the major, secret audition I had back in November, hoping it would be yet another gesture to the Universe that I was ready to receive that role. Today I made up another check, because something told me to do it, and I finally printed them out. I’ll admit, I am a procrastinator sometimes. But I still printed out the checks in good faith.
Then I decided I’d check up on the casting news. I’ve been randomly checking up on news articles regarding the casting. Watching rumor after rumor be published and debunked, and after biting my nails for two and half months, I finally had reason to stop. Les than an hour after printing out my goodwill tokens to the universe, I discovered the role had been cast yesterday and I was too late.
I still haven’t hit the dates I put on the checks though.

Something I've noticed about LA: Rather than slowing down, drivers prefer to flash their lights at you to warn you that their car is quickly approaching.

Medical education video shoot

Just so you know, that was the name of the project. I have no idea what the video will actually be called, and as far as I can tell the producer of the project was the National Board of Medical Examiners. It's not the best project to put on a resume, mostly because I don't what information I'd put on the resume. Even more so, I'm not allowed to have a copy for my reels because the video is for educational purposes. And this is a shame to me only because it went so well!!

The project was supervised by medical professionals from UCLA, and possibly from the NBME themselves, to ensure that everything was accurate and true to life as possible. I was thrilled to have a number of actual doctors helping me to properly conduct myself with a patient and administer an exam. It was like we had five or six directors, but everyone worked together so well that there wasn't any issue outside of whether or not I would tuck my scrubs shirt in. Apparently it's an east coast thing. So on set was a camera operator and boom operator from The Office, and all these doctors, myself, a very talented actress, and another actor who got six heavy scenes of medical jargon the night before and stepped up to the challenge full force. With all this professional and earnest talent around me, it felt like one of the simplest shoots I've been on.
The new doctor actor was determined to get his lines down, which was tough, so I read with him for about twenty minutes while everyone else was on lunch. When our scene came, we were perfectly prepared. Even with last minute line changes he and I were natural and believable as real-life doctors in their break room. The medical staff was impressed, almost surprised, as to how much we sounded like residents talking to each other.
My scenes with the female patient were when I had to be the one spitting out medical jargon, while still being a warm voice to the distressed patient. She acted her anxiety and pain so well that it was easy to sympathize and want to comfort her. After one moment where (I can't say much) she experience a strong pain, we took each other's hand and I was just there for her while she expressed all her pain and strife. We had such a strong connection, and it was clear to the doctors watching. There was concern over whether (I'm trying very hard not to reveal anything that would spoil the educational part of video which I agreed to keep secret) I met a requirement, but they thought the connection we had more than enough made up for it. In fact, when we wrapped they were talking about whether or not they would have to change an answer on the exam because I may have done too well as an attending doctor.
The doctors on staff would help me out in properly conducting myself with a patient and in knowing what it is the doctor is really doing when they say this or do that. They explained how a line would be said in the context of the scene amongst all this medical lingo, and they would help out myself and the directors when there wasn't a line that made sense. They really helped me make my role as a doctor as natural and comfortable as any doctor who's done this hundreds of times would be.
And even the camera operator was a help! She made sure I didn't block the patient's face when they had a tricky camera angle and there was really no room for me. She was a wonderful person to work with, as were most everyone on this set, and the entire project was a joy to be a part of.

I'm kinda bummed that I won't have a copy of it to use for my reels, because I know all of it would be good material. The connections were real, the dialogue was professional, the production was excellent, and I was playing a doctor! A bright, young doctor who through his calm demeanor, truly cares for his patients.
I'm available for any medical programs.

I wanted to hop on Internet Explorer real quick to take care of an errand before bed. What I did instead was learn there is never a good reason to open Explorer.

Whenever I read a news story about a new advancement in time travel, and the new theory only allows travel into the future, I wonder to myself "then what's the point?"

I forgot one... My first phone audition.

Before the new year I had an audition for a medical training video for UCLA being supervised by one or two medical institutions or organizations. I'm not sure who. I submitted for the audition, they got back to me, and I had an audition with one of the UCLA medical representatives and the producer of the project. And the audition was over the phone. I didn't know you could do that. They didn't see me, my face, my eyes, or anything really, just heard my tone through my Metro PCS connection.
We read two scenes, and I got notes, but they liked it. They pretty much gave the role on the spot. Later that day I received an email saying I got the part, with all the info and the script.

Now, today I was called to check up on things and see how I'm coming with the script. They wanted to make sure I'm pronouncing everything well, that there aren't any awkward lines that need to be written, and just so see how I'm coming with memorization. With all the medical jargon, as well as the emotions in the scenes, they want to make sure that everyone involved isn't stumbling with lines and instead being natural. Honestly, I thought that was a given, but that's not the point. I studied up on the lines, and had them fairly down when I read through with them today. I pronounced everything just right, which is amazing considering I stumbled over "abdominal" for an hour. I knew how to pronounce it, but my lips kept blurting out "abdominable." And everything was fine. She was pleased how well I had taken her notes, she felt I could continue to do so when the medical professionals step in on the actual shoot, and everything felt good.

It's still kind of odd to me to do this over the phone, but if it works for them, it must be alright. I'm very excited to be on the actual set and do some acting with people. But even more excited just to do this super serious medical thing. I love that actual professionals and the board member from some medical group are going to be there to keep things as true to life as possible. It'll be an educational experience for me, it should turn out a great product, and best of all... I'm one step closer to being able to say "I'm not a doctor, but I've played one on TV."

My first Hollywood musical theatre audition.

I submitted to be in a musical theatre production, which I don't do often, because it was based heavily on Vaudeville, and Vaudeville is wonderful. The last time I auditioned for a musical theatre show, I got it, so why not try again. But I didn't realize how big of a production this was.
I got the call confirming the audition, which meant they wanted to see me. So far so good. But they told me to prepare two sides, a song, and a Vaudeville act. They wanted to see something entertaining, it could be anything, but I had to show them something! So I spent two days trying to put together some Vaudevillian comedy/tumbling act. Every idea I had wasn't practical, so I finally decided I'd just roll around and hope for the best. Besides, I still had a song and two sides to get familiar with.
I brushed up an old audition favorite, something I felt I could pull out of my back pocket and be comfortable with. Also thought I'd include my classic audition tune, "Mr. Cellophane," just in case. And for the sides, I brushed up, read them over, jotted some notes. I felt I could give a good audition without having it memorized. Then I noticed some names on the bottom of the sides, "Book by Milt Larsen, Richard M. Sherman and Joseph Hoffman. Music and Lyrics by Richard M. Sherman & Milt Larsen." Particularly Richard M. Sherman. That's one of the legendary Sherman Brothers, who wrote pretty much everything for Walt Disney. And with my history and love of Disney, I wish I had prepared any of the music I could so easily perform, like for example ANYTHING FROM MARY POPPINS. Which I have the music for. But it was the night before, too late, I'll use the song in my back pocket.
The audition morning finally came. Wasn't feelin' too good about it, but by golly, I was gonna make it a good audition. I arrived signed in, and another auditioning actor asked the runner where he could find Milt Larsen. Okay, pay attention cuz what happened next happened very fast. He was saying he was supposed to talk to Mr. Larsen, which meant that he was here, which meant that Mr. Sherman was probably here. It hit me, I would be auditioning for the writers of the play. This wasn't a local theater's production of a classic musical that I just never heard of, this was a brand new musical written by these legends. Richard Sherman is the executive producer. And I was somehow auditioning for the opening cast. Those are promotional candies for the new show!! ohgodohgodohgodohgod this audition is way bigger tha-- wait a minute, Richard Sherman is here? He's right behind me! That's him! He's introducing himself. I'm introducing myself! I'M SHAKING RICHARD M. SHERMAN'S HAND.
This was unreal, and I was ecstatic, so I was determined to being entertaining, or at least charming. In the downtime before the auditions started I admired the Mary Poppins autographed theatrical poster in the hallway, as I do every time I'm at Debbie Reynolds Dance Studio. I went over my sides again, and I was ready.
I was the first to audition. Somehow that happens to me often. And I entered a room with a tarnished old piano, and a little old man behind it. There was the auditionee's table, with several old men all wearing matching blue jackets. I was smiling genuinely and felt this wonderful comfort being among people I just assumed were from the good ol' days or Walt's era. I talked to the pianist about the song, we had it figured out, I thanked him, then greeted the rest of the men, spoke with them a moment. And then it was like I was back in college at all those theatre auditions I went to. I told them my song, the pianist played it, and I went into it. I could tell I was off time. I've been told that I should let the pianist catch up to me, rather than risk us stumbling our tempos around each other. And I figured I'd just sing the song and focus on me. Bad idea in hindsight. The director stopped me before the big note and told me that there's a lag in sound or something, and that I should be closer to the piano. The men all talked about how the piano was closer to center last time, so we pulled it over, and tried again. He asked if I had a second song, and for the first time ever I did and was thankful I remembered to do that. The pianist suggested I start right before the chorus and do a few quick bars, making sure I get to the chorus. I did it. The director however, wanted to hear the beginning verse. So we started over. Then I forgot the words and had to start over. And it occurred to me, it's been way to long since I sang this song, and I really didn't have it prepared as much as I had it on hand. So it didn't go well, but I got through the chorus. The pianist and I stopped, the director kept tapping his toe and prompted me to sing the chorus again. I was lost. I didn't know what to do with the song and the audition quickly ended. I hoped that my impromptu playfulness during the song would help, but I'm sure it backfired. They took a look over the profile sheet I filled out before the audition, where I listed every basic special skill I had that related to Vaudeville, which is pretty much everything that doesn't involve sports equipment. They told me they didn't need to see any more from me. I thanked them and left smiling. For a train derailing, I still had a good time.
I was disappointed that I committed some hamartia in focusing so much on the Vaudeville act, and not so much on the singing or acting. Now that I think about it, I should have worried about those first. Wowed them with my acting and singing talent, rather than the specialty stuff, just in case they decide to cut me off early. Makes sense now.
So lesson learned. And I'm sure I would have lost it during the dance, since I'm not a dancer. But I still feel bad that I got to audition for Richard M. Sherman, and pretty much blew it. I am better than that, and I feel like I let him down.
And he was so nice!

My first Hollywood coffee meeting.

Back in February I met a recognizable humorist at a convention. By the way, I have this thing about using names in blogs, so I'm probably not gonna say more than that. Anyway, we chatted, I mentioned in live in North Hollywood, and he said we should meet up to hang out. Awesome, I love hanging out with people. Then I lost his business card and it wasn't until the convention happened again, luckily for me a second time in the same year, that I could get his contact info back. So after half a year or so, I called him, somehow he remembered me, and we started to plan a meet up.
This took a few more months, cuz of the holidays an all. But a few days ago, we finally met up! I got there early, but showed up late cuz the clock in my girlfriend's car is slow and I always forget about it when I'm sitting it killing time! So though I planned to show first, he beat me to it, and texted me "Im the nappy haired Asian guy with a laptop." This was confusing, I don't remember him being a nappy haired Asian guy. Even more confused when I saw him there, with his laptop out and headphones on. So... I thought.. well, first time I met him he was in costume... and it's been a while... and he does have a laptop out. This must be the guy. I walked up to him awkwardly, and cautiously, until he noticed I was there. He pulled his headphones off, looked up and I asked, "are you Angus?" He wasn't. Angus was in the other corner watching the whole thing for his amusement.
Damn I used his name. ... Moving on.
I greeted him again, for the first time in months with a smile and "You're a jerk!" We talked for about twenty minutes about his project and my resume, the we got into our broken cameras. The meeting was shorter than desired, like I said, I thought we were supposed hang out, but I did know it was a business meeting and therefore expected a quick business chat and that's it. Anyway, it went well, he's a great guy, fun too. Not nappy haired. And as for me, I think I talk too much.

My first Hollywood acting class.

I attended my first acting class in Hollywood. Technically Burbank. And technically it wasn't an acting class, more of an auditioning class. And technically it wasn't a class, but a demo workshop audit thing. But it was my first acting class in Hollywood.
It was taught by Billy O'Leary, who I recognized as Tim's brother from "Home Improvement." I read up on his class and it seemed pretty legitimate. My friend Jo came along to attend the class with me, and we're both glad we did. Billy taught an excellent, informative, and very helpful class. I wish I had taken it before I had that major audition a couple months ago. After getting to know him and everyone else in the class, Billy taped us doing a side reading, and after that we watched and got notes. I learned some very helpful tips to audition with, and was also given a big note to take for future auditions. All in all it was an excellent class and I would love to take a full course with him. Ya know, if I had the money.
Jo liked it too. He also wants to take the course. Ya know, if he had the money. And let me say that the problem is that Billy's class is expensive cuz it's not and that makes the situation all the more upsetting. It's that Jo and pretty much in debt from living in LA over a year. I'd still recommend Billy O'Leary's classes to any actor in LA who isn't acing every audition they go to. Which I think is all of the ones who go to auditions.