My Second Gig - CollegeHumor.com

     I had some slight hesitation about writing on this experience because I wanted to see the finished product of the CollegeHumor.com sketch. I mean I shot this thing all the way back in November, and I didn't want to come off like an ass if the final video cut me out entirely. Let's begin from the start. Back in April, I auditioned for the former casting director of CollegeHumor.com, Adam Newman. I found the audition through one of those pay-to-meet events at a service called The Network. Check them out here: The Network NYC Here in New York, there are three main agencies that host these workshops, classes, and pay-to-meet events. These agencies are: Actor's Connection, The Network, and One on One. I prefer both The Network and One on One because you have to audition to be able to sign up for events, and they always seem to have a nice mix of casting directors, agents, and guest artists. Now these events range in prices with some being pretty costly for a broke actor, but in the long run, I've found these events to be worthwhile investments. So I auditioned for Adam Newman back in April. I used a comedic monologue that's in my current repertoire from a play called "The Balcony Scene" by Wil Calhoun. Adam and I had a short Q & A, and he seemed pretty responsive. He said everyone would be filed away in their database, and that I could possibly be contacted to do a sketch...
    Cut to November when I received an email from Lisa asking if I wanted to be an extra in an upcoming CollegeHumor.com sketch. I'd be playing a student for $60 in a sketch set in the 80's as part of an acting class for one of their newer characters, Yeardly Tinsley, a foul-mouthed failed actor. The sketch was to be a part of their newer "VHS" series. Each video was to be centered around a "found VHS tape" with various footage of different shows and specials. Did I want to do the sketch? HELL YES! She soon sent me a script and asked for my dress size. Fortunately I had that day off from work, and I showed up bright and early at 9AM on a Monday at the Atlantic Theater Company with my best "80's clothes". The sketch was taking place in an empty black box studio theater, and we were constantly reminded that we as the "students" were supposed to take this acting class very seriously. We could not crack smiles or laugh if the scene did not call for it. We were told to think of those Michael Caine acting videos set in the 80's.

On-set for "Acting Class"

     When arriving on-set, we were greeted with coffee, pastries, and bagels. I was in food heaven. We were asked to hang out while the crew was setting up, and for some of us newer CollegeHumor recruits, we were asked to fill out basic paperwork and tax forms. We also met with make-up and consulted with the costumer about our looks for the shoot. Apparently all of my clothes were considered too dark and drab for the look they were going for. Let it be known that I am terrible at costuming/dressing myself. Our smart costumer chose a look that was bright, fun, and preppy. I was dressed and sent back to set to wait some more. I felt like a villain from all of those high school teen 80's movies. The cast and I came up with fake names for our students. I was to be known that day as "Rick Studebaker". Any minute I was ready to scream, "NERRRRRRRDSSS!" 

Meet Rick Studebaker...

     Most of the morning was spent snacking and cracking jokes in the makeup room with the star of the sketch, Josh, a CollegeHumor veteran. I had a plan, and that plan was simple. Get to know people, be a nice/funny guy, and get asked back to do more projects. Also if I could get a line or some decent screen time, that would be great too. The interesting thing about doing the shoot was that most of the sketch was improvised. Yes we started out with a script, but I soon learned that Josh was an amazingly talented improviser. The director would let Josh toss out lines, play, and have fun as Yeardly. Josh started out in character, and he just wouldn't quit finding newer and funnier lines. It was like getting a Master Class on how to be funny on camera for sketch and commercials. The shoot went very smoothly and was a ton of fun. Throughout the shoot, Josh would improvise dialogue with the students, and suddenly a light bulb went off in my head... Thanks to my improv training, I was accustomed to listening in a scene and then returning with a line or quip at a moment's notice. I was ready to deliver if called upon. At one point, Josh was to go around and ask various students secrets. Here I thought, "Now this is my big chance!" "Who has a secret," Josh asked. Two kids' hands went up as they were cast per the script. Boom! My hand went up to volunteer. Someone else's hand shot up too. We were then locked as "The Secret Kids". Score! I might get a line in the sketch after all! Soon we were prepping the "Secret Scene", and off we went. It started off with this kid, Brandon. Next came me, then another kid had to share a secret, and finally the secrets would top off with a girl who was cast to deliver the secret that she was molested at a young age. Ahh... comedy. Brandon started by saying he killed a gerbil in grade school. As my turn came, I knew that I had to "heighten" the pattern of secrets by sharing something that was deeper and darker than Brandon's secret. Ding! I had it. While not entirely a true secret, I figured that my character "Rick" was a closet transvestite. I had my secret! The camera turned to me, and I blurted out my secret hoping that it was good enough to make the cut. The next boy delivered a line about throwing up in school, and finally we reached the girl who delivered the molestation bombshell. We finished the shoot with tons of stuff that didn't make the cut such as Brandon delivering a monologue while Yeardly directed him, and I volunteered a few more times to do non-speaking business with Josh. I might have cut some people out from getting some opportunities for screen time, but I guess I figured, "How many chances am I going to be able to do this? "You only live once right? I also supposed that I probably wouldn't see most of these people again, and if I stole some thunder, who cares? I went home that day proud that I made an effort to step forward and speak up. I didn't fade into the background. I took a chance and hoped that it paid off.
     For months, I addictively checked the CollegeHumor site to see when the final cut would be posted. Yes I had told friends that I had done the shoot, but I was eagerly anticipating as to what the final sketch would look like. I know it seems insignificant, but this second gig meant the world to me. It was further proof to my circle and to me that I was meant to be here in New York. It's proof that I am funny, talented, and I was meant for something more. Here I was taking one step further into this crazy mixed-up world of theater, film, and television. Yes I did do the All-State ad a while back, but I still haven't seen a copy of it or what it looks like. This simple sketch is further evidence that I'm making strides in the Big Apple, and that my first gig was not a fluke or accident. It's been a crazy ride so far with an even crazier start to 2012, but I feel like we're just revving up the engine. Stay tuned.

     Here we are. The final product. What do you think? You can check out the final version of the sketch here:

See more at CollegeHumor

A New Year - Anything Goes

   Sorry it's been a while since postings... It's been a crazy past couple of months. You know... "Holidaze". Lots and little has happened since you last saw me. I've triumphed and failed spectacularly, and I've tried to survive this city as best as I can. Still confused, still fresh, and still optimistic. Still struggling and hustling when I can. Working hard on all things me. Here we are... 2012. Supposedly we have less than a year left if you follow your favorite Mayan calendar. Guess I gotta make some things happen, like now. 2011 was pretty good to me through all of my bitching and moaning.  I got my first major paid gig, shot a CollegeHumor sketch, made a house team at an improv theater in NYC, made more good friends, saw incredible theater, and really grew as an artist and a person. Yes I'm still single... (That's whole other post.) Through it all, I've been very grateful to everyone and anything that has helped move me to this place thus far.
    I did have a good New Year's holiday. Rather then do the Manhattan thing, I visited a friend, watched a movie, shared a bottle of wine, and then attended a house party in Astoria, Queens. We'll just ignore the four drunken hours I spent trying to get home falling asleep and waking up all over the New York City subway transit system... Thank God I had the next day off. I met up with some friends for brunch in Hell's Kitchen and just finally took it easy...

Anything Goes...

   I also saw a show on New Year's Day that got me really inspired. Of all things, it's a remount of a musical classic: "Anything Goes". Yes I saw the one currently on Broadway with Sutton Foster. I could barely afford the ticket, but my friend Colleen was in town. I also have this thing of seeing a show each month. It keeps me grounded, and it makes me feel good as an artist. It's funny because we did the show in college, and I always hated it. It was one of my worst auditions ever. You know the kind where you leave the room and burst into tears? I saw our college production, disliked it save for my friend Eileen, and hated the show forever for cheesy plot and racist undertones. So as I entered the theater for the Broadway production, I had my fingers crossed. I was praying it would be a decent show. After all, you can't go anywhere in New York without hearing the praises for Sutton, and my personal hero Joel Grey was in it. He's a Broadway living legend! As the curtain fell, I left the theater being wowed and falling in love with Sutton Foster. I was also in awe of the terrific cast, dazzling sets and costumes, and furthered steeled myself that I want a career like Joel Grey's... I even ran into Michael Gladis from Mad Men on the way to the bathroom! Seeing the show helped me find my resolve that I deserve to be here. I belong here. My new motto is "Anything goes!"
   All that being said, I still feel like I've got a lot of work to do. It's hard for me to relax and do nothing. I've got to keep pressing on. There are a lot of goals and things to do left on my bucket list. A new year usually brings resolutions made and broken. I try not to make them, and I prefer to shoot for targets. Keeps me focused. So for all of you and myself, a simple list of targets. Here we go:

1. See/do more with this city.
2. Date more.
3. Keep building that acting career.
4. Eat less. Keep being active/healthy.
5. Stay happy. Write more.

   There... Not so hard, right? Granted, these are not resolutions or promises. They are targets. Some are easier to hit, and some are terribly difficult to shoot. I'll just try to attack them as best as I can. I hope you'll hold me to that. It's all I can offer. I'll definitely be writing more... Stay tuned.

My First Gig

     I got my first gig this week. Let me say that again... I got my first PAID gig this week. Let's do it a third time. I got my first PAID GIG IN NEW YORK THIS WEEK. There... That feels great. Soooo much better. It's not that I'm really trying to brag here. It just feels like a tremendous weight has fallen off of my shoulders. Not many people understand that if you're an actor/actress living here in New York, you have to "prove yourself". You have to show people that you've "made it". You're a "success". Really this whole ordeal just validates you moving here in the first place. It tells you, "It's ok. You made the right choice to come here and chase a dream..." For me especially this rings true with my parents. You see, just booking this thing was a sign from the heavens to my parents that I should not have moved back to Texas. I am great right here where I am in the Big Apple. It also validates the two years I've spent auditioning so far with little success to agents, casting directors, etc. I have a "credit". I also find it especially funny that I got this thing in a field I have little experience in nor would I have ever guessed that I would be cast in: Print Advertising.
     I got the gig through this online talent agency I use called The Agency Online: http://www.theagencyonline.com/ What you do is pay a small monthly fee, and you get access to different castings, build a profile, etc. Sometimes they even submit for jobs they think you'd be appropriate for. To be honest, I'd been with them for about a year and a half with no success. I was ready to cancel my membership to save a few bucks that could go towards rent... Or beer. I got an email saying that I was submitted for a print ad for All-State Insurance. "Ok...," I thought. I'm not usually considered print material, but I figured I could go in for the audition. "What the Hell? Right?"

     The day of the audition, I was terribly sick. I had spent a week of late night drinking, improv shows, and just running myself ragged at work with gym time in-between. I had a singing audition that got out early, and made it over to the photo studio in Chelsea. It seems that the entire audition consisted of five photos. The client wanted you to be cheering at a football game, and the photographer would snap away in mid-action. I must have looked terrible, but then he called, "Action!" Something came to life in me, and I was screaming and yelling like a maniac. I didn't even think for a second I would get the job. Who casts a guy like me in print ads? Now some may say, "Andrew, you're racially ambiguous! People are always looking for you!" That's not always true... It's a reality/fantasy thing in terms of casting, but that's a whole other post. Honestly it just feels like a numbers game, but on that day I guess I hit the jackpot.

The "Heroes"

     I got an email a few days later saying I was on hold to be "The Hero Talent" with the celebrity talent Dean Winters. You know him... He's the current All-State spokesman, and he played the awesome Ryan O'Reilly on that HBO show OZ. A day later I got the confirmation. I had booked the job! I think I was in total shock the entire time... It was print advertising! I never get the job! I'm never the "hero"! Yet here I was... Wardrobe called me with details, I was given a call sheet with the time of the shoot, and yet as a cynical New Yorker, I still could not believe my luck. Here I was the "Hero Talent". I and three others would be in the primary shots with Dean, and we'd get paid a lot more. Score!
    The day of the shoot, I made my way to an empty garage/studio in Chelsea for our shoot. I was nervous as Hell. "Don't fuck this up, Fafoutakis!" There was catering, hair & make-up, and a full set. This was legit! I noticed one of the older extras I had seen in a few agent meet-up classes. We approached each other and introduced ourselves. He was one of those types of actors just scrambling and clawing for any crumb of recognition. You know the kind that tells you his resume before he says his name. He was the one in those classes that asks the question during the Q & A portion, "Why am I not getting work!?" He looked me over with a look of disappointment that I was here.

Jaded Extra: "Oh, are you an extra?"
Me: "No, I'm the 'Hero Talent'... I get paid more..."
Jaded Extra: "Oh... Well you know they were talking about promoting me to the "Hero" group too."
Me: "Great..."

I decided then and there not to let this guy get me down. I would have a great day with this, and nobody was going to take this from me or let the air out of my sails. We soon were put in football fan gear for the first half of the shoot. We did a big group scene in the stands cheering with Dean in the middle causing mayhem as the spokesman, Mayhem. I nearly lost my shit when I saw Dean enter for hair and make-up. I've been a big fan of his ever since I saw Oz, so to have him in the same room made this day so special and real. We took our shots in the stands with re-arranging various people in the stands. I was terrified of being cut out of the shot, but they moved me prominently in the stands close to Dean near the end of the shoot. It was finally time for the "Heroes" shot. We were taking the picture in the car with me, Dean, and Michael up in the front. Michael was supposed to be driving with Dean disrupting our trip. I was in the passenger seat supposed to look scared that we would crash. Dean was a total gentleman and very funny on-set. The car could be uncomfortable at times, but he handled it like a pro. He took the time to get to know Mike and me, even though he had to put Mike in a headlock for a few shots. It was probably the most fun job I've ever had.

On-set for All-State

     Afterwards, Mike and I went for frozen drinks at Dallas BBQ and talked shop. It was a terrific experience, and I could not be more grateful to everyone involved. I hope to have more days like that one. Short hours of work, being paid great money, catering, and frozen margaritas afterwards. It terrifies me that: "What if this is the only thing I'll ever do in my career?" Will I make it? Will I get another break? Who knows... What you have to tell yourself is to keep hustling, keep reaching, and keep striving for the great things you want to do. You have to tell yourself that you left some things behind to create a bright future. You wanted to start a new life in a new city, a new adventure. This adventure... This city...This whole thing was totally worth it. Thank you, The Agency. Thank you, All-State. Thank you, New York.