PERSONAL November Forecast: Frustration With A Chance Of Anger
Well kids, it's officially November. And, if the first week of November is any indication, this is going to be a horribly frustrating and enraging month. It all started this past Monday night. I was recently cast in yet another Writing Five Show. This writing show is being directed by someone who I've never worked with before... and to say that her "style" of direction frustrates me would be an understatement. To understand why she frustrates me, let us explore my personal acting style, shall we? I've recently realized just what a pragmatic/utilitarian actor I truly am. With me, the writer's lines will be presented in the most positive, hilarious way in which they can possibly be presented. I will grant myself that bit of narcissism. However, if the "funny" isn't on the page, it ain't gonna be on the stage. Particularly in a writing five show, it's not my job to make your writing funnier than it is. It would be your job, as the writer, to write something funnier. Now, having said all this, it must be said that this is a very talented writing class. They are the closest writing five class with which I've been associated... as it appears like they've been great friends for years, instead of classmates for months. So it should be understood that my frustration does not stem from the words on the page, nor the ideas presented by the texts. My frustration, rather, comes direct-LY from the direc-TION of the direc-TOR. She has "allowed" us to improvise portions of the scenes, she asks the actors where they FEEL they are ("what are you sitting on?", "what do you see around you?", "what's in your way?", etc), and has repeatedly asked the writers to "work that out" and bring in rewrites. While this might be an interesting or even appealing way to direct any other kind of show at the Second City... this is certainly not the way I would want my words to be handled if I were a writer. Particularly if I were a writer who paid over a grand, in essence, for this one show (and over a year's worth of having someone tell you that you're not funny and your ideas are highly unoriginal). As of right now, I've held my tongue in rehearsal and after... but I'm going out with the writers after rehearsal next Monday and I may let it slip that I'm frustrated for them. I don't know... this is a very touchy political situation and, as we all know, I hate politics. I may just be my normal, bull-headed, stupid self. Hooray!
Tuesday night of this past week, I drove Chelsey to her apartment. I parked in her back parking lot, went upstairs (to the second floor) with Chelsey, put her laptop down, told her I'd be in the car, and went back downstairs. This could not have taken more than two minutes. As I came out, I found a tow truck had moved my car back to reach the front wheels. I yelled "No! I'm right here! Stop!" but the man backed his truck up and lifted my car as I opened my front door. Long story short, a five or six minute conversation with this man later (which sounded like this "Please put my car down, sir"; "Please get in the truck, sir, and I will drive you to the garage") and he frustratedly drove off with my door still open and my car unlocked. I was able to catch up to the car enough to close the door and quickly lock the car as the truck drove away. I wisely checked the truck before he drove off to see where this man was headed... a short, ten-minute walk in the dark, and $150 later, and I had my car back. To make things worse, Chelsey's phone had died, so I couldn't let her know that I was no longer waiting for her in her lot... AND I had a tech rehearsal just forty-five minutes from the time my car was towed. I could easily talk for hours about how this made me feel... and the stupidity of the parking laws that allow tow trucks to independently patrol/tow cars in whichever lots they service... but I think the most important two things to mention are as follows: No, things do NOT always work out for me... and YES, I have once again lost my faith in people in big cities. People here have no heart and no conscience... and it doesn't matter what anyone tells me about people being "good"--people don't need to be good as there is no accountability in large cities because I will never EVER see that tow-truck operator again. If we were in a smaller town, would he have towed me? Hell no! I would have said "We're just getting some clothes for Chelsey's work Wednesday... sorry Ted", "Well John, just don't park in the back lot here", "I'll leave now, sorry Ted" and so on. And, yeah, it's important to me to recognize that I hate the lack of accountability in cities and THAT means that I will NEVER be comfortable living in a city.
PERSONAL New Improv Class Showing Improvement
For the past month, I've been in Level 4 of the SC Conservatory. And, for the past month, I've left class happier than I've ever left a Conservatory class. Our new instructor, John, is the key reason to our new-found class love of... class. For the first time as a class, we have a feeling that we can actually entertain an audience with our own acting and writing. My entire class is excited to come to class, we're excited to see each other, and--most importantly--we're excited to get on the stage and do whatever John wants us to do. It's the happiest I've seen my class... ever. No offense to the other two guys who taught us, but we were frankly sick of the negative criticism... and it's a very nice change of pace to get someone who gives us constructive feedback for once. And John not only gives us good feedback, he makes us feel like our ideas are good enough to entertain a paying audience. And that confidence, my friends, is finally worth the tons of money we're spending on these classes.
PERSONAL My First Writing/Acting/Directing/Producing Project Close To Next Step
My friend Robert and I have been meeting every Wednesday night for the past few months. We have been meeting to write an idea I have for a show based on an entire day's worth of television programming; and we're so close to finishing the writing portion. This past Wednesday night we got rid of a couple (not-so-good) blackouts and replaced them with a hilarious "The More You Know" runner. And with that runner in place, we're so very very close to finishing that I end up leaving the weekly meetings with Rob very excited. I can't wait to rewrite my stuff based on his suggestions and then show him what I came up with. But, back on topic, we're so close to finishing that we've started talking about how we're going to cast the show. This is a very interesting problem... as I've now made so many contacts in Chicago that I can't possibly let everyone know about the show. If I did (and Rob did), we'd have a very long audition process. However, I hesitate to NOT have an audition because what happens when my contacts hear that I've written a show and didn't ask them to be in it? Again, politics! I can't get away from this baloney. Mmm... politics. I mean, baloney.
PERSONAL If Being Overweight Is Like Having A Spare Tire, Then I Own A Tire Store
Very recently, I've noticed that I'm starting to gain back some weight I've lost since my move here to Chicago. The culprit? It's my guess that it's my own contentedness. For the first time since my move to Chicago, I am content. I'm not trying to prove anything to anyone. And, furthermore, I'm happy to spend my evenings and/or weekends reclined on a couch with my lovely girlfriend. It's true. Chelsey and I aren't really "active" people... and I have yet to find a group of guys that I can play football with (with which I can play football. Right)... or any outdoor sport, frankly. As such, I've come up with innovative ways to get my exercise. I'm still walking to all my classes and rehearsals, but I've taken to walking back to my apartment from my weekly lunch with Chelsey. It takes me only about half an hour to walk from downtown to my place. I would walk TO her place, but most of the time, I need to get there quickly and so I exchange time for exercise. I think another part of my problem is that I don't really care that I'm gaining weight. I mean, I do (obviously, as it's bothered me enough to write about it), but what's my motivation to do anything about it? I have a loving girlfriend who seems to be happy with the way I look. The only thing I can think of is that I should lose weight to give myself a better chance at acting gigs. However, there is a certain belief very prevalent in the acting world (however incorrect it is) that an overweight, balding man IS a funny man. I feel this is one of the reasons why a person like Chris Farley had NO motivation to lose any of that dangerous weight he was carrying around. That, and don't forget all the drugs. Right.