August 2003 Archives
The improv went really well today! I felt that I have redeemed myself from my last 2 performances which were pretty mediocre. The scene worked well because it showed a regular guy excitedly preparing for a romantic dinner, but this guy happens to be a little over-conscious about cleanliness and germs. With the music playing in the background and me singing while wearing rubber gloves and cleaning it allowed me to be more dynamic onstage. When Shannon showed up we were able to have a pretty responsive and reactive dialogue. I also kept in mind my relationship with her and to really relate to her as if she was my sister. It worked really well. My only note was that I tended to try to explain things instead of being present in the moment and expressing how I felt or responding to her emotions. This was also one of my major notes last year as well. I guess it stems from my real life behaviour of always trying to talk my way out of emotional situations instead of dealing with it.
I'll have to fix that.
"Dinner"
(an improvised scene.)
Featured Impediment: OCD/Germ Phobia - performed by me.
Synopsis:
I am playing myself with an OCD germ phobia condition. Shannon and I are brother and sister. A couple days ago Shannon overheard me talking to mom saying that I thoght she was a loser. What I don't realize is that she is coming over tonight to confront me. The scene starts with me on stage setting up a romantic dinner while listening to music.
Yesterday I was listening to the "B-Side" on 100.3 The Beat with K-Sly and Eric Cubiche and got a little offended. They were trying to get a listener to call in to claim his prize. When K-Sly mentioned the listeners last name was Chow, this prompted a stereotypical Chinese accent from Eric Cubiche, "You bang my head, I bang your wife!" and K-Sly joining in with racial innuendo.
WHAT THE HELL!?!? K-Sly is Asian as well and she is supporting the continuation of Asian stereotypes? Just because she is Korean, talks like she's from the "hood", and is a DJ on a popular hip-hop radio station in Los Angeles does not give her the right to make fun of Chinese people. Would it be acceptable for me to make fun of Koreans, or Japanese, or any other asian ethnic group? I think this is part of the problem. There is no real "togetherness" in the "Asian" community. Each Asian community view themselves apart, different, and/or superior to the other group. It's a part of all our histories and ties to our Asian heritage and roots. Then there's this whole "I'm more assimilated than you (therefore I'm better than you)" attitude perpetrated by some Asians (I'm guilty of that too).
Will there ever be a strong "Asian" community made up of different Asian ethnicities?
I don't know.
The pop princesses acknowledge each other with the standard european greeting.
I didn't actually watch the VMAs. Heather and I were caught up watching season 2 AND 3 of The Sopranos.
"I want you to call me next time so I can help you with your setup of your scene. I want to see you really fly and work from things that really allow you to act, be active and be deeply emotional."
-(a highly paraphrased critique from my acting coach)
I bombed last night in class. It was pretty bad. Our scene quickly turned into a one-note "I hate you" cussing match. I didn't react to the shock of my girlfriend treating me like dirt. I didn't have a deep emotional relation to the fact that my mom had passed.
Tom stopped the scene pretty quickly since it was going nowhere. I felt horrible. It was a reminiscent feeling of the first time I did stand-up comedy and nobody laughed. Just stared.
Driving home from class it hit me:
I am EMOTIONALLY RETARDED.
Ok. Maybe I'm not severly retarded, but definitely exhibit symptoms of emotional retardation. This is what I'm realizing from the notes I'm getting from my acting coach and conversations with my wife.
I try to justify it in my mind by telling myself, "it's because of my asian family upbringing and the 'show no emotion' attitude". But that's a cop-out. A lot of it is just me. As my beautiful wife has gently pointed out, I disconnect from highly charged emotional situations, I'm passive aggressive, I don't communicate my emotions or desires and I don't show much emotion (other than anger - the acceptable manly emotion). I have that "white face, black heart" thing going on. This causes a lot of problems in my life AND in my acting. How am I suppose to express real emotion in acting if I don't express it in real life?
With my lack of emotional range in my acting exercises I have two career choices: comedian or action star. Problem is, I'm not all that funny, and my kung fu is pretty pitiful.
But I must be getting better. In the first year acting program I cried onstage. That was real emotion. And recently I even got choked up and shed a few tears in the "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Asian Men" performance. So I feel I am making progress.
I just need to work harder. Whatever it takes. I'm going to make this happen.
My blog has been blogged by Volume of Interactions. You can read his kind review and participate in his "survey"... (vote YES dammit!)
(Dedicated to my beautiful and infinitely creative wife, Heather.)
My soul cries out to be heard.
My emotions long to fly.
My thoughts and ideas fight to free themselves from the solitude of my mind.
For all the years of my youth I've been enslaved to conformity.
Bound by stereotypes.
Trapped in a glass cage of mediocrity.
My subconscious dialogue always seemed to be
Like hypocrisy to the normalcy expected of me.
But now I shall break free
And fly with the wings God has given me
To soar higher into the clouds above the trees.
To see all the love and beauty that has always surrounded me.
I shall no longer let negative ideas put limits on me,
Or live within the perceptions people want to believe.
But will proceed to let loose my spirit
To create art,
To show emotion,
To reflect a little bit of humanity
So that others may also be free
From the invisible barriers that confines their spirits from infinite possibilities.
"The Next Morning"
(an improvised scene.)
Featured Impediment: a "hang over" - performed by Shannon.
Synopsis:
Shannon and I live together and have been dating for a year. Shannon has been out all night partying and drinking w/ friends. Alisha (one of her close friends) was drunk and told Shannon that she slept w/ me when Shannon and I first started going out. Alisha thought Shannon knew. She didn't. It is now the next morning and Shannon is returning home. What she doesn't know is that my mother passed away last night in the hospital after a long battle w/ cancer. The scene will open up with me on stage packing my suitcase getting ready for a later flight to meet my family.
Ever since I was a teenager, it was my fantasy to go to MIT (massachusetts institute of technology) - the ultimate school for engineering and creative thinking. I read many publications by Marvin Minksy and learned about the MIT Media Lab. I wanted to study Artificial Intelligence and become an entrepreneur, inventor, and researcher.
Unfortunately my grades sucked, I scored a 1050 on my SAT and now I'm a struggling actor.
But my admiration of MIT, the Media Lab and their work in technology live on. And now anyone can get an education from MIT for FREE. The catch? You don't get a degree and the OpenCourseWare project is still in its beginning stages. But by 2006 MIT hopes to have all their coursework and lectures online for free. To share knowledge with the world.
Cool huh?
Here's some inpspiration for the day:
Heather passed me this article from CNN about a 12-year old who is attending medical school at the University of Chicago and pursuing a PhD. Sho Yano has an IQ over 200, composed music when he was 4, scored a 1500 on his SAT, graduated from Chicago's Loyola University, summa cum laude in three years, and wants to find the cure for cancer.
I also remember there was an article in Muscle and Fitness last year about Chris Langan - a genius bodybuilder with an IQ of over 200. While discussing theories about the universe he can bench 500-lbs and throw you out of a bar (he works as a bouncer as well).
Don't you wish we could all reach our full potential?
WELL NOW YOU CAN!
Just send me four payments of $19.95 and I will send you my audio CD on reaching YOUR full potential!
(just kidding)
It's only a one-time payment of $29.95...
My acting coach mentioned something in class the other day that got me thinking. He said that life is the ultimate training ground for acting. By living through all of life's experiences - the highs and lows, the good and the bad, you are then more able to communicate these experiences back through acting and art. So don't cheat yourself on life. I say one should take the opportunity to experience as much as you can (that which is healthy and legal). Do something you wouldn't normally do. See something you wouldn't normally see. Go somewhere you wouldn't normally go. Leave your comfort zone, put aside personal preference and free your mind.
My wife just informed me that 22-year old porn star Mary Carey is running for Governor. To raise money for her campaign, she is giving away "dinner dates" for contributions of $5000 or more. She also has some very interesting reform ideas.
An ingenious publicity stunt? Who knows. But could you imagine if she did get elected? California would then officially be known as the "porn capitol of the world".
As Mack 10 would say - "Only In California".
The improv went pretty well today. The major note that I received was that I need to act more like myself and let my personality show through, but incorporate OCD/germ phobia behaviour. Today I was trying to be more of an uptight scientist character which affected my relazation and responsiveness. So next time I think I am going to try set up a romantic dinner for a date, but this time I will do it according to my style and personality but include OCD/germ phobia behaviour.
Here's the setup for our improv tomorrow:
I am a brilliant young scientist who has OCD and germ phobia. In my house, everything is very clean and neat. I am particular about the way everything is placed. Everything must always be put back to the exact original position it was before it was moved. When people come to visit they have to remove their shoes and leave their shoes outside the door. When I first answer the door I cover my face with a mask so as to not breath in any germs this person at the door may have.
My activity in the scene tomorrow will be setting a table for a romantic dinner. I have a crush on a very attractive colleague and have invited her over for dinner. I will play classical music in the background and all my movements will be in rhythm to the music (as part of my OCD behaviour). I will alsol be cleaning each utensil wearing gloves and using seven strokes over each piece.
During all this I will be expecting my brother to stop by whom I am currently mad at because he borrowed my car and got in an accident.
My acting partner is my friend whom I've known for about a year. She works at the same facility that I work at and I see her everyday. She is very nice and polite to me. For the scene, I have to justify why I told her boyfriend to break up with her. My reason is that one night we all went to dinner and when I was in the bathroom I saw her boyfriend come in, use the restroom, then leave without washing his hands. I was totally disgusted and now I think he is very unclean and not good enough to date my friend.
I was talking to Heather after class on Wed trying to decide what impediment I should try for Sat class. My first thought was to try acting out a short-term memory loss type of condition. After watching the movie Finding Nemo I thought that this might be an interesting condition to try. Heather instead convinced me to research germ phobia since she thought I could draw from my family growing up. Although no one in my family really had an OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) or any real serious germ phobia, my father always put an emphasis on cleanliness. This possibly stemmed from his many years working in research labs. Anyway, my research turned up interesting information on Howard Hughes and Nikola Tesla who both had eccentric personalities and habits due to OCD and germ phobia. I also found information on the TV series Monk (which is supposedly very good), and the movie As Good As It Gets which both deal with charcters who have OCD and germ phobia.
Things didn't go that well for me tonight. Our scene lasted about 3min before Tom stopped it. I ended up pushing my objective of wanting to get money from my partner. My partner told me repeatedly that she didn't have the money and I kept badgering her. The scene went nowhere. The problem was that my situation didn't work. I needed a better reason to be coming over to my friends house and I needed a better sense of what I wanted from her, why I needed it, and how my whole life was going to come crashing down if I could not get it.
Well, I'll have to plan a really good emotional impediment for Sat to make up for my poor performance tonight... everyone else was really good tonight, which made me look pretty stupid... on the plus side, Tom did say that I looked emotionally invested in the conversation I had with my partner...
After visiting both my agents (theatrical and commercial), the decision has been made to go with the following photos:
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The first two will be used for theatrical submissions and all of them will be used for commercial submissions.
The first three photos will be reproduced and duplicated as 8x10's for my agents and all the pictures will be posted to my profile on LACasting.com.
LACasting.com is a farily new online service which stores actors resumes and photos so that casting directors can search the database and look for specific people for projects. The basic service is free for actors in agencies associated with LACasting. Actors incur charges when changing their initial photo on the site or adding additional photos. There have been many start-up companies trying to digitize the casting process but LACasting seems to be the only one gaining significant momentum in Hollywood. Both my agents insist that all talent must register and keep current updates on the service. I've also started to see notices in casting offices encouraging actors to keep their profiles current on LACasting. The website itself has its quirks and security holes but should get better as time goes by.
Here's the improv setup for my next class:
My partner and I are neighbors in an apartment complex. We became instant friends when I helped her move into the building. I used to have problems w/ drugs (weed) but I've been clean for the past few months. I will be coming over to Shannon's (my acting partner) apartment asking for money. She has to refuse to give it to me and justify why she can't. I need the money because I spent all my money on weed and I'm about to get kicked out of my apartment since I haven't paid rent for the past two months.
It's 5am.
15min ago I woke up to the sound of our dog barking. I had to use the bathroom so I went downstairs and decided to see what nonsense our dog was barking at. When I looked outside, to my shock and surprise, I saw a person in our yard wearing an orange jump suit holding a lighter to the ground. My heart skipped. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Maybe I was half asleep or dreaming? I thought, is this the gas company? The person stood up and was holding some papers. They quickly opened the gate and left. The way they moved and their build suggested it was a skinny woman. I'm not sure. I tried to see where this person was going but they seemed to dissappear.
Completely weird.
Now I'm up looking around outside to see if they come back. I'm not sure what to do if they do except yell at them or try to chase them down, or go out there with a crowbar or my martial arts sword, or what?
I was on my way to pickup some food Sat evening and while sitting at a stoplight, I noticed a group of Hasidic Jews walking across the street. This is a pretty normal thing in LA but on this night it sparked a curiosity.
Why do Hasidic Jews dress the way they do? Why do they seem to be stuck in a particular era of fashion? Why were all the other fashion trends in history accepted up to this point? Furthermore, why are Amish stuck in a particular fashion era as well? What has determined that these particular fashion statements are acceptable for these groups, and members in these groups cannot deviate?
20 years from now, will there be a religious sect that only wear Hammer pants? If there is, I'll probably be a part of them.
I'm thinking of seperating my Technology blog entries from this main site and just concentrate on Life, Acting, and the arts. I could then create a seperate blog just for my tech journal... anyway...
Quick notes:
A new gaming console that relies on Broadband and a hard disk to download and play games.
http://www.infiniumlabs.com/
Jump from a plane and fly like superman!
http://www.freesky.de/SKYRAY.html
To my surprised I already received a response to my inquiry about the ad for Asian Male Models. The response was so quick I have the suspicion it was automated. Well regardless, the call is for tomorrow between 10-12pm in Hollywood. That ain't gonna work for me. I have rehersal w/ my acting partner in Santa Monica tomorrow, plus I need to collect my 4x8 headshot proofs from my commercial agent in Los Angeles so I can take the photos to the lab in Hollywood and get them processed and blown up to 8x10's and take them back to both my theatrical agency in North Hollywood and my commercial agency in Los Angeles to get final approval on which picture I will be using. This is a big pain in the ass driving all over LA and trying to keep up appearances at my contracting job in Santa Monica. Ah well...
A good friend of mine, who is also a struggling actor, passed me an email pointing out an ad on Craigslist.org looking for Asian Male Models for a cell phone ad. I am always wary about modeling calls that don't come through my agent. Unfortunately there are too many people here in LA running some kind of scam or trying to take advantage of actors and models. I responded to the ad but will always be skepticle and cautious...
The major discussion about my performance on Sat, was the accent and my "costume". Tom thought my accent was good and was glad I was reading poetry for my superlative, but pointed out a couple of times he felt the accent slipped. He also felt that I was being held back both emotionally and physically because of my concentration on the accent. I agree. I found myself trying to find the right phrasing of sentences for how a native Jamaican would say them. This kinda took me out of the full responsiveness to my partner. Tom also took issue with my shirt again (this time I had made a shirt w/ the Jamaican flag printed on the front). He wanted to see some special way of dressing as if I was going to do spoken word. I told him that this is what I would wear if I was a Chinese Jamaican poet. Once he realized that I was wearing the Jamaican flag he thought the shirt was ok. His whole point is that everything in a scene must be thought out and must mean something. Nothing in a scene must be purely coincidental. Although a little frustrating, I thought this whole exercise was good because I was able to expose my acting coach and the class to something new and different - an alternative Asian character who is not typically Asian but mixed with the flavor of the Carribean.
For class tomorrow, Tom wanted me to do the Jamaican accent again but wear a Bob Marley t-shirt to indicate that I am Jamaican. Instead, I bought fabric pastels from the art store and a plain white t-shirt and I made a shirt w/ the Jamaican flag printed on the front. I was going to put the Chinese symbol for China on the back of the shirt but it's 3am and I'm too tired to do that.
For the improv scene tomorrow I will be wearing my Jamaican t-shirt and reciting Jamaican spoken word poetry. My situation is that I'm Chinese Jamaican and have been living in the states for a couple of years. I am a poet and a musician. A couple of months ago my best friend passed away in a car accident. He too was a Jamaican poet living here in the states. As a tribute to my friend I am reciting one of his pieces at a big poetry slam coming up. While rehersing this piece I will be expecting my brother to show up because he's in town and we are going out to dinner.
My acting partner is my girlfriend whom I've been seeing for a couple of months. She knows about my friend passing away. We don't live together. She will be asking me to marry her and I have to justify a reason to say "no". The reason I can't marry her is because I'm not in love with her and I recently met someone else.
Unlike Bruce Banner in The Hulk, if you get hit by gamma rays you will die. That's why the DOD (Department of Defense) is developing gamma-ray weapons - so they can "revolutionize warfare". They say gamma-ray weapons are an exotic form of nuclear weapons. As if nuclear weapons weren't enough. Yeah, let's find more ways to send the world into oblivion and create death and destruction like the world has never known. That sounds like a great idea!
I just heard the news while driving in my car. New York, Cleveland, Ohio, Detroit, Michigan, Toronto and Ottawa have lost COMPLETE power. Authorities are claiming a natural occurrence of a power grid failure at a Niagara power station. No terrorism is suspected...
THEY SAY this is not terrorism, but something tells me it is. Even if it isn't, it demonstrates that it is possible to take down a lot of cities to a grinding halt. And if it is terrorism, would authorities admit it was? I suspect there will be casualities from heat and unruliness. If they can't restore power by tonight, I fear for people's personal safety. There could be looting and civil unrest. This is all just crazy. If you saw this in a movie you would think it was over the top and that it could never happen in real life.
I pray this whole thing is resolved quickly and safely.
The improv went well last night. The critique that I received from Tom (our teacher) was that my partner started swearing at me and disrespecting me and I wasn't surprised. If my relationship with her is a good relationship (which it was suppose to be), then I should be surprised that my sister is talking to me that way and disrespecting me. I also need to be curious why my sister is treating me this way and why she doesn't care that she missed our mothers birthday. This could then lead me to suspect that she is on drugs again because of her erratic behavior. Tom also mentioned that I was pretty solid and specific with my anger but he wants me to connect a little deeper with my pain. Overall, the general note for me is to be a little more curious of behavior and what is being said, and connect more with the pain.
Here's an outline for the improv I will be performing in class tonight:
My partner and I are brother and sister. She is my younger sister. I am an adopted kid. Our parents adopted me first because they thought they couldn't have kids. A few years later, my sister was born. I love my sister very much, but she has been struggling with a drug problem since college. For the past couple of months she has been clean. Last night was our mother's 50th birthday party and she never showed up. My mother was very sad that her daughter didn't show and I couldn't even get a hold of her. In the improv, she now has to justify why she didn't show up at the party. My surprise for her is that our mother had a heart attack and is now in the hospital.
I'm thinking of making a t-shirt for the next time I do the Jamaican accent in class. It will say "I am Jamaican", or "I am a Chinese Jamaican". Maybe that will help my acting coach realize that I'm doing a Jamaican accent and that not all Jamaicans are rastas or wear Bob Marley t-shirts. I'm also trying to learn some patois to really mix it up!
Bigups to all the Chinese Jamaicans out there!
I always wondered why you couldn't create your own diamonds. Diamonds are just carbon that have been heated and crushed to the extreme. Surely you could create a machine that could do this right?
Well, it looks like the Russians have done it. And an American has purchased it and improved it. And now he might be able to challenge the Diamond industry with his 3-carat perfect yellow diamonds produced in the Gemesis lab. With these magic diamond machines, this new company looks to take on the diamond industry and revolutionize the computer industry. It turns out that diamonds are better material than silicon for creating computer chips. So in a couple of years, computers could be made out of manufactured diamonds.
Boggles the mind doesn't it?
I'm sad to say that some stupid a$$holes in Hong Kong have made Nazi symbols into popular fashion. Us Chinese Americans here in the US are working hard to break through stereotypes in mainstream media and now we have to deal with this sh!t. How can these people be so idiotic to try to make fashion out of these symbols of hatred and horror???
I'm disgusted, appalled, and ashamed.
I have a lot I want to write about but I've just been so busy. I had acting class on Sat and today we basically just cleaned the house and organized and prepared some things that need to be done this week. I'll write more later. Right now I've got to answer some emails then go to sleep.
Must do cardio in the morning...
Remember that movie with Michael J Fox? In the movie he plays the main character who works in the mail room of a big company but masquerades as an executive. There are many scenes of him delivering mail to employees, quick changing in the elevator into a suit to pose as an executive, then quick changing back into mail room clothes so his boss and co-workers don't realize he was gone.
This feels very similar to my life.
Today I had to get a hair cut at 10.30am for a Jeep commercial callback audition at 1.45pm and in-between, rehearse with my new acting partner at 11.30am. Of course, I'm also working as a full time contractor at (yet another) dot-com company. So I had to inconspicuously leave work for a couple of hours while I tended to my struggling acting career. Luckily, I was able to take care of all my business, get back to work, and not even be missed. Whew!
Last night I started the 2nd year of the 2-year acting program at the Joanne Baron/D.W. Brown Acting Studio. The 1st year training really changed my life both as an actor and as a person. I gained so much because of my wonderful teacher Elaine Williams. I also had a smaller class and great classmates which contributed to a very safe and supportive environment which was highly entertaining and motivating.
This 2nd year training will be different though. I have a new teacher whom I've heard good things about, but I've also heard he is very picky, straight-laced, and can push you pretty hard. Elaine recommended me to his class because she thought that this would be good for me. I guess we'll see.
Last night was basically just a lecture and the standard view and rules of the acting studio which at times can seem oppressive and cultish. Basically, the studio wants/demands 100% committment from its students and students cannot miss a class except for the most catastrophic/life changing reasons, or if you book a job on TV or film. There's also the elitist view that this training is the end-all be-all. Then there's the "Hollywood" name dropping (such as on the studio's website). This class also is twice as big as my last class which means I could be stuck in class for 4 hours.
But everything has a negative side. Overall, I love the training and it has given me a lot. I look forward to this year knowing that I will really need to work hard and strive for excellence. I also hope there are not any personality clashes with the teacher or any of my classmates.
With all that said, now I need to come up w/ an improv scene for next class which demonstrates a specific relationship with my partner, has deep emotion, plus I need to act out a disease or some sort of impediment. Should I break out the Jamaican accent, or go for a heart attack, or what? Hmmm...
Looks like our man of iron, Arnold Schwarzenegger, will be running for Governor of California.
Personally, I'd rather see Arnold in movies than trying to run the state of California.
The article on CNN quotes Dick Rosengarten, editor and publisher of California Political Week as saying:
"You know what they say about politics," ... "It's show business for ugly people."
Now that is hilarious! I wish I thought of that one myself.
I've been playing with this idea in my head for three years now. I have this incredible concept for a stage show which combines the strength of martial arts with the beauty of dance to create a unique show that I know would be a Broadway hit.
The only problem is that I'm not a professional dancer, nor a martial arts master. I have experience in both, but I need an expert to help me out.
Maybe I can throw together a simple demonstration - if I can find someone who knows Escrima...
Whoa! An Asian American won on the show "Last Comic Standing"!!! CONGRATS to Dat Pham! (check out his blog at LiveJournal!)
Now with Asians winning on "Fame" and "Last Comic Standing", we're kicking butt!
Maybe I need to get on one of those reality TV shows?
I was digging through my hard drive and re-discovered this personal project I started working on two years ago. I put together a comedic website called smoothbutterlove.com where I could spread some smooth-butter-love on all who entered.
I still own the domain and still have plans to launch this project sometime soon!
In the meantime, you can checkout the temporary site here. Enjoy!!
(BTW, you need Macromedia Flash for the full experience.)
2/9/05 Updated bio for the independent film "Mah Jong":
David has been in the performing arts as long as he can remember. As a small child he studied piano for many years, participating in numerous recitals and competitions. At the age of 10, he composed his first song entitled, "Mommy". By the time he reached middle school he became bored with the piano and decided to learn the violin. David showed natural ability and accelerated through the Suzuki method playing in orchestras, string quartets, duets, solos and competitions all the way through high-school.
At the end of his high-school career, David set out to break through Asian stereotypes. He was tired of being the quiet, shy, Asian student in class. So at the 1991 high-school talent show, David created a MC Hammer/Janet Jackson inspired self-choreographed dance routine. Within the first few dance steps he shocked the audience and won over the crowd of over 500 people who started chanting his name.
In 1997 David moved out to Los Angeles to pursue acting and has had small roles on shows such as General Hospital and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. David also has served as a host for a short lived late-night TV show called IZ and has acted in numerous independent and student films. David is no stranger to the stand-up comedy scene and has performed in comedy clubs across LA and participated in the Asian Pacific American Stand-Up Comedy Festival. David continues to break through stereotypes by participating in shows such as Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Asian Men and is currently doing triple duty as writer/director/actor on independent film projects such as the Crispy Creme Conspiracy and the Smooth Butter Love project. David is a graduate of the two-year method acting program at the Joanne Baron/DW Brown acting studio.
5/8/2003 bio for the "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Asian Men" performance:
David Chiu is an Internet Developer/Computer Technology Specialist turned actor/entertainer. Over the past seven years he has worked in the dot-com sector as a consultant and developer while simultaneously pursuing acting and performing stand-up at local comedy clubs. David has appeared as "Eddie" on General Hospital, a host on IZ, a Chinese bum on Saturday Night Live and has also participated in many independent and student films. He is currently enrolled in the two-year acting program at the Joanne Baron/DW Brown studio and keeps an online blog at www.davidchiu.net.
BTW, I never appeared on Saturday Night Live. That was a mistake. I meant to say The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. I did a small skit that I'm not sure even aired.
Here's another essay from the workshop.
Anger
By David Chiu
It was a happy warm summer day. My fiancé and I were driving around Manhattan beach looking for a place to hold our rehearsal dinner. We just had left an upscale restaurant and were walking across the parking lot, hand-in-hand, towards our car. Ahead of us, two guys had entered the lot as well, holding fishing rods and a cooler, obviously returning from fishing. As we walked in their direction, they looked intently at my fiancé and I as we passed them. The fact that they were looking at us didn't really bother me, and I didn't pay much attention to them. But suddenly, I heard one of them say, "What a waste". It didn't register at first. To me it was just a piece of a private conversation I had been privy to. But then my mind started to put it all together. They were talking about my wife. They had been looking at her and I together with a look of disgust and disapproval because they thought that someone as attractive as my wife shouldn't be with an Asian guy. Deep inside I felt the heat of anger start to boil my blood. I was stirred to action.
"Did he just say what I think he said?" I asked my fiancé.
"Just let it go" she replied.
"Those fucking rednecks." I said aloud as I started to turn around.
"It's not worth it. They're stupid and ignorant. Let's just go."
I turned around and looked. They were gone. For the next 2 weeks i was filled with anger which spurred thoughts of violence and destruction against rednecks.
Last night, my brother and I decided to kick back on the porch w/ a cigar and a couple of beers and talk about life. When we were finished we started to play some computer games when I started to get some discomfort in my stomach. At first I thought it was nothing but then all of a sudden this excruciating pain came over my chest.
I thought I was having a heart attack!
I quickly crawled up the stairs and awoke my wife and told her to dial 911. I could hardly breathe. The pain was overwhelming. It was like nothing I've ever felt before. After a short debate with me screaming, "Call 911!", my brother and wife decided to take me to the emergency room. I was in a lot of pain and crying out. My brother drove to the closest hospital with my wife giving directions and me waiting for my heart to stop. The car ride seemed to last forever. I wanted help now!
I started to feel sick and told my brother to pull over. I vomitted. The pain diminished and we continued to the ER. Once we arrived in the ER we had to wait an hour to be seen. Luckily I wasn't dying or else I would have been dead 'cause they took so damn long.
When they took me into the back, my pain was basically gone. The nurse hooked me up to an EKG meter and we waited for the doctor. A minute later the doctor arrived and I told him the whole scenario of what I was doing leading up to the pain. He checked my heart and pressed on my lungs but nothing seemed out of order. He said he probably couldn't tell me exactly what happened, but he had a good idea. He thinks that when I inhaled the cigar smoke, a bubble formed in the lining of my lungs which can cause excruciating pain. Once I vomitted, the bubble had passed from my lungs releasing the pressure.
I ended up leaving the ER at 4.30am.
What a night.
How many things can you do at one time?
I used to think that maybe I had ADD because for the majority of the time I have problems focusing on one task. My mind is always racing with ideas and lists of what I need to do today, this week, and in the future. This may not be a bad thing according to this article in the MIT Technology Review. There is so much information thrown at us every second that we need to adapt to process it all.
