If you don’t fight for you, who will? Becoming a successful actor, anything…

I recently was babbling, lecturing about creating work for yourself, lt waiting for the world to hand you opportunity. At some point, someone said to be, but you like the marketing, you like the hustle.

On some levels, yes, I thrive on doing the work, I live the journey, and get a dopamine rush from the hustle. Perhaps I was always like that. But they were missing the point.

I don’t love the hustle, I love the result of the hustle. I love getting on stage and making folks laugh, or leading a workshop that delivers valuable life lessons.

I think the success in just about everything is loving the journey. As an actor, if you don’t love auditions or self production and self promotion, I highly recommend choosing a different field. If you see them as necessary evils, you are probably destined to be an employee, helping the journey for someone else’s success.

This argument is made by many as reasons to never even try. Instead folks do what they think is THE RIGHT WAY, taught to them by non working actors at their restaurant jobs, or worse, teachers that never found success and chose the easier path of academics, the safety of an institution. Ive seen many actors go back to school just to put off having to work for their dream. Mom and dad pay the tuition, they get to play actor for 2-4 more years.

We too often talk about someone getting discovered, or being lucky. On E! or TMZ we don’t see the days folks slaved as a waiter, or showcased off off off Broadway. Every so often a “STAR” describes their days and years before finding success. At times we hear of STARS being broke, because they put all their apples in the basket of Hollywood or Broadway producers.

But artists that respect the BUSINESS of show find that balance. They create when they don’t get the jobs, or to fill in between.

To be honest, for a few years I enjoyed serving food and drinks. I was a great sales and service guy, so I made more money than most where I worked. I sold more high end wine and more desserts. I walked away with 20-25% tips. I later got work promoting on the streets, using my vast stage energy to stop folks and take a flyer or hear a pitch.

Eventually I learned doing ALL that for my own career paid off 10 fold. Two years after starting my own improv troupe, bring in the clubs every night, promoting my shows on the street, performing 1-2 shows and night, and make $$$ for the effort, TV came calling. Two years later, already with appearances on WE, MTV, NICK and 9 eps of Letterman, I landed a manager and soon booked my first SAG commercial.

In the year 2000 I spent 60-80 hours a week in restaurants paying my bills, with nearly 18 months of no auditions. I was too tired. I almost gave up. By 2002, I landed a job managing at Chucky Cheese. The day I was to start I booked FIDDLER ON THE ROOF at Gateway Playhouse. By 2005 I quit ALL my day jobs, now working 80 hours a week for myself, performing or marketing myself or my troupe for the next gig. 2008 I landed a manager. 2014 I bought a house. 2020 was a challenge, but by April I had 35+ students weekly online and by May performing online for corporate teams and schools. NOW we are almost back at 2019 numbers with our k12 outreach business, our corporate business is probably triple what it was in 2019, and College business is finally coming back.

It’s the opposite of rocket science. And the few that have listened to my wisdom are all starting to quit their day jobs….

• Comedy 4 Life Series
• Improv Comedy: No Script? No Problem! “YES! And…”
• Improv for Business Success
• Stand Up Comedy
• Sketch Comedy
• Quit Your Day Job

START RIGHT NOW, WRITE YOUR LIST

Right now, right a list of EVERYTHING you could do that someone will pay you for right now. Here’s the list of things I have been paid for…

• Theater Actor – plays, musicals, opera – off-Broadway, regional, tours and even zoom
• improv comedy
• stand up comedy
• TV Actor some costars
• commercials and industrials
• indy films
• Background, Second Team work (extras)
• Director – I’ve been paid to direct numerous shows at schools
• Teacher, through my own school, k12 schools, guest artist etc
• Corporate team building expert, using improv comedy to teach corporate execs, sales, leaders, etc to be better public speakers, creativity etc
• Producer, producing my own comedy shows, Theater etc for a profit
• Corporate entertainer
• birthday parties
• College/ University campus activities
• Characters- Blues Brothers, Elvis, Abbott & Costello, John Belushi from Animal House, Santa….
• Piano Singer
• Church soloist, cantor, choir section leader…
• unpaid showcases since college, only 2 that did not have at least a small stipend for the time.spent.

A division of Improv Theater LLC Improv Theater LLC is a one stop edutainment center for corporate team building, office / holiday parties and more. Our comedy shows and workshops deliver high impact results. Clients include Google, Mercedes Benz, META /Facebook, TikTok, JP Morgan Chase, Accenture, Morgan Stanley, Twitter, Roblox, Rimowa, EI Digital, Accenture, Datadog HQ, Milbank, BING/Microsoft, Band of America – Merrill Lynch, Home Depot, Ernst & Young, Johnson & Johnson, Louis Vuitton, Coach, UBS, BDO, AMEX, Master Card, Macy’s, 360i, IBM, GM, Kraft, UNILEAVER, HBO, Prudential, Convene, Conference Board and many more… 

Providing College / University campus activities at Harvard, Syracuse, Seton Hall, Princeton, Georgetown, Vaughn, Molloy, Montclair State, Bloomberg College, High Point, Williams College, Lynchburg College, Southern New Hampshire University, Ferris State, Mount Isa, Misericordia, Sacred Heart, Hastings, Pace, Vaughn, College Misericordia, University of Vermont, Stone Hill, Yeshiva, Columbia, NYU, Hofstra, Cooper Union, John Jay, Fordham, Sacred Heart, Seton Hall, and more.

Additionally, 1000s of public and private events at The Smithsonian Portrait Gallery, Wolf Trap, The Argyle Theater, Emelin Theater, Gerold Opera House, 72nd Street Pier, Cherry Point Marine Base, Disney Resorts, Ohio National Guard, Connecticut DCF, First Nights Winchester VA, Binghamton First Night, Haddonfield First Night, Chateau Briand, Babylon Carriage House, retirement homes, numerous libraries, YMCA, JCC, Parks and Recreation, 1000s of k12 schools and summer camps in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska.

David Letterman, TruTV’s Friends of the People, and most recently on HBO’s Pause with Sam Jay. As an actor, Frasier has appeared on NBC’s Blacklist, CBS’s Blue Bloods, USA’s Royal Pains (Filmed in Puerto Rico), Netflix’s Lilyhammer (filmed in Norway) and NICK’s Naked Brothers Band. In addition to 1000s of live performances around the world, Frasier has also appeared in numerous commercials, industrials, webisodes and reality TV shows.