The Year of the Horse is a time for all people to go forward confidently in the direction of their goals and dreams.
March. 2014. This weather sucks. It's definitely coming in like a Lion. Ugh.
Outside of the crappy weather, this has been a pretty awesome year thus far.
Some career surprises. Some twists. Some turns. Some new developments.
It didn't hit me until this past week, that it's been a year since I started production on Velma. Part of it was due to timing, part of it due to money, and part due to my own confidence. After finally getting the guts to believe in my own work again, I resumed operations on the project. Got a new crew, a new location, and a cast that's just as eager as they were before. Plus, I have some new sketch ideas and characters in mind for the show. I'm gonna be quite the busy bee this spring and summer.
Speaking of busy, I recently got accepted in to the Improvisation News Studios Conservatory 6-month intensive program. Starting at the end of this month, I will be studying every weekend sketch and improv, and performing every 5 weeks. After the 6 months is up, I will get the chance to audition to be a company member, at which point I will be performing every week. Plus, they'll help me with my promotional materials, my social media presence, and help me find representation.
I look at it this way, this is probably where I need to be to get on the correct path.
It's no doubt that I'm being watched by some really important people. It's just the people I'm trying to reach out to to represent me, aren't the right ones. If I continue writing and creating my own work, the right ones are gonna seek me out.
Case in point: A few weeks ago, I got an email from Michael Swenson from the Catalyst Department at Viacom - that was surprise numero uno. He sent me an email from YouTube. So the story is, his team saw my Key and Peele parody video, liked it, and wanted me to be a part of their Fandamonium project that they'd present to their shareholders. I was like "What the what?! Friggin Viacom saw my stuff?!" Long story short, I went over to Viacom, shot an interview blurb for the project, and that was it. Who knows if I'll ever get the chance to see the footage. Mike said it may end up on the web some time at a later date. Shoot, it doesn't matter to me. Some folks at Viacom saw my stuff. Hot Damn!
Anyhoo. Another example started over the December holidays: Greg and I went to Jessica Care Moore's Kwanzaa party, and I got the chance to meet actor/director Vondie Curtis-Hall. I very much have to thank my liquid courage for granting me the courage to go up and talk to him. He told me about a project that he's doing with singer/songwriter/playwright Stew, co-creator of the semi-autobiographical rock musical on Broadway, Passing Strange. When he told me that, I just lit up. I offered to sing, dance, whatever, just to be a part of the project. He gave me his number, and we've been texting, emailing, and most recently, voicemailing back-and-forth, regarding updates on the show. This past week, he left me a voicemail letting me know that the show will be going up this fall at The Public Theater, and to remain in contact with him, and he'll figure out a way to get me in front of those folks to see if, when and how I can be a part of the show.
Stuff is becoming clearer to me now. I see how all the puzzle pieces fit. I understand what things are working, how and why. And what things need to be broken down, what needs to be let go of, what needs to be redone, all to make room for what's better.
