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.