Fighting with Birds

Monday morning, about seven in the morning. I left the house in a hurry to make it to work on time but I had time for the normal morning check list:

Snooze the alarm three times after when I needed to get up - Check

Wake up in a frenzy - Check

Realize I have no time for breakfast let alone a shower - Check

Get dressed in the dark - Check

Brush teeth and leave little white triangles in the corner of my mouth - Check

Leave my hair in such a way as to inspire fear in others - Check

And I was ready for my morning.

So I was walking down the street hurrying for the bus and of course it's packed. Which is just how I like it.

I squeeze myself onto the bus making sure to keep my elbows up just incase some people were confused if I was trying to get on the bus or if I was just stopping by to say hello.

So with that the sweatiest bus ride I've ever taken began. It was magical. There was someone in the back listening to what one might list as "rap" music. I imagined that the person was an up and comer in the industry and was trying to catch the attention of a young producer starved for new talent. (As far as I know no contracts were signed during the trip)

There was someone next to me who smelled like a beautiful spring day awash with flowers and sweet sweet garbage. My nostrils filled with the odor and it brought me back to my days working with the local prison crew cleaning up the hills surrounding the industrial waste plant in my home town. I wasn't in prison mind you I just went for the companionship and to relish in my own freedom. It helped to put things into perspective and didn't hurt my street cred.

At the next stop more like minded people piled in. Our bodies pressed together like sardines in a jar of freshly pressed olive oil. I found myself very close, almost awkwardly close, to a woman on the bus. I could sense the tension so I leaned gently in and whispered in her ear "you smell nice". I whispered of course to avoid any other passengers getting confused and thinking I was speaking to them.

Feeling rather intoxicated by the stench sweat, garbage, and head and shoulders for women I took the time to serenade the bus. My one man a cappella version of "Face Down Ass Up" stunned the bus into an awed silence. As I was being thrown off the bus (only a few blocks away from my stop, phew!) I caught a glimpse of the woman with the nice smelling hair, she was crying, one can only assume from sheer happiness.

And so my day began. I couldn't have felt more connected to the human race and I was in giddy anticipation for my train ride downtown.

Hey Gurl...whatchu you dooooooin'

When I was 16 years old I decided that it would be in my best interest to scour the internet to locate the best pickup lines. And by best of course I mean the worst. I found such Gems as "Your eyes are like diamonds, and diamonds are expensive and so are eye replacements. And baby...you need eye replacements." That was probably one of the tamer ones which should tell you how good my chances with these were.

At 10 am on a Saturday I did what any good teenager would do with a full day of nothing to do. I made a sandwich, packed all fifteen pages of pickup lines I found, and got in my car to go to the mall.

Now the mall was about twenty minutes away so I had plenty of time to think about a game plan. Two main issues with my quest. One, I needed to make sure that no one called mall security and I got kicked out before enough research had been completed. Two, I needed to have a good web laid out to really get things moving, I couldn't waste time picking up ladies in the cinnabun line, even though those gooey buns called to me like sirens to wayward sailors only to dash them on the rocks of obesity.

The main event went as smoothly as one could hope. A few chuckles here, a slap or two there, and before you knew it fifteen pages and four hours of my life had blown by.

I was single when I went to the mall and I came out just as single...but I did learn a very good lesson. When you're bored and you think that it'd be really great to waste time by hitting on random women at a mall in a town outside of Milwaukee Wisconsin...do it.

There is literally nothing wrong with it.

Yes...And?

So this is an extremely delayed post. I believe thinking back that is exactly what I've been saying about every post I've written in here since dedicating it to update my friends and family about my goings on.

I recently started taking improv classes at Second City, and by recently I mean several months ago. I began with Improv for Actors level 1. My teacher was a Mr. Tim Paul. It. Was. Awesome. I enjoyed it immediately and learned so much even within the confines of such a large class (19 students).

The best part of it was that not only was I learning improv skills but I was learning how to let go and trust myself and my instincts. It is something that I've struggled with as an actor and I'm always embarrassed to share with others, the ability to make a fool of yourself. I used to only be able to allow myself to go down that path when I felt really safe but with the help of my teachers at Second City I can now make a fool of myself anywhere and anytime!

I am of course being completely serious. It's a wonderful freedom that allows growth in all forms of acting, not just improv.

I took a break, like most everyone else, over the holidays and have now finished my second week in IFA 2 taught by Megan Hovde Wilkins..

I have also had the great fortune to audition and begin working with the musical Improv group The Cupid Players. A great group led by Brian Posen. They preform every Saturday at 1030pm at iO in the upstairs theater.

I began singing with them this past Saturday and immediately struck by how much I enjoyed watching this group perform. They are incredibly talented and I found myself really enjoying just watching them. This of course made me really excited to start working with them more regularly.

Hopefully more good things to come in the coming weeks as this new avenue is explored.

American Agency

This past weekend marked the 23rd Abbie Hoffman Festival at Mary Archie Theatre Co.

I had the opportunity to perform at this festival for the first time since coming to Chicago six years ago.

I was e-mailed by a friend of a friend to be a part of the show American Agency by Alexandra Bassett and I had nothing going on at the time so I decided to take the opportunity.

At first I just though it would be a fun experience and allow me to act and keep fresh with no long term shows in the immediate future.

In the end it became much more than just a time filler. First and foremost I had the opportunity to work with a wonderful young director Josh Sobel who I really think is going to do wonderful things in Chicago and who is directing a new show with The Fine Print Theater Co. this fall. He had such a great vision for the play and was extremely dedicated to making sure the story was told in its entirety even with a short and varied rehearsal process.

It was an absolute joy to work with him and I cannot thank him enough for helping to make the experience what it was.

I also had the opportunity to work in a fun and safe environment with wonderful cast mates who allowed me to make choices for my character that, in a quick rehearsal period, sometimes get overlooked. I found myself really living in the world of the play and felt comfortable making choices that personified my character in a very real way.

Overall what was to be a cool opportunity to meet new people and do some acting ended up teaching me things and broadening my outlook of the plays I'm working on and the characters that live within them.

Of the festival itself, I will say that I am glad opportunities like this exist in Chicago. It is a constant reminder of how much this city loves theater and why this city of actors is a great place to live.

YIPPIE YIPPIE!

Hello and welcome.

Come and celebrate with Mary Archie and the gang at their annual Abbie Hoffman festival.

I will be performing in a short play called American Agency by Alexandra Bassett and directed by Josh Sobel.

Featuring:

Nick Roesler
Alex Huntsberger
Aaryn Kopp
Kristen Johnson
Todd Garcia

American Agency will be performed on Saturday the 20th at 11am and Sunday the 21st at 7:17pm.

Four muses work hard to inspire a thoroughly uninspired nation. Fighting apathy and a general disconnection from the communal good, the muses must conduit something to inspire woman in the age bracket of 20-35 years old.

Come out and support local Chicago Theater as well as me and my friends.

Another Closing Another Show

Today marks the beginning of the first week in the past five months that I will not have a show to rehearse/perform/prep for, and actually after the past five months I am OK with that.

Normally at this time I'd be freaking out, "when will I ever get cast again", but thankfully this time those thoughts have stayed away. (Ok, not completely away but much quieter than normal). It could be that I'm growing up and becoming more mature and more comfortable with this business and the ebb and flow of the tide of shows. It also could be the fact that working a full time job and doing two consecutive shows with no break in Berwyn is exhausting. I like to think it's a nice combination of both.

I do know that I am worried, worried about being left out, being left behind, or worse...being forgotten. The truth is that any and all of those things are possible depending on how the time between shows is handled.

It's not to say that breaks from shows aren't needed or valuable, I am definitely in need of some time off and I'll be getting it. A summer vacation this June takes me out of the running for a few shows/classes and so the next prospect is a few months off if not more.

This is a bit scary, fear of falling out of practice is most prominent in my mind as possible consequences of a long break from performing. But there are ways around that. Reading and writing are of course two of the most common, the best way to keep up creative insight is to keep your mind working. Watching TV and playing video games won't help when you have to get back into the swing of things.

But probably the most interesting thing a good friend advised me to do when dealing with a "dry spell" is to simply experience life. Seems simple enough, but the reality of the situation is that as an actor it's easy to base your life around your shows, and spend the time in between "waiting" rather than "living".

Gathering stories and life experiences allows you to not only pass the time but to grow as a performer. The more you've experienced the more you'll be able to express on stage or in your art or your writing.

So for the time being I will write, and read, and take classes when I can but most importantly I plan to live.

Our Dad is in Atlantis Review - Time Out Chicago

"Garcia does masterful work as the older brother, occasionally registering his bleak situation with a stoic stare like something out of a De Sica film."
- John Beer

Read the full review here.

photo credit: Anthony Aicardi