The Importance of Being Polite

My parents taught me a few valuable things in life. Always hold onto the banister when you go down the stairs, don't run by the pool, and good manners are hard to come by.

I had an audition today to be a featured extra in a film. Now, I've had a few chances to do extra work in the past couple of weeks, but for no money, in the kind of weather we've been having, I've passed. But this one was for a "Featured Extra" (with a name!) and they were asking me to come audition, so I figured there was probably more substance to this one.

I walked into the room and shook the Director's hand. On the far side of the room was the Producer, and between us, laid out on the floor were about 25 head shots. I felt a momentary hesitation at the thought of possibly stepping on some girl's face, but I pushed through and stepped over to shake the Producer's hand.

In that momentary lull, the Director glanced down at my resume-- which he later told me he hadn't been doing throughout auditions until the girl had left the room.

He saw that I had "Impressions" listed on my special skills. So instead of just asking me a few questions about my experience and schedule, like they'd been doing for the other girls, he asked me to do an impression.

I did Gilbert Gottfried.

They ended up having me do several more, tell jokes, and do stand-up, and while I was in the room, they developed a character for me. So now, instead of being an Extra in a bar scene, I am going to be a comedian performing during a separate scene in which everyone is watching a show.

Which means lines, more screen time, and a high-quality recording of my Gilbert Gottfried impression to put on my reel.

And all because I shook hands.