Today's Reverb11 question from Carolyn Rubenstein:
Surprises: What was one thing that surprised you in 2011?
At first I was insistent nothing surprised me, which surprised me, and then I remembered.
I have always been interested in storytelling, so I decided to attend a storytelling slam which was a part of our Third Thursday art activities in Downtown Bakersfield’s Museum of Art. Because it was Summer, and Summer in Bakersfield is notoriously hot, it wasn’t particularly crowded.
I listened to several folks tell their stories and decided, “What the heck?” The woman who sat beside me had seen me in plays, she urged me on so I just got up and began. I had sort of composed an outline in my head. My goal was to be less winded and long as the others and attempt to be funny. I am usually funny just being myself, without trying.
The story I told was something like this:
Local theater actors are primarily volunteers who are constantly on the lookout for paying gigs. Sometimes I wander around Craig’s List looking for Acting jobs that are not of the Adult variety. One day I saw the band Korn, the members are local to Bakersfield, were shooting a video. They needed “odd characters, including a middle aged man and woman.”
I called the number and boom, I was in. With one minor detail, of course. The lead singer of the band wanted to recreate a scene he had seen while doing a ride-along with the Sheriff’s department. They had seen a woman running out of her house and down the street, well, Ian, the production assistant said, “You have to be willing to show your midriff.”
I said, “So, in order to show my midriff I am guessing I need to run with only my bra on.”
“Ummmm, Yes.” Ian said, his discomfort riddling through the cell phone wire.
“Well, sure. I will do it.”
Ian was surprised when he said, “You will?” He also asked if I had any actor friends willing to be my husband in the video. Ofcourse, I did.
They reassured me over and over it would be a closed set, that no one would see me running down the alley in a very… well, how do I say it? A very school with not very high income people who first moved to the area during the dustbowl era from Arkansas and Oklahoma. Many, even the young children born in Bakersfield have a bit of a twang in their voices.
Makeup and hair people had to make me look more like the woman I was portraying so they oiled up my hair and deep bags under my eyes. I brought bras I purchased the day before from Goodwill. They chose the least attractive one and dirtied it up. My husband-for-a-day who has been my husband in many plays, Jared, was surrounded by lovely women who were attending to messing him and his “wifebeater” shirt.
They tore the pants I brought, a pair of second hand pajama pants.
Production staff showed us the table with snacks and drinks.
They wanted to be sure I had a robe on, so I wouldn’t be uncomfortable. I kept thinking, “This is going to be on MTV or wherever, so the whole world will be able to see me running in this get up, so truly, I don’t know what you are all so uptight about!”
The time came for the shoot. I had bare feet, which I thought would be the most authentic. Production staff were waiting at the end of my running path to give me shoes and ofcourse, drape me.
I was ready.
We had one assistant director standing inside the mobile home we were using as our “location home” getting us prepared. When the other assistant director shouted, “ACTION!” I was to run out of the door and run down the street, as if running for my life. A jeep like thing with a camera would come up alongside me to get a different shot with none other than the lead singer of Korn watching the entire thing.
One thing about me as an actor: I get completely in the moment when I am working. The rest of the world evaporates. I listen to my director with the same intensity I see professional athletes listen to their coaches.
I requested a practice run so they would see the arch I would run, since I had no idea where in the road I would land when running full force.
Have I mentioned I am not in shape, I am not a small woman at all, and running was never my forte in PE when I was younger, but when the director yelled, “ACTION!” I ran like I had never run before. As I was running and crying and scared for my life, I didn’t notice the rocks my feet were running over.
I just ran.
They loved it.
We went back in for the first take.
I ran and ran and ran so hard I didn’t hear them say “CUT!” so the closed set sort of, well, did open up when I ran right into the other place they were shooting with a whole bunch of “the real deal” folks I was portraying for the day. Wranglers, cowboy hats, chewing tobacco and perhaps worse. When I came running full force into their view they started screaming and cheering. Vaguely in the backround I heard the director yelling “CUT!”
I walked purposefully back to my director, but noticed all of a sudden this was indeed a rocky road. The assistants gave me shoes. I shrugged off the cover, I wanted direction. “Was I running fast enough?” I wanted to know. “Did it look realistic?”
They complimented my work profusely. We did the same scene three more times and then Jared and I were done, $100 dollars richer, and now whenever people look at me sort of strangely and say I look familiar and are likely to be Korn fans, I say “I have no idea where you might have seen me!”
I finished my story and noticed everyone had been laughing and clapping throughout. I wasn’t prepared for the judges tally of our scores. I won hands down. On my first story telling adventure. Without any preparation.
I left the museum with a huge grin on my face and wanted to tell everyone, “I won a story telling contest! I won a story telling contest!” None of my friends were surprised. They said things like “Ofcourse you won a story telling contest. How could you do anything but win?”
I also won a membership to the Museum, awesome, and a couple of sandwiches from our local sandwich shop, Sequoia Sandwiches. I got a Waldorf Chicken Salad sandwich. Also awesome.
This was my biggest, happiest surprise of the year.
And you may search for the video in question on YouTube. The song is “Oildale Leave Me Alone” by Korn. I come at the end, when the video is getting very panicked feeling. I am seen twice, believe it or not. Jared is a speckle of a shadow.
I never knew I could run so well or so fast, second happiest surprise of the year.
What surprised you in 2011?
I am Julie Jordan Scott ~ and this is one of my Reverb11 posts. This year, the Reverb Community is taking an individualized approach to this life changing initiative. I am answering several prompts a day in short snippets during either a 30 minute or 60 minute wordsprint. I look forward to reading other Reverb11ers writing & if you are unfamiliar, just use the prompt and use the #reverb11 hashtag on twitter. You'll have a blast!
Follow me on Twitter: @JulieJordanScot
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© 2011
Julie Jordan Scott
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