The Magic of Music at Upright Citizens Brigade

This evening I went to Upright Citizens Brigade to watch Amy Poehler do some improv. If I was to judge this evening against my expectations, I would be sorely disappointed. Instead I was treated to a joyous experience - I got to see a group of incredibly talented improvisers play and sing songs that meant something to them.

There are few things worse (in performance) than bad improv. The performers look and feel a lot like I did when I got pantsed in the 7th grade in front of all the girls I had crushes on. The thing that I love about UCB is that most of the performers are so battle-worn that they are relaxed nearly to the point of indifference.

Seeing these zen-master improvisers step out of their comfort zones to sing to a packed house was beautiful. Their voices weren't perfect, their eyes were cast at the ground, and they often forgot to plug in their amp cables - but it was evident that they loved what they were doing and even though they were terrified they were doing their thing.

Paul Rust sang a great original piece about sharing a first kiss in a bedroom populated with hand-me-down furniture. Amy Poehler sang a gorgeous rendition of Blue Bayou. However, the singular moment of the evening was when Sean Conroy sang Johnny Cash's version of NIN's "Hurt". At first the audience giggled, "Surely he wouldn't try to fill those shoes?! It must be a joke." But it quickly became clear that he was singing this song in earnest. The laughter stopped, the crowd fell quiet, and then collectively leaned in. Everyone telepathically agreed that this was something special, a ballsy attempt that should be honored. Sean Conroy may not have had the gravitas of Johnny Cash, but for this evening he was our man in black.

Seeing these talented improvisers work in another medium really humanized them and inspired the heck out of me. Just be glad you aren't my neighbors listening to me howling like a hound-dog along with my out-of-tune ukulele.

My First Red Carpet was for a Good Cause

Last night I attended a benefit for The Barrio Symphony at the Sonora Café. The barrio symphony is a non-profit music organization founded by Peter Quesada, my neighbor and dear friend. Peter invited me to the event so that I might record video of his students performing music from the European, Israeli, and Latin canon. Unfortunately, neither of us was able to track down a video camera so I merely attended as his guest.

First let me say: the kids playing in this orchestra are amazing and could probably hold their own amongst most classical studio musicians. If I had only been there to hear them play, it would have been a fantastic evening. However, things got way more Hollywood than that.

Some highlights:

• I spent a goodly portion of the evening chatting with Vicki Randle of the Tonight Show band. She's a good friend of Peter's and an extremely talented and passionate musician. Just a few weeks ago, I was watching her perform at a taping of The Tonight Show. Unfortunately, she and the rest of the band are currently unemployed due to the WGA strike. I still support the strike, but fallout like this is truly unfortunate. So, please support her by checking out her album "Sleep City," the title track is a funky number that takes me back to a time when lead singers could still summon sass.
  
• I met some of my neighbors from Peter's building. Turns out, Thai Town is crawling with actors, writers, directors, and producers. For the first time since early childhood I'm meeting and getting to know my neighbors. It's great!
  
• Celebrity sightings: Tim Curry, Billy Baldwin, Wendie Malick, and Bellamy Young (Dirty Sexy Money).
  
• Someone donated $20,000 to the orchestra so that they could have a "Dirty Sexy Dinner" with Billy Baldwin and Bellamy Young.
  
• I was devastated to see a signed Dali lithograph on JaPan paper get auctioned off for only $3,600. But Dali is dead and these kids will still get plenty of benefit from that money.
  
• At the end of the evening, I had Michelle Phillips cello from The Mommas and the Poppas in the backseat of my car. She donated it to the Barrio Symphony and I was responsible for escorting the cello back to Peter's apartment.
  

(Above: Billy Baldwin, Peter Quesada, & Bellamy Young)

Did I mention free food and an open bar? I think I'll keep pursuing acting if for no reason other than an endless stream of benefit buffet lines.

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.