So today was a day of shooting for 2 Star State of Mind. Things went well, we did a bunch of interior shots at my Dad’s house. Ray plays my dad and reminds me a lot of my stepdad Tom. There’s a lot of sitting on the couch and watching tv, so that’s an extreme parallel. So that is working well. I got some stills from the first few days, you can take a look. The rooftop scenes are very picturesque.

Tomorrow, we are doing more scenes of me and pops, Ray at the same location in Hell’s Kitchen. We ate lunch at the Noodle Shop, which was quite tasty. I was really pleased with some of my performances today and can only hope to raise the bar on each successive day. I am excited to do new scenes everyday and fully flush out my character.

I am also doing a photo shoot for 5 to 6, by Seraphin Productions. Ernie is my character and is a straight up goofball. Good times. Can’t wait to work on that one too. My schedule is literally packed through November with projects. It is getting hard to manage my planner on a daily basis and fit everything in.

Tonight I managed to fit in another improv class and think I am heading in the right direction. It took a little relaxing and being myself, but I am now back in full force. I can’t wait to get back next week and apply what I’ve learned. ‘Superbad’ had quite a bit of improv’ing and was quite entertaining. It was a little campy and farce at times, but provided many laughs; several of which are on my script beginnings brainstorming sheet. Now I can no longer use them in creating my stand up or script. One of them was the infamous…’Flip and Tuck’. All the guys know what I’m talking about.

Also yesterday I watched Amy’s performance in Pogo and Evie. She did great and was a wonderful ensemble dancer. The story was very compelling and the live music did wonders. I strongly suggest checking it out. Well, I am tired and gotta run for a 6:30 wakeup. Hasta….

Hey sorry I have been slacking on this online oneway relationship. Anyways, last time we talked I was getting ready to do my film. So far so good, I am enjoying working everyday and creating relationships both in and out of character. My girlfriend in the movie, Lindsey Felton, is extremely talented and used to work a lot as a youngen. She is a joy to work with and is quite talented, it really helps in creating the arc of the character. She was telling me about her Nickelodeon days and it reminded me of my old crush on Punky Brewster.

Anyways, we have shot in Central Park, as well as some rooftop scenes, which look very visually appealing. In addition, the shots at the 11st Bar came out very independent and raw, packed with emotion. I can’t wait to see the first cut. Our director is cutting it as we go to help with his vision. In addition, I am also working on 5 to 6, www.fivetosix.com , which is a webisode I was cast in.

The webisode will be shot in the Bronx, late September and October. I play Ernie, the confused theater techie with a few quirks and quivers. That reading went phenomenal, everyone was quite talented and the role allowed my inner goofballness to explode. There are some many fun situations; getting caught self pleasuring to first dates and picking on my best friend. It should prove to be great.

In addition, I attended a forum to meet CD’s and agents. I did my monologue from Saving Private Ryan and got to meet a slew of industry reps, including: Amy Gossels, Todd Miller, John Shea, Jenevieve Brewer, Diana Doussant, Cynthia Katz and David Vaccari from Bernard Telsey. Things went really well with Amy, John, David and Todd. They seemed the most responsive, so I will be following up soon.

Then I auditioned for Estrogenius at the Manhattan Theater Source, it is a one-act play series written by Women. My mother used to work for a women’s group and I was basically raised in a women’s environment, so I am all for women empowerment. Anyways, I auditioned for a sleazy actor trying to take advantage of this young actress after taking her to a premiere and it was fun. I got to play with that girl left and right, flirting, seducing, womanizing, apologizing and threatening her all at the same time. Needless to say, had a callback yesterday. The director asked me to change it many times. The final audition she wanted me to not hold back and let my scene partner have it when she runs away from me and boy did I let her have it. A screw went loose and I scared her to death, even the director was speechless and sitting back in her seat. As I walked out I knew I didn’t get the role but sure hit my mark. Sometimes there’s a fine line between pleasing them and really trully giving them ”what” they want.

Last quick note. I appeared on Guiding Light on Friday. It was a speaking role as ‘Dude’. My friend, John Driscoll is also on the show, we hung out all day on set and it was a joy to watch him work. He was one of the most prepared actors on set. Caitlin Van Zandt, his love interest on the show, was extremely nice as well, she took pics and sent them to me. Take a look at them, I have posted them here. My first scene, where Doris is running for mayor and ‘Dude’ disses her and starts ranting about the old ‘hottie’ mayor was cut. That was my little U/5. Oh well, you can still see me buying coffee from John, as his character Coop, a little later in the show. If you are interested, log on to http://www.cbs.com/daytime/gl/video/ and click on 8/17/07’s show.

I am going to see ‘SuperBad’ today, apparently it’s supposed to be f’ing hilarious. I’ll letcha know. Then later Amy is dancing in the Fringe Festival in ‘Pogo and Evie’ at the Skirball Center for Performing Arts, 566 La Guardia Place. Please come and support, shows are Sun 8/19 at 8:45pm, Tue 8/21 at 3:15pm, Wed 8/22 at 10:30pm and Thur 8/23 at 9:15pm. Later

So tomorrow, I start shooting 2 Star State of Mind. I have been rehearsing my ass off. Got my lines down and my character is ready to rock. Full day tomorrow,; Central Park at 8am and rooftop scenes at night. I am gonna tear this role into pieces and can’t wait. Monday nights I have class at UCB, so tonight was a long yet fulfilling one. I am still adjusting to that, but will be back in full swing next week. I met with Carole Russo tonight, via Barry Kolker’s referral, and she is interested in representing me for Legit Film and Theater. We are going to work to knock down every door we can. Get ready to put your seatbelts on, cause Chuck Norris and company have come a knockin’.

Anyways, I gotta get some rest. I had a good weekend in Philly for Phil’s 30th birthday and went out to dinner at Brick Cafe in Astoria on Saturday. Yesterday, I got my hair chopped off to look young and willing for this role. Bottoms up, here we go. Thursday I am attending a forum and there will be several other agents and casting directors there too. I will be performing my Saving Private Ryan monologue from one of my favorite actors, Giovanni Ribisi, when he talks about both his mom and his inability to fall asleep. So on that note I will be avoiding that monologue at this point, so I can actually count some sheep…..1,2, 3…

Well today is Wednesday, the middle of the week, and as sometimes stated, ‘Hump Day’. After today I will have gotten past the hump of the week. Anyways, me personally I think the name is lame, because that only includes 5 working days, and for me, its a 7 day week, so it really should be Thursday. Moving forward, I have had a good week thus far.

Monday I met with my director, Jon to discuss our film. Yesterday I met with Kristen, who is my friend Erich’s girlfriend. She works for CBS and their department that pitches and creates tv shows. I bounced a few ideas of her as if, she was a lake and I was skipping stones across its surface. She like one of my ideas, but I will keep it secret so I can actually create it and see where it goes. Let’s just say it will teach us all a thing or two in retrospect. Then I got a call from Carole Russo from Agents for the Arts East. Barry Kolker, that kind soul, referred me to her. I know Barry from an old classmate at Esper Studios that was very talented, Erica Russo. We did several scenes together and she has real raw talent.

So as I get ready to my appointment later with Carole I am getting ready to hit the gym. Gotta stay healthy and fit, but jeez my body has been sore all week. I can’t quite figure it out, I am not sure if I am pushing myself to greater limits or what? Everyday I wake up sore in several places, including both the areas I worked out and others. The place medication for pain is to concentrate treatment to those areas. So long story short, I am going back to NYSC to work out my kinks.

I need to followup with Natasha from Bova Actorsworkshop about the scene we are doing. Yesterday I read Neil Simon’s Red Hot Lovers and would love to do that. Doris Roberts, the extremely talented actor originated one of the roles in the 60’s, so you know its quality. Speaking of quality, last night before bed I watched Craig Brewer’s, Black Snake Moan, the filming was tremendous, all the colors really popped and both Cristina Ricci and Sam Jackson gave compelling performances. Justin Timberlake wasn’t half that bad either, but his high voice was so distracting. In the end, the movie was about fear, anxiety and unconditional love: all things I deal with on a daily basis. Although, the movie wasn’t my favorite, it was very well done and I would suggest it due to the complex and unique story. The Blues music is great too.

Speaking of Blues music, when I met with Kristen she mentioned this ‘Jazz Parlor’ in Harlem. Apparently this old lady wanted to open a jazz night and was going to do it someday, then her son got shot and killed and she realized this world is too short. Then she started opening her apartment to jazz musicians and inviting the public to listen on Sunday nights. Complete with folding chairs and dixie cups full of apple juice you will never know who might pop in on Sunday nights to play. Sounds like an adventure to me. I’ll keep ya posted.

So its been a few days. This past weekend, I did some set decor for Bruce Thompson Creative and then my sister came into town on Saturday to see ‘Spamalot’. It was her and all her friends, my mom stayed at home to watch my sister’s twins and her husband and Max, the neph went camping. Anyways, I met up with some friends for Burritos and Margaritas then met sis at Eatery in Hell’s Kitchen. It was so much fun to have a few brews with sis. She was loving it, but was exhausted. She bounced at midnight, and I had a few more toots with Dan and his girlfriend, Lauren, who’s leaving on a natl tour or Evita in September.

Sunday, I slept a bunch and cleaned the apartment. I scrubbed toilets, baths, floors and even vaccuumed. It was spotless for not even an hour. Oh well, I try and I try. Sunday night I went to the FRINGENYC opening party for Amy’s show, Pogo and Evie. She is an ensemble dancer. Everyone knew about it and it seems to have quite a buzz. We have free drinks and danced and got a million fliers about all the shows. I will definitely see her show, but other than that, who knows.

Today I met Ron, who is directing, 2 Start State of Mind, which we start shooting in a freaking week. So crazy. I am working on it a bunch this week and trying to flush out my character. I hit the gym and read some plays at the Drama Bookstore. I was asked by an old classmate to perform a scene in Anthony Bova’s class (www.bovaactorsworkshop.com) on the 22nd. Then I stopped by the 13th St Rep to get my tape from a reading I did a month ago.

At 13th Street I spoke with Edith, she has been running that place for over 35 years. She is 90 and they are trying to tear down the theater. It’s one of the last of the theater days and she is not budging. They offered her 2 million to leave and she won’t go. God Bless her. I am meeting a friend tomorrow who works for CBS and I will try to pitch the 13th St documentary to her, as well as some other ideas.

Lastly, I am back in class at UCB Improv. I’m a little rusty, but now I am back on target. It is so much fun to mess around and create these scenes. Our performance is October 6th, for anyone who is interested. Alrighty, time to shower and go over my script. I am done typing and wish you luck until next time kiddos.