Just got back from a trip to New York City to visit Dave Burdick and a bunch of other friends from college that I haven’t seen in years. Worked with Dave Burdick and his roommate Reid Levin of “Better Than The Machine” on writing the first episode of what is now “Apartment 3A”, a new video blog they are producing for dotcomedy.com Because I was in town, I ended up directing the pilot for them, which was a lot of fun and worked out great. If dotcomedy.com picks up the series, I’ll be including more links soon.
Other big reason for being in town is that comedy colleague Dave Burdick from “Secret Circus” booked me as the musical guest for this month’s “Secret Sideshow”, a variety show in the East Village, and the new, slightly more mainstream, spin-off of “Secret Circus”. So I was in town to play ukulele on Monday night, and it was marvelous. Had a great time, we got to test screen the pilot of “Apartment 3A” at the show, and I read this month’s on-going radio drama “Psychic Bastards” with Reid, Dave, and longtime friend Vanessa Roher.
This was also the big scouting trip to see if NYC is a viable place to move to. NYC and LA are the two big central hubs for film work, if I’m looking to make connections. And while there is more work in LA, and there are also other cities such as Chicago, Vancouver (Wilmington, NC, even!), I have more personal friends in New York, and I’ve discovered that that is a really important part for staying stable for me. Also I don’t like LA. I’ve had good trips visiting or on business in the past, and while I find it entertaining to visit and don’t mind working there in stints, I still don’t really want to live there. And NYC was shockingly comfortable.
Sure the city is still huge, but it wasn’t nearly as huge as I thought it was, I was able to see so many more neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens and find some areas that I really would like to live in. Which is nice. So NYC is the next big look. We’ll see.
And keep your eyes peeled for “Apartment 3A” making an appearance on the Net shortly (I can’t see how they could pass on this sucker, it’s tight as a drum), and hopefully, I’ll put up a couple of clips from the performance at the “Secret Sideshow” at Jimmy’s No. 43, also home of the monthly “Ukulele Cabaret”. What a first venue opportunity!