Break a Leg

Hey, everyone.

Sorry for the slight delay, we were having various issues getting the episode up on the actual site. But now it's up and ready for your loving.

You can watch it on the main site (www.breakaleg.tv) or go to YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXh5d-Oaiuo) and watch it there, with the usual commenting, rating, favoriting and subscribing, because you love us dearly and want us to succeed.

Hope you guys like the new episode! The last one of this series is coming out next monday and it'll wrap up the plot line of the last 5 episodes. We definitely recommend watching Ep. 4-9 once its out in a row -- they'll be much, much funnier that way.

Also, tomorrow is Fan Day for blogging -- I figure, to help you guys out, I'd narrow it down and give you a subject. This week's subject is:

What's your favorite TV show and why?

You don't have to suck up to us and say Break a Leg -- feel free to choose anything you want and email it to me at yuri@breakaleg.tv or just IM it over to BreakaLegSitcom on AIM.

Thanks, guys! Enjoy!

-yuri 

Hey its Hugo Martin (Tahko or alternatively Tacko- from Mint's Mint Condition Cover Band)

Instead of a boring analysis of my audition experiences, here’s something I wrote on…

“Talent”

Talented. Everyone wants everyone to acknowledge them as such. The very fiber of our self-esteem depends on this word, while goodness, character, or wisdom takes a backseat and rides bitch. (This isn’t offensive, because this seat was named after where we would put my dog.) I had a teacher who admitted that it took nearly thirty years before she felt that her self-esteem was not defined by her acting talent. It’s something that most people in the arts suffer from, an almost desperate need to have this word permanently emblazoned on their forehead.

At the conservatory I went to, where many people liked to be reminded daily how talented they were, myself included, talent was often the subtext of every bit of gossip. Did he/she have it? Was his/her behavior indicative of a poor amount of talent? Should we stay away from this person lest we catch some kind of talent-less plague? I struggled intensely my first year at school, feeling every moment that I was bereft of talent, and that I didn’t really belong. Was it the truth? Well, from the subjective experience of many people, including teachers, yes. I was told in my second year that I was not an actor, that I couldn’t make it; that I was, in so many words, worthless at what I came here to do. Though I was beaten down by this scathing evaluation, I chose to persist stupidly. When the teacher saw me in another play, she changed her mind and acknowledged that she was wrong. Ironically, she had been told the same thing as a student herself. She went on to become a successful stage/tv/film actress and a director. So, maybe there was a little hope for me.

What I learned from this experience is to take the word “Talent” with a grain of salt, and prompted me to redefine the word for myself

The Oxford English Dictionary’s(Online Edition) first definition defines it as

“Natural aptitude or skill.”

Pretty standard, but here’s how I would prefer for it to be defined.

“A natural aptitude to work at a skill.”

The difference being: “The work.” A so-called talented person can have all the aptitude in the world, but sit on their thumbs ten hours of the day instead of using it to develop their “talent”.

There are two factors in “Talent”: Natural Aptitude and Work. I’m not discounting natural aptitude, but my point is that work is greatly undervalued as a factor. Joe Average, may never have the natural aptitude of Mozart, but if he applied himself every day for fifty years, there is a good chance he could very well become a concert pianist, or a composer of note, if not of genius. Perhaps genius would take several lifetimes. However, as actors in the business, we’re not all trying to be Marlon Brando. Many of us would settle with being just a working actor, and its indeed disheartening when you hear that hard work can’t tip the scale in your favor. I’m here to tell you it can.

Well that’s about it. If ever your called untalented, and fear they might be partially right. They’re only...partially right? If that doesn’t make you feel better, remember this motto. “Talent is an abstract construction that misconstrues human potential and limits performance.” You’ll be right as rain.

Till next time…I am yours in the break-a-leg universe. Tahko.

Yuri's Note: Drew likes to swear a little and I don't like to censor people. It's not very much swearing, but if, for some reason or other, you have yet to see anyone swear on the Internet, TV, your daily life, or CNN.com -- you may want to blur your eyes.

---

WE all have regrets. I know I do. Regrets make us human, make us who we are, make us something more than just amoral meat sacks hoping our next door neighbor doesn't slit out throat in our sleep to have unfettered access to our wife and power mower. Sadly, regret is universal. It dogs us at every step, turning what should have been a wild weekend of secret abandon into a virtual tattoo of shame upon our face from the moment we walked back in the front door.

But why? Why should we constantly reflect upon our every decision, wondering how we could have chosen better? An even more pertinent question may be, "What does this have to do with Break A Leg?" I hope with this essay to not only explore that question, but perhaps even to answer it.

When I first met Yuri and Justin, it was to audition for a fictional feature film called Life Noir. Fictional not in the sense that it was a work of fiction, though it was, but fictional in the sense that it doesn't exist. Yes we shot scenes, and there have been "rough cuts" and even once I think Yuri might have mentioned "picture lock", but overall the movie is vaporware, like Duke Nukem Forever.

Anyway, I auditioned I think with Flynn for a role in this "movie" and ended up being cast. I was pretty excited, having just finished (or maybe was currently working on) another feature film called "Lost in the Wash" with a mutual friend of ours. I felt that as an actor I was on a roll, at the top of my game, living it up. Nevermind that I wasn't getting paid a damn thing for a damn thing, that would come later. As they might have said in the heyday of the Dot-Com Era "1. Get cast in indie feature; 2. ?????; 3. Profit!".

I was making some money by the way, whoring myself out for corporate videos and the like, but that was all just to convince The Man (the IRS) that all of my deductions were going towards a bona-fide business. You may even hear my voice on a prune commercial from time to time, and catch a short glimpse of me at the beginning. Check out my website for a peek at that and some other crap I've done. My wife's in the prune commercial too!

Where was I? Ok, so Yuri cast me in Life Noir, and so began a journey with this zany crew that I will never forget. Myself, Flynn, Alexis, Daniela, Chad, Skip, Justin, Yuri, Dashiell, Dustin, Hillary, and one crazy mo-fo named Paul (he sadly did not manage to maintain his sanity long enough to become involved with Break A Leg. Seriously, he's insane. Justin made him insane). Since I was at the time sans child they basically had their way with me, keeping me out late nights and up early mornings; sunburns, blood-stained leather jacket, my life in the hands of aforementioned crazy motherfucker.

Oh, and then there was the time that I answered my phone while heading back to the car after a night of shooting outside St. Mary's Cathedral with a barely-functional generator, to have Yuri tell me that Justin taped over basically all of the night's work, or something equally incompetent. How's that for a regret right there?

The point is, had I any true regrets from working with these guys on Life Noir, I would never have become involved with Break A Leg (hey, I somehow managed to bring that around!). Yuri, Justin, Dashiell, Dustin, and Hillary are brilliantly creative people, all with unique strengths that compliment one another amazingly well, and they all somehow manage to tolerate working with me on repeated projects in spite of my lack of real talent. Plus I'm an asshole. Whether we manage to sell Break A Leg remains to be seen (fuck you Tim Goodman!), but I know they'll all manage to pull something out of their asses that will make us all rich and famous.

And Yuri assures me that they will finish Life Noir someday. And that I swear a lot.

---

Yuri's Second Note: Let me add-on something interesting here. What Drew appropriately forgot to say was after he auditioned for the film and we called him and told him he got the part, he literally dropped out the next day, saying he was too busy, blahblahblah. We managed to somehow convince him, I forget the exact details now, because unfortunately, we like the bastard. But I think we had to schedule around him a lot. Oh, also, we heard rumors that Drew was always really serious and "professional" -- we never liked people like that, so we were wary. Luckily, the rumors were wrong -- Drew's a complete goofball.

Unless you cover him in blood in the middle of the night and then call him back, as he's going home, to reshoot for another 30 minutes. Then he's a really mad goofball.

'Till next time.

Well, it's Jenday again.  Hooray!  Although, this one is not going to be the fun-filled extravaganza I always hope for when consciousness intervenes on my blissful departure from reality.  The following is sort of a living itinerary with footnotes, references, tangents, and hopefully some bacon.

Currently, I am at work.  I do graphic design for a local sign company.  I enjoy the artistic creation as one would asume.  I do not enjoy customer service.  For instance: this morning the phone rang.  I picked it up and answered it in my most pleasant 10-in-the-morning tone which, I'll admit, needs a little work.  The woman on the other side of the line said we had done some work for her in the past and wondered if I could look it up.  I asked for the company name and typed that up in the system.  I found that the last order she had placed with us was back in 2002.  This information quickly became irrelevant because she wanted a "different kind of sign".  The conversation at this point went something like this:

"You know those mirrors on doors?  I want a sign like that."

I'm sorry, ma'am, I don't know what size those mirrors are.  Can you get me the measurements on that?"

"Well, you know in the phone book where it says "Enroll Now"?  I want a sign about that size.

"Uh, I don't have a phone book in front of me."

"You can't look it up?  I can call somebody else." Click.

Hanging up on me at this point was probably one of the smartest things she could have done because if the conversation had gone on for much longer, I would have reached through the phone, wrapped my hand around her neck, and slammed her head against any convenient surface until the peanut-sized object she had mistaken for her brain fell out of her ear and rolled under the desk where the dog would find it later and have a light afternoon snack.

Then I got to go back to what I do best, which is make art.  One day when I find out how to post images here I'll share some with you.  And the rest of my morning will be happily wiled away by the aspect of creation...and coffee.  Of course, this process will constantly be interrupted by people wanting stuff.  It has taken me 45 minutes to write these last two lines.  Anywho...

The later part of the day will drastically change shape as I have to go up to the Civic Center for some minor little issue that hardly needs mentioning, but I bring it up here in passing, as it were, just to paint for you a more vibrant picture of what the day will hold for me.  Anybody that has ever had to wade through the mire of beaurocratic red tape know just how grim an image that may turn out to be.   The potential for things to go not very well at all is a piece of art I would just as well prefer to remain unpainted.

After that happy fun time, I need to do some laundry, which is difficult because I have no washer and/ldryer in my apartment.  There is however one communal coin-op machine shared by around roughly 30 people.  The amount of laundry that can actually fit in the thing is a depressingly inefficient amount.  I try to go to my parents house to do laundry when I need to, which consiquently usually involves me getting fed as well, but they live 45 minutes away and I already have to make that trek there an back 3-4 times a week to do my show.  I know you're asking yourself "Well, why don't you just go up early before your show one day and do some then?"  The answer is as follows:  I work 9-5:30 and have to be at the theater at 7.  In traffic, it takes about an hour to get there, so I pretty much head straight form work to the theater, grabbing what food I can along the way.  "Well," you say again, "what about the nights when you don't have shows?"  A) Like I said I already have to make the journey more times a week than I really care to, and B) when would I play World of Warcraft?  I was going to do some laundry tonight, but I may or may not have a date...well, perhaps not like a Date-date...I dunno.  It's complicated.

What's my point in all this rambling?  I don't really have one.  I guess, if I were to have one it would be something along the lines of: Shit happens.  The best you can do is put your floaties on and try not to breathe through your nose.

------

Jen

I promised you Fan Day, did I not? Our very own Nick Taylor waxes poetic on, well, us -- and how damn important we are. Read and enjoy below!

Thanks, Nick! And remember -- if anyone else wants to write a blog for Break a Leg, Tuesday is Fan Day -- just email me (yuri@breakaleg.tv) a blog, any blog, it doesn't have to be about the show, and the best one gets put up every Tuesday.

Now, without further ado...

The Cultural Importance of Break a Leg 

      “The Cultural Importance of Break a Leg?” you ask.  Well of course.  Despite what your better instincts may tell you, “Break a Leg” is indeed culturally significant, in a very big way.  “Why?” you may also ask.  You ask good questions.  It shows that the entertainment industry is moving forward – and moving indie. 

      Ten years ago we were using the internet to chat on IRC, leave messages on BBSs, reading the news, and playing MUDs. We liked our three-letter acronyms back in the day.

      Today we blog, we still read the news, but we also watch the news.  We IM and we check our email(s).  We also listen to music, socialize with friends, and watch television.

      With digital media becoming cheaper, the internet becoming faster, and the availability of free hosting services such as blip.tv, Vimeo, and Youtube, more and more people are creating original media content for the web.  Most of it is family and friends recounting their trip to South Dakota in front of a corn field, but some folks take it to the next level.

      This is where Break a Leg came in, and where I personally became really intrigued.  Break a Leg is a broadcast quality show that hasn’t been aired on television.  This really shows that the internet has truly begun to flex its muscle. 

      What makes it even more amazing is the fact that you have these college graduates – many with a bit of experience, but nothing too hardcore, and they’re making this quality show with a budget that is technically nil.  Somehow, however, they have managed to create an online fan base, with genuine quality content.

      Now, not everyone has to like the show (to be honest, my father isn’t quite too keen on it…) but that isn’t because of its quality, but rather the jokes and a person’s sense of humor.  This is why we can expect to see more internet programs in the future.  With more people having access to equipment, and their own ideas, they’ll be able to make their own shows!

      “So, what does Break a Leg have to do with that?” you may also (also) ask.  Man, enough with the questions!  No, I jest.  Break a Leg is the first of its kind, the predecessor.  At least that I’m aware of.  (I apologize to any other predecessors out there that I have not seen yet…that are broadcast quality shows, that is). 

      Break a Leg is the first step toward using the internet as a dedicated distribution medium for original content.  I mean, sure, it’ll probably come out on DVD, but the internet is still its home, and where you can catch it every week on Monday.  It’s the beginning of a new internet age.  The media age. (I should trademark that before someone else does…and make buttons!)

-Nick Taylor