Ah, shit. Woke up
this morning at 7 AM after 5 hours of rolling around.
I just hate to say I'm depressed. I hate to admit it
really. There honestly is nothing "negative" about my
show not fitting into a "theme" that Aspen is having
this year. But...
I want more. I
want to be THE best. I want to be so good - the
theme could be "dead puppies" and I would win. I'm in
the top 10? Well then I am FIRST and you figure out
the other 4 'cause it ain't gonna matter I'm best.
That's my attitude plain and simple. Blaming the
"theme" is what a loser who doesn't make it says. It's
the guy who goes onstage - and SUCKS, and blames the
audience. On the other hand...
No it isn't. The
theme DOES matter - and my originality and
inventiveness has bit me in the ass here.
Charlotte came
over last night to pick up some tapes for her day of
harrassment today. She said she was absolutely
shell-shocked at the call. Completely thought Alyssa
would say: "Of course you're in..." Says she cannot
believe they would want 5 of the
SAME OLD SHIT when they have an opportunity
to have something so inventive and new, no matter what
the theme is. I told her that I thought George Carlin
was probably the "honoree" this year, and she
agreed. Every year at Aspen they have an honoree, last
year was Robin Williams. I figured with this new more
serious "free speech" theme - Carlin is the perfect
candidate. He also has a new one man show - so there
ya go... As I said before the majority of one-man
shows fall into this category with ease, so I see
no reason why they would put me in. I mean think of it
this way: Imagine my act opening for George Carlin.
That just AIN'T gonna happen. Not that that's how
it works at Aspen, but again - with the theme...I'm
just screwed.
We also talked
about how we can't even think of 5 other one-man shows
that would fit into the category either. And here's
the killer - if we don't make it, Charlotte is so
angry she's going to every show that made it for no
other reason but to be angry. LOL. She wants to know
exactly what they chose over us - for some unknown
reason. She's got fire...that's good. On an actual
"productive" note our plan of action if Aspen is gone
is to get every single person who would've seen me
there to come to my shows BEFORE the festival. Not
going to Aspen actually moves the "development deal"
along a little quicker. If we get in, we almost lay
low a bit - maybe a show a month until Aspen. Without
Aspen, it's kill or be killed.
Man, and right now
I am killed. Highs and lows baby. November was easily
the best month of my life man. Fuck balance. LOL.
What the hell is
this entry? Ramblng, rambling, rambling. I told myself
I would get up this morning and try to put it behind
me and start working on the script. RIGHT. I woke
up at 7:04 AM and thought: "I'm not going to Aspen" -
and that was it. This is gonna have to gnaw at me for
a few more days I'm afraid. You can't set yourself up
for 10 straight months and be able to forget it in a
day.
Can I at least
take solace that I made it to the top ten? That I'm
"in the running"?....no. As I said in the second
paragraph: The best, the best, the best. I don't care
if they got 1000 submissions, I will always want to be
#1 and be pissed if I'm #2...let alone #6. That's just
sickening. That they could feasibly pick 5 people
ahead of me. DAHHHHHHH. I'm gonna leave the keyboard
for awhile. See what happens today. I'll be
back.
3:51
PM
DAMN! What a
difference a few hours makes. So Charlotte gets a hold
of Grace Wu. That is the VP of Comedy Development at
NBC Network TV. For reference, Rose Catherine Pinkney
is the VP of Comedy Development at Paramount Network
TV. That is who got my tape from Helen, whom I had the
meeting with at Paramount last week. Jesus what a
puzzle this all is. Anyway - Grace has seen the
tape...loved it. Bringing development people to the
next show (which is now either the 17th ot 18th of
December at Largo. She is on the 12 person Advisory
Board that is meeting tomorrow. She completely feels
that my show should be a part of Aspen no matter what
the theme. She said she will push for the others to at
LEAST see a callback live, and if they aren't going to
- to include me in the category. During the
conversation Charlotte got quite an inspiration. Bear
with me, as this seems like quite a bit of bullshit
when you first hear it:
The Trinitrons is
very much about free speech. The other TVs don't have
it, and to make them look STUPID, Adam gives it to
them (allowing them to change their clothes and do
their own sets) but it backfires on him. Leading to
Cameron's final speech which can easily be changed to
incorporate the theme. A tiny bit of a stretch - but
it could also be quite tongue-in-cheek. All which
relates to the Aspen Festival
Now the big
problem is is letting these people know this in a
matter of hours. Man I thought last weekend was
stressful - this is absolutely NUTS. This really,
really gives me hope. On top of all that, guess who I
have a meeting with next month? Grace Wu. Before it
was just: I'm bringing some development people to the
next show, now it's a general meeting. Hot damn. As
well Charlotte said she was extremely familiar with
her, and felt very much on our side. She said we need
to get another person on the board for her to team up
with if there's any shot of true influence with a
dozen people spouting opinions. What I wouldn't give
to be a fly on that wall. What an intense meeting that
will be.
Anyway, Charlotte
is busy as we speak getting ahold of Anne Maney. She
came to the Comedy Store show and gave the good word
to Alyssa. The word which was supposed to garner a
callback, but now has turned into all this. Man, life
is moving a mile a minute. This is such a soap
opera.
12:30
AM
Alright, well not
much has changed. Left a message for Anne, got 5 tapes
to 5 people and was able to talk to the assistants of
all 5. She is guessing that some of these people are
part of the advisory board. She THINKS she knows but
is unsure. Even if they don't watch the ten minute
tape - it'll pique their interest. Now when Grace goes
to bat, they'll have a little background to it. If
Anne comes in for the kill...this just, may,
happen.
Damnit
- now my hopes are all up again. I'm just
askin' to be SLAMMED ain't I. And of
course for the
video.
It could be part 1 of 2...if I get in.
Otherwise it just sucks. But you have to
admit, the drama is absolutely incredible.
So I'll put it all on the line and grasp
at one last hope of a great ending. Here's
Commudus (Aspen) suprising Maximus (heh,
me...) with the dagger (the Aspen
"theme"). So how will it end?
