Upcoming But Not Enough Work

I need work. I am a few days from my next gig, but I do not even know if it pays. Maybe I need to try to write a short film that only has me in it, something I can shoot on my own. Or just edit the little footage I have into an acting reel. But I really do not think that I have enough for that, hence the urge to make my own something.

I mean, I have one solid 30 second comedic commercial ad. And one comedic scene in which I am overacting, along with another short one in which I make a brief appearance with lines that I improvised. And of course, the music video in which I alternate between just dancing while decorating and then dismembering a dead body. Even the short film I have coming out soon only features me doing contortionist moves, not really acting, apart from the last jump moment. This short film in five days should add something to my, I guess, contortionist creature reel. And then the show should have some actual bona fide dramatic acting.

I am still working on standup here and there, still impressing a few folks with my one-liners, but I still dread the idea of working my way up through the standup comedy scene. What I want to do is to keep acting and punching up scripts, and develop some degree of notoriety through that until I can bust out into the standup scene with a degree of fame already in place. But so far, every approach that I have had has been slow. Maybe with an agent, or if this short film hits festivals so I can do some networking, or maybe there is some other connection into which I have yet to tap.

I recognize that there are a gajillion actors who want to make it, but I do have a decent resume, and am a contortionist, and am a medical doctor, and I write standup. I can write. I collaborate. When I see a script, I tend to have well-received notes to improve it. But talent is not the only step involved in making it.