Good Evening Mr. and Mrs. Internet and all the ships at sea,
I figured it's more or less time to update all my friends and fans (sup grandma) as to what I've been up too in the past while:
Work has been great, we just wrapped filming. As you may or may not know, I work in post production, so I'll be here as the show is cut down through mid-December. Being a part of this season of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" has been a truly life changing experience. There have been a few late nights, but more than enough high points. We had to set up everything from the ground up in a new studio, and make it work with a nearly overhauled team. Despite those challenges and with the help of contagious energy from our new host, Terry Crews, we have turned out some of the most exciting content in recent memory. (Tune In!)
I've made a lot of friends as well as great contacts among my co-workers, and gotten a chance to learn from some truly amazing people, The combined body of work of this staff just blows my mind. Though the job is not finished yet, I am very hopeful about coming back next season, should we get renewed.
Besides work:
Life in Connecticut and the New York Metro area has been a dream come true. The city is beautiful, the people are nice, and the food is out of this world. With the weather getting colder, I find that any free time I have is spent taking the short train ride to Grand Central, to explore the city. Every time is like the first time, and I still feel a bit like a tourist. Despite being such a greenhorn, I definitely have the lay of the land now, and can't wait until I get the chance to move within the city limits. (Harlem maybe?)
A lot of my time in the city has been going to see a lot of concerts, including Reignwolf at the Bowery, Action Bronson at the Chelsea Piers, and was lucky enough to attend The Global Citizen Festival in Central Park that featured Carrie Underwood, FUN, No Doubt and Jay Z (Beyonce showed up too!). I've was also been lucky enough to see Mike Birbiglia kick off his new "Thank God For Jokes" Tour, and catch the taping of Aziz Ansari performing his newest hour at Madison Square Garden. Watch it when it comes out, seriously.
My most recent adventure had me walking the floor of the 2014 New York Comic Con. It was a hell of a way to spend a Sunday, and one of the only times I've ever really understood what 'culture shock' felt like. It was intense, but one of the best days of my life, and it re-sparked a my interest in comic books.
Really the past few months have been a total blast. But as I battle my desire to run wild through the streets of New York on a daily basis, I was reminded just the other day of why I wanted to come here in the first place.
Recently, a bright young comic and author/illustrator of the web comic "Time Trabble", Mikey Heller, got a very nice job writing for a cartoon in LA. I was lucky enough to have met Mikey a few times prior through mutual friends, and wanted to make sure to get to the last open mic showcase he hosted in NYC. I wanted to show support, and congratulate him (and maybe to kiss a little ass) but also wanted to network with the other comedians I knew in the area, knowing I was about to lose one of my only friendly 'in's' with the New York scene.
When I got there to sign up, I was surprised to see a few others I recognized from upstate, who have also made their Exodus to the coast since the summer, which was cool. I noticed that Mikey didn't have a lot of time to talk (his show; understandable), and seemed a little tired, or frustrated, or at the very least, strained. I thought it was strange, for a guy on top of the world, and it kind of reminded me of something I had seen on the face of Lorne Micheals, or Conan O'Brien. The show started and the laughs began to roll off the crowd, and (as I bombed my set) the light bulb went off in my head. Mikey was tired/stressed because he has been busting his ass, working so hard on everything he does. He has a regular-ish comic, writes, works full time, does multiple shows a week (sometimes a night) and I was doing n-o-t-h-i-n-g. When I walked away from my failed bit, with the dissatisfaction that only public failure can bring settled in my mind and I began to think.
When I took my job with the show, my life changed very fast. So much so, I kind of had to roll with the punches and take every day as it came to me. As the pace steadied, I'll admit, I got complacent. Caught up in living a normal 'adult' life away from college; I joined a gym, started going on adult dates, bought too many pairs of sneakers, read books, and started drinking wine.
Being in such a nice position, I too easily lost sight of what really makes me happy in life; laughter. Its easy to let things get in the way of our dreams when we get comfortable in our everyday routine, and I believe its one of those lessons you can't really learn until you live it.
But being in a room with active, struggling comics, and being able to laugh so genuinely like that, reminded me of what I really want to end up doing. TV was just a springboard to comedy, and the two, while often working together, are not automatically in tandem. While I imagined it would be impossible a few months ago, finding a job in show business was the easy part.
Making it Comedy is going to be a lot harder, but I know that now.
Lesson Learned; Stay Focused.