The Broken Legs

"Break a leg!" I heard this from a few friends in reference to the audition I was going to on Monday. I'd be able to go, ironically, because I actually requested that I leave early from work that day.

So, I left work at 2:30 and took the 2 bus down Sunset to Highland. I was supposed to switch to the 163 to the casting company in Burbank, from the bus stop at Hollywood and Highland. I waited for forty minutes and the bus didn't come. I looked at my options. The last time I called a cab, it took fifteen minutes to get where I was and I assumed it would take at least another fifteen to get there. Luckily there was a cab sitting right there. I looked through the window in the front passenger's side and the cabbie opened the door. I asked how much, and how quickly, it'd be to get where I was going. I decided I could do it and hopped in. I decided that if I got anywhere near where I was going, and it was worth it to walk a block or two, that I would, especially since, as I got there, it would be around fifteen dollars, so I was going to pay with a twenty. The longer I was in there, the smaller the tip would be I guess. I don't know, what are the rules for tipping a cabbie?

But, I got there and saw a couple of comics I knew from a show I'd seen from a show I'd attended but not performed on. They were both also reading for Morgan. While I wasn't a huge fan of either comic's comedy, I did feel a little like I invaded the cool kids table as they were horsing around a bit as if they did this all the time, which they probably did.

The casting director called me in and I almost missed the door. I was myself because I turned around and went into the office that he called the "blue room over there." I noticed that it was only partly blue and exhibited my usual nervous energy, but in a good, charming way.

He asked me how well I knew the other kids out there and I told him I met them a few times before, and explained how (stand-up in Boston, moved to LA, caught some shows, etc.). He asked me if I had any questions about the character, which sounded a lot more like a regular job interview question than anything I expected, so we chatted and I felt like we had something of a rapport.

Then we read the scene. I've been told that casting people are notorious for reading without emotion to see if you can read under that kind of pressure, but he read quite well. And so did I. I had ideas built up in my head over the weekend of how I wanted to read these lines and I read them as such more or less.

He chuckled and said, "Very Funny" and let me go.

So, I don't know what that means. I have a feeling I probably don't fit the part, but I think I made an impression and probably seem like a "character" so mission accomplished.

The next day, I went to work and the bus just didn't show up. So, I took an alternate route and was twenty minutes late.

My last task at the office was something that took plenty of time, it looked like it would take until 4:30. So, my boss was nervous that I'd go into overtime, or worried that I wouldn't have enough work for the rest of the week, but I reasoned that there usually was, and that if I got caught up all that would mean is that I'd leave early on Friday. I left at 4:00 on Friday.

After work on Tuesday, I went to the IO West and got back to interning. There was a schedule change, I think because it was a new month for me, so there were new improv teams before the cast of MADtv. But one of the teams themselves wasn't new to me as I'd seen them before. In fact one of the members was a classmate at Emerson.

All the shows were very strong and it was just fun to get back to that little job.

On Sunday I did another couple of loads of laundry in just a few days. This time it was mostly for my sheets and stuff. In front of my building, so I bought the first two seasons of NewsRadio for $8. All three disks were in good condition, though the first one looked iffy, it played quite well.

I remembered just how good that show was. I considered it maybe my favorite sitcom of the 90s. Certainly it was one of the most underrated. It combined a brilliant silliness with wit and maintained a breakneck pace without quick cuts, or even a lot of scenes. In fact the pilot was almost in real-time. Also, Dave Nelson was much more mischievous and sarcastic early on than I remember.

Saturday's class was pretty good. It was actually hotter outside than usual. While New England recovered from a blizzard, I realized I probably wore a layer too many. During class we worked on openings. The first exercise would involve monologues. It sounded like it would be easy because of my experience in stand-up, but the monologue was to be inspired by a suggestion. I mean, I've even done crowd work, but that was even different. Everything up to this point has been about building relationships with the other players on stage, so it was ironic that I was having the exact opposite problem I had when I tried to make better eye contact.

But I'm still considered ready for level two, since it's much more about scene work.

And I'll be coming home sometime in late spring. Stay tuned for details.

Thank you, I'm Eric Cheung. I'm on MySpace and Live Journal.

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