The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

You know, I got to thinking today. I'm by no means an answer man (I know what I just wrote, but hear me out for a second). I got to thinking about living up here, and how I've been living in New York City for about 3 months now and just how cool it is that EVERYTHING is at your fingertips here. I was thinking about some of my friends back in the ATL who are considering moving or they're about to move, and I'd like to give you a step by step guide to get to the place you want to be, be it New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, or Billings, Montana (I hear it's a big time up and coming theatre place). Also, this is an open forum, so I'm throwing an invite out to my good buddy Jeff Pack (my fellow Samurai warrior) to comment away and add his take as well. Just for the record, I love your comments, so if you read my blog and I check back to see if anyone has commented, I view "shutouts" (i.e. zero comments) as a failed blog. Moving right along...

First and foremost, have a reason to go. Don't just go for the sake of going. It's a simile I've used before, but it'd be like throwing a spear at the moon. I've known people who've said "I'm going to LA to act because so and so said I have talent." Wait, screw that, I'm getting on my soapbox again, and I could easily delete that last sentence, but as in improv, it's already out there. I'm gearing this to the LA/NY ready ATL actors (and if you're reading this, you know who you are). Be very specific in what you want to get out of said market. Going out to act is rather abstract, so I'd attack the business end of things and find out how you can meet the people who can put you on television or in films. I'm sorry, I see that I just rhymed, and I'm totally feeling a poem coming on, so let's see if we can bust out a haiku.

Thinking of moving,
New York, LA, calling out,
Planning is the key.

Awesome. You're plan is what's going to keep you grounded and focused on what you want while you're rocking and rolling. When the city pushes you, you push back and tell yourself "remember why you came here." OK, so we've got step one down, step two can be a bit daunting, but it's a necessity. It's essentially you're going to stay when you arrive. I have to stop again for a second, not because my non-diagnosed ADD is kicking in, but I want to reiterate something; moving to one of the "Big Two" clearly doesn't guarantee success, and you can certainly have a world of success without going to New York or LA (interesting fact, Kevin Bacon did it all out of Philadelphia, PA). Knowing what you want will answer where you should be so you can set yourself up for your success (be it Birmingham, AL or Alpha Centuri, all though I have no idea why one would want to pursue an acting career on the second closest star to the earth, seeing as it's a red dwarf, but if you want to travel that many parsecs, be my guest). OK, back on task. So you know what you want to accomplish, it's not in Atlanta, you've made your choice between NY and LA, so what do you do? It's humbling, but this is where you take advantage of your friends. Lob phone calls and ask if you can crash on his or her couch, fouton, floor, coffee table, etc. I was fortunate to have my friend Helen let me crash at her pad, and I'll be forever grateful. My goal was to get in and get out, because I didn't want to be "that guy" (I'm already "that guy" in so many other scenarios, there's no need to add another). So you stack them up. Helen was awesome and she would've made sure her psycho former roommate didn't make me feel like a total deadbeat while I was couch surfing. But to not push that envelope, I tried to make sure I had a few backups in place. I was VERY lucky to find my place (and if you're wondering, Lena is muy buena. Ella es el mejor amiga de cuarto). OK, so key points of my ramblings here are have friends where you're going (if you're reading this, you already have me, and I'll do any and everything in my power to help out if you decide to move to New York from Atlanta...and I know you of course, I'd hate for me to lob this nice gesture out there and some creep to show up at my door with this blog printed out). Anyway, you get the drift.

Now, you've made up your mind, you've got a place to stay lined up. Let's talk dollars and cents. Most people say "you need X amount of money if you're even considering moving." I don't want to say that is wrong, but here's the key to take away. X amount merely represents a rough estimate for a few months of living and not having a job. You really just need moving money (deposits, first month, and money to move). Don't be ridiculous ("I think $383 will definetely get me rolling in West Hollywood!"). I'll be perfectly honest, I did it with a bit less than $4000. Insane? Possibly, but I knew what I wanted, and I trusted it would work and I wouldn't fall. As long as you have a roof over your head and great friends (it's a good idea to line up a few places and rotate a few days at each place), you can really make any amount work while you're looking for your own pad.

It's really not as hard as it's made out to be. The toughest part? Keeping that focus and remaining excited about it. By excited, I'm talking freaking Navin R. Johnson "The new phonebooks are here, the new phonebooks are here!!!" excited. Why was he excited over something so trivial? Because he "was somebody now." I'll be honest, if you're reading this and thinking about moving or you're setting the date, or you've just moved, it's perfectly human to say to oneself "Man, I'm really going to miss my friends. I can't believe I'm not going to see so and so every day. Well, maybe I don't have to," and of course you don't have to. But who are you cheating? Everything you've built up in Atlanta isn't going to disappear. It's there; house money, as they say in Vegas. Believe me, after my final PIT show at the studio, don't think it didn't cross my mind to stay a bit longer. We had a crazy-packed house, the audience was going nuts for us, everyone was so on, and if you know me, those are the kind of things I freaking LIVE for (and if my parents are reading and they're still mad at me, which I know both to be true and it's fine, my drug of choice is performing for a live, packed house!). It was the hardest decision to make, but like Harry Potter, sometimes we have to choose between what's right and what's easy.

So, if you're an Atlanta actor thinking about moving (again, if I talk to you on a regular basis and moving comes up), there you have it. Oh...you also want to talk to people who are smarter in the business and currently having more success than you in the business, and I had long talks with John Cornetta, Michael Cole, Adam Boyer, and Tom Thon, each of whom are four actors from the Atlanta market who've had considerable success, and they gave me some awesome advice. When I made my decision and told one of my closest friends and hetero-lifemate Matt Cornwell (also my improv wingman and the most talented guy I've ever met) he said "man, I'm going to miss you, but I think you're doing the absolute right and the smartest thing for you." That's when I knew that even though I was going to miss everyone, I'd made the right decision.

Questions, comments, how come's, what if's? Open it up!