The Forbidden Love-Child Of Brad Garrett & Dennis Franz

(Thanks to everyone who ad-clicked like crazy yesterday when dropping by - I'm already at over $38 this month...!)

In other happy monetary news, I got a nice little residual check in yesterday's mail, for the AT&T Yellow Pages commercial I shot earlier this year.

For maybe an hour or so afterwards, I was a happy little actor, thinking about how that check would just about cover groceries for the month, or put a serious dent in next month's rent.

Then I went to the bike shop, to get new tires (The old ones had both developed slow leaks, and were balder than I am), then to Lightning Media, to have 25 copies of my demo reel made.

Between the two expenditures - which were both way more than I thought they'd be - I had maybe enough money left from my "nice little residual check" to do a load or two of laundry.

(Riding my bike as much as I do, and hating flats, I opted for high-tech, flat-resistant, teflon-coated tires, innertubes, rim liners, etc. And it cost a pretty penny, but now I have bike tires that can take a direct hit from a small-caliber handgun...which is pretty important here in L.A.)

In all honestly, I'm a lot happier about spending money on bike tires than I am about spending money on copies of my demo reel - At least with the tires, I experience an immediate benefit, and don't feel like I'm throwing money down a hole.

To explain - My manager sent out an email to his clients a day or two ago: He's going to some kind of "Manager-palooza" thing next weekend, and wants to take along any "promotional materials" we have - Headshots and resumes, postcards, demo reels, etc. - so he can hawk us to agents, casting people, etc.

Now, I know I shouldn't be a glass-half-empty, "Negative Nelly"-type actor, but it's hard to imagine, at ManagerFest 2008, that agents and casting people will be beating the bushes for the middle-aged "forbidden love-child of Brad Garrett and Dennis Franz" (As someone once described me), instead of pretty, 90210/Gossip Girl actor-bots.

Harder still to imagine that Brett (My manager) is going to spend a lot of time peddling my wares, when he has "stars" like Kim H. (Who recently got a lead in her first independent film, that played at Tribeca), and Joe W. (Who was "recurring" on Gray's Anatomy last year).

(Though Brett actually should "peddle my wares" - Cause while it's unlikely I'll ever be a "star", there's every likelihood I'll still be working 20 years from now, long after Kim and Joe have had their day.)

But even though I don't feel terribly positive about this event, and the chances of anything meaningful happening, it's also possible lightning will strike.

Cause it's always possible that lightning will strike.

And if it does - If a big time casting person goes up to Brett's table, wondering if he just happens to represent any middle-aged actors who look like "the forbidden love-child of Brad Garrett and Dennis Franz" - I want Brett to be able to say "Have I got an actor for you...!", as he hands him (Or her) my headshot and demo reel.

(If you're new in town and/or new to the business: If you have a demo reel, or when you get enough footage together for a demo reel, don't waste your money getting a zillion copies made. It's not neccessary - Except maybe in situations like I've just written about. Instead, make sure you have your reel online, at someplace like Actors Access, so if someone asks about your reel, you can send them the link...and everyone's happy.)