.The Move.

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A long time ago, I finally was able to afford getting a car I had this weird affection to: A 1987 Porsche 944

The same weekend I got the car, I found myself driving home on an almost deserted Lake Shore Drive in the wee hours of the morning right as the sun was coming up.

As I was driving I remember noticing how great the lake and the city looked and feeling like a confident giddy little kid that had finally gotten something he was after for a long time.

But that was years ago.

Early this past Saturday morning, I was driving on Lake Shore Drive to meet my sister who was taking me to the airport.

The sun was coming up and LSD was almost deserted. I noticed how great the lake and the city looked and I felt nervous and scared at the fact I was about to embark on a journey to try to accomplish my goals.

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Late last year, I decided that I finally wanted to give moving out to Los Angeles some serious thought –again. (If you’ve read past posts you’d know I almost did it 3 years ago)

Well, I gave it some serious thought but in the end, money stood in the way and there was no way of getting my hands on that kind of money no matter what I came up with. So I sort of let go of that dream and continued being happy doing what I was doing in the city I loved living in.

After a rough year that included the closing of a significant artistic door for me, this year started off great. I started booking some great gigs and before I knew it, if my calculations were right, the minimum amount of money that I thought would be needed for a possible move out west was going to be available by the end of April.

I think fear of the unknown kicked in because although I gave it some thought, I didn’t really give it some REAL thought and almost tried to ignore the situation I might be in.

Then another artistic door closed for me.

I’m a cheesy believer that things happen for a reason, so I took a look at what was happening to me this year and after some long serious thought and calculations, I decided to try to make the move out West.

The first step was letting the place I called home know of my plans.

I met with Charna, owner of The iO Theater, and told her what was going on in my life, and how that led me to believe I should make the move.

Actually acknowledging and saying out loud that I was going to be leaving the place that I held so dear to my heart hit me like a ton of bricks and I got a bit emotional about it.

Charna was sad to see me leave, but she gave me her blessing and helped me plan my future and a good bye tour of sorts.

For the next month I was an emotional wreck. There wasn’t a day that went by where I didn’t think of the people I had met, the people that I loved, and the theater that I loved.

If the thought of having a “last show” crept in my head, I had to force myself to think of something else because it was embarrassing getting teary-eyed on the bus.

If this was so hard, then why leave?

Well, so that I never have to wonder “What if”.

I think a lot of people in the community I’m a part of would like to make a living entertaining, and I’m no different. For most of us, the dream is to get plucked out of Chicago. With the right doors open and the proper talent and drive, I believe that is still very possible for lots of people in Chicago.

Unfortunately for me, the extra avenues for this to maybe happen for me someday from Chicago had been re-routed or closed. So I had to make a decision to go after my dreams and goals elsewhere, where the perception or belief is that there are many more doors cracked open for people with my background and training.

So I made a decision to give it a try, but I also promised myself not be ashamed to come back if I didn’t find that the move was benefiting me artistically.

In our world, we’re always told that We are our own business and that We must do what’s best for Our business. I’ve never been good at that self-promoting stuff, but if I was going to make this move, I better start getting good at it and follow the fear.

I spoke to close friends about my plans and to the tee, they were super supportive, encouraging, and helpful.

So the decision was made.

With almost no real advance warning to even myself, I had to go through the process of making moving plans and letting my friends and loved one’s know of my plans and intentions.

I decided that my final show would be a Monday night ‘Armando Diaz Experience’.

This is a show where the cast is driven and inspired mostly by a person’s monologue(s) who is called “Armando” that night.

I already had a crazy fun ‘last night’ with my regular Harold team, so I figured being ‘Armando’ would take the pressure off of performing and would be an easy and calm way to say good bye.

I was happily surprised how many friends and loved one’s came out that night, and of course got a little nervous. For a suggestion, I asked for a question that had nothing to do with what I was wearing or this night in particular.

Someone yelled: “Where am I going?”

Oh, boy.

Rather than let the question (that may been rhetorical ) drive me to talk about where I myself was going, I decided to let it make me think of where and when I have heard that question.

The wonderful cast that night was amazing. They had a great show and the more I watched from backstage, the more I felt that I was going to be able to end the night on a nice simple high note with no personal break downs for me.

From back stage I have a view of Del’s ashes, so before I went out to try to end the show with a nice little tie or knot to the original question, I looked at Del and said ‘Thank You for everything”.

Oops.

I think doing so made me incredibly aware of where I was.

This is the same stage that I started performing on a long, long time ago under Del’s direction.

This was my favorite stage at the theater. The one I felt most comfortable on and the one that made me feel safe.

So as I closed the show, I felt compelled to share a little bit of that, and then everything snowballed out of my mouth.

What this place meant to me…what Del meant to me… what Charna meant to me…what the work meant to me…what my friends meant to me…and the realization that this was the last time I may be performing on this stage, and how much THAT meant to me.

I tried to keep together, but I couldn’t.

Am I embarrassed? No.

I was happy, proud, humble, sad, and grateful all at the same time, but not embarrassed.

The only thing I feel bad about is not properly mentioning or properly saying good bye to those I love, because I missed a lot.

I had an AMAZING time at iO Chicago and I am incredibly grateful for the friends this place allowed me to make.

For months I have been trying to write about this process but the fear of not knowing what was going to happen and the fear of getting emotional writing about this process didn’t allow me to do so.

I am now sitting in a Borders in Los Angeles writing this and stopping every 5 minutes because I’m trying to keep it together.

Leaving Chicago, Holly, my Family, Friends, and iO was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Hopefully it will be worth it and I will be able to come back and make those people proud that I gave this a shot to begin with.

To those I missed saying good bye to: I’m sorry. I hope you know I love you.

To those that showed me support my last week in Chicago: Thank You, I love you.

To those that closed those doors on me: Thank you opening them up in the first place.

To L.A.:

Les Do Dis.

*

Follow the Formula! Say Something! Presto!

Posted under Le Blog

Thanks to friend Mike Hall, I recently discovered yet another TV show that has quickly become one of my favorites:

“Sports Night”

“Sports Night” is a behind-the-scenes look at the people responsible for producing a show within this show.

Sound familiar?

Yup, kinda like “30 Rock”.

And to me, that’s pretty cool. I may be wrong, but I’d like to think that people –mainly Tina Fey- followed a successful formula that worked great for a show that was a little ahead of its time and just added their own brand of humor, pace and architecture that has worked wonderfully.

‘Sports Night’ was brought to us by Mr. Aaron Sorkin, a great screenwriter and also the person that brought us “The West Wing” and “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” (the latter being a wonderfully shot show that found it’s formula a little too late).

So far I’m in the middle of season two and really enjoying seeing how the show is maturing –something I really hoped it would do during season one.

Like many shows that eventually turn out to be great, the first season had to deal with the ensemble and the characters finding their chemistry then taking off running.

For example, there were many times during season one where I was a bit annoyed by some of the characters and cheesiness, but unlike other shows, this show always reeled me back in the way they ended their episodes.

See, they always did a great job of relating to their audience by touching on social or sentimental values or dealing with topics that one normally didn’t expect to find in a show that’s supposed to be a comedy. Furthermore, with the use of these artistic curveballs, more often not this show always had “something to say” other than just trying to be another comedic show. Know what I mean?

Plus, although it was little ahead of it’s time, the way it was shot was uniquely cool and interesting. I may be wrong, but I think this was the first time that style of shooting was used in a TV show.

It’s these unique qualities, and the fact that they made a successful effort to look at what needed some tweaking going forward, that has made this one of my favorite shows.

In the area of “tweaking” what needs more attention, I compare this show to “Friends”.

When ‘Friends’ first started, I wasn’t interested in the characters and their extremely cheesy comedic dialogue and delivery. The only reason I was mildly interested was because they were using a formula that had proven to be successful in the past with Seinfeld: Ensemble.

It’s only because of that style that I chose to keep tabs on the show, and that paid off for me because after some tweaking of the characters, dialogue and cinematic feel for the show, I became a huge fan of the show and really enjoyed the developing relationships between the characters on the show.

I wonder if the creators and writers of the show took a page from Sienfeld, added their own style to it, and applied it to this show. If so, they did a great job.

To me, the show was kept fresh using this method of writing because one never got tired of any of the characters on the show. They always seemed to leave you wanting a little more after each episode.

Of course, after the show ended its run a common mistake was made: They gave us too much of one character and of course….we rolled up our windows and drove away.

Still, thanks to following the proper formula and caring for the show, ‘Friends’ still holds up to this day. Well, not the first season.

Another show that grew on me was ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’.

I never had any interest for this show and even after it was being lauded as this great thing, I never took a trip to cbs-land to take a peek.

But then I read an article that explained some of the writing processes of the show.

I was intrigued, watched the show, and was hooked.

See, in the world that I live in, a commitment to honesty and or truth on stage is what more often than not will get the desired result: Laughter.

In a weird but very cool way, the more honest you are with your reactions to what’s said and or done around you is what gets the best results on stage. (“Truth in Comedy”)

In the article I read about the show, it explained that the show was based on real-life experiences of the lead actor in the show, Ray Romano.

That caught my attention. I kept reading and learned that most of the ideas for the show came out of the writing staff sharing family stories. The ones that made them laugh –or cringe- the most are the one’s they would write and base episodes on.

Well, now I gotta check it out, right?

I did, and this too quickly became one of my favorite shows.

Not only was it ensemble based, but it was also based on true experiences and happenings.

No wonder it became a hit; every family can relate to the characters and situations on any given episode, and relating with your audience is key.

Add some very talented comedic actors and writers, and you have a hit on your hands.

Like ‘Friends’, I wonder if the creators and the writers took a look at “All in the Family” for a little guidance.

If so, they too did a great show of following a successful model and adding their own style to it.

*

As you can see, I tend to get to the party a little later, and as a result, a lot of my favorite TV shows are now off the air. But recently I got to the party early and discovered a new favorite: “Modern Family”.

This show is on ABC and I strongly support and suggest it.

This show has all the combined formulas of the shows mentioned above:

• Character development and relationship.
• Great comedic acting, value, and timing.
• A story telling style that is scarcely seeing on TV. ( I’d like to think this has a lot do with fellow improvisor Jason Winer, who is the director of the show.)

And they didn’t stop there. They took another page from another great show, ”The Office”, and used the mockumentary shooting style formula used in that show as well.

Truly a great and funny show that does a tremendous job of slowing down the ride and Saying Something.

Please give this show a try if you haven’t already.

Speaking of “The Office”…

This show is the ultimate example of following a formula that works.

This show is a direct adaptation of a BBC series of the same name. The right people saw this show, recognized the brilliance behind it, and asked to do an American version of it.

Because the original BBC series only contained 12 episodes over two seasons (which is normal in the UK), the American version of the show eventually had to add their own style and pace to the show, but it’s still very, very true to the original concept and, surprise, it works.

It’s sad sometimes when people try to fix things when they’re not broken, or refuse to follow a proven formula.

So here’s a toast to all the people involved in all the shows mentioned and a huge thanks for seeing the value in what works.

And a little homie spill for ‘Joey’, a great character that should have been left alone after ‘Friends’ called it a night.