Day 1 -- Tuesday January 25
And so I am "THE HAWK." Through a strange and unknown set of circumstances, I was called yesterday to play The Hawk for the rest of week. Something wasn't working out with their first choice of Hawk yesterday, so they went down the list to number two. Eventually, at some point, on the list, they reached me. I graciously stepped in.
So this is awesome! I'm back at work on a sitcom. The world of comedy is pulling me right back in! This is fantastic, right?
Well, right. ...and wrong. Something doesn't sit well with me tonight. Was it being told that my call time was 15 minutes earlier than the actual call time because the other guy had shown up late? Was it showing up to play a character that runs around in a skin-tight body suit with feathers taped to his arms? Was it the lack of actual jokes that appear in my lines, or in the scenes for that matter? I don't know if I can blame my funk on the role or on the collection of irritating little circumstances that come with every job. I think it's more than that.
I am biased, obviously, but what was going on on the set of Battery Park today that was so much better than Oh Grow Up? How is this show about to show up on the air on ours isn't? I thought I was getting over it, but having been on a set for a couple of hours that is nowhere near as fun or interesting as Stage 23 had been, it makes me feel bad all over again. The actors, the crew, the writing -- it's all fine. It's all respectable. But I would take Steve Dunham, Shawn Shea, and Alan Ball in a heartbeat.
And so what? So it's not as good as Oh Grow Up? What's the big deal? I think the big deal is that I'm this goof ball peripheral player brought in to squawk out a few not-that-funny lines. I'm not even good enough to be one of the leads in this mess. I rehearsed this morning from 9-10:15. Then I napped from 10:15-1:30pm. We had a run-through at 2:30pm and I was done. Back in the day I would have killed for a three-hour nap window. Now it's killing me. I don't want to be the guy who says three lines and then naps all day. I have tasted something better and now I only want the delicacies. Fill up my plate with steak. Not hawk.
Go on to Day 2