I have been very busy, so don’t think I was slacking off. My webseries, Lemons, comes out very soon. We’re in the home-stretch of post right now and things are picking up! I can’t wait. Stay tuned for our website to launch – www.lemonstheshow.com.

In non-writing news, I just submitted myself to this great commercial agency, Lemon Lime Agency. I have a friend who’s represented by them and loves em! I just updated my actors access account – which for those of you who don’t know is a site that has my headshots and resumes on it.  However, I’m only allowed a certain number of pics on actors access. Otherwise they charge you 10$ a pop… per pic.  LAME!

So, I’m using my blog as a forum to show Lemon Lime some other pics of me! Great idea, right? Right!  So, without further ado, here are some more fun pics of me! Thanks so much for considering me, Lemon Lime!

Awesome… I hope you liked em LL!

In other news, I had a show tonight at iO.  It was a great crowd… I thought the show was okay… not great… not terrible.  An off night for our team. We’ve (1954) has a show Friday night at iO and Steven Yeun and I have our two-man show, Wet HANDS, Saturday night at Second City! Please come check one out!

PSAs of the Future
Stay tuned for more to come!

So, Monday I woke up at 4:45 AM to sit in line for two hours to see Oprah’s Oscar Winners Show at the Kodak Theater. I went with Tracy and to kill the time I decided to put up a post for the blog via my phone. After working on it for about thirty or forty minutes, I went to preview it and it was gone. Deleted. Never to return. I was furious and I didn’t know what to do. In addition to my pain, I was surrounded by thousands (literally) of screaming moms in v-neck blouses. It was insane. These women are certifiably insane. In between guests or during commercial breaks these ladies would shout out to Oprah or Sandra Bullock as if they were friends and going to strike up a conversation from a thousand feet away.  In my professional opinion, they all need to be put in a home or on an island. They’re sick… Overall, though, it was pretty cool. I’m glad I did it before she retires.

Today was my first day on set of a movie I’m working for.  I got a Locations Job and it’s pretty awesome. I stoked about getting to see writers I admire work and do their thing… and of course the actors too. I’m pumped for the next couple months. It’s going to be a tremendous learning experience.

I’ve been so busy with writing projects lately, I feel like I’ve abandoned my UPDATE blog. I’m not going to. I promise. It was a goal I set for myself and I want to reach it. Joke writing is a great muscle to work, but I promised I wouldn’t force myself to do them if I had other writing projects I needed to attend to. Speaking of; Joey and I are close with our PILOT of the webseries and we think we have a name – Making Lemons Out of Lemonade. We’re 90% sure that this is the name of the show. Ha.  In addition, Dan Aho and I have gotten back to our second PILOT – Death in the Family. We were close with it before but both got very busy and had to take a break. However, we’re back at it and very excited about how it’s looking.

Spring Training has started. My 301 improv class at UCB has started. My workout regiment has slowly started. Harold Night on Friday Nights at iO West is in full swing. Okay, that didn’t fit, but the point I’m trying to make is things are starting and I’m excited about them!

I’ve been very busy the past 10ish days which has caused me to slack on my two blogs (ha… that’s a funny title for a TV show). I’ve been working very hard on the webseries pilot script, pick up shots for the webseries this weekend, a couple of other writing projects… oh and, uh, life. Living. Getting green dollars to pay the man so I can exist in his apartment complex and eat his food and wear his clothes, etc.

Anyway, it’s March. I’d like to rededicate myself to my two blogs (Sunday Nights at 9pm on FOX!) after my brief departure. I will reiterate, this go around I specifically wanted to allow myself the luxury of a couple of weeks off if I got busy.  This isn’t an everyday blog, but I do want to blog frequently. Blog.

I feel like this post has gone off on different tangents, I’m sorry.  Anyway, Happy March and Happy Birthday to my beautiful girlfriend, Tracy – tomorrow!!!! March 3!

I leave you, the reader, with a couple stills from my webseries:

This past week I’ve been busy in a really good way, except for jobs. Picked up a few shifts at the cafe which helped, but otherwise nothing on that front. I have a job interview tomorrow that I must get or I will be living in a van down by the river.

As far as writing goes, things are going swell.  Joey and I pumped out a first draft of our pilot got notes back and have been working non-stop on re-writing this week. We re-outlined our pilot episode, got rid of our old “A” story and replaced it with something more interesting and feasible for a TV show. We’re happy with what we came up with. After we re-outlined the episode, we created note cards with each scene and what we need to accomplish in said scene.  It’s really helped me personally to work this way. With note cards I can see and touch the First and Second Acts. Holding them in my hands really helps me visualize what will happen or needs to happen. It’s also a nice way to bounce ideas off Joey and figure out what works.

As of tonight, we’re done with the first act. Tomorrow after my job interview, I’m heading back down to Hermosa Beach and we’re going to make sure the Second Act is ready to be written. Then… we write.  I’m stoked for how this is going to turn out. It should be real solid. When I’m done I’ll try to post a scene so y’all can get a glimpse of it.

In addition to the pilot moving along swimmingly, Steven Yeun and I have been knocking out some “PSAs of the Future” for The Second City Network on YouTube. They just launched out of the Hollywood theater and it’s blowing up like crazy. One of the shorts has almost 200,000 views. Many others have over 40,000.  It’s insane! Steven and I edited ours today at Second City and we’re hoping for them to be up before the end of next week. We need to sing and record our little jingle and create a logo.  Then we’ll be viral, bitches!

That’s it for now, I’ve got some down time…  I’m going to work on some writing I need to do.

Also, a shout out to Tracy Meyer. She was the lead of a short that won the audience’s vote for best picture at the USC screening this week.  It was really well written and shot… and Tracy was wonderful in it! Also, she won a flip camera… which means I won a flip camera… HELL YEAH!!

My harold team, 1954, had a show last night in a terrible slot, but it was a good show… and surprisingly a great crowd. I’m impressed each week by our shows, because the growth is very clear. We feel good after shows, which in improv is always a good sign.

On the other side of the coin, last night before my show Joey and I finished our “Are You Going To The Mall Today?” 22 minute pilot of our webseries. We knew because it was a first draft it wasn’t going to be perfect, but we thought we were ahead of the curve. I sent it out to a few people to get a first wave of notes. My very good friend, Charley Rivkin, sent it back in pieces. I had to literally climb INTO the internet to search for pieces of the script.  I followed a trail of red ink… turns out it wasn’t ink.  He murdered it.
No, it wasn’t that bad. The notes are good and very helpful. We’re real stoked to get back the notes from the others and get cracking on it this week. Even though this part of the writing process is painful, I kind of enjoy the pain. You think you’re close and then… BAM! You’re fucked two times from Sunday (I’m not sure that’s a saying, so just go with it).

This upcoming week is going to be all about finding a job (might be getting back into commercial real estate – FYI) and working on this pilot. I’m very excited about this and can’t wait to get at it. Right now, however, I’m off to work on some Second City shorts with Steven. We’re shooting another one this Thursday and we need to nail down the details.

Sometimes wearing headbands helps me think.

I no longer work at Getfugu. It’s a total bummer. Especially, because I thought this could be really great, but I was totally disappointed in what the company was actually involved in. After talking with Tracy, I decided it was best to leave, before I spent anymore time there and possibly working for free! So, I’m back on the job hunt again. Da-dunt da-dunt. It’s okay though. Some other opportunities look like they might present themselves soon. Hopefully, this was a blessing in disguise. Regardless, if I’m going to keep pursuing my dream of being a TV writer, I’ve got to have a job. So, onward with the job search.

I’m ready though. Ready for a positive change in life… that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to happen… but I’m ready. It’s funny though, the worse things get the better my writing feels. The more I’m enjoying it. Maybe that means something? Maybe not.

I am excited to be shooting a series of “FUTURE PSAs” for the Second City Website. My friend Steven Yeun and I wrote a bunch of material for a new website Second City is launching and tomorrow at noon we’re filming them.  I’m pretty stoked! We worked hard on coming up with funny bits and tomorrow promises to be a blast.

Staying positive and working hard.

Last night was cool for so many reasons, but I’ll quickly name a few:

1. I got to watch people do what they love. The guys from Sunny and Seth MacFarlane are doing exactly what I want to do when I grow up. I want to create a show for TV that means as much to people as these shows mean to me. I was in awe at watching MacFarlane last night. The guy is INSANELY talented. He was tap dancing,  singing and doing three different impressions all at once.  It was sick.  What he’s done is kind of unbelievable. He’s the highest paid TV writer EVER and has three shows on network TV all at the same time. It’s insane.  Then there’s the guys from Sunny. They had an idea and they filmed it for next to nothing. It looked shitty, but it was funny.  Not only did they sell it, but they said we’re not doing it unless we’re all in it. “Seinfeld on crack” is their famous log line and man that show is rad.

2. Jeff Ross and Sarah Silverman. Two great stand-ups who really make doing bits on stage look easy. Sarah was working on some new material and some doucherockets were heckling her – I think it threw her off a little, but she hung in there and delivered a great set. Jeff Ross seemed high as hell, but man was he hilarious.

3. All the proceeds of the night went to the charity, Partners in Health, to aid doctors helping heal Haitian earthquake victims.  An article about the show can be found HERE.
Thank you Tracy for the best gift ever! I love you!

An Emmy for writing… I don’t think this is a horrible goal.

Joke writing is fun. On my joke writing blog, THE UPDATE, I’ve really been enjoying pushing through the points in the process where I get stuck.  Each time I sit down to write a few of these, there’s a moment where I literally can’t put on paper what’s in my head. So, I have to talk out loud or stand up and pretend I’m Conan O’Brien and be really awkward and touch my nipples. Once I do that and focus up on what I’m trying to get across, it all comes flowing out. Each day writing these jokes and bits gets a tiny bit easier. I think and hope that means I’m getting better at writing these.

I’m submitting my first sketch to UCB Friday morning… actually in 5.5 hours and I think it’s really solid/funny one.  I hope we get accepted and are able to put it up at midnight tonight. That would be rad!  If we get picked, I’ll try to record it and post it on my blogs. I actually have three sketches written that I’ll keep in the kitty to submit each week.

Steven Yeun and I had a great writing session tonight. We came up with some funny bits for a couple shorts and some PSAs that we’ll be filming via Second City Hollywood. Stay tuned to both of my blogs for the videos to those. We’re hoping to shoot them in the next few weeks.

Everything else is still the same I guess. I’m keeping my ears open for any opportunities (work) so I can rest my head with ease at night, instead of blogging at 3:35:55 AM.  I mean, 3:36:13 AM. Sorry. Oh wait… it’s actually… haha bits and bits and bits!  

Oh, one thing I learned tonight – I’m all about green tea served over slushy-style ice.  Thank you very much HAUS!

Tonight was Hollywood week on American Idol. One of my closest friends, Jeffrey David Goldford, is a contestant on the show. I’m very geeked about this and very proud of him. He is my monster bear. If you want to learn more about him, please check him out HERE. If you’d like to hear some tunes, check these out: Regretful Catch Me Lonely

In other news, I feel like crap lately. Well, not crap, but maybe shit. Okay, not shit, but definitely like something deep-fried that you have zero clue of what it is. It could be a little poop turd or it could be something good, like chocolate. Yeah, deep-fried chocolate. Mmm.

Anyway, L.A. is extremely harder than I expected. Except, it’s not the writing part that’s hard. I think, I’m writing some of my best stuff and I like how I’m performing when I improvise. It’s just this job thing. It’s killing me. I’ve had a shitty 18 months. I’m a college graduate, I like to think an intelligent one, and the last job I had paid me $12 an hour as an assistant in Chicago… given it was for an incredible company, but still.

I did JUST get a job out here (after the two I thought I was going to get when I initially moved didn’t happen… 5 months ago!) and now I think it might be for a fraudulent company. After further investigation by yours truly, I’m worried that I won’t receive my first paycheck on Tuesday.

Now, I’m faced with the tough dilemma of having to take a real job and giving up on my dream so I can climb out of the monstrous debt that I’ve accumulated so quickly. Or, take an agency job or work a couple of “college” jobs, with no health insurance, so I can continue this dream… but barely get by and NOT pay down debt.

It’s not a simple answer. I have a girlfriend who I love and who is trying to pursue acting. I don’t want her to have to work a full-time corporate job. She’s been so great to me and stood by me and supported me while I’ve been un-employed here. How can I be selfish and continue on like this? I can’t. It’s a shitty place I’m in, but I think it’s time to man up and figure it out.

Life’s full of moments and choices that determine who you are… not forever but for that period of time. Right now, I need to figure out who I’m going to be for this period of time… however long that is.