New Laptop

I bought a new (used) laptop on ebay for $110. I did this in part because I booked a gig, and I must say that booking a PA gig for six days at $175/day after running very low on money is so nice. The 1st AD likes me a lot, and I like that he is so efficient. Setup and teardown are busy, but when we are going, I often have a lot of time to do what I would be doing on my own, just doomscrolling.

Unlike my old laptop, this one can actually hold a charge, so I will no longer have to hunt for outlets every time I want to write. As someone who wants writing to be a major focus, this feels like a smart investment. Especially for those times on set when I am just sitting around, surely I can chip away at little projects now. Even just the podcast stuff, if I can get ahead on those, then I can be free to force myself to write jokes and, ideally, comedy songs. Those comedy songs could be my ticket. I just need to play out these concepts that I have. Annoyingly, as a musician friend put it, the only way to do that is to "make noise." I cannot just sit and write the things.

Doom and Gloom

Okay fine, I am writing. Started writing blogs a number of times in the past few weeks, but then I got work (background acting, screenwriting, PA) and last night was the election. I did not vote because genocide is a deal-breaker for me, and both candidates would have done more of it. Oh, and I am not registered to vote in California anyway. Now that we have Trump again, we are going to die out at faster rate, but this was a hopeless situation regardless. On the bright side, LA a measure to double the money going to help the homeless. And a trans woman was elected to Congress.

Climate change, global air systems, everything is collapsing. Our nation is fascist.

Oh, and I tried an edible last night while drunk. First time. But I fell asleep, so really I was just kind of spacey when I woke up a few hours later and brushed my teeth to go to bed. Main recurring thought that I had while high? "Unimpressed"

I played my one comedy song the other night at a wrap party, and it was very well-received. I am working as a PA with the same 1st AD starting on Friday. I still have not been paid for my other recent work, but hopefully I will get any of it soon, because I am running on fumes.

Poor Enough

Well, I am now poor enough to be worrying a bit. Instead of trying to make myself write, I am going through Backstage listings to try to book something. Even a PA gig would be a relief.

Those shows I am co-executive producing now have show bibles, an international distributor, and essentially everything besides money. Too bad I live in a car, or I would check couch cushions for the $80 million we need to fund it.

I went to Son of Monsterpalooza yesterday and met a number of special effects makeup artists. Once again, I met some nice folks who were excited to work with me in the future.

I finally got footage back from the short film earlier this year that I think actually shows off my acting skills. So I just put together a little reel. Hopefully it helps with anything.

Back in LA

Snow Patrol came out with a new album. They only do that once every many years.

I have 30+ song requests waiting for me on my podcast's TikTok. It is nice.

I am back in LA after two weeks in Texas. During that time, I did not visit the gym. What I have learned is that if I do not work out, I now have to limit my caloric intake. It sounds obvious, but thanks to the gluttony I experienced on that transatlantic cruise, my body is now far more capable of overeating. Rather than the abs holding back the gut, I now know what it is to relax it way out. So I guess I am something of a real person. That being said, it is fortunately still pretty easy to remain disciplined in this regard. I can just not eat much in a day.

Those pilots that I am co-executive producing. What if it happens? As I was looking over some of the proposed cast and my position in the production, I realized that there is a decent chance that I will be in the room for auditions, at least when roles have been narrowed down a little. My opinion could be what makes a career happen, or not, especially for the coming of age pilot. Crazy.

Granted, I am always thinking of my roster of talented buddies and how I can involve them in whatever production I influence. Thus far, that has all been unpaid opportunities.

A Stop In Texas

Significant update regarding those pilots. That showrunner wants to shop around both pilots. I had a much more significant hand in shaping the other of them, so much so that the writer changed the second half to include a role for me. This role is just significant enough that it could help give me a real boost as an actor, but is also realistically small enough that I would have a chance to book it while other roles are taken by actual name talent.

If both of them are picked up as pilots, I make six figures. If even one is picked up for multiple episodes, six figures. What I am saying is that I make like $50k per episode, plus the amount that I would make in equity afterward. Not to mention whatever I make for the acting roles. I have kept in contact, but really, the work is all on the part of the writer now, and I mostly offer some input, and will presumably be learning more about how to do my job in the event that the money comes in.

Also, I am currently doing reshoots in Dallas, but before I left LA, I had brunch with a special effects artist who is working on all the big movies and shows. We talked for hours and had a lovely time. She went to med school for a year and has plenty of mutual interests. She has a fetus foot, which had me loling. It is what it sounds like, and was prompted by her saying "sorry if I walk weird."

For well over a decade, I have used the same messenger bag, but the zipper began only working to open it. This is great when I want to open it, but on occasion, I do like to close it, so last night, I transferred my mass of books and electronics to another bag.

I have continued posting daily to TikTok on both my personal and my podcast account. The podcast account is growing in followers and engagement, whereas my personal one is more stagnant in both, though the personal one does have a head start in follower count, along with one fairly viral video. On the podcast one in particular, I think I have like ten song requests that I have yet to respond to, which is great. Having options allows some flexibility for inspiration to hit.

I have not worked out since I have been back in Texas, whereas in LA, I am at the gym daily out of necessity. Suddenly, I need to watch my caloric intake. I can look bad. These are problems that I had not experienced until I partook in the glutony of that transatlantic 14-day cruise.

Things Cooking?

As I am getting excited for this comedy special, a showrunner reportedly showed great interest in one of the pilots I am co-executive producing, and said that they thought Netflix or Hulu would be interested. So now we are scraping our contacts together to see if we could get a chance to pitch.

I am getting coffee with a prosthetics makeup artist on Saturday, one that worked on the latest big stuff like Fallout and the new Alien film.

With the podcast, we have started posting daily clips on TikTok, and it is working. We respond to comments so much, and it is so fun. And I started improvising songs with ukulele to reply to some, and it is so validating to hear positive responses from strangers online.

Writing to a Special

Brain has been a veritable hurricane since I started working on this comedy special. Since I do not enjoy performing standup, and I am certainly not up for the grind of hitting mics night after night, getting my material right just once on camera would be a good route.

And now, I play the ukulele well enough to write songs. And since I can mimic the signs of a stroke with my face, I made a little video with a song about recognizing stroke. And it's gaining a little traction on twitter, so that is neat. Best part is that it has the potential to prevent morbidity and mortality.

I have so many one-liners but feel that I cannot deliver them well onstage, so filming them all as little clips would be ideal. Cunk on Earth went viral through little clipped segments, and that was obviously a huge hit.

Also, people want to hear the same stupid songs a million times, unlike standup, in which you are not supposed to repeat jokes after they are released. And I think I would like performing those live. I certainly have enjoyed my limited experience with it so far. And songs are like poetry or one-liners in terms of writing, but easier to get people to listen to them.

Okay, just spent hours writing initial drafts of like five new songs, all from concepts that did not work in standup. Might be more among my failed one-liners too.