David Chiu

I had an audition for McDonalds today.

Last Friday my commercial agency called and told me they were looking for a “karate man” and wanted to see people in “karate” uniforms. Well it’s been years since I’ve actually studied so I don’t own a karate uniform. I figured that I could probably pick up a uniform at a local martial arts supply store so I Google(d) for one and found the Golden Tiger Martial Arts Supply Store. The store happened to be pretty close by so on Saturday I went to check it out. The shop itself is pretty small but according to the online catalogue they stock a wide variety of martial arts related stuff. I noticed that they had the typical white Tae Kwon Do outfits and also a sleevless version so I asked to see one. The uniform was good quality and I was about to pay for it when I decided I wanted to be different. I asked if they had the uniform in black and they said no. But they did show me a black kung fu outfit. That would definitely be different than the typical white karate outfit so ended up buying the black kung fu outfit with white trim and also got a blue sash to go along with it. When I went to pay the guy at the cashier said, “You do realize that this is a kung fu outfit and you were first looking at a Tae Kwon Do outfit”. I said, “Of course!” and explained how I was buying it for an audition.

After I got the outfit I then started to worry that the casting people would want to see a karate form, or some fancy jump kicks. I’ve long forgotten my forms and although I can pull off some of those fancy jump kicks, it’s been years since I’ve really done it. So I started stretching and practicing a few kicks and punches trying to put together a small form.

Well that was all good, but when I arrived at the audition today it turns out they just wanted us to pretend to break some boards with a loud karate-like sound “Piiiiiiiioooooooooo!”. Don’t ask me why. I don’t completely understand. And I think the commercial is for the Spanish market anyway.

Oh well, at least I now have a real good-looking Kung-Fu uniform for… Halloween. Or the next stereotypical audition.