Audition Watch

I've really been doing a terrible job of fulfilling the purpose of this blog, which was to document the whole...process of finding my career in comedy thing. To be fair, there hasn't been a huge amount of progress on that front in the past few weeks, but I've been taking steps to kind of course correct. It's weird that after only a few weeks of being here, I could already feel myself getting off track, but my resolve has been strengthened and I've actually been doing some auditioning in the last week or so.

And because I'm THAT obnoxious, there's a logo for me going on auditions. Pretty soon, there will be logos for things like "I Made a Sandwich" or "Walking Down the Street '08," because...let's face it...I'm just that cool. Either way, this is:
Audition #1: Denise's Book Club
The Scoop:
This was a sketch show that was to be staged at Donny's Skybox (the Second City stage where I'm currently doing the American Backwash show). Its previous iteration received positive reviews, so it seemed like a good bet.

How Did It Go?
I spent the day of the audition running around for work, trying to finish up my resume and get my headshots printed in the moments between errands. This probably would have been fine, had my printer not decided to run out of ink on me. By the time I realized I was screwed, it was too late to get over to Costco to get some better quality prints made up. Couple that with the fact that it was raining like a bitch and I was down to 15 minutes left to get over to the theatre and...it didn't happen. I gave up. I'm a quitter, I know, but...I wasn't prepared and I didn't want to go in looking like an ass, so I decided to cut my losses and wait for the next one. It's a shame, though, because I was really looking forward to this one. I guess you can't win them all, right?
Result: FAILURE

Audition #2: Chemically Imbalanced Comedy
The Scoop:
Chemically Imbalanced Comedy has been around for about 9 years...it's a independent comedy theatre over on Irving Park, and I've heard some really positive things in my research on them. The space is small, but well-suited to improv, and the people there seem really cool and into producing quality local comedy. The audition was for a new sponsored improv troupe through the theatre, which means they're putting together a team and providing a coach, rehearsal space, entry into festivals, a spot on the monthly showcase bill, etc.

How Did It Go?
I made sure to leave extra early this time so that I could navigate my way through this as-yet-unexplored neighborhood. Even with an hour lead time, I still barely made it over there after getting turned around nineteen million times. The thing about Chicago is that everything is on a grid, basically, with the exception of a few diagonal streets. But that doesn't make it any easier, because there's still a QUADBILLION on-the-grid streets! Gah! I made it, though, which was already a step up from the first audition.

Stumbling into the theatre, there were maybe...30-35 people there to audition (this was the second audition slot of the day), and most all of them were the kind of young, eager improvisers that I enjoy playing with the most. We split into two groups and basically did two sessions of freeze tag, which was...a lot of fun. Everybody was really sharp, everybody had a unique voice and I, a notorious non-laugher, laughed a lot. I got out about 5 or 6 times and got a response just about every time, which was encouraging. I know that my improv voice is a little...strange, sometimes, but it's good to know that I'm doing SOMEthing right. I'm supposed to hear back about it today or tomorrow, and I'm really hoping I somehow stood out enough to get it. I want to play with those people again...after a rough response from the show last night, they were a reinvigorating push for my faith in this community.

Result: COMING SOON

Audition #3: Robot Vs. Dinosaur
The Scoop: I don't know a whole heck of a lot about this one, other than that it's a sketch group that has gotten good reviews from their previous shows, mostly in New York it seems? The website isn't terribly helpful in this regard, but you can check it out here. The performances on this one would be ideal because it's being staged at the Gorilla Tango Theatre, which is literally just down the street from me here in Wicker Park. With my wonky scheduling on the job, it helps to not have to travel too far to get to rehearsals and stuff.

How Did It Go?
This one takes place this afternoon, so I'll let you know once it happens.

Result: COMING SOON

So there's the first three (or two, if you want to be official about it). I'll be back later to tell you all about my first show at the Skybox last night. It was...well...rough, to say the least. But I have pictures and stories and I'll hopefully be back with that tonight.

We're Here

Yes, I'm safely in Chicago. Yes, I'm all moved in. No, I won't have your sister's baby for a thousand dollars. That's at least two thousand dollars worth of work.

It's been a bit of a boring week thus far, and rather than write about the overarching experience of moving, blah blah blah...I put together a little video to show you the new place, the new neighborhood, and help promote the new blog a little bit. I've decided that it's easier at this point to write about the minutiae here...the little things that I'm discovering that set the city apart, which you'll be hearing more about soon. And as I don't officially start my job until tomorrow, I don't have a ton of great stories in that regard yet, but give it a day or two. I'm sure I'll come up with something.

For the time being, enjoy the tour and I'll be back soon with the tale of how the library screwed me twice.

Preshow 1x03: Improvise

I swear the actual blog is starting soon.

This week is feeling like a transition week already...if only by virtue of the fact that I actually had time for a nap yesterday for the first time in longer than I can remember. With the weight of SUA off my shoulders, and the need to be on campus or thinking about school diminishing, I can truly turn myself towards the research side of the Chicago endeavor.

The problem is, with any research I do, I tend to get swamped by it and then can't consume it fast enough. It's the same way when I'm trying to learn new design stuff of illustration stuff...I just want more more more before I even perfect the old stuff.

I continued the apartment search last night, but...seriously folks...this shit is goofy hard. The more people I talk to, the further I'm narrowing down my best areas, but even then...trying to find a place to live when you're in a completely different city is next to impossible. I understand that I'm going to have to wait till I can actually get up there to get a good idea of what I'm dealing with, but...yikes.

I e-mailed a friend of Kait who lives in the city, and she gave me some clear, concise advice on the ups and downs of the different areas. Combing that with the advice of my cousin Todd, Alyssa, and various other people who I've bugged, and right now... Lakeview, Edgewater, Bucktown/Wicker Park and Rogers Park all seem like reasonable areas to look in, though the price is beginning to look more in the realm of 700/mo minimum for a decent place, as opposed to some of the 500-600/mo places I was finding before. Those, I've been told, are most likely shit holes.

But you know what's just as hard as finding a place to live? Finding a job. The suggestion was made last night, again by Kait's friend Kristen, that I may be best off going to a staffing agency to find work when I get out there.

This is the problem: I feel, without any real basis for saying as such, that I could do better than temp work at a staffing agency. I mean...I've got skills, right? I can produce reasonable quality creative work, I have a portfolio, I have marketing experience, etc and so forth. But then I realize that there are 19 million other people with probably the same, if not more, experience in any of those fields. I still believe myself to be savvy enough to pull this one out without the use of a place like that, but...I was given the name of a place called Creative Circle (by Alyssa's brother-in-law, thank you), which specializes in creative and advertising staffing. If I have to go that route, at least I have that as a reasonable compromise.

And you know what's just as hard as finding a job? Deciding which improv training center fits my style the best. I've always assumed that the Second City was the place I wanted to be...it has the history, the name value, I love the shows I've seen of them thus far...but in reading more and more on the community, I'm wondering if iO or the Annoyance Theatre wouldn't be good options as well. I'll tell you...while it's exciting to see the size of the improv community in Chicago, it's also humbling to realize exactly how little of a fish in how big of a pond I'm going to be for a very long time out there.

Again, I still have this nagging feeling that I'm savvy enough and skilled enough in selling myself and finding/making the right opportunities to be famous, and to make a name for myself in a reasonable amount of time, but...man. There are...a lot of hurdles. A lot.

I may be down, but lord I'm not out.

Next: the incredibly helpful gift I got from Lindsey

Helpful links (for my archival sake and for your use, if you need them):

Creative Circle
http://www.creativecircle.com

Chicago Improv Network
www.chicagoimprov.org

Second City Training Center
http://secondcity.com/?id=training-education/training/chicago/new_student

Performink - Chicago's Entertainment Trade Paper
www.performink.com

Preshow 1x02

Where We Last Left Off: Shawn has gone to war with KU to try and graduate on time, despite being denied the necessary credits by the mysterious Academic Standards Subcommittee. Meanwhile, the Chicago process rolls on...

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Welcome to the second edition of the preshow. Nice of you all to "tune in." Please excuse the continual reference to this whole blog thing as a television show, but I'm trying a framing experiment here to build some drama and clearly delineate "episodes" of my life for easy consumption. The real show will start in the next few days. I promise.

After all the academic hoopla that occurred yesterday, I've calmed down a bit today and tried to get my head back on track. As an update on that situation, though, my SUA advisors have been gracious enough to call in their contacts with University administration to see if there's somebody, anybody who can help me. Right now I have a call out to one of the Vice Provosts who may at least be able to push me in the right direction. Keep your fingers crossed. I'm not biting the bullet just yet, as I don't have much of a taste for bullets, nor a taste for paying money to be screwed.

The only progress today was updating my Public Relations resume. I made mention in a previous post about The Checklist...which I'll share, just for some idea of what I need to get done. Remember that I'm essentially preparing myself for careers in three unique fields, so I'm doing a lot of different work towards evening out my brand.

Call it unhealthy, but I'm taking the position (at least initially in my career) of pushing myself as more of a product than an individual. I always get weird looks when I mention that I'm "cleaning up my brand" before I leave, but I think it's important to have a consistent and polished image before pursuing interests in a field. For me, that includes a graphic identity...website, portfolio, resume, logo/letterhead, business card...all that stuff matching up in style, color, presentation. That means making sure I'm easily accessible on-line in as many places as possible...not just Facebook or MySpace, but specialized sites like Coroflot for design work, LinkedIn for professional contacts, YouTube and Flickr for media hosting, etc (and, again, my own website, which is receiving a facelift and a change in host).

Yes, I'm commoditizing myself, but it helps in streamlining my self-promotional efforts if I can view things through that filter.

The Checklist, then, is just what I need to do to get all these things up to snuff, along with all the other pesky things that come with a move. This, I suppose, is just boring exposition, but it is also the foundation for the next few weeks:

Professional:
- Update my PR-focused resume
- Update my acting resume
- Team-up with Paul to record my demo tape for voiceover work
- Get new headshots taken
- Update my graphic design resume
- Assemble my final graphic design portfolio and design a new leave-behind
- Redesign and relaunch ShawnBowers.com
- Settle on a business card design
- Prepare clippings of writing work for writing portfolio
- Tweak new logo - (see it here tomorrow)

Personal:
- Lock in a move date by mid-May
- Settle on my Top 4 sections of Chicago I would want to live in
- Get the Second City schedule lined up and get application going
- Get resume sent off to at least 3 PR firms in the city
- Mine my remaining contacts for any freelance magazine work in the city
- Get up to Chicago for a scouting trip in mid-June

More added or subtracted to this list as it comes.

Soon: More war progress! Meet the new cast! The new logo revealed!

Preshow 1x01

Welcome. We're about ready to get started. Of course, before we can get started, I have to graduate. Being allowed to graduate, as you may realize, is one of the most important steps in graduating, and it's one that I thought I had achieved.

Here's the story: my freshman year, which I spent at UMKC, we were required to take a class called Arts and Sciences 100, which was essentially a college orientation course dealing with time management, study skills, bullshit bullshit, etc. I didn't want to take it, but I was required...so be it.

Sophomore year I come to KU. My credits are all wonky, but at least they're counting for SOMEthing (which I would later rectify to their proper equivalents)...all but one class. Arts and Sciences 100. Those credits are unceremoniously canceled. Whatever, I say at the time.

Flash to this year. I look at my credits and realize that, when all is said and done, I will come up exactly 2 credits short of the number I need to graduate. At the same time, I find out that there is a class offered at KU called PRE 101 which is basically the exact same thing as the class I took. How do I know this? On top of knowing two people who actually taught the course, I took the syllabi to the Director of the program here at KU, Dr. Mary Ann Rasnak, who reviewed my claim and signed off on the fact that, indeed, the classes were identical and should be counted for credit.

I went through the process of getting my appeal together with the syllabi, the written claim from Dr. Rasnak, the personal statement on why the credits should be reinstated...and turned all of this in in mid-February.

And then I waited.

And then I waited.

And then I heard nothing. I went ahead and applied for graduation, got my Major Certification Form filled out and started making plans for the new life/show (officially titled The Amusement of Others now), and was sporadically in contact with my graduation advisor, who informed me that my petition for credit wouldn't even be going in front of the committee until APRIL 15. That's just about a 2 month delay, for those of you keeping track.

April 15 comes and goes. I hear nothing. I e-mail my advisor, asking when I might be hearing. She informs me that the woman should be getting in touch with me with the decision from the board. Another week goes by. I decide to try and get in contact with this person directly, through phone...through e-mail...even by visiting her office and being denied the chance to see her. A few days later (this would be yesterday), I get notice that the credit appeal has been denied.

I'm left waiting more than two months, as I start making other plans to move on with my life, for them to tell me that they're denying me the two ELECTIVE CREDITS (not major credits, not gen ed credits) that I need to graduate. It wasn't enough that the director of the actual academic program here at KU said that I deserve credit...apparently, whoever is on the Academic Standards Subcommittee (and I've tried to find out who they are, but, of course, their names aren't listed) are better judges than the people who actually run the class.

So now I'm left in a bit of a spot. This all strikes me as an attempt to suck a few hundred more dollars out of me before they give me the stupid piece of paper that I've worked towards for the last 4 years, and I'm not standing for it. I've moved on with my life, and I am not going to take more classes at this University.

It's a very difficult thing to demonize this school right now, on the heels of the National Championship or whatever. I don't care about the athletics of this school, I care about the academics, and I have fulfilled my obligations to this University...whether it's through my schoolwork or my involvement as an organizational leader on campus.

This is a slap in the face, and I am going to spend the next week or two (the small amount of time I was given between the time that they chose to finally inform me and the time I would technically graduate) to rally all of the contacts that I have built up over the last 3 years and find out how I can overturn this decision.

You're not getting any more money from me, KU. And you're never getting my respect now. I don't care how well you can toss a basketball.

Soon: Back to the actual show, with a preview of everything that one needs to do to properly reinvent their lives.