Get your own
 diary at DiaryLand.com! contact me older entries newest entry

8:40 AM - Mon 12.16.19
-

The Fly In The Ointment, The Monkey In The Wrench

(Awake at present, but expect this to be a "sleepy" day - As I told Jane a short time ago, maybe drinking a quart of Dr. Pepper before bed last night wasn't the greatest idea for a guy who sleeps poorly at the best of times...)

As I begin, I have big news...that I can't really share, at least not to the degree I'd like.

Basically, over the weekend I booked what I assume will be a big national commercial, a big national commercial I can say nothing about.

(Even Jon - my commercial agent - was precluded from mentioning the name of the product in the addendum he made to the weekly Friday newsletter.)

It was all a little strange...

To start, the initial audition was three weeks ago. So naturally, I just assumed it hadn't gone my way and forgot about it (There's usually not that kind of "lag time" between an initial audition and the callback); I actually emailed Jon when I got the callback notice on Friday, to make sure it was a real thing and not some kind of computer/website "glitch".

I had put the audition so out-of-mind I wasn't sure which thing it was, what I'd done, or what I'd worn (And when I got there, it turned out to not be what I thought it was).

(Note to self: Take better notes on commercial auditions, like what character you played and what you wore. Place, product, and time of the appointment are fine if the callback is a few days or a week later, but after a couple weeks, when you've put it in your mental "delete" file, you might need something to jog your aging memory.)

The callback was Saturday, which was also weird (But not unheard-of - I've had a handful of weekend auditions/callbacks over the years). And at first, I had a little bit of an "attitude" about it, since the initial audition consisted of giving a "look" toward an off-camera person.

A "face-lottery", as I once heard it described.

And that being the case, I didn't understand why they needed a callback and couldn't just pick someone from the first audition (Actually, "auditions", plural - When I emailed Jon, he told me they'd actually had another round of auditions the week before. So whatever they were looking for, they were seeming to have a hard time finding it).

But then the camera guy/audition runner came out, and told us they were now looking for the character to do this additional, very odd, vocal thing (And they would give us multiple takes to do it multiple ways).

So I waited a bit, for them to finish the category before mine, then for the first guy to go in in my category.

And then it was "go time".

And suddenly this nothing of an audition, with the three-week wait for a Saturday callback, with a strange new direction that had the assembled actors joking about their "intent" in the scene...became the most fun I've had in an audition room in years.

I've been trying to think about what made it work so well for me.

And the best I can come up with was that it was just fun (Under the circumstances, it was all-but-impossible to get bunched-up about being "good", cause it just felt kind of random and silly).

So I did the bit as many times as they asked me to, in as many ways as I could think of. Then they gave me some re-directs, which went well, and that was that.

I'd had a great time. And more importantly, I could tell they'd had a great time - As I told Jane R. afterward (And repeated to Jon), I walked out thinking, "I can't be sure I booked it...but I won't be surprised if I do".

And I did.

I'm delighted on multiple fronts - I wanted to book again before the year was out, so that's pretty great, but even more, it breaks a commercial drought that goes back to 2016 (When I booked a KFC commercial, though my part ended up getting cut. In the previous year, I'd booked three commercials).

But amidst all this happiness, there is a "fly in the ointment" (Or "monkey in the wrench", to quote Die Hard) - The "shoot window" for the spot is Jan 8th-10th.

And I'm supposed to be flying to West Virginia for the documentary on the 9th.

While I am very, very, happy - don't get me wrong - there is a part of me that's a little like "Seriously?" (With how many auditions I don't get, and how many gigs I don't book, and how not-full my schedule typically is, it doesn't feel like anything should ever conflict with anything...but here we are.

Of course, I told Jane R. as soon as I got word, because I wanted to share my happiness with her and she needs to know the deal.

And she was genuinely happy for me, while at the same time acknowledging the less-than-ideal timing.

But as of this writing, we don't know for certain there's a problem - The pessimist in me says "Of course the shoot's gonna conflict with our trip"...but we've currently got a one-in-three chance that it won't.

(Unfortunately, I don't know when I'll know the deal, so have no idea when I'll be able to tell Jane - She's suggested checking tomorrow, which I shall do - so there's no way to make a plan.)

But anyway, that's the thing that happening.

Of somewhat less import - but still a thing - I finally got my keyboard back after weeks at the repair shop.

I was glad to have it back, but it's somewhat bittersweet; as a result of the keyboard being gone, that space opened up and temporarily became my de facto "drawing studio".

As a result, I've been drawing more than I have in years (My last little "wave" of work was back in 2016). I liked having a dedicated "space" for it.

Right now, my sketch pads and pens and pencils and the like are on the TV table (I keep referring to it as an "inelegant" solution, but I know me - If I have to get the shit out and clear a space each time I have the impulse to draw...I don't draw. It's a little sad, but "it is what it is" as the kids say. I'm a man who needs a "dedicated space" for his art).

Well, I could ramble on, but I am one tired old man and I need to lay myself down before doing...whatever else I'm going to do with this day off.

Till nest time...


 

previous - next

0 comments so far
about me - read my profile! read other Diar
yLand diaries! recommend my diary to a friend! Get
 your own fun + free diary at DiaryLand.com!