Find the Right Fit: Free Acting Class Review

So, I recently took the lunge and dove into a brand new acting class.  This makes it my fifth acting class (not counting UCB) since I've been out here in good old Los Angeles.  Now, I don't move around so much because I find my classes dull or boring or unhelpful.  Not the case.  I find that if I'm in a class for too long, I get comfortable.  And being a 'comfortable' actress means being a lazy actress and lazy actress' doesn't book jobs.

I need a challenge.  I need something that's really gonna motivate me to go out there and kick some a**.  I need to be inspired.  A little over a month ago I began my search.

I started with a well known and respected studio (i'll leave names out, if you really need to know because you're shopping around for a class, email me privately and i'll share with you).  I went to an orientation day.  'What is going on?' was my main thought throughout the process.  Everyone's different, so I'm not here to say, 'Do or Don't go to this studio'.  Each artist has their own creative style and process and there's no one right path, that's what makes us ARTISTS!  For me, this studio didn't fit quite right.  The teachers were all...um...how do you say, a bit spazmatic?  However, I thought getting out of my 'comfort' zone might be a good thing and at the end of the orientation I put a hold on a spot in the next months class.  But even after I put down my card as a deposit, I knew it wasn't the place for me.  It seemed as if the woman in the office didn't give one hoot about you, just wanted your credit card asap, goodday.  And it just made my skin feel not so tingly with excitement.

And my search continued.  The following week, I headed to another studio which was listed on ActorGenie, (all you fellow actors out there, download this app if you have an iphone, it's pretty sweet!) I hadn't personally heard of this studio but it sounded like what I was searching for.  I took a chance, headed to audit and well...fell in love.

When I walked in the door the 'class producer' who's in charge of collecting money from the auditors and giving out all the info on the studio was the brightest, happiest, sweetest woman I'd ever met.  But genuinely so, not in a way that puts a bad taste in your mouth and furrow on your brow.  She was oh so helpful and patient with all of our questions and concerns, then led us into the studio where class was about to begin.

Here's one of my pet peeves.  Studios that don't let potential students audit an actual class!  How do we know what we're paying for unless we get to actually experience it?  I think it's somewhat shady (even though one of my fave teachers doesn't allow auditors and I don't regret signing up for class w/o a sneak peek, it was worth it), but for the most part, it just makes giving that studio money a harder decision, because you're thinking, 'Well, I liked the info in the orientation but how does it feel to be in that class for real?'

Anywho, I got to audit the actual class.  It was awesome.  From the moment class began I knew I had found my next "home".  The students were uber talented and nice (imagine that!).  The teacher was just calm and cool and told it like it was without making anyone cry or being too soft.  Then we took a 15min break halfway through class and he met with all us auditors that were there that day and focused one at a time on us and asked us our stories.  I loved that.  He cares.  He cares where we came from, why we're here and whether or not it'll be a good fit.  It was just what I needed.

As of tuesday, I had my first class!  It was...to be honest, not as glorious as I'd hoped.  The class that I audited is an 'upper level' class so they start all their new students in the one below for a short time to make sure everyone's on the same page.  I don't think the class I'm in is bad by any means, I'm just not sure it's the challenge that I'm looking for.  I didn't feel the spark on tuesday that I had felt that time I audited.

But, that was just class number one.  I'm not dismayed yet.  Plus, I was just assigned my first scene and...(drumroll please) it's Kill Bill.  What?  My absolute dream role!  So, maybe once I get up there to work on a scene I'll feel a bit more challenged by the class.  I sure hope so! 

Do you have any absolutely amazing studios you'd like to share with me?   I'd love to hear some feedback!

Flights are How Much?!?!??!

Is anyone else getting overwhelmed by the gas prices these days??  Yikes!  I'm always happy when I'm able to walk somewhere and save .011 gallon of gas, so I don't have to visit that horrifying gas station, spend $25 and only see the needle go up to a quarter tank.  Ugh.

I believe this is directly affecting the price of flights as well.  This year has already been a challenging one navigating the discount, cheap flight websites almost every day to plan for a hefty number of trips I'm taking this year.

I'm very excited to be taking these trips, don't get me wrong.  I'm visiting Vegas, I'm flying home to visit my new nephew, baby John, I'm flying internationally to Italy to be in my best friends wedding!  It's all fabulously exciting and very much worth my time, but my bank account keeps frowning at me...

As a 'starving artist', I find these prices to be even more daunting.  All things I want to do and I will end up doing, even if it means months of raman noodles and no cable ;).  Whatever happened to the days of discount travel sites actually offering discounts??  I've been searching for cheap flights on hotwire, orbitz, priceline, etc, and it seems to me that the prices they spit out are what you would pay if you were going to the airline site itself.  I miss the 'good old days'...am I actually old enough to say that?

It's so funny when I reminisce about 'back in the day' when I would stop at the gas pump on my way back from senior year classes and I'd sift around the floor and seats of my mazda 323 hatchback and find about $2 worth of change.  I'd walk inside to the clerk, "$2 on number 4 please", and I'd have a decent amount of gas to get me through the week.  Heaven.

Well, prices are rising...so I hope minimum wage gets on board soon enough, or I book that next big Tim Burton film and get a chance to pay my entire family's gas for a few years!

Got any secret good advice on how to save money on flights or at the pump??  Let me know!

Ooh, for those of you with smartphones, there's an app called 'Gas Buddy' and it tells you the price of the gas in the area you are so you can find the cheapest.  At least you may only spend $4.60 as opposed to $4.89  ;)

Get out of Town!

No, really, get out of town.

As an actor and 5yr resident of Los Angeles, CA, I think it's fun, healthy and absolutely necessary to take breaks from the crazy nonstop hustle of Hollywood. It can drive you insane, as I'm sure my fellow actors know. So allow yourself some breathing room and remind yourself that there's a huge world outside of the film industry! And if you step away for 24 hrs it'll all still be there when you get back...

I just took a quick one night trip up to San Francisco with my sweet man to visit his little sis. We drove! What a blast! I love road trips it really is a great way to see the country and appreciate what the world has to offer, (ps. I would never want to own a car if I lived in San Fran, I'd prolly end up driving over 2 ppl a day and I don't think I'd look that good in an orange jumpsuit).

Any who, this was a needed little escape. I've been increasingly busy these days and in a very good and exciting way. I booked two auditions the other week, and believe it or not they were both paying! woohoo! So last weekend I spent two days filming and being a 'working actress' and another day filming a feature for a friend. It was very fulfilling.

And now here I am on my way back from one night off and I'm planning two more days of filming and have 4 auditions to record when I get home. The hustle never dies! I love it and will never complain, but I gotta say, having a hard working agent and a name where you don't necessarily have to audition to get a part must be nice!

So seriously, next time you feel yourself swamped and stressed and unable to breathe, get out of town! You deserve it! We all do! Where would you go if you had a few days off and could drive 6 hrs??...what's stopping you? Don't forget, you only live once, don't waste it!