This blog is dedicated to all of my students and colleagues that are wonderfully getting some attention. I write this specifically no because of an email I received from Harry Connick’s people looking for young comics. A few of my students were invited to audition. FINGERS CROSSED.

Many of my students and colleagues are getting calls, and a few amazing bookings and other opportunities. It is very exciting.

I also just saw an ad for MASTERCLASS with Steve Martin and he said something that really stuck. When asked “How do I get an agent, bookings etc” his response is, let’s focus on getting good.

My students are getting the calls because they are great. But they have a long way to go. Classes and real world are very different. Nothing truly prepares you for the real world like the real world.

SO GET OUT THERE AND LIVE IT!!!

START AUDITIONING TODAY

Don’t wait till you think you are ready. WE ARE NEVER TRULY READY FOR ANYTHING so stop worrying about being ready.

I don’t care if you want to be an actor, doctor, accountant, parent…

No class truly prepares you for the real world. Doctors spend years in classes, then years in residence then maybe finally open up their own practice.

NO ONE is truly ready to be a parent. We learn as we go with help of family and friends and tons of useless advice to.

Acting is kind of like all that but a lot easier. If you mess up no one dies – except maybe your performance – which is horrible to you but you can recover.

So shut up about not being ready. NO ONE IS. Go audition for something.

Can’t get an audition, go to an open mic and say/sing something. Just get up and DO!

Audition like its a performance

When you audition, don’t treat that moment like a job interview. Your job is to perform your work and entertain casting team. Do all the work you would do for a live performance or TV/FILM taping.

Don worry about booking anything. Your life does not depend on this. Neither does your career. Just rock out another performance like your last class showcase.

Easier said then done? YES!

AUDITION EVERY CHANCE YOU GET

Here is a little secret. Auditioning is a different skill then performing. They are connected. But I know some amazing auditioning artists that are terrible in shows and vice versa.

I am terrible at auditions. It is the thing I work on the most in my own journal work.

Get me on stage/set and I feel at home. In front of those judgmental eyes that just want to sink my career – see I do it too.

The more you audition the better you get.

Guess how many artists give up after a few months of auditioning without a single booking. They assume they are no good and go home to what ever small town they thought left behind.

More often I hear stories like “OMG I JUST BOOKED MY FIRST AUDITION. I GOT THIS….” And then not even a call back for another year.

This business is fickle. There is a lot of competition. There are a lot of folks to impress.

But I promise if you audition often you will figure it all out.

• You will figure out YOUR process.
• You will get more comfortable
• You will figure out what YOU need to do in waiting rooms to stay focused
• You will figure out what YOU need to eat for breakfast so as not to be too anxious or too tired at GO TIME.
• You will figure out what time YOU need to go to bed and what to eat night before to be best energized the next day but not too energized you cannot sleep.
• You will figure out YOU have so little to do with what director has in mind.

ANALYZE EVERYTHING YOU DO

You are all keeping a journal by now, right. I just assume…

FYI I DID NOT SAY OVER ANALYZE!!!

As I said above nothing is the end product for you. A class showcase ends that chapter, but if you truly have aspirations, that is just a moment you pass through, so your personal work does not end.

After every class, audition, show, open your journal.

How did it go?

How did you feel?

What worked?

What flopped?

Are you happy with work? WHY?/ WHY NOT?

For comedy writing, what got a laugh? WHY?

For our comedy classes we write 2-3 minute every 8-10 week course. Some of you have 20-30 minutes of material because you have been with me since 2011.

Keep revisiting that material. Use class the way professional comics use Open Mics. Try new material.

Don’t just go up when its your turn because we say so. Own your time on stage and maximize it by continuing work before and after via journal.

ALWAYS BE CREATING

Force yourself to spend at least 5 minutes every day on your craft. Trying writing a new joke, story. Or perhaps just sit down with pad and pen and brainstorm ideas.

BE TENACIOUS

All successful talent I know are almost annoyingly tenacious. You need to WANT this badly. You need to NEED this in your life to withstand the blows of the NOs.

Don’t wait for teachers or parents to give you push. You need to be on fire 24/7 WANTING this. If you are not, you will be passed b those that are.

You’ll know when you need to pull back to find balance. But don’t start out seeking balance. Maximize your youthful strength while you can. GO FOR IT!

LET THE NOs BOUNCE

Remember, that a WE’LL CALL YOU is never a YOU’RE NOT GOOD ENOUGH. You may be not right at that moment, but you as a person are not any less.

PREPARE YOUR WORK
PRESENT YOUR WORK
ANALYZE YOUR WORK
FORGET ABOUT THE AUDITION (unless…)
WHEN THEY CALL TO BOOK YOU – BONUS – YEAH
NO BACK TO WORK FOR NEXT TIME

YOU will be a work in progress till the day you die (or retire). The day you think you know it all is the day you slide backwards. There is no plateau. There is no good enough for now.

ALWAYS SEEK WAYS TO GROW YOU MIND BODY & SOUL!!!

PS If you see people around getting opportunities and you feel left out, what do you do?

Continue to do what I prescribe above. I did not book my first TV job till 35. I did not book my first professional theater job till 22.

So if you are in my kids/teen classes CHILL OUT. You are ahead of the game working with amazing professionals on my team.

If you are 18+ and not working, when was the last time you woke up at 5am to wait in line for an open call to get on the waiting list to be seen by casting director for play/musical in time to get to work/class.

When was the last time you learned a new monologue, song, took a dance class…

When was the last time you truly spent time developing your craft.

GET OUT THERE!!!
NO PAIN NO GAIN!!!

I have spent 1000s of hours in classes, line for auditions, auditions etc before getting an manager that sends me out on stuff.

Want an agent, go get yourself some work.

BEFORE SPENDING A DIME ASK ME WHERE TO SPEND IT!!!

Book a project then reinvest into better head shots. Don’t spend $500 on photos if all you are auditioning for is unpaid showcase.