Will is Out of Town; Had to Call Carrie

One of my first (and funniest, WAY after the fact) memories of moving to New York happened within my first week of being here. It was in Brooklyn, actually, where I was sharing a 1-month sublet with my friend at the time, a lovely ground floor of a Brownstone in Prospect Heights (on Park Place between Vanderbilt and Underhill).

I had a plan to meet Carrie at the coffee shop down the block. She was coming out from Manhattan, so I had enough time to take a shower. It was a small shower, just a stand-up stall as I recall. I turned on the water, then went to undress in the undressing room. I returned and, in my towel, pulled back the curtain to get in.

To my shock, horror and ultimate shrieking yelps, waiting there for me on the shower wall was my introduction to one of the most disgusting terrors of New York City Life: a waterbug. (for the 16 non-New Yorkers who read this blog and don't know what a waterbug is, click on the link because I can't go into detail-- it's just too gross).

Screaming, and wrapped in my towel, I sprinted out to the living room and called Carrie, who luckily had not yet left her apartment. I don't remember if I had worked myself up to the point of tears, but I was definitely panicked and I asked her if I thought it would be appropriate for me to go to the coffee shop at that very moment-- granted, I was only wearing a towel, but I needed to call in reinforcements and I didn't know anyone else in the neighborhood!

Well, tonight I was brought right back to that fateful afternoon in August 1999. After a long day of rehearsal, Fringe Adjudication and seeing an early evening show, I came home and turned on the stove to boil some water for a quick little pasta dinner. The water boiled, I puttered around, I cooked pasta. Just as it was nearing al dente, I got the strainer and as I moved aside a pot in the sink to place it down, I shrieked the horror-shriek of 8/99 as there was a really-HUGE-and-really-GROSS waterbug just sitting there in the sink.

Now besides being an excellent person to have around when your computer dies or ... well, there are other things Will does around the house but it's late and I can't quite muster a list (forgive me)... Will is great at flushing a bug down the toilet.

Murphy's Law: Will is out of town (for his dad's birthday-- Happy Birthday, Larry!), a bug sets up camp in the sink.

I know you're all probably at the edge of your seats right now wondering how I survived. Well, I called Carrie. She suggested I throw on a towel and hit the nearest café. Just as I was trying to figure out how I could maneuver past the sink to grab my towel without being spied by Mr. Bug, I realized she was only kidding. I ended up straining the pasta into another pot then pouring the hot water into the sink-- don't worry, I looked away. Actually, I only half-looked away. I saw Mr. Bug sort of spin out in the current. I think he was already dead, because neither my screams (can bugs hear?) nor my pasta water seemed to make him make a move. Unfortunately, he's too big to slip down the drain (GROSSGROSSGROSS!!!), so...

Well, let's just say that I've left some of the fun for Will's return home.

Yes, dear. If you're reading this before you've been in the kitchen, that brown paper cup sitting upside down in the sink is there for a reason. I'll leave the toilet seat up. Thanks!

An Extra Side of AWESOME

There aren't enough positive adjectives in the English Language for me to describe how just plain BADASS and SUPER AWESOME the Vampire Cowboys' current show, Fight Girl Battle World, is.

Will and I saw it last night and were both completely engrossed-- it is a rare chemistry when we both like a show so much that we're simultaneously belly laughing throughout. It's smart, it's oddly sexy (for being so, in their words, "comic geek chic") and it's laugh-out-loud hilarious.

I'm late to the game, since the show closes on Sunday, but if you're in the area, Go See This Show!

In other news, also from the AWESOME department-- I'm off today to do my spot on Sesame Street. Triangle Man is waiting for me in Queens-- I've just got to pack up all my most colorful garb and head out there. I'll be back over the weekend with photos, I'm sure. Today will most likely be one of the most fun days of my life.

Busy. Mind-blowingly So.

My to-do list as of late has gotten out of control. So much so that yesterday I cancelled my debit card, convinced that I had lost it.

This morning I turned my chair 90˚ to the left from my desk and there it was, in all its Citibank-y glory.

Luckily my new card comes tomorrow.* And not a moment too soon. Operating strictly on cash makes me uneasy for some reason.

Anyway, what's keeping me busy is all good. I have a bunch of performances coming up, including my improv class show this Thursday at 7pm at the Magnet Theater.

Also, be on the lookout for Babylon, Babylon, coming in April to the Brick.

Until then, I may seem like a distant memory, but rest assured, I'm alive.

*The Customer Service Lady said that it would take a week, but if I needed it sooner she could get it to me by Wednesday. Who doesn't "need it sooner"??

I Could Get SO Much Done If This Was My Office

Seriously.

Could there be a more perfect place than the Google Offices in Zurich?

I've been thinking what's missing from our home office is clearly the aquarium room with foam cube-filled thinking tub. And chill-out pods, massage room and hammock chairs!

Wow. We're gonna need a bigger apartment if I'm ever gonna get anything done around here!

Things I'd Miss if I Had a Dayjob, Volume 2

Seeing Glen Hansard on the street! He wasn't doing his musician thing, he was just walking down Broadway above Union Square, but I got totally sideswiped by excitement. His movie Once was incredibly moving (and his Oscar acceptance speech even more so) and it was great to see him for a split second. (or his doppelganger, whatever!)

That Was Fast!

Geez, the man barely has time to get his pants back on and hold a press conference and the moment-to-moment industry that is pop culture kitsch has already got his mug on everything they can think of!

And lest we forget the power and general *zing!* of the quippy headline!

Personally, I don't much follow state politics here-- it's all I can do to keep up with happenings on the national level without throwing my blog reader out the window. I will say, though, that were it not for his rumbling against the "bad guys" as Attorney General, etc. I almost wish that they would leave him alone since this falls as another check in the column marked "Let's All Be Way Too Concerned With What Goes On In Each Other's Bedrooms".

But the lesson we can all walk away from this with is to make sure your closet his sparkling clean before you go poking through someone else's.

Which reminds me. Spring cleaning!

via Gothamist

Will Finds "Religion", Takes Sundays Off

Sometimes he just cracks me up.

Once Babylon, Babylon opens and I no longer have full-weekend rehearsals, I'm taking Sundays off too, dammit!

Today's Post is Brought to You by the Letter S

I may have just gotten some of the greatest news ever: I'm going to be on Sesame Street!!

My dear friend from college and beyond, the wacky and wonderful Carrie Haugh, is the casting director for the show. This normally means that she works almost exclusively with children between the ages of <1 and 5. And the occasional muppet.

But, lucky for me, there is a Very Special Episode coming up involving a Very Special character from last year, Triangle Man (played by the inimitable and very tall Mike Haugh of Boston fame-- he also happens to be Carrie's Dad-- nepotism rocks!!). Apparently, they're bringing him back for another round of triangular fun and he needs a few older buddies. And one of them is ME!

My inner 3-year-old is shrieking with glee. God, I have the greatest friends in the world.

Accents

I grew up outside of Boston (Lowell, MA, to be exact). Until around junior year of high school when I became heavily immersed in theater and acting, I had the thickest of Boston Accents* and sounded frighteningly like a mini (and female) Ted Kennedy.

At the tender age of 16, upon hearing my own voice caught on tape, I decided I needed to eliminate my accent (or at least learn to control it). I voraciously watched the news and over-enunciated every 'R' I could get my teeth on. I had an inkling that I wanted to go to school for theater and wondered just what I would get cast as if I didn't change my Bostonian sound.

Today, most people I know are shocked to learn that I once had an accent. I'm occasionally asked to "do it", like "it" is some sort of party trick. It's not an easy one to do properly, so I'm grateful I've got it in my back pocket should I ever need it.

Yesterday I got a Voiceover audition that called for a Mid-Atlantic accent. In researching an audio clip for that, I came across this quiz (and you know I love a quiz!):

What American accent do you have? (Best version so far) Northeast New England The kind of accent they have in Boston. There is more to it than just r's. Like, you say "don" and "dawn" the same while the people down in NYC don`t.

Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

Who knew? Apparently you can take the girl out of the accent, but never the accent out of the girl. "Don" and "Dawn". Those sound the same, no?

Click on the link above to find out for yourself.

Will found this video accent research. She does the Mid-Atlantic and the very end, in case you're dying for an example. (think Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant)

*this could quite possibly be the best thing I've ever linked to on the Internet.

Getting into Voiceovers

I've been asked by a handful of people over the last few months just how I got into doing voiceovers.

I'm always happy to tell my story, with a couple of caveats:

• I can only tell you what I did. Other people did it different ways that may have been easier/faster/better/cheaper/kinkier. I did it this way. (James Urbaniak, for example, did it this way.)
• I most likely can't get you an agent. That's one of the hardest things to do, and it's a hurdle every actor faces. If it was easier to find work, it probably wouldn't pay as much. Or I'd be writing from my own private island already.
• There's a joke in the business that all the work is done by 8 people. This is not far from the truth.
  

That being said, here's what I did.

I had a friend who was doing well in Voiceovers. I asked her how she got into it. She referred me to her coach, Peter Rofé. I met him and liked him. I worked with Peter for about 4-6 coaching sessions before I recorded my commercial reel.

Peter invites selected students to workshops he holds with agents and casting directors. This is how I met my agent.

I was with my agency for about a year when one of the agents urged me to make a promo reel. She referred me to another coach, the saucy Marla Kirban. I worked with Marla for four sessions and then recorded my promo reel. This was a good idea. I currently have a handful of promos running on cable.

Unless you're already doing it, I believe working with a coach is a crucial part of starting out. Even if you're a trained actor, commercial copy is tricky. It's not a straightforward read. And it's not the same as doing it for the camera.

I highly recommend both Peter and Marla. I worked with a guy back in 2001 who I feel scammed me-- six months of weekly coaching sessions (at $85/hour) and I never got a reel out of it. I won't post his name here. Instead, I'll say if you're looking for a coach, be sure to do your research and get more than one referral from people you trust. There are gads of people who are more than willing to take your money and tell you you're headed for the big time. Don't believe the hype. The hype is pricey and a waste of time.

The other big issue that comes into play when getting into this business is money. There is a lot of it to be made. It's great work-- a lot of fun with creative people. But as in most cases, you've got to spend money to make money. I spent a good chunk of it getting myself. And I didn't make it back right away. I bet I went out on over 100 auditions before I booked my first job.*

It takes time, perseverance and a sprinkle of luck. But mostly perseverance. Voiceovers, like any field in the arts, is 10% "talent", 30% who you know and about 600% persistence.

Last summer I fulfilled my childhood dream when I recorded my first cartoon voice. That job came from a friend from high school, who is a writer and producer on the show.

Ok, maybe it's 40% who you know...

*Update March 2009: I have estimated that I probably had 600-800 auditions before booking the Campbell's Campaign which paid me more than waiting on tables.

Is it Sad, or Am I Just Intolerant?

I've learned something today.

I'm writing from the coffee shop that sits about half a block from my house. Yesterday I spent some time at the coffee shop about 3 blocks away, but today I thought I'd stick closer to home.

But there's a problem.

I live closer to the annoying coffee shop.

Seriously. At about 11am it becomes the meeting point for the new mommy club.

It's not the fact that the babies cry and make noise and are otherwise distracting. It's the mommies.

I just had to sit and bite my tongue while frantically searching for my headphones as one mommy told the other that she was still undecided as to whether or not little Matilda would be vaccinated because she wasn't finished researching their safety.

Now the other mommy has started walking around the coffee shop to bounce her baby. But she's still staying in conversation with the mommies at the table. Because, you know, it's a small place and what's a little more volume? It's not like anyone else has anything better to do than make sure her baby is comfortable and her social needs are met.

This isn't to say that I don't think they should be here. When I was a nanny, I took the baby out for lunch (me- a sandwich, Lulu- a bottle), and it was nice to be able to be mobile with her.

BUT.

The key to getting out of your house is the fact that you are no longer In Your House. It's not ok to go into another room and shout to complete the story you started before you left. And please, Jesus, it's not cool to take your shoes off at the table. And since when is it ok to change a diaper at a table in a restaurant?! Good god, isn't anything sacred???!!!?

I guess if I want a cooler coffee shop, I'm gonna have to suck it up and walk the extra few blocks. There goes the neighborhood!

Things I'd Miss if I Had a Dayjob

Chaos in Cobble Hill!

A huge White Rose truck blocks traffic for blocks on Clinton Street!

It looks like the poor guy was trying to turn left on Clinton from Degraw and got monstrously stuck in the process. There were a couple of cops trying to help guide him as he backed up, but nobody could stop him before he crunched the front of an unfortunately parked Mini Cooper!


Smaller residential neighborhoods like these should really consider operating more like Venice-- everything comes to the island on a boat (perhaps, say, into the nearby docks of Red Hook) and then hand-trucked to its destination. Wouldn't that be more civilized than a monster truck rally on a Monday afternoon?

Now I Know My ABCs

From Project.ioni.st, via Will

Will is really into this Project.ioni.st site. I don't understand really what it is, other than a tumblog, which Wikipedia defines as

a variation of a blog that favors short-form, mixed-media posts over the longer editorial posts frequently associated with blogging

I consider it sort of the blog version of keeping too many receipts in your wallet, you know, when you just can't throw them away yet can't seem to keep them organized. Am I sharing too much?

Anyway, he set up a podcast that posts a song-a-day. It's really opened me up to some great new music, and taken me back to some fun old stuff. Learn about it and figure out how to subscribe here.

If I Were Gonna Be a Supermodel...

... I wouldn't get out of bed for less than $25K unless I got to wear this.

Note to self: wear more eyeliner!

h/t Eden

Also, from the Viktor & Rolf show:

via the Sartorialist