Monthly Archive for November, 2003
Last night was our final performance of “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Asian Men”. Overall we had a really good turn-out for our three shows. The audience responded very well to all the performances. I really enjoyed working with Dan Kwong and the rest of the guys. The journey we took from the workshop to the performances was a special one. I have definitely grown as a person, and as an artist from this experience. I am inspired to continue to write and create more autobiographical performance pieces.
Maybe I’ll even try writing an entire one-man show…
0 CommentsToday was a gloomy day in California as storms roll into the area brining the winter rain.
I took Heather to the airport this morning and security is tight. No-one is allowed past the ticket counter unless you have a boarding pass. There are several checkpoints inside the terminal and random searches being conducted. Heather said they make you take off your shoes and thoroughly go through your carry-ons. Baggage check now has heavy duty x-ray scanners and security personnel who go through “suspiscious” bags. The whole process takes awhile. Heather has had a hard time getting to her destination. She has had three different delays and the airline has also lost her baggage. I really hope they find it.
Traveling over the Holidays should be interesting…
Acting class was interesting as usual as we gained more insight into human behaviour, emotions and portraying realistic characters in a scene. After class I ran into a small group of paparazzi who were carrying cameras with zoom lenses frantically trying to shoot pictures of someone in a sunglasses store. One of my fellow classmates asked one of the photographers whom they were looking at - “Thalia. The Spanish pop princess.” was all he blurted as he scurried into another location to try to get a better photo op. A few moments later a very large bodygaurd came out of the store and started yelling at people to “Back the FUCK UP!!!”. He even yelled at random people who just happened to be walking by. That was completely unnecessary. Thalia is not that big of a deal. It’s not like a ton of people were trying to run up and swarm her. Anyway, she hopped into a white Range Rover and the whole scene ended.
I received a new $20 bill today. Cool. That’s all I have to say about that….
Tonight we completed the second performance of “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Asian Men.” We had a group of 70 people show up! What a great turn-out! The show went very well and now we have one performance left!!!
0 CommentsGoing into the audition I had a feeling that this commercial was for the new behemoth Nissan Pathfinder Armada SUVs I see cruising around town. I was right.
The commercial features two “urban” males - one Asian, one African American (that’s how they were casting it today, but it could change). The two guys, decked out in “urban” wear (think Timberlands, baggy designer jeans and jacket) are lost in the woods and the African American guy is on his cell. A female voice asks, “Where are you guys?” The guy responds “We’ll be there in a couple minutes. Who all is there?” The girl responds, “Me and six of my girlfriends.” The Asian guy, listening closely to the conversation asks, “How many?” The other guy responds, “Six”. The Asian guy now determined, starts walking and the other guy follows. The camera follows their journey as they stumble over rocks, get snagged on tree branches, step in mud puddles, etc, etc. They are about to give up when all of a sudden, they walk right into a SUV. They back up and look and it’s the Nissan Pathfinder Armada. Above the SUV is a sign that reads “In Case of Emergency, Break Glass”. There’s a mallot nearby. The two guys look at each other and then the Asian guy takes the mallot and smashes the window.
Next scene is of the two guys now driving in the car. The Asian guy is on the cell and the guy driving says, “Tell them we will be there in 15min and we can all roll.”
This is all paraphrased of course, but you get the general idea. It looks like it will be a pretty funny piece. I feel I did pretty good in the audition. The first time we did it I went a little big with the comedy and my acting. The casting director told me to pull it back and be more cool and collected instead of panicked. The second time we went through it I played the “cool guy” and it felt better but I don’t think my partner had a lot of improv experience. His performance seemed subdued. But none of this matters all that much. A lot of it really depends on the “look” that they are going for. The performance almost comes second. So anyway… I hope I get a callback.
2 CommentsI have a commercial audition for Nissan today! I’m going in as “male #2 - hip and stylish wearing cargo pants and a big down jacket”. I really need to get a callback on this audition to convince my commercial agent that I’m still a viable client…
0 CommentsI found a new toy for my wishlist: the NIRO 1.1 Pro Home Theater System. The $800 system consists of a DVD Player/Receiver, one speaker and one subwoofer. What you get when you set it up is a complete 5.1 surround sound experience! Complete surround sound with 1 speaker and 1 subwoofer. And from the reviews, it works perfectly!
I bought Heather a new toy the other day: the Virgin Mobile/Kyocera/MTV Slider phone. It has a ton of customizable options and a small, sleek form factor. With the push of the thumb the unit slides open revealing a keyboard. The phone even features voice commands for various functions. Heather loves her new phone. She spent hours last night customizing her phone and programming voice dial and contact information :).
0 CommentsActing class went really well tonight. My partner and I did a rehersal before class which included a run-through of the script and an improvization based on a setup similar to the scene we are doing for class. I was a little worried at our rehersal because I felt I needed to have the material committed to memory better - allowing me to focus on my actions and emotions. So right before it was our turn to work on-stage I went out into the hallway to go through the script and really concentrate and prepare. Well, it definitely paid off. I came in confident and emotionally prepared and my performace was a lot more organic. The scene definitely flowed better and the pacing was quicker and more appropriate. I was very happy with how our work is proceeding on our piece and we’re getting good feedback from our teacher.
0 CommentsI’m anxiously waiting for Nov 24. The day wireless number portability comes into effect. My current AT&T contract ended in October and my little Nokia 8265 looks like it got run over (well it’s been dropped numerous times and it got run over by my ass - I sat on it and my skinny ass broke the screen). So I need a new phone. I want a new phone. I actually have my eyes on the new Motorola MPx200 smartphone. It’s half PDA / half cellphone and very, very slick. Right now Amazon has it on sale for $129 after rebates but I’m going to wait ’till Nov 24 and see what kind of deals I can get from AT&T’s customer retention/customer loyalty department 
I’ve been pretty busy working on two different shows. The “Everything you Wanted to Know About Asian Men” show opens this Friday and I’ve been working w/ Dan on tweaking and refining my piece. I have a couple edits to do but for the most part I need to work on my performance to carve out the characters in my piece more. I also have a lot of blocking I need to practice.
My other show is actually the scene I’m working on for class - “The Country Girl”. I use the word “show” because I might as well be working on a show. We are being taught how to take a script, break it down, infuse it with emotional life and live through it on stage. The process is pretty intense actually and takes a lot of rehersal time. I’m not complaining though. I am very thankful that I now have a process instead of just “winging it”.
0 CommentsDid you know that curbside check-in attendants make upwards of $100k???
After reading this article: “Ten most overpaid jobs in the U.S.” You might start re-considering your career choice.
Then again, only in Hollywood could you go from making $30k one year and $400k the next. Or go from making $30k to $20mil in three years.
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