Book excerpt :-)

I previously shared one of the chapters of my book on here... and it's probably a good time to share another one.

This excerpt is chapter ONE of my book.

Enjoy.

S.

Oh, London. What’s a guy gotta do to get a job around here!? I don’t just mean any job. I mean a job in the industry he actually wants to work in. The industry he has spent most of his life dreaming about. All the hours spent studying and working for free just to gain a little bit of ‘experience’ or ‘exposure’ (ugh - I hate that word). An industry he has given his life to. An industry where up until now, the path has seemed pretty clear. An opportunity was always there waiting. A challenge ready to take on. To be catapulted into the next stage of my existence. And there have been plenty of stages.

It’s been difficult. It’s been tough. It’s been a long journey from the day I decided I wanted to be an actor, but this is the first time I’ve been dealt with the harsh reality and the question that most people dread - Is this what I’m really meant to do? Is this what my life is actually meant to be? Should I give up and try another career? Re-train in something else?

The thing is, it’s not completely uncommon for people to not know what they want to do in life, in general. I know people in their 40’s and still not knowing. My grandmother took up painting and drawing in her 70’s! And she was so talented. For me though, I know what I want to be. I know where I want to be. I just don’t always know how I’m going to get there. That’s the tricky part. Particularly in this industry which is so based on appearance and luck. You could be the most talented performer in the world, but if you’re just that little bit too tall, or short, or you don’t quite fit the mould of the ‘beautiful people’ you see on something like Hollyoaks, then you might not get the job. (Nothing against anyone who's been in Hollyoaks).

Anyways, this is where I’m at. It’s April 2012 and I’m in London, one of the most famous cities in the world, ready to hit the ground running to make it to the next level of my career. I only have one real problem that needs solving right now; I need to fund my life somehow. At the same time, I need to keep an unsatisfied girlfriend of nearly 5 years, happy, in this relationship that’s become increasingly derailed since the day we met. That’s another of my big hurdles at the moment. Sure, I need a job and money. But do I need this person in my life? I’ll add this to the list of questions and concerns I already have going around in my brain.

So, my life is in the arts. I’m an actor, singer, dancer (somewhat). A ‘mover’? An actor who moves well? I can tap dance. But not every musical has a tap routine, thankfully. Imagine that! Half way through Les Miserables the police and the students have a tap-off. I’d pay to watch that! Dance auditions have never really been my forte and every now and then a show comes up and you have to go through the whole process, hoping that they’re not looking for Gene Kelly when they’re really gonna get Gene Simmons (funnily enough, I’m listening to KISS on Spotify as I’m writing this). But that’s why I class myself as a "mover" or "actor who moves well." There are plenty of incredible dancers in this city and who am I to put myself up on a pedestal alongside them? Know what I mean? But anyways, I’m lost. See, this is what happens. I start on one subject and end up on the complete opposite end. The aural equivalent of a fly. Always buzzing in a random direction, seemingly going around in circles. Ever seen a dog spot a squirrel? Welcome to my brain.

So, where was I? I was born in Perth, Western Australia. I spent my first year out  of high school studying musical theatre at a small performing arts school called Stage Door. There I received a Certificate for that year of study and it did help me get into the biggest performing arts academy in Australia - WAAPA (Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts). Home of some of the best and brightest in the arts industry in Australia.

I performed in so many shows in so many places and was always doing my best to put myself out there and meet people and grab every opportunity by the balls. While most of the shows I did were amateur productions, between the ages of 14 and 20, I was performing in about 3, 4 or 5 shows a year. Singin’ In the Rain; Footloose; Beauty and the Beast; John & Jen; Bye Bye Birdie; How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying… the list goes on. I became a regular in the productions at all-girls school Perth College. I did TWO different productions of A Chorus Line and must have performed in a dozen original plays with the Western Australian Youth Theatre Company. Not to mention the TV commercials, promotional work, Christmas gigs, workshops and singing at old folks homes. One time I even performed as a backup dancer for a drag queen at Fremantle Prison. Note: It's no longer a functioning prison - it's used for events and tours and such.

But, like I said… It. Is. My. Life.

I digress.

It’s late April 2012 and I’ve just arrived in London, flying here with a plane ticket courtesy of selling my car. I have £2000 in my pocket, a couple of suitcases and girl who I really don’t want to be with and who really doesn’t want to be with me. We just didn’t fully know it yet. I’m also looking for a job. Apart from being a performer, I’ve got experience in coffee shops, restaurants, nightclubs, selling shoes, selling phones, telemarketing (don’t ask), door to door sales (also don’t ask) and most recently in promotions. The £2000 that I’ve got in my pocket (this is figuratively by the way, it’s in my account. I’m not stupid enough to just carry that much cash around the city, willy nilly), that money I earned in the last month and a half back in Perth working for a promotions company. Each day I would pick up a big van with a coffee cart in the back and go to different shopping centres in and around Perth, making coffee and pretending to care about this ‘great, new product!’ It turned out to be good practice actually as without knowing it, I was about to jump head on into the coffee industry. It was slightly difficult when my license was suspended for unpaid parking fines and I had to get one of the other baristas to drive me around. Equally awkward when I was the one getting paid extra to drive the van in the first place. But we won’t go there.

I did end up getting a job pretty quickly in said coffee industry by the way (spoiler alert!). I got a few, actually. In fact, it funded my life for quite a while. It also gave me more than enough experience to last a lifetime. Some good, some not quite so good. I’ve made friends. I’ve made enemies. I’ve stolen and been stolen from. At one point it got so bad I was sleeping on one of the coffee shop tables downstairs. (Advice: Use cushions. My hips hurt for a week after that and I’m pretty sure some of my lower back pain now is from this).

Some of this might not make sense and some of it will seem like my fly-like brain has just… SQUIRREL!