All Hallows Eve is upon us and I hope you have a fun and safe holiday, whether you're walking the kids around the neighborhood or going out to get some treats yourself.
I had a crazy weekend. It started with me getting a callback on the Chevy commercial and then having said callback cancelled only a few hours later. On Friday I got a call at 12:30 that America's Most Wanted wanted me to audition for the lead in the show at 3:15 so I have to scramble to get sides and put that together. It was a blast, though.
Then on Saturday I finally moved. In what may go down in history as the quickest and most painless move in the history of UHaul, it took us two hours from first item in the truck to last item out. Let me repeat that: TWO HOURS. Yes, the rumors are true...I have the greatest friends in the world.
Then later that evening my friend Kurtis and his lovely wife Kellee had a Halloween bash that Amber and I attended dressed as zombies. Not too shabby I must say, especially since all of my stuff was still in boxes back in Sherman Oaks. After many beers and several renditions of country songs by Amber and Jeff (in what I will now only refer to as "my darkest hour") we head on home where I crashed and slept the sleep of the just. Or just the really tired.
Had a Del Taco audition this afternoon, it was just one line but fun. Good times good times. I should have some pics from the Halloween party up soon.
For some reason, the callback got cancelled and I didn't end up going today. No word yet on why. Very odd.
I got a call from super-agent Judy Cook and I have a callback tomorrow for that Chevy commercial. Send some light and good vibes my way tomorrow at 11:00 AM and I'll let you know what happens!
The Chicago White Sox swept the Houston Astros and are now the the World Champions of Baseball. In doing so, they shattered an 88 year drought and their own curse of sorts. Those who believe in such things attribute the 1919 Black Sox scandal to be the instigator of the "curse" in the same way that the sale of Babe Ruth to the Yankees led to that whole 86 year thingie we Red Sox fans don't have to deal with anymore.
Side Note: There is a great John Sayles movie about this scandal, where 8 members of the White Sox threw the World Series, entitled 8 Men Out. It's got a pretty decent cast as well, including John Cusack, Christopher Lloyd, Charlie Sheen and John Mahoney.
For some reason, this was not spoken about nearly to the levels that the Red Sox were. Maybe it was because the White Sox didn't also have that heartbreaking history to go along with it. White Sox fans didn't have that "we were so close" aspect to their saga, while we fans of the red footwear variety would get so close only to have a Bucky Dent or Calvin Schiraldi dash our hopes onto the rocks. The White Sox never really had that type of heartbreak...that's saved for the Cubs.
But it is strange that in the past two years we've seen losing streaks as constant and able to be counted on as death and taxes just shatter. Not limp to a World Series win, but completely blow the roof off the place. The Red Sox did it last year by sweeping the Angels, coming back from the biggest defecit ever to defeat the hated Yankees for the ALCS and then swept the Cards to take it all. This year the White Sox were nearly as dominant and history would not be denied. It feels like it means something bigger than baseball. There are a lot of walls being torn down and a lot of "breakthroughs" in all walks of life, seemingly happening everyday. The optimistic part of me would like to think it's a sign of amazing things to come. The pessismistic side says, "it's just baseball".
But all of me says, "man, I'd hate to be a Cubs fan".
I had a meeting with my manager and she needed some clips about me doing stand-up with sex as the topic. I cut up some of my show from M Bar this past summer and sent it to her and also put the clip up on the video clip section of the site. Check it out if you feel so inclined.
Another in the long line of favorite comments. This one is credited to one of the awful voice over guys on the Iron Chef (as a side note: what is with the voice over actors they get for that show? The voices are always the worst and they continually talk over each other. The whole thing is done in post production, so can't they fix that?).
The food of the day was "cuttlefish" and one of the chefs was making what appeared to be croquettes with it. The voiceover dude covering the shows roving announcer said:
"It looks like he's making some type of ball with it. Although those aren't the types of balls I'm used to handling."
Most of the people reading this know of my love of poker and wanting to buy a new poker table to use at my new place in Sherman Oaks. I originally had gotten an offer for a deal on the pictured table at a wholesale price. Unfortunately, we couldn't get enough orders together to make it worth the seller's while and the deal was off. Later that day I went onto eBay and bid on a round 8 person table for about the same amount as I would have paid for the ten seater wholesale.
The table came last Wednesday and I borrowed my (ex) roommate's girlfriend's truck and came over to Santa Monica to get it (I usually have any shipments sent to my day job as it's just easier and there's always someone here to sign for it). And there it sat, in it's white box all week.
For some reason, I got the itch to pull it out of the box and set it up to check it out last night. In opening the box, I noticed something strange...there was a fold. That was notably strange because the round table I ordered was a solid table, only the legs folded. Then I noticed something else....cup holders. I had ordered the 8 person 4' diameter table and instead received the 10 person long folding table! I was thrilled as I got the exact table I initially wanted for the price I wanted to pay for it.
Sometimes the Universe works in weird ways.
I also had an audition for a Chevy commercial this morning. It was a blast but I called in for "Dad". I'm getting called in to play Dads!! Not happy about that. It's totally plausible though, as my Dad was my age now when I was 7 and that was about the age of the little girl in the commercial. But I looked a lot younger than everyone else there.
The audition rocked though. It was all facial expressions and I got some good laughs from the casting director. I was really happy with how it went, now if I don't look too young for it, I think I definitely have a good shot at it. I really worked it and they commented on a few of the little things I did and how much they liked it, so I was bringing something different that they hadn't seen yet.
As I prepare to move out of my Studio City apartment to a cool Sherman Oaks house this Saturday, I'm left to deal with all the nit-picky details one must deal with when going through this. The most pressing being...I want my security deposit back!!
It should be a no-brainer. My roommate and I kept the apartment in immaculate condition. Sure there may be some markings on the stove covering from use or a couple of little marks on the hardwood floors...but there is no "damage". It's just normal wear and tear from living in a space for almost two years. I gave my 30 day notice and figured everything would be fine. Then I get a call from my landlord.
He "informs" me that the lease contains and addendum that we were required to give 6 weeks notice and not the standard 30 days that every other rental agreement in the world requires. First off, I looked through the contract when I decided to move and it stated on the first page "30 days". Now at the back of the contract is the addendum. So I saw 30 and just went with that and never intended to "go against" the agreement. I also researched it and tenants are only required to give as much notice as is in between payments. Since they didn't allow me to pay every 6 weeks, I believe I'm not legally bound to honor any 6 week agreement. Plus, the addendums were never initialed so they could have added that after the lease was signed. Or brainwashed me. Or used magic ink. Yeah, I bet that's it.
My favorite part of the agreement is the "$125 non-refundable cleaning deposit" taken from the security deposit. It also states that they expect us to leave a clean apartment. Basically, they want us to clean the apartment and then charge us $125 to clean it again. It's like taking your car to get the oil changed and them charging you, but expecting you to have the oil changed before you get there. What the hell is the charge for?? You can bet my definition of "clean apartment" has been modified to "none of my shit is in there anymore". Your definition of clean may vary.
So one week to go until the official move and then we'll have the drama of how much of the security deposit we'll get back. I can't wait until it's all over and I can just settle and get back into my life again.
Poker Tables and more on the Jewish vs. Italian debate
I'm very excited because, as of two minutes ago, I won an auction on EBAY and am now the proud owner of a brand spankin' new 4'x4' poker table for my new place in Sherman Oaks. Originally, I was going to be getting a longer, 10-person table but the deal fell through. Such is the nature of the beast when you try to buy wholesale. We didn't have enough orders to make it worth the seller's while to give it to us at the reduced price. So with the kibosh being put on that deal, I trekked to the holy Mecca of EBAY to see if I could find anything similar for about the same money. I did, and you see it featured here. I didn't want to just buy a table top as my kitchen table isn't big enough to support one and I didn't want to have to go out and buy another table AND a table top, plus the folding one tucks away nicely when not in use.
Someday I will have a big house with a room specifically for games, centerpiece being a nice oak, finished 10 seater table. But for now, I'm happy with my folding one with arm rests and swank green felt.
Jewish-Italian: I got a lot of emails about the whole deal where the casting director thought I was Jewish. Having grown up on the East Coast and being privvy to both Italian and Jewish families, I find them remarkably similar. Put aside for the moment that the two cultures look very similar (and I find that so weird, because the Jewish faith is the only where you really define someone by their religion... People don't ask me if I'm Catholic because "oh you look Catholic". And, I guess, I don't...because as has been demonstrated, I look Jewish. Maybe Muslim can be thought of in that category as well...but I digress...), we are very much the same.
Both Italians and Jews are a loud, family oriented people. Conversations around the dinner tables of each usually reach decibel levels only touched on during rock concerts. For the uninitiated, you'd think we hate each other by the way we're screaming across the table. That's just how we are. You yell at your family members and then you go back to your business.
Both cultures are ruled by guilt. Whether it's Judiasm or Catholicism, it's guilt all the way baby!! Didn't call your Nana? Forgot Bubbie's birthday? You better believe you're gonna hear about it...and often. There are few discrepencies between a Jewish and Italian grandmother. And both will slip you a fiver on the sly, as if they were bribing a cop out of a speeding ticket.
And finally, both cultures express love through food....
Last week I started a slate of casting director workshops through a company called Talent to Go and I've been really happy with them. Jeff, Mitch and I have all signed up with them over the past week with Jeff and I performing a scene together and Mitch and our other friend Kurtis doing a scene that Mitch wrote.
Basically, these auditions are more along the lines of "general meetings" that casting directors used to hold back in the day (and don't seem to much anymore). There's no specific part that you're reading for, you just go in with a prepared scene and perform for the CD and it allows them to see you work and also talk to you, get to know you and what you "bring into the room".
Last Wednesday we did an audition for a major casting office and it went great. The CD loved our scene and thought it was "perfect, nothing to redirect", but then came the "chat" portion of the meeting.
She looks at Jeff (who is half Japanese)and said (I'm paraphrasing) "well you're Asian so the part would have to call for an Asian, or maybe a slacker type. Or anything that wasn't specifically calling for an ethnicity."
And then she turned to me...
"You, you're VERY specific. You would have to be the level headed, sensitive type...I mean, you're obviously Jewish..."
Huh?
Um, sure. If by Jewish you mean Irish/Italian Catholic.
She actually even wrote "Jewish" on my resume and had to cross it out and write Italian after I revealed my true nationality. I'm getting hit with anti-Semitism and I never even got to have a Bah Mitzvah!
She looked over our resumes and saw our representation and was like "oh you guys have good representation, we work with them a lot, you'll be fine."
I kind of got the feeling the above translated to "you guys will get called in a lot...of course, not from this office unless we're making a show about a rabbi and an Asian stoner who come from different worlds..."
This past weekend, Jeff and I started work back up on 60 Minute Broadway again. Due to a number of professional and personal factors and time constraints, it hasn't received the attention we need to give it. So Saturday we got together and I worked on the script for the first issue while Jeff designed some of the main characters. You can click here to see the sketches as well as some other conceptual sketches and original pencils for some pages. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, simply visit the 60 Minute Broadway site to learn more about the comic and read the first four pages of the story. I also posted a "Story Synopsis" on the main page so you can check that out to find out more about the storyline as well as find out what the term "60 minute broadway" refers to.
It's quite an exciting project and it's amazing to see "my baby" come to life like this with Jeff's incredible artwork. With a possible meeting with a very prominent comic book publisher in the upcoming months, things are going to get very interesting indeed.
As for my personal web comic Terriyaki Milkshake, it's still in the offering. I have a few of the characters designed and I've already got a few storylines written loosely. I just need to take the time to draw out a few strips (I'd like to have at least four or five in the can before I start posting any) and post them. With everything else that's been going on, this is the one project that has really taken a backseat. I do plan to have it up and running before years end, though.
Last week, my friend Mitch invited a few of us to the American Legion in Hollywood for a few drinks. She is an auxillary member of the Legion. Her brother is a member and she was able to join by family ties. Apparently, for the low cost of $15 a year anyone who is in or had been in the military can become a member. Can't beat getting beers for $1.50. Even as a guest I was treated to $2.50 beers. What a bargain!
The place is fascinating though...a real living piece of Hollywood history. It's the type of place you walk into and think "man, there must be like 500 ghosts living here at any one time." It's just that kind of place. MY friend Todd was actually a "ghost hunter" at one point in his life and told us some tales from different experiences he had. Fascinating stuff, that.
The place is huge. We got a tour of the upstairs libraries and museum with old fight bills from the Hollywood Fight Club and memorabilia from Hollywood's Golden Age. Pics of Marilyn Monroe (who was "introduced to Hollywood" at the Legion), Howard Hughes and Shirley Temple adorn the walls. There was even this gorgeous ballroom/auditorium that could double as a movie theater with a projection booth high above looking down.
I was expecting the bar/lounge area to be like any random VFW, Elks, Moose, Imperial Order of Water Buffalo type lodge I've seen before. The bar at the Legion was very cool and beautiful. Totally renovated from an old fallout shelter (needless to say, cell reception was at a premium) and completey redone, the bar was something you might see at any trendy LA bar. But instead of young hipsters, around this bar you find veterans, real people with their own fascinating histories and stories to tell. One of the women there was an actress back in the radio days and was even in Alfred Hitchcock's VERTIGO. It's getting to talk to people like that, people that have seen so much, that makes me love living out here. It's amazing to think of the changes in technology, and the world in general, that they've experienced.
Should be an interesting weekend coming up. Jeff and I are diving into the first issue of 60 Minute Broadway this weekend. We'll be finishing up some character sketches of the main characters and going over how the next 18 pages of the issue should lay out. A friend of mine is trying to hook up a meeting with Dark Horse Comics (they of Hellboy, Sin City fame) for us. She used to work in marketing there and is good friends with one of the editors, so she took one of our "pitch books (it had the first four pages of the comic, story synopsis, some script pages) with her and is going to give it to him and throw in some good words. So we hope that pans out. We should have some of the characters up on the 60 site this weekend. So check back for that.
The casting director meetings went great this week. Jeff and I were strong in our scenes and it's a blast to be able to advance your career side by side with a close friend. It's easy to work together, fun and just all together stress-free. Maybe we can be the new Ben and Matt...you know, without Gigli and Surviving Christmas.
Today marks the end of an era for me. My way of life as I have known it for the past year is coming to an end as we speak....
They are removing the Neilson ratings boxes from my televisions.
I don't even remember how I became a "Neilson family". My roommate just came home one day and told me that the Neilson people would be coming by later in the week to install the "black boxes" if we wanted to do it. So I figured, cool. And soon there would be an enormous upswing in ratings for Pro Wrestling and porn in the San Fernando Valley.
I never mentioned it much because I didn't think I was supposed, but now that our time as a ratings mogul has ended, I figured it's OK to let the cat out of the bag. There are a lot of myths associated with this ratings system, so let me dispel some:
* You don't get paid to be a Neilson Family (sounds so...cultish). You do get a small sum of money initially and then an even smaller sum 6 months later. But both payments together equal about one month of your cable bill.
* It doesn't record what it is that you're watching. It records the channel and time. And it's all logged automatically from boxes that are installed into your TV (and also monitor any other AUX inputs like DVD and gaming systems...again, they don't know what you are watching on DVD or playing in your PS2, but they know during this time on this day that's what you were doing).
** They don't pay for your cable or anything else. We tried that one to get them to pay for some premium channels. You know, so we would have a broader array of shows to choose from in order to more accurately disperse with the ratings. It looked good on paper anyways...
* It's kind of a pain in the ass. You have to log in everytime you change the channel and also after about 90 minutes of continuous viewing. Now logging in only means pressing the red OK button on the remote when you see the lights on the box flashing, but speaking as someone with about 4 remotes anyways, it just becomes annoying.
I probably should have parlayed my new toy into some acting work. Maybe walked around the CBS Radford lot letting casting directors know that I would probably watch Joey much more frequently if I was actually ON the show. OK, that's a lie. I wouldn't watch the show if I was Matt LeBlanc...but you get the idea.
So yes, you can blame me for keeping shows like UFC: The Ultimate Fighter, Entourage, Rescue Me, Arrested Development and Sunday Morning Shootout on the air. But I swear, I had NOTHING to do with the Family Guy getting renewed or any of that reality show crap. I swear!
Jeff Schuetze and I auditioned for and were accepted into "Talent to Go". Basically, this is a company that puts on Casting Director Workshops. Instead of hosting the CD and having them hand out scenes, they do things a little differently. The workshops are held at the casting offices and you perform a scene that you've already auditioned and prepared with your scene partner. You can have different scenes and different partners, but each has to be auditioned and approved, so it's very quality controlled.
Casting workshops are a strange animal. Despite all of the disclaimers and double-speak to the contrary, you are basically paying to audition for someone. For $30 (give or take) you get to act in front of a casting director who, in most cases, is not familiar with your work at all. The more indignant may turn their noses up at this practice and balk at "paying to audition", but I think it's a useful tool. Speaking as someone who's actual acting ability far outweighs his meager amount of credits, I appreciate the opportunity to get in front of a casting director who may not call me in based on my headshot and resume. It's helped tremendously thus far, getting me called in for shows like "That 70's Show" and "West Wing" after the casting director had seen me perform in a workshop.
That's always been my way so far in the "biz". Even with standup. I was never great at selling myself on paper. At first glance, I'm very average. Decent looking, but I'm not going to be causing teenage girls to swoon with my Teen Beat covers. I am, however, a very strong comedic actor and I know that once I get seen by people, it stands out. It's just that "getting seen" part that can be the problem.
So I'm trying to grab the bull by the horns and actually do some stuff, instead of waiting around and hoping someone plucks me out of a headshot pile. We've got two this week, one being with Junie Lowry Johnson. This is one of the biggest and busiest offices in town and cast shows like Deadwood among many, many others. I'll let you know what happens.
