Unscripted - A Blog for Actors - Backstage

Things to learn

I just finished my first class at the Upright Citizen's Brigade, which was a blast. I've done improv before, and have even taught it at summer camps - but hadn't taken a class in the city yet. So I had a lot of the fundamentals down already. There was still a lot for me to learn. Firstly, it's hard. There's a lot to keep track of, and the more you think while performing, the worse you are. It's really a process of training yourself into these certain habits that tend to produce funnier and more real scenes.

Double Whammy Weekend

This Friday & Saturday, I will be performing in two different sketch shows.  Both start at 11pm and I'm not ashamed to say that I will probably sneak in a nap before the shows in order to keep energized.  I just hope my alarm clock goes off!  I know you think I'm joking or being cute, but I'm not!  Alarm clocks have been known to be finicky.  Actors have slept right through these 11 o'clock show before .  So the fear that it will happen to me and that I will let everybody down is actually quite palpable. 

But the nap stays because I'm getting old and I can't stay up as late as I did in college. I have a day job.  I have class and rehearsals.  I have little side jobs.  I get tired!

But ohhhh this weekend is going to be fun!

Lets Hear it for the Girls

I recently did a wonderful amazing, soul wrenching, career-affirming staged reading. Of a 1930's era George S Kaufmann comedy. Weird, right? 

First, let me say that every 20 something actress in the universe needs to read Stage Door by Kaufmann and Farber. The truths in it are timeless and pertain directly to us. The play is about a Broadway boardinghouse that houses young wannabe actresses who spend their days knocking on producers doors, mailing to casting agents and being rejected left right and center. In case you were wondering, all the things we go through today, they went through in the 30's. Gives you a sense of solidarity, doesn't it? 

Enough Already!

I am so sick (no pun intended) of hearing about this swine flu.  For crying out loud, only one person - a child - has died in the United States.  Very few are hospitalized here.  Compare that to how many people here get sick and/or die from the regular flu every year - which is, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC):

"Every year in the United States, on average 5% to 20% of the population gets the flu; more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu complications, and; about 36,000 people die from flu-related causes."

Not only that, but the swine flu "pandemic" was first supposed to hit back in 1976.  So, this is not new, folks.  (Nor is it a democratic conspiracy.)

L.A. is a [Bit of a] Lonely Town...

Day eight in Los Angeles.  Not having a car officially sucks -- this is the first night I've felt... well, flippin' lonely.  My roomies are all either out of town or on set, and I'm puttering about the [relatively large] house by my lonesome.  Loathing Michael Buble for sporadically playing and reminding me of my beloved New York.  Standing out on the [eighty degree] balcony which overlooks a palmtree-and-Porche lined Avenue and the Variety building... and then... not missing Manhattan quite as much.

The trip thus far has been fantastic -- great set of working actress roomies -- a new gym membership [and moreover, I'm actually going to said gym] -- seemingly twice as much time in the day.  But they were right when they said that L.A. was a lonely town sometimes.  Especially when Moronic Newly Bicoastal Actress decides not to rent a car... and is trapped on South Cochran with nothing but Final Cut Pro, an exercise machine, and an in-house mini bar.

Some interesting footage will surely result tonight.  Here's the first bit.

-- La, la la la-freakin-la, Ashley Avis

Lemon's Lurve List Item 9: Midnight 'Sex and the City'

I never watched this show when it first aired on television.  I think I was in high school and my family didn’t get HBO.   It’s not as though I’m a huge fanatic; I haven’t even seen the Sex and the City movie that came out last summer. 

My lurrrve for Sexy and the City started back in 2007 with the TBS rerun versions when I was keeping busy performing Iphigenia 2.0 at the Signature Theatre.   Every night I would come home and be too wired to go to sleep.  I would flip on the TV, and when I would get bored with the late night talk shows, I would flip over to the only other show on at midnight that caught my interest:  Sex and the City.  Pretty soon I was hooked on the girls in the city.  It was fun to watch too because I actually knew some of the places and restaurants they were talking about in the show!  Soon it became a routine, and when I wasn’t out celebrating with cast mates after a show I would come home, make popcorn, and unwind with Sex and the City. 

Ageless

And I don't mean that in the terms of seeming to never age.  I mean in in the terms of: I feel like right now I am in limbo; at some strange, undefinable age. 

At mt last agent seminar I once again got the question, "What ages do you usually play?" - complete with the perplexed head tilt, furrowed brow, and slight air of worry that they might be treading on my toes or asking the obvious.  And, truthfully, I'm not sure how to answer that.  Or if I want to answer that.  Or if I have to answer that - I mean, you have eyeballs.  What do you think?

So Long, Farewell...

(My all-time favorite musical.)

Some of you may know, I have been blogging at "Living Truthfully" (my own personal blog spot) since 2005. When I started blogging here at "Backstage: Unscripted" the amount of time spent on at "Living Truthfully" declined sharply (as the Backstage editor warned me that they might).  I have recently made the decision to devote more attention to my own personal blog, and so this will be my last blog post here at Backstage "Unscripted."  

The Waiting Game

Pursuing making a living as an actor, in addition to many other things, requires a lot of patience. Today, when I inquired about a recent audition, one of my agents said, “They loved you!  You couldn’t have done anything more!….They won’t be making a decision until the end of the week.”  The end of the week?  Bwahhhhh!!!!  Whyyyy?!!?  It’s only Tuesday!!!  Don’t do this to me!!  Just tell me yes or no!!  I can take the rejection!!  What are you waiting for people?!? 

Oh……fine….I’ll wait.  I mean, hey, what else am I going to do?

All My Children : 2007

"Redbullllll..."

I feel like the hyper-delayed-reaction-jetlag has finally hit.  It's about four-thirty L.A. time, and I'm sitting at a high top table... attempting to edit my reel... and somewhat concerned I might just fall asleep face first into my bowl of guacamole.

Oh, yes.  I am, in fact, eating an entire bowl of guacamole.

Anyway.  Big ABC Exec pulled through a few days prior to The Move, and wa la!  The delightful All My Children dayplayer work of yesteryear (or, uh, 2007) has resulted.  I've thrown up a quick scene on YouTube. 

Now, back to snoozing amongst the guac.

-- Ashley Avis