Because You Never Know...

One of the first professional credits on my resume is "Chicken #2” – part of a dual role I played (I was also "Dad") in Chicken of the Family for Charter Theatre’s New Plays for Young Audiences Series. (I'm the bald one in the middle - that's not the egg - in the kinda creepy photo on your left). You might think that playing a chicken was a potentially humiliating experience I'd like to forget. Well, it did involve singing and dancing, but I at least I didn't have to do the "chicken dance." THAT would have been humiliating. Man, I hate that song.

Wait, where was I? Oh, right - that was actually a really fun role in children's show, so not humiliating at all. And I’m glad I didn’t forget about it because, as it happens, I went to an audition recently where the side I was given actually said that I should be prepared to "sing like a man-sized chicken." And I thought to myself, "I've DONE that!" So, I confidently belted, or rather "bawked" a few notes and kept right on going.

The point is, I rose to the chicken challenge. You never know when some skill or past experience might come in handy. So, don't be too quick to dismiss some special unique knowledge or stupid human trick you've got hidden up your sleeve. It might be the critical difference between getting the gig, or laying an egg. (Yeah, like you didn't see that coming.)