Solo Comedy Class

The Playground is offering a solo comedy class, sign up here

If you've been in a creative rut, and/or you lack written material, this solo comedy class will get you in gear. It's also a great jumpstart if you're thinking about doing a solo show. Taught by all-around comedian Paul Thomas, the class focuses on crafting structurally sound scenes, creating multi-faceted characters, and performing with the confidence and discipline of a good stand-up comic.

Chick it out!

Slovember

Well, I have not posted much lately because I have not had a VO audish recently. That's ok, I assume I am still with my agency because I did get an email from them to all their actors saying not to go in for an audition if you are sick.

All this down time has given me the opportunity to reset- I just got new headshots with the fabulous Brian McConkey. When I get the prints, I will be sending out a mailing with my new headshots. Now I should probably start to prepare a monologue in case someone calls me!

AND...it's almost Dec 31st- so if you made over $600 and are into getting tax deductions, start gathering receipts and/or buy stuff and services you can deduct. I'm not a CPA but my dad plays one in real life.

Laugh Out Loud

Laugh Out Loud is holding auditions next week for short form improv shows.

From CIN:

• Auditions slots are every half hour at Almalgamated Omniversal Corp1700 W. Irving Park Road, Suite 106Wednesday, Nov 11 from 4:30-7:30pm

Great cast & a great place to play, email for a slot!!

ImprovAcadia

ImprovAcadia in Bar Harbor, Maine is having auditions for their short form games / musical improv theater.

From the CIN Post:

• We have a few audition slots left but we have intermittent access to the internet. If you want to schedule an audition, please call us at 207-288-2503.When you leave a message, give the following information:1. Name2. Contact Phone Number3. Day & Time of preferred auditionPlease say all information slowly and clearly

Bar Harbor is beautiful & Martha Stewart has a home there. Call now!

Funny Bones

Funny Bones was started in the beginning of 2008 with the intention of bringing laughter and joy to children currently admitted at Children's Memorial Hospital in Lincoln Park through Short Form improv games.

From the CIN Post

• Auditions will be held Monday, November 16th from 6:30 to 8:30 at Second City.

Sounds like a great cause - check it out and email for an audish!

Classes!

ComedySportz Classes are now enrolling for November. Check it out- lots of fun options:

Fundamentals of Improv
Scenic Improvisation
ComedySportz Games
Musical Improv

PSA

Today I had an audition for a PSA - one of those 'go get your GED' spots. Often Public Service Announcements come off as cheesy or condescending, but this one was good. Many voices speaking for different parts of a person's life, from hard luck to turnaround to the success of getting her GED. EHMS* for sure.



*Extreme Home Makeover Syndrome

Harold Auditions

Harold Auditions are happening!

Auditions for available spots on Harold teams will be held Saturday, October 31st with callbacks on Sunday, November 1st.
To audition you must have completed your 5B show and graduated from the iO Training Center. No exceptions will be made.
If you would like to sign up, calls will be taken starting on Wednesday, September 30th at 11AM until slots fill up. (773)880-0199.

Free Workshops!

The Playground Theater has a great program of FREE classes called the Improvisor's Studio. I just got an email that there are still spots open in two classes: "Giving & Receiving Gifts" and "Monologues."

Check it out!

Another Dialogue Audish

Another Dialogue Audish today, and it turns out I was reading with a guy that I worked with about a year ago on my first real vo job, a radio demo. In that spot he was my 20/21 yr old boyfriend and I was 19 and I didn't know how to fix my car. This time around, we were on our honeymoon in Hawaii and in our late '20s. Oh, how time flies!

Character Descriptions:
Woman: More of an actress. Can go from flirtatious in the beginning to disgruntled. Not gruff but assertive.
Man: Masculine and firm but not a baritone. Young husband.
AVO/legal: Male, masculine, deeper voice than male actor but not booming.

If you haven't guessed already, by the end of this :60 spot the wife is annoyed and threatens divorce. I love these character descriptions because they capture the essence of vague yet specific reasons why any one actor is chosen over another.

Dialogue Audish

Sometimes I get a call from my agent for a Dialogue Audish- which means that I will be reading with another person. Most of the time I just read my lines and pause when the other person would be speaking.

Today I had an audish that felt like deja-character-vu: I was the 18-20 yr old daughter going to college who is annoyed/embarrassed by Mom. The other character was the Mom. I wonder how many times I have read a line like this:

"Mom. Seriously. Stop."

I must be good at sounding like a bratty girl, because we only did one take.

Audish of the Day

ComedySportz is having auditions! Check out the CIN post:

ComedySportz’s next round of professional auditions will be held 8/29-9/1. The primary goal of this audition is for our Professional Ensemble. We will also be considering talent for Battle-prov, our Extended Company, and Honors 303 scheduled for October.

Fun!!

Triple Audishle!

Today I had a triple audish and read for three spots! Here are the highlights:

"Not too big. Or too small."
"It doesn't taste interesting."
"So not only did I get something new and interesting, I still made it to my appointment."

Fun!

"Real" People for Dove Ad

This one came across my facebook via the O'Connor group- You can join their fbook fan page for periodic notices.

CASTING TELEVISION COMMERCIALS & PRINT FOR “Dove Hair Product”
Looking for “REAL” Women who look 29-35 years old, to be considered for a Commercial & Print Advertising Campaign.
You will be well compensated if chosen.
THE SHOOTS WILL TAKE PLACE IN THE CHICAGOLAND AREA AND POSSIBLY IN EUROPE.

Check it out!! and contact them asap if you fit the bill! (fyi it's non-union only)

Cruise Audish for Improv

ComedySportz is on a roll with this fun audishes. Check out this one on CIN:

June 5th - with a headshot and resume at 2:00pm sharp ...
ComedySportz Chicago has partnered with Royal Caribbean Productions in an effort to help them locate the three improvisational comedians for their newest and most state of the art ship: The Oasis of the Seas! These individuals will play Royal Comics on the ship and also perform in their production of Hairspray.

Glamourous Audish

Today I had an audish and it turned out to be in the category of 'feminine products.'

These testimonials sound like women telling their friends, acquaintances, & co-workers what they love about pads.

I knew I could nail this because I'm always telling my acquaintances how much I love maxi pads..... NOT! Who does that? Now for the unbelievable lines:

I didn't feel like I was wearing a pad
Super absorbent
The super hero of pads

I guess if I went around chatting up people about my pads, then maybe these are things I would say.

ComedySportz Audish

Here's a great audish over on CIN-

ComedySportz is looking for performers of diverse ethnicities for upcoming professional engagements in Chicago and other major cities. These engagements require performing short-form improv and facilitating improv workshops with high school and college aged youth.

Auditions will be Monday, June 8th, at The ComedySportz Theatre at 929 W Belmont.

Click here for the original post and all the details.

Fun!

What would you do....

My most recent VO audish was for a cross promo between the McGolden Arches and a baseball team- buy a value meal, get a cute discount on tickets.

The copy was a fun list of things you would do for tickets.... or you could just go to McGolden Arches!

This was a fun audish, but it was also another Crazy Cabbie day.

When my cab driver dropped me off, he said, "What is in these two buildings? I come here many times dropping off pretty ladies."

"Well, that door is a hair salon according to the sign. And this door is for a talent agency and a modeling agency, so you are probably seeing models."

"Oh that must be it."

"Yea, I actually have a voice over audition, so..." I said as I waited for my change, trying to imply that I needed to leave and that I was also a pretty and talented lady.

"I mean, I get some pretty ladies in my cab but some of these women I am just like, oh my God, they are so gorgeous I have never see such beautiful women." He was not interested in my voiceover career.

"Yea, that's because they are models. Could I get a receipt?"

We repeated this same exchange a few times before he gave me my change and the receipt.

I am definitely going to deduct this cab ride as a business expense on my taxes.

Writing Audish of the Day

I do have a VO audish to post about and I'll get to it shortly.

But first, for all of my sporty improv friends- check out this c-list ad for a sports show:

The Jim Rome Show and Jim Rome Is Burning are looking for a writer(s).

Lots of improvisor are also writers, so if that's you & you're into sports, go for it!

AuDish of the Day: Rec League

Lots of fun audishes and classes over on CIN, here's my fav:

Rec League at ComedySportz

Improvisers and Improv Students are encouraged to try out their short-form chops in upcoming auditions for REC League.

Great chance to practice and perform shortform games!

The Funnest Classes Ever

Lucky you- Second City has another round of Music Improv classes starting up. I am currently in the final level and we're preparing for our run of shows in the Skybox. I truly believe that these are the best classes ever. And they are competing against my voiceover class so you know it must be good. Of course, if you don't like musicals or singing then none of this applies to you. But if you do love music, singing, and dancing, then call now!

From the CIN Post...

The Second City Training Center's

Musical Improv Program

Learn how to create musical songs and scenes through improvisation in this five-term program. Class meets once a week for three hours. There are performances at the end of each of the five levels including a 5-performance graduation showcase.

Auditions will be held Saturday, April 25th in the afternoon.

To sign up, stop by or call the Training Center at 312-664-3959.

Green Shirt Studio NEW Coaching Services

My friends just started a cool new actor coaching service. Details below!

Due to many requests, Green Shirt Studio is launching an actor coaching service. Combined Qualifications Include:

• 2 M.F.A.s in Acting
• 3+ years teaching acting & voice at university level
• 15+ years combined acting experience
• Over 7 years monologue coaching experience
• Chicago's only certified teachers of the Meisner technique and founders/teachers of Green Shirt Studio Meisner Acting Training
• Students of ours have gone on to appear on national television series, booked national commercials, have been accepted to prestigious graduate acting programs, among many other successes!
• We are the only teachers in Chicago to be recommended by Larry Silverberg, renowned teacher, actor, director, author and Meisner guru!

Services Offered:

• Scene work
• Monologue work
• Audition technique
• Cold reading technique
• Actor "life coaching"
• Meisner repetition work (for partners)
• Last-Minute "Oh sh*t, I have an audition coming up, help me!" Sessions
• Or a combination thereof

Rates may vary depending on the service, please inquire for details, and we'd be happy to send resumes upon request.

Sommer Austin & Andrew Gallant
Green Shirt Studio
www.greenshirtstudio.com

Reasons You Did Not Get Cast

I found this on Lauren's blog and it explains so many things:

http://youdidntgetonaharoldteambecause.com/



ps- I did a whois search and it's registered to some guy in NYC. So I guess it's not a Chicago thing but it could be.

Monday of Audishes

It was already going to be an exciting Monday: I was looking forward to a callback for a super fun musical improv group. THEN- a reminder popped up on my outlook for a VO audish. OMG! I totally forgot that on Friday I had scheduled an audish for Monday.

I van-cabbed it over to the agency and read two spots for your favorite Mexican beer. This time I did not have to say it in the slate, but I did have to be over 25 to audish. Same thing happened for another beer company so I started googling and found this Beer Institute Code of Advertising. Interesting!

When I stepped out of the booth, the other agent asked me to stay and read a dialogue with another girl who had just come in. Turns out, it was one of the girls I had worked with on a tampon VO tv demo a year ago. (after reading that in the preview I feel the need to add it was voice only over storyboard, not.... a demonstration of how to use tamps!) This one was for a cheap haircut place and it was actually funny, so that was super fun.

Another triple audishle! Hopefully, the odds are increasing that I will book some VO work.

Baseball Dance Team?

Usually I see the good, bad, funny, crazy audishes posted in all the links on my sidebar- The Reader, Craigslist, Chicagoplays.com, ect. So you can imagine my amazement at discovering this audish in a Chicago Tribune article: Schaumburg Flyers Baseball Dance Team. And now you can imagine how sad I am at reading about this after the fact. I would probably have gone out there to audish! If I had nothing better to do!

Long time readers may remember my post about auditioning for the Cleveland Cavs Dance Team way back in 2003 .

Well, from the description in the article it looks like the Flyers dance team audition was a semi-failure. Only 13 people tried out! Where did they post the announcement?

Oh wait a second, maybe all the real dancers found out about this description from the General Manager: "They'll be taking tickets as fans enter, tossing T-shirts into the crowd between innings and generally assuming a higher profile than most ballpark entertainers, he said. "Dance will be just a quarter of what they do every day."

Taking tickets?!?!? I didn't overcome the death of my mother, a move to my estranged father's inner city apartment and finding my way through the underground hip-hop scene to have a triumphant audition at Juilliard so that I could take your tickets and throw t-shirts.

Looks like we all dodged a bullet by missing that audish!

Guest Blog

In today's guest post: another example of using improv in an audish!

Last year I was asked to audition for some TV show coming through town that needed improvisers who could act like a variety of "young hollywood types." They gave us a list of types we could choose from. You had to pick one, dress as that character, come up with a "story to tell" about your character and lastly they'd conduct an interview with that character. They really stressed that the characters needed to be realistic so they didn't want any wacky voices or over the top stuff.

I spent all this time coming up with a story to tell. I knew that the improvised interview part wouldn't be too difficult, but the story thing was stressing me out. I wrote it and rehearsed it like a mad man. It was like really intricate and had all these dramatic details about my character and his history.

Well, I got to the audition (they were also auditioning for a McGolden Arches commercial in the same place so there were a bunch of child actors running around, rehearsing lines and being precocious) and when they called me in they just said: don't use any funny voices, stand on the "X" and just be your character.

They then launched right into the interview portion. I didn't even have to tell them the story.

I think the reason they did this was to sort of throw us off our game a little bit, just because the role we were auditioning for was to be improvised. They probably wanted to see if we could think on our feet and handle unexpected stuff being thrown at us.

After that initial shock, the rest of the audition went really well. Later, I talked to another friend who auditioned who said he used a voice for his character. He didn't get a call back. Duh.

On The Upswing

VO business is picking up! I got called in for a dialouge audish today, and when I got there I ended up reading for four roles in three different spots:

• 'Crew' and 'announcer' part for a McGolden Arches spot
• A teen at a local mall
• A twenty-something at a local mall

Guess which one was my fav? uhDUH- teen at the mall. for sers.

I checked my calendar, and it had been about 2.5 months without any VO audishes. And now I've been at my agency three times in the last two weeks, and two visits were for three spots! Turns out people still need to advertise, and radio is cheaper than tv.

So what does this mean for you? Get those demos and headshots in the mail! And then write me a guest blog. :)

Audishes of the Day

There is an audish party happening over on CIN, fo' reals:

• TP&R Casting is looking for 25-35 yr old men for a print ad
• Blewt! (one of the most successful comedy producers in town) has a brand new 'courtroom' show
• Reset List (An Improvised Rock Show) is being started by some peeps that I personally know to be totes hilars
• Even Baby Wants Candy is having an audish!

And either business in the VO world is picking up again or my agent remembered that I existed- because I have another VO audish tomorrow.

Yay spring!

Computer Characters

Today I had a VO audish for a popular antivirus software. The copy was very announcery and informational, but the character description was:

"a grown up Juno, edgy, quirky, spunky attitude, hipster vibe. Not sweet."

A fun challenge AND I got to say the line "this limited time TV offer."

Audish of the Day

OMG, these are the kind of posts that make me wish I was a child or that I had a child. This audish for the Wizard of Oz is just phenomenal.

The National Tour of “The Wizard of Oz” is touching down in Chicago on April 30, 2009, and is calling for 12 local children to perform the roles of “Munchkins.”... “The Wizard of Oz” is looking for a group of 12 skilled dancers and singers engaged in an ongoing study of acting, music and/or dance to perform timeless classics such as “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead,” ... The winning group will be announced at the end of the audition day. • Press is encouraged to attend and photograph/film the event. ...Singing: Each group should prepare ‘Ding Dong the Witch is Dead’ prior to the audition. The music is available for download at www.wizardofozontour.com . • Dancing: The groups will learn a section of Munckinland together the day of the audition and then will perform in their individual groups in front of the judges.

Too fun!

Guest Blog!

In today's guest blog...

I do not have an agent, but I've done a workshop with a casting director and he will occasionally call me in to audition for commercial and film projects. Maybe that's an overstatement, he's called me in twice. :)

The first audition I went on was for an industrial film. I had been given sides earlier for a group scene. The scene required 4 people, but in my time slot one of the people didn't show so the casting assistant was reading the lines. This is where the trouble happened. The casting assistant wasn't really reading the lines verbatim and was paraphrasing at times. Not usually a big deal, except that she kept leaving out my cue line which was a question, my line was the answer. I definitely let it throw me and my timing was way off and I got wrapped up in how the scene didn't make sense now. Not a smooth move. Looking back I wish I'd just pressed on as though nothing was wrong.

So I guess that's the lesson there. You can only control what you do. Would it have been better if the casting assistant had stuck to the script? Probably. But there was no way for me to control that. I had the power to control my reaction to the skipped line and in the future I'm pretty sure I'll do so with a lot more poise.

Student Film Audish

On Saturday, I went downtown in the pouring rain to audish for two student films. They turned out to be two super fun audishes.

The first audish had requested a monologue, and I prepared the same one that I had done for my most recent agent audish. This time they laughed so that was a big relief.

The second audish was one page of the script. They had me read it through once and then gave me two different directions to approach with for two more takes. Interesting and fun! However, I just saw the audish posted again on c-list, so I don't think I got the part ;).

I was surrounded by bulletin boards in both buildings - totes college campus.

Searching for Smooth Legs

Yesterday my VO agent called and asked me to come in for an audish. This was great because they haven't called me in awhile. And then I got there and found out it was for three spots- super funsies!

The first two spots were for the same sassy shaving cream and each was a little different- the more sophisticated, relaxing spot was aimed at adults and the other spot was 'more energetic and youthful.'

The third spot was for a search engine. A lady who just finished a macrobiotic diet needed to find a restaurant.... hilars.

I took a lesson from a previous audish and made some stronger choices than I usually would. They took my first read on all three, so that was a good experiment.

Do you want to get an agent? Keep those guest blogs coming!

Columbia Film Audishes

Columbia College student film audish postings are all over the place. I signed up for two of them on Saturday morning- fun!

The Reader has one here and here
Craigslist has a few including this one for four student directors.

Although these projects are probably unpaid, they can work with union members under student agreements. Benefits include good equipment, building credits and your reel.

AuDish of the Day

Now here is a high class post: the Chicago Symphony Chorus is holding an audish for singers.

Short Form Improv Classes

Are you stuck in a long form rut? I'm lucky enough to do both short form and long form improv on a fairly regular basis. Before I moved here, I had only done short form. Then I only did long form for awhile. And slowly short form improv came back into my life and I remembered how much I liked it.

ComedySportz Classes are about to start - teachers are listed here.

Some people have created a feud between the two styles and to them I say- what's the big D? I think learning each style helps the other. You can create art all day long and twice on Sunday, but it's awesome to come up with a 185 joke that kills. I'd like to order a comedy sandwich with two sides- Art Salad and Joke Fries.

Not to mention the fact that if you want to get paid in this town, you better learn some short form games ;)

No, Thank You

As a result of my mailing last Monday, I got a call two days later from an agency to come in for an audish. Awesome! Then they asked me to come in this week with a 2 minute monologue. Ohhhh right, you mean the 2 minute monologue that I should have prepared and ready to go at any time? Opps. I guess I got lucky with the VO agent- they just had me read copy. I must report the truth to my readers. Sometimes (all the time) I need a deadline to get my act together. So, now that I have learned my lesson I am passing it on to you. Get those monologues ready!

I set up a directing session with one of my talented friends, and that gave me an early deadline to meet. With her help, on Sunday we chose a piece and outlined the beats. I crammed for the next 48 hours and went into the agency on Tuesday during the one hour a week that they see new talent. To the best of my recollection, this is what occurred while I was in their office:

I managed to get there a few minutes early and while waiting I overheard the guy who was audishing before me. They were talking about his career and how he had been away from acting for awhile. When they came out of the room, the agent gave him more materials and a copy of their contract.

During this time I was sitting on a chair about 2 feet from them trying not to look like I was watching them. When he left, she turned to me and said "Come on in." After a pause, I introduced myself because she didn't introduce herself.

She asked for a headshot and I said yes, I brought 5 as instructed on the phone. She said she only needed one to start and if we move forward they need more (I could already feel the foreshadowing). We chatted for a few minutes and she asked if I was with any other agencies and I told her about my VO agency.

Then she asked for my monologue. Without butchering any lines, I did one of my better renditions… but she didn't laugh at all. When I was finished, she asked if I sang and had 16 bars prepared. I said no. And she said “OK, thank you.”

And then we stared at each other for a moment.

And then I realized that was it, so I got up and left.

I was pretty sure that she was not interested. The next day I got my SASE back with a form letter that said my category was full, but to resubmit in 6 months.

Overall, it was a tough but good audish experience. I felt that I represented myself the best that I could on that day. I wasn’t paralyzed by nerves and am now going to work more on my monologues. Also, I wore makeup to work so in the end- everybody wins.

Another Guest Blog

I am loving all of these audish stories! Here's another from an anonymous friend:

Collaboraction Sketchbook Auditions
The set up is this:
A lively celebration of staged theatrical works, music and fine art, SKETCHBOOK is a short play festival like no other. Each year Collaboraction guides more than 200 artists through an exciting collaboration where 10-20 short performances, each seven minutes or less in length, mingle with visual art and music. The SKETCHBOOK Festival is Collaboraction at its best: breaking down the walls that divide theater, music, visual art, video and the Internet, transforming the space into a singular world where audiences can be both spectator and artist, contributing to dynamism of each performance.

As an actor you get the opportunity to work with a lot of people in the field, reviewers are certain to come out, and it adds some "cred" to your resume as a legitimate theater festival in the city. The catch, it's a 20 second audition. Literally 20 seconds. This is my third year doing the Collaboraction auditions.

The first year, I stressed and stressed the week before. What will I do with my 20 seconds. It's so short. How will they know? I have to show them something AWESOME! What's awesome in 20 seconds? WHAT'S AWESOME IN 20 SECONDS??? A joke, a joke is awesome in 20 seconds. What's funny? I just happened to be doing my taxes at the time, when "bing" my taxes are pretty funny. I make no money, write off everything, and pretty much end up a wash. So that's what I did. I read my taxes. It went over. I got two callbacks.

The second year, I was so busy with life, I completely forgot about the audition and never showed up. Which is another good thing about Sketchbook auditions, they are SO fast and they see SO many people, they just don't have time to worry about those who no show. I can't believe I did, it's very unlike me, but it just slipped past me.

This year I signed up, and decided just not to worry about it, I mean 20 seconds. they did amp it up this year though. You got two 20 second slots. One that was supposed to be physical and one that was supposed to be monologue-y. So the night before I was at the theater and I found a headband with antenna on it. I thought those look like a crickets. I can make a cricket noise, and "voila", first 20 seconds. I was a cricket. Then I thought, hey I do improv and I like to sing. I'll just make up a song about someone in the room, second 20 seconds. I made up a song about some guy in the room.

All in all I thought the audition went horribly. I kind of pooped out in the song, didn't get anything to rhyme, started singing in a crazy Texas accent that came from nowhere, maybe sang for 11 seconds. The thought entered my mind, perhaps just perhaps I might have wanted to prep a little more on this part.

My own perceptions aside, I did get a callback. Which I find hilarious, and leaves me with the question: does it really matter what I do? Probably not, just as long as I show up.

ImprovAcadia - Season Six

ImprovAcadia still has some audish slots open - Check it out! I performed there for 2 weeks a few summers ago and it was awesome. Fun shows with lots of music and you're basically on vacation in Maine near a gorgeous national park.

When I auditioned a few years ago I felt there was no way I would even be called back, and even if I was invited I would have to negotiate with my job. So I thought, "No pressure, I'll just try to have fun and maybe they'll remember me next time." Turns out that attitude is the great way to approach auditions. It's a hard thing to do in practice though, as I have experienced audishing for agents or shows I really wanted to be in. I try to remind myself of this every time a tourco audish comes up, and then I end up wearing half a shirt on a bus.

Konfidence is Key

My evil plan is working! Here's a guest blog from K:

I went on a an audition that called for "classical sounding" singers. Which I'm not really, but hell, why not? It was for Christmas songs and I like Christmas! I get there and sing through my accompanied piece (very much not classical) and then started my Christmas Carol a capella as they had asked. I was doing "What Child Is This" but my nerves got in the way of my breath so I sounded like "What chil- (gasp) is thi--(gasp)is who (gasp) laaaaaaaid to ree- (gasp) est" She actually stopped me and said "Don't be nervous. We want you to succeed. Use your full voice." Ouch. It definitely felt like a middle school audition again.

Agency Mailing

The post office just announced another increase in postage. Yet another reason to get your buns moving and do an agency mailing!

There are currently a few commercials in rotation that cause me to say "OMG! I know that guy!" I would love for this to happen all the time so I am offering a special quid pro quo deal to Audish readers- I will email you my updated list of AFTRA franchised agencies in exchange for a guest post. This list is in Excel! This list is totes ready for Mail Merge! This list tells you which 3 agencies have online submission!

Wait a freckled frog second, that sounds too nice. What do I have to give you? The complete bare minerals eyeshadow collection?

Dear Reader, all I ask in return is a guest post or story of some kind related to audishes.

Take the needle off the record, that sounds too complicated. Why don't I just go compile the list myself?

On Monday I sent out an agency mailing so my list is totes up to date. I suppose it is up to you to decide which is easier: writing up a fun story or spending hours checking all the addresses and submission guidelines posted on each agency's website.

Leave a comment with your email and I will email you back. I moderate the comments, so don't worry about your email- I won't post it publicly.

I’ve been a little slow on the VO audishes lately so I don’t have many fun stories in that department. Fortunately for all of us I have fabulously talented friends. Molly recently blogged about a relevant topic and has given me permission to share it here:

Just wanted to share a tip. Let me start off by saying this specific tip applies to on-camera auditions only...

I interned at a casting office and sometimes still free-lance there. Recently something came to my attention. A beautiful, slender, statuesque blonde came into the room. She slated her name. The camera pulled out to get a full body shot. I looked at her, oh so pretty. I looked at the monitor. Oh so pretty hair, shirt, nice jeans...Wait.

Is she hiding cankles? She's so tiny. Why on the screen does she look like big-foot? Oh. It's the Ugg boots with the jeans tucked in. They're creating an illusion.


Read the rest

Audish of the Day

Several Really, Really Good-Looking Audish posts on CIN...



pH Productions will be holding Open Call auditions for their 7th season.


And if you are a guy, you can audish for DudeProv legends Mission Improvable Chicago


There's even a real play you can try out for.

funsies!!

Curb Your Enthusiasm Walk On Role

Normally I would say never pay to audition- but this is something special.

A friend of mine has organized a benefit at The Annoyance for his cousin, a vet of the Iraq war .

The big auction of the night is a walk-on role on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Check it out!!

iO Harold Team Audish - Call Friday 1/16

On Saturday, February 21st iO is having Harold Team audishes with call in sign ups tomorrow.

Info on the official site is here, info on CIN is here.

"Please bring a headshot and resume. If you do not have a headshot, please bring a comparable photograph. No need to let your picture be funnier than your audition. Please dress as you would for a show."

Do you have your materials ready to go? If you don't have a resume and you get a slot you have a whole month to get it together.

Last time they audishes was August 07 according to my blog ;), so get on it! As I mentioned in that last post about iO audishes:

A special inside note on the harold audish- if it is the same as it has been in the past, your group will do a harold piece that makes it to the second game if you are lucky. I have a special place in my heart for the harold audish as that is how my first team came together. Six of us has gotten the same time, practiced harolds, and approached the audition as a matinee show. We showed up to find 2 random people added to our time slot. After quick introductions, we had a great audish. There are things from that 'matinee' that I can clearly recall as best moments ever. Eventually we were put on the schedule and lasted 1.5 years. The first 6 were people who had not been put on a team right out of classes, and the other 2 had been cut from the schedule before.

Audish of the Day

Lots of improv audishes are popping up over on CIN, chick it out if you're looking for a new project!

Study the Meisner Approach to Acting

The Green Shirt Studio is offering a new round of classes:

MAKE CONTACT with your impulses and get out of your head.

EXPERIENCE true spontaneity, authentic communication and genuine emotion.

EXPAND your acting and improvising through this unique, visceral approach.

IMMERSE yourself in the acting approach studied by David Mamet, Robert Duvall, Sydney Pollack and many more.

When: Saturday mornings from 10am-12:30pm, January 24th-March 28th. Where: 4636 N. Ravenswood. We're close to the Brown line and several bus lines.

More details on CIN!

2009

In my other life as a marketing coordinator, we created a plan for 2009 using a year long calendar. The marketing department made a list of everything we are supposed to do and planned out a schedule. As proposal and other day-to-day requests come in, we get pretty busy. So this keeps us on track and reminds us of the big picture things we are supposed to do.

I have always had lots of 'plans' and 'ideas,' but I've never sat down and put it on a calendar like that. As you can tell, I think this is a great idea and I am going to do this for myself. Why? Well, if we're all trying be professional entertainers (actors, improvers, writers, comedians, whatevs) then you are your own show business. So why not run it like a business?

As you can see from the pic, you can download a calendar from the webs. If you have Word, check out the templates and do a search for calendars. You can type right into the boxes and print out a supercute 2009!