Today was a day of firsts. To begin with, I started my Groundling workshop, and secondly, I cheated on Taco Bell. Sorry, Taco Bell. I had to try Del Taco. Let's discuss the latter first...well, because I can.
Again, the servers were very polite and smiling. The menu was much more appetizing than Taco Bell's. The prices were pretty good too. They had a dollar menu (which I abuse at other establishments). So, I got a soft and hard taco...both higher quality food content than Taco Bell, and they were fuller, but I'm still undecided if I liked the taste. The crunchy taco did NOT crumble the entire time I ate it, so that was a huge bonus in their favor. The spicy chicken burrito was loaded with real beans (not the refried paste that is at TBell), and there was a lot of rice in it. Very filling, but I couldn't find but a few chunks of chicken, and there wasn't even a smattering of taste let alone spicy. So, it was filling, but not very tasty. I'll have to do a second trip pretty soon to see if the tacos were a fluke or not. Taco Tuesday, baby!
Then I trekked down to Hollywood for the first day of lessons with the Groundlings. I ended up getting there an hour early, so I walked around Melrose Avenue. Imagine shops like Hot Topic, but more hipster...if that's even possible. Dozens of these stores on both sides of the street. And this little establishment thrown in the middle (or on the corner, rather). Gee, I wonder what they specialize in prescribing?
So, I eventually killed enough time until it was close enough to hover around the theater. I'll get more pictures next week (if I remember) of the inside of the theater and our rehearsal/performance space. Once two o'clock came, our instructor, Sean Hogan, corralled us and we went a block down the road to a separate building labeled Groundling School. He was a very confident speaker, and seemed like a combination of Ty Burrell (Modern Family) and Peter Krause (Sports Night, Six Feet Under, Parenthood). Imagine if they had a kid together with equal parts of each...if that's possible, I'm no biologist. He wore a black hat and glasses, which made him look like Burrell, but up close in talking to him one-on-one, I got a LOT of Krause mannerisms. A nice guy. He was a Groundling for ten years, but quit in '03. He said that there' s a time when you're expected to move on to make room for others. Might explain the continued pipeline to SNL and TV after a few years on the Groundling stage. He was in the cast with Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan, and he told a few Will Ferrell stories.
The first activity was to go around the room and say our name followed by our favorite movie (Bob, Star Wars). This was not to see who the quickest person was at remembering names...we were all assured we would fail and call "help." He wanted to see how our mannerisms/body language changed when we were grasping for something. Improv is listening and helping, it's NOT asserting your character ONTO them, it's a tandem, a dance. So, since I was sitting on the dealer's left (poker jargon), I went first. And as my friend and fellow teacher Seth will attest to, I'm not the best at names. So, one can pretty much guess how I did with the names. Ironically, I was able to remember probably 80% of their movies, but their names didn't make an impression in my mind. Shocker, I know. Again, it wasn't a complete memorization activity, it was to concentrate on how we hold ourselves up when we fail and need help. When we don't know a name, or movie, we were supposed to say "help" without changing anything about ourselves (voice, inflection, body language, eye contact, etc.)...almost as if their name was "help."
Oh, before I forget...this guy is in the class, former NFL linebacker T.J. Slaughter (NFL stats): http://tjslaughter.com/.
A real nice guy. I got to chat him up a bit, but I hope to talk to him more down the road. He's just started up in the last two years acting-wise, so it will be neat to hear about some of his hurdles/obstacles along the way. Because in looking at him, we are obviously going to be going for the same roles, and the same career path. Obviously. He's airing right now nationally in a commercial. If you see a truck racing a man through a gravel tunnel (like under an overpass), it's him. Really a strong guy...obviously.
There were a few others games. Stand in a circle, and say a word to the person to your left, and whatever letter that word ends in...the next word has to begin with it. We need to tell a story, a story that makes sense, not so much funny. This forces us to listen as well as think on our toes. There were a handful of other principles/activities, but I won't bore you with each one. They were all helpful, and the energy that Sean had really presented an environment to explore without feeling judged. Granted, some people opened up a little sooner than others...like me...and this one girl that has JEDI tattooed on her lower lip (on the inside). I think she's my new best friend in that class, along with Mr. Slaughter. I wonder if anyone ever called him "Sarge" or "Seargent," hmm...
Other observations of the day:
1. Oh, so that's LA traffic. Ugh.
2. They don't put exit numbers on the signs leading up to the exit. They only put them on the sign immediately where the road forks off. Glad I have the Garmin.
3. The parking enforcement people are borderline Nazis...according to stories I hear. Two hour parking spaces, they will spray your tires with a solution. Two hours later, they come by with a UV light and if your tire is inked, then you get ticketed because you were there over two hours. This didn't happen to me, but a great story nonetheless. I was sweating as I approached my car after sitting on the street for four hours. Thought I wasn't in a two-hour spot.
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