Tuesday, April 26, 2005

Yes, You Can Have My Autograph

So I've just returned from Santa Monica where, no joke, I was mobbed by autograph hounds. These autograph hounds were in the fourth grade, and there's an extremely high chance that they didn't actually see any of my work. After all, how many fourth graders are fans of Tech TV? Maybe two.

There's this really great program out here called The Young Storytellers foundation. They team young kids up with Hollywood screenwriters (some are actually from Canoga Park), and for six weeks each kid works with his mentor to create a script. Week seven is showtime. They get to see their scripts come to life with a star and a Swisher-studded cast. Tonight was the big night for kids at Pacifica Community Charter.

I found out about it through my friend Joc whose boyfriend heard about it through one of the organizers. Word went out that they needed celebrities to come down and read. I'm guessing they were short some actors because I somehow made the line-up.

I think we performed about seven or eight different scripts. I narrated a few, and during the course of the evening played such characters as "Nurse", "Carla", "Alien w/ a Watch" and "Riley the tiger". That role was difficult as it required an Irish accent. I may have done an Irish tiger with a Mexican accent. I can't be sure exactly.

Many of the other actors boasted film and popular TV credits. I can tell you that "90210" has more cache than "Unscrewed". Regardless, it was a fun time. And you can really see the potential in a lot of these writers. Lot of creativity and humor.

After the show I told one of the young boys that he should remember me when he makes his first feature film. Know what he said? "Give me your telephone number so I can call you." We're doing lunch next week.

See, this town is all about networking. I'm getting a head start by developing relationships with these budding writers and directors. Granted, it might take about twelve years of schmoozing for this to pay off, but it's gotta be worth it, right? I mean, if I'm a pen pal with a kid for most of his or her adolescence, they've got to cast me in something. Don't they?

Anyway, for any working writer/actor types who would be interested in participating, it's a lot of fun.

Ripcast.

5 comments:

Redlobo said...

RIPCAST! That was my next guess. You definitely are becoming a celebrity. You have already gone through the first two stages of massive ego, and prescription pill junkie. Now your at "I'll do a charity event for the children." Kudos to you for doing that for The Young Storyteller foundation. You will be a full-fledged "90210" Celebrity when you finally become a "Bitchy Diva on the Set" and you start protesting for obscure causes like "Removing Anal Leakage from those made with Olestra Chips."

On a side note, please reconsider penpaling with any 12 year olds. I had an older lady as my penpal and she sort of started sending me naked photos of herself when I was 12. 2 years of therapy and two states later I am still not completely healed.

Laura Swisher said...

Manny, I do not consider Tech TV a low point. It is, indeed, a high point. It gave me a career and a love of technologies I now can't afford.

You might be confusing my grasp of reality with disdain. Grasp of reality being the only people who had heard of Tech TV are the kind of people who had heard of Tech TV. It's not the largest audience.

So when an impressionable child comes up to you, beaming, and asks, "What show are you on?" A sure-fire way to puncture the illusion that he or she is talking to someone famous is to say, "I was on Unscrewed...a show on, uh, Tech TV...right. Hey, you know the WB? I was on the WB." It's just the reality. But I truly did enjoy myself.

Brian said...

They want your autograph because of that really cool ad for that EXCELLENT restaurant you did! MMMM - WENDYS! Delicious and not at all a giant corporation that makes people obese and taxes the heath care system! Nice work Laura! You must be proud!

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