Jennifer Coolidge told me not to sit on my ass.

The Groundlings

My family loves "The Groundlings" theater in Hollywood on Melrose. The Groundlings list of alumni reads like a regular who's who in comedy: Will Ferrell, Chris Kattan, Janeane Garofalo, and Pat Morita (say what?!) to name a few. This has led many people, including my father, to believe that making it into The Groundlings company is the key to "making it". This has led to the school having 2yr waiting lists to get into some of their classes. Things have cooled down a little since that absurd peak was reached, but the school still requires that you audition to take their beginning classes! Well, I auditioned a week ago, and passed the test. I've been waitlisted for the current term, and will be able to enroll in the next session if I beat other actors to the Groundlings school website.

Jennifer Coolidge Q&A
My dad heard that actor Jennifer Coolidge was participating in a Q&A and he offered to buy me a ticket to the event. As a lover of all things free, and not one to turn down an evening with a busty blonde, I accepted his offer. Ms. Coolidge is far more intelligent and good-looking than most of her film roles would lead you to suspect. The Q&A was a very entertaining and informative two hours where she described her experiences at the Groundlings, working in feature films, and her desire to do just about any project so long as it is paid.

Going Outside
At one point Coolidge said "Cool things happen when you're not sitting around your house with your dog. Go out, even if you don't have the money to drink." I took that note to heart, and instead of retiring to a meal of easy-mac at Chez Donovan I drove over to a vegan restaurant a few blocks from my house that I'd never tried. The food was great and cheap. Towards the end of my meal, I got a call from my sister. I of course couldn't wait to tell her about Jennifer Coolidge describing her as "You know… Stiffler's Mom from American Pie." After I said goodbye to my sister, I went to use the restroom. As I returned to my seat, who did I see sitting in a table just across the room from mine, but: Jennifer Coolidge. I had just had a phone conversation about the woman completely oblivious to the fact that she was 15 feet away from me the whole time.

I spent the next five minutes paying my tab and hemming and hawing about whether I should thank her for an excellent Q&A. I opted to just walk back to my car – she seemed fairly involved in a bowl of soup and I'm chickenshit.

Notes from the Q&A
The following are some of the more cogent points from the evening:

• The terrible jobs you have are the best sources for sketches.
  
• You don't actually get paid when you're a Groundlings company member (ugh!)
  
• Perhaps trying to prove my father right, she said "Everything good in my career came from The Groundlings. If it weren't for them, I'd still be waiting tables."
  
• With one-line auditions, go in there and make a strong impression. Be unique, everyone is giving them the same flat read.
  
• TV shows fire actors more than ever, they're trying to make up for bad writing with good casting.
  
• Modeling is the most brutal, the music industry is cut-throat, but the absolute weirdest behavior happens in the film/tv industry.
  
• Stay away from people at auditions, other actors play dirty tricks and you don't want to get thrown off your game.
  
• Don't get passive with your career once things start going your way. Work even harder.
  
• Building a relationship with a Casting Director is important to the point that you should take crappy jobs. Hooker #3 led Coolidge to American Pie and Legally Blonde.
  
• Go into auditions as your character – CDs are just too tired to be imaginative about this stuff.
  
• The comedy world is much smaller than drama – you've got a better shot of making it in comedy.
  
• In improv, anyone can steal your part. Take it back with some over the top reactions of statements like "You sure talk a lot."
  
• Girls from Texas get cast because they know how to use hair rollers; go into the audition looking the part.
  
• Most Importantly: create your own projects. No one else will.

One of the major themes of her discussion was the dearth of good roles available to comic actresses. This is certainly something that lends itself to further discussion.