"SHE'S GOOD...FOR A GIRL"

I played little league baseball growing up and I'm not sure if it's a common thing around the country, but there was a girl in our league. Was there a girl in anyone else's league? I know there are movies about this kind of stuff. It's mostly football movies now that I think about it, and the girl always seem to be the quarterback. The "Little Giants" movie had a linebacker, but she was kind of like a quarterback because she was the star of the team like Ray Lewis from the Baltimore Ravens. The girl that played little league with me was a solid first baseman? and I'm sure that if there was a girl in your little league that she was either a pitcher or an amazing fielder right? I don't think they'd make a movie about a girl that played football in an all men's league and had her be an amazing right guard. Being a lineman is a respectable position and needed for the teams success, but it's not going to get you in the papers if you know what I mean.

I've been on a few Harold teams now and have seen a great share of other teams as well and it seems like there is some kind of formula for how they are cast because there always seems to be about 2 girls on every team. Sure there are teams with maybe just 1 and some with 3 but it's mostly always 2 right? I've heard people compare teams by how "solid" their girls are and "if we had a girl like that" kind of stuff. I've overheard "She's good...for a girl" and never really been taken back by it before. I may be over thinking this, but to say someone is "good" for being a "girl" is wrong and not in a PC kind of way. Hear me out okay?

I think that for a girl to make it on a Harold team, she needs to really stand out! I think that most girls that are on teams are "Quarterbacks" and if they are as good as a "Right Guard" lets say, then they get passed up and that spot is given to a guy. I think this may be true for all diversity at the theater, so when you hear someone say "He/She's good for a ______" then maybe what you're really hearing is "He/She is the best of their group of people and if they were any less than that, my guy friend that's kind of funny would be carpooling with me to rehearsal" or maybe "He/She makes me feel uncomfortable because I should be way better than they are, but I'm not". I think that any girl doing improv on a team is GREAT! She has to be. I think she also has to be a very smart player and be able to take on many roles. I think a girl needs to be a multi position type of player to make it on a team. Have you ever seen a girl that is just a good straight person on a team? Heck no! The girls that come to mind right off the bat are great at character, play position extremely well and actually do a better job at emotionally grounding a scene than most guys on a team.

I'm not trying to kiss up to the ladies in my community. If you think that then understand that you are the reason for this blog. I know as well as everyone out there that improv is a majority of white guys and then there is everything else. I'm just trying to shed some light on the "everything else" so that it's clearly defined and given a point of view. If our community is going to be the best it can be, we need to really get to know each other. It's by really knowing each other that we can become a group mind. Viola Spolin said  "You may never know what the other person wants.  You’ll be an expert at saying “yes”…but you’ll never know what inspires your partner.  Can you please or inspire your partner?"

I'm trying to do my part at answering that question. While I get to know you, can you take a second and realize that not everyone is like you? There are others that would like to be pleased and inspired too!


  

BOOKED BY BROWNNESS

I went to this discussion group for the movie "The Kids Are All Right" a few days ago that was hosted by SAG's Affirmative Action and Diversity and The National LGBT Actor's Committee. The panel consisted of two of the main talent for the movie Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo and the co-writer/director Lisa Cholodenko. It was the first time I had ever been to one of these events and SAG really knows how to throw down a party! Food, Beer and Wine? And FREE? I'll make back my $2300 initiation fee soon enough! The discussion was very relaxed and the topics they covered were relating a little more towards being gay in Hollywood and the struggles to make a movie about an openly gay couple raising children and having someone give you money to do it. Somewhere toward the middle of this discussion though, the panel host read a quote from someone (Sorry, I didn't write down the name) and things got really interesting.

The quote had something to do with gay men and women not getting roles for gay parts and also not getting roles for straight parts because they are openly gay. Julianne Moore and Annette Bening play the lesbian married couple in this movie and neither are gay. The writer director was basically asked after she agreed and applauded the quote, "Why not two gay actresses"? She answered that she had written the movie the entire time with Julianne Moore in mind and no one was better for the other part than Annette Bening, gay or not, for the other role. Then Mark Ruffalo added that he had a friend that was in a wheel chair and his friend had shared with him that he wasn't satisfied with there being more roles for people in wheel chairs, his friend wanted to be considered for every role regardless if he was in a wheel chair. Mark then added that he felt that the African American actor had made giant strides at this and that he hoped that every minority would at some point be able to go out for a leading male/female role regardless of their color of skin, sexual orientation or limited mobility. For the case of Annette Bening, she was the best actress for the part, gay or straight, I'd have to say that I believed Lisa when she said that. I also believe that there aren't a whole lot of Lisa Cholodenko's out there.

I sometimes feel that people are envious that I book work because I am brown. I've never heard it first hand, but I have a gut feeling that some people out there would say "If I looked a little more (pick ethnicity) I'd have gotten that part" and I must come to the conclusion that is someone is complaining about NOT getting ethnic roles...they must be white right? So here's the scoop! If I was white, you would seriously have to consider changing career's! For every role I get because I'm brown, I guarantee you that there are 50 roles that I don't get for the same reason. If you don't believe me, click on any daily breakdowns and count how many roles there are for white males compared to everything else. I am the everything else and you're lucky this business isn't ready to consider me as the spokesman for Ford or the guy that sells you Insurance.I take my career very seriously and I work very hard at staying sharp and fresh for every audition I do. I learn my lines before I do my read and prepare mentally in so many ways for every possible direction I may be asked to take. I practice countless minute facial expressions in front of the mirror every day and work on reading and expressing body language. While you sit there with the 50 other guys that look like you to play the "Boyfriend" for a shoe brand and play on your cell phone and think about what you're going to do after your audition, look over to the Mobile Phone casting area and the 20 guys including me going out for the "Taco Truck Guy" and watch what I do. If you think you'd get more parts if you were considered for ethnic roles, then I think you aren't happy with a lot of things and that's really all on you.

I look forward to a time when we can both say that race, gender, sexual orientation, limited mobility and all kinds of other things that make people diverse are no longer factors in booking work. I look forward to auditioning for a police officer alongside a petite woman and a guy with scars and tattoo's. I look forward to having as many opportunities as the guy that is jealous that I book work because I am brown and I look forward to signing an autograph for him some day while he cleans my windows because that kind of thinking will lead you straight to the bottom. Yeah, I said that.

THE ACCENT

     My Mom was born in Hollister Ca. It's a ways away from the US/Mexico border but my grandparents had work Visa's that allowed them to travel there when my Grandmother was pregnant with my mom. My Mom is a citizen of the US but was raised in Mexico. My Father was born in Mexico but through the acquaintance of an uncle, was given a passport and special permission to live in the US for 6 months at a time. When my mother and father married in 1972 they both decided to start a better life for themselves in Los Angeles. My father was already renting a house in Norwalk and after a few roommates found different places for themselves, my mom moved in. I was born in Bellflower Ca in 1973 and soon after, a few of my aunt's also moved with their husbands to Los Angeles and that was basically my immediate family. I spoke Spanish until I started school but my parents refused to put me in an ESL (English as a Second Language) program for their fear that I would be behind from the rest my classmates and maybe even given a different education than lets say the future president of the United States or something. My Mom barely speaks any English and what she can, it's pretty broken up. My father was fluent and spoke with no accent whatsoever.

So why the family history lesson? I don't have an accent. I was born and raised here. And come to think of it, my Spanish is "neutral" in description when I audition. Casting directors like my Spanish because it's plain Spanish with no accent at all. I can do an accent for sure, but my normal English and Spanish conversations do not have an accent to them. So why do you chose to use a thick Spanish accent when you impersonate me? Do you do a ghetto jive talk when you impersonate your black friend? Or a kung fu master when you impersonate your Asian friend? Or how about a high pitched voice with flailing arms when you impersonate your female friends? I don't think your friends act or talk like that in real life, so why make that choice in a show? I think we've all come across this type of performer and maybe have fallen into the same trap as well. Let's take a basic stereotype and heighten it to a 10 for the sake of "comedy" right? Well, I think it's time someone said "Wrong". I know some of you might be wondering about my accents that I do on stage from time to time and how they differ, so let me explain.

I base about four characters with Spanish accents from personal life and the characters all have specific points of view and or wants. One is a suave "latin lover" that wants nothing more than to romance you and make you feel as though you the most beautiful creature in the universe. I modify this character depending on the situation, but that's pretty much him in a nutshell. I also have my poor/sad accent character that is a little slower in pace and has a lowly demeanor. This character generally comes out when you've pretty much set him up to come out by asking for the spanish gardner or looking for "Jose" with the bill for the evening's dinner. He's my bomb shelter fall-out character that I need to go to so that I don't rip your head off on stage.  He rarely comes out anymore, but he's in there. If you really make it harsh with your Pimping then I'll bring out the gangbanger character, but I really hate him. He thinks only of himself and how to take advantage of you. I grew up with a bunch of these characters in my life and I just don't find them funny at all. Then I have my famous broken english crack-em up's character. He really cares about any given situation with his entire heart, but is held back by his accent. He struggles to communicate and swaps words like Amnesia/Magnesia in sentences and is the brunt of everyone's jokes. I made this character up from personal experience, A way to vindicate myself in my head from past "accentual abuse" and from an uncle. All three accents have a character behind them. It's their perspective, views and wants that generate the laughs..not the accent alone. Do you get it?

If I went on stage and did a "surfer bra" accent in a scene just to do it, then a "pot head" and a "lucky charms" accent in another without somehow having them be important to a scene and just doing them to get laughs you'd definitely think less of me. I wouldn't blame you. Can you blame me? And for those of you that think I lean on my accents too much, please take a look in a mirror and remember that the "surfer", "pot head", "lucky charms", "Marry :Poppins", "Sergey", "Cousin Vinnie", "Valley Girl", "Hillbilly", "Southern Belle", "Poindexter", "Burley Trucker", "Colonel Klink" are your accents and I don't touch those. Who really leans more on their accents? If you really hadn't thought about it like this before, that's great! If you still feel that playing a stereotypical character on stage for the sake of comedy is cool if the audience calls for it..please explain to me how they've asked for it! I call BS on that...and besides, if you're ever planning to be a parent, please know in advance that your kids will ask for candy all day long. It's up to you to say "No" for their own good and give them something nutritious and fulfilling instead.    

IT'S A CULTURAL THING

The drive to my aunt's house was always long and hot. My Dad drove a big cream colored impala with a giant back seat that I swear I could chase my sister around in and it had no A/C. The long ride wasn't nearly as bad or as stressful as what awaited when I arrived at any family get together though. In a traditional Hispanic family, the greeting was of utmost importance. When you arrived to a family members house, everyone was to greet everyone. If a cousin was locked away in his room playing Lock n Chase on his Intellivision, he would have been beaten if he didn't pause that game and come give his aunt and uncle a kiss! Same goes for when you arrive...if one of your uncles was making and ice run or your aunt was in the bathroom, don't think for a second you got away with one. About 15 minutes in, a "Double Check" was instituted by anyone who deemed it necessary and all the kids were asked if they said hello to the long list of family. Greetings are very important and it's up to the the kids to make it happen and then as you get older, the younger adult is in charge of making sure he greets the older adults first. It's like a status thing where the oldest people of a family already paid their dues and now it's the younger generations responsibility.

Introductions are very important in my culture. The importance of a greeting is so programmed into my brain that I sometimes get taken back a second when I am not immediately acknowledged when entering a scene on stage. I would sometimes make the mistake of stepping on my scene partners initiation by greeting him when he entered the scene before he could get his line out. He then figured because I spoke first with my greeting that I must have had an idea and then we would awkwardly take baby steps at trying to organically create a scene. I'd wonder why he walked on in the first place and he'd wonder why I didn't let him get his first line across? I know it's an improv show and I know you're not my aunt or uncle but think of it like a high five. I didn't grow up giving high fives so when we're doing a show and you initiate one, I immediately raise my hand and give you one up high. I didn't play little league with you and we didn't play on the same high school tennis team but I know it's something that you do when you do something great or something exciting happens.

I've taken the time to figure out some of your cultural things but I'm not asking you to figure out mine at all. I'm just letting you know that I don't mean to step on your initiation. I don't mean to get taken back a second when I enter a scene and am not immediately acknowledged. It's a cultural thing. Now give me a high five and lets go kiss my aunt and uncle!

I DON'T GET IT!

   When I was in the 6th grade, I was in the band. I played the trumpet because I already kind of knew how to play it and because I wanted to make my grandfather proud of me. My grandfather played for the bulls in Mexico so being in the band and picking the trumpet was a no-brainer. No Bull. So Christmas time came around and we were learning some new songs for our school's Christmas concert. The trumpet section had the main chorus part for "The Chestnuts" song? I had never heard it before. All the other trumpet dudes picked it up right off the bat as if the notes were coming right off the page and pushing their little fingers onto the keys but I had to read, count and play..I wasn't getting it right away. The band director stopped the band and asked me "What is wrong Mr. Macias?" and I just kind of smirked and quickly got my valve oil and pretended I had a sticky key. We started again and everyone played along like pro's and there I was struggling again! The band director stopped again and with a very loud voice tells me to stop screwing around! I told him I was sorry and that I wasn't familiar with the song and he asked me if I had grown up in a cave! Everyone laughed. We started again and I played very softly so that I couldn't really be heard.

I didn't grow up in a cave. I grew up in a diverse house that listened to different Christmas music. What the heck's a chestnut? It sounds gross! And you know what else? I didn't care for the ugly kids with deformed heads. What was the big deal with the green bugger guy? Who cares about a guy that eats a can of steroids and likes an anorexic lady! I'm talking about "The Peanuts" "Gumby" and "Popeye" by the way. Those are some pretty different takes on your Saturday morning cartoons right? I bet those takes would be hilarious in an improv show too right? My band teacher couldn't understand where I was coming from but should have had the intelligence to probe before shutting me down with his "Live in a Cave" slam that got a big laugh. Do you see where I'm going with this? I was a very good trumpet player and now all of a sudden I was an idiot? How does that make sense?

No one ever really talks about it but it's here and I think it's time we figured it out together. I'm sharing the stage with you and I'm diverse. I am literally "of a different kind, unlike, dissimilar, varied". We are not the same. If you hit me with an offer or a big agenda line and I don't get it right away could it be that I maybe don't get it this time? Have I gotten it before? probably right? Or then why be surprised right? So does it make sense that because I don't get it this time that you need to say "Excuse me Jose, the lawn looks excellent!" or hand me your improv keys and say "Sorry Valet, I thought you were someone else" and look to the wings for a walk-on. Are we supposed to have a group mind or am I supposed to figure out the rest of the groups mind? Those are some pretty harsh examples but believe me, they all feel harsh no matter how small. If I don't get your offer right off the bat, maybe recognize that I may not have had your childhood experiences and therefore have no idea what a "merit badge" is. It sounds insane but did you have many hispanic friends in your boy scout meetings thinking back? I didn't think so. How great would it be to recognize that the meat of your scene is that I have no idea what a merit badge is and we see a scene about that instead of sticking to your initial idea and because I don't get it, you treat me like I grew up in a cave and then I play soft the rest of the night.

Look. I'm not asking for special treatment. I don't think anyone that is on your improv team that is diverse is asking for special treatment, but I think it's time you realize that we actually are kind of special. We bring a different, varied viewpoint to the team. So if I don't get it...lets figure it out together because what good is it in a cave?