MCS Blog composition experiment – Justin Gentry

Author’s Note: As a form of writing experiment/challenge to myself – I’ve decided to allot 15 minutes for the composition of this blog entry. It will be in a very “stream of consciousness” manner and the time limit will keep me from judging anything. I promise I’ll try to make it pertinent. Set timers. Go. The weather is starting to warm up. Clocks get set ahead one hour. We celebrate Passover, Easter, and other religious holidays in welcoming the new Spring season. People discuss on the Subway what they gave up for Lent. Spring …has always had that preconceived notion of “change” hasn’t it? I would guess then that this is the most potent time of the year to take a step back and evaluate “you” and where you stand. See whats working; see whats not. Possibly throw everything you own out onto the street curb and buy new things all while making life plans and goals for the rest of the upcoming year. Hey, auditioning season will be back in full swing again soon, right? Taxes are due – damn, I forgot about that. Speaking of, my lease is up and I don’t make enough money serving to find a new place – if I could only book that cruise ship job and leave the city for a bit I could pay off my loans… Sound familiar? Life is crazy. So, it is important, too, however, to evaluate where you come from and why you’re here. Why did the theatre call your name? Why does acting ignite your bones? Why New York City and not Chicago? Of course, its never been something somebody asks in the audition room – so why should we even bother contemplating something of this magnitude? What do YOU stand for? You see, I grew up doing magic tricks. I got into the drama club so that I would gain the awesome acting skills to become the next David Copperfield. True story. It wasn’t until almost 15 years later that I would realize the truth of why I became an actor. I loved being on stage, but it was never for attention. It was because I loved the impact that my performance could have on an audience. Making a coin disappear in front of someone’s eyes or transporting them to a seedy nightclub in Nazi-laden Berlin seemed to have a similar, if not identical effect. The audience member underwent a vivid moment of astonishment. Their lives are now changed even for the most fleeting of moments as all of the stuff we learn as “adults” was whisked away and we were left with nothing but our imaginations. Being able to create these innocent symbiotic events allowed me to live more facets of life than any lone person ever would in a corporate office cubicle. I live through the audience realization that there is something bigger going on here and we’re in it together. That’s my story, at least – but I believe it is important for everyone who reads this to take their own moment. Really dig deep and find your own story. Think back to that moment in your life where there was a fork in the road and you chose art. Whether it was always shooting your own home movies in your backyard when you were 12, or whether doing the spring musical in High School was an excuse to stop your ongoing piano lessons; there was a moment you dedicated your life to this. Its funny: that moment in our lives where we have to evaluate all of the “hobbies” we ever had as children and make that critical decision which we turn into “a career.” I hope that if you take the 2 minutes to reacquaint yourself with your story – walking into an audition room won’t be so harrowing an experience anymore. Wouldn’t that some great spring cleaning? We’re in it together, aren’t we?

Times up.

I cheated an extra 5 minutes in there.