stupid murphy’s law can bite me.

My plans to spend last night with the Basic D&D Dungeon Master's Booklet were derailed when I got a late-afternoon phone call from my manager.

"You have a pilot audition tomorrow," he said. "I'm sending you all the material right now."

He described the show to me; it sounds very cool. He described the character to me; it became apparent that this is a guy I could easily bring to life.

"This is awesome," I said. "I'll let you know how it goes."

I spent the evening preparing the audition, and finally went to sleep when I felt like I had a good handle on the material. I woke up this morning feeling excited, and ready to go nail this.

I went over the material* again, put on a tie (the character's a doctor) and grabbed my wallet, keys, iPod and phone. As I jammed all that stuff into my pocket, I heard my phone make the "hey, guess what? My battery is about to die" noise.

"Crap," I said to Anne, "my phone is going to die."

"Why don't you just take it with you and leave it off? You can turn it on in case there's an emergency."

"Nah," I said, "I'll just leave it here and charge it while I'm gone. I hardly ever need it, anyway."

You know what comes next, right?

This is the part where, if this were a movie, we would cut to me, sitting in traffic on the freeway. I'm not moving. There is a shot through my windshield of a bunch of emergency vehicles about a mile ahead of me, and a matching shot of me looking concerned. The next several shots would cut between me and the clock in my car, as it gets closer and closer to my audition time, and then passes it. Repeated over this, my voice says, "I hardly ever need it, anyway … anyway … anyway … now batting … Manny Mota … Mota … Mota …" Finally, about 30 minutes after I'm supposed to be in Hollywood, and still at least 45 minutes away, I creep past the crash, hope that nobody was hurt, and wonder what the hell I'm going to do now. You can't just show up for an audition 90 minutes late without calling.

"Well, fuck." I said. I got off the freeway, turned around, and went home.

It totally sucks that this is the first pilot audition I've had in over a year, and everything that could have gone wrong on the way did.

This show looks great, and the character is absolutely one I can see myself playing for five years or more. I'm hopeful that they're seeing people late into the afternoon or early
evening today, or that there's another session I can go to. This time, I'll bring my cell phone with me, just in case.

Edited to add: Well, this worked out okay after all. I'm going back at noon tomorrow. Yay!

*The material was wonderful, and showed many different sides of this character. This seems like a no-brainer, but you'd be shocked to learn how many auditions feature scenes that tell us nothing about the character, and are little more than that horrible exposition all actors hate to say.

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110 thoughts on “stupid murphy’s law can bite me.”

  8. I read somewhere in a book a really awesome guy said something like “I always listen to my wife because she is always right”….
    oh wait, that was you.
    and I second the car charger comment, although I just realized I don’t own one either. Keeping my fingers crossed for second chances for you.

  9. Man, that does suck. I’m sure there will be another audition, and I’m sure that you won’t have any problems with that one. Good luck.

  10. This is why I keep a cigarette-lighter adapter for my phone in my car…if I start getting the “battery low” bleep while on the road, I just whip out the “cheater cord” and give my phone some juice off the alternator. I would suggest you run, don’t walk, to your nearest phone store/electronics outlet/Wal-Mart and pick one up.
    Meanwhile, here’s hoping you can get in the audition anyway. (crosses fingers)
    EDIT: Yeah, I’m the Nth one to suggest the car charger. I win no prize. 🙂

  12. I never drive enough to have a car charger, and I’m not going to spend money on something I hardly ever use.
    Yes, you may point and laugh at me now.

  13. That sucks!
    Also, car charger. Or car plug converter.
    The good news? Maybe they’ll see this post and feel bad and forget all about today’s incident.
    Ya never know…

  15. That sucks. We should totally start a petition/ad campaign thing to get you on the pilot. Any chance a name/email/phone number will appear? 😉
    And definite dittoes on the cigarette lighter phone charger, which has saved my life more than once already.

  17. That is perfectly reasonable. I know of iPhone’s and the lovers they string along, but I don’t have one myself and I was hoping not to hear that iPhone’s don’t carry car chargers. Because Apple loves to stick it to me.

  18. Yay! Glad to hear the audition got reschedule. Also, you on a regular five year show? *glee*
    Will also send mojo your way tomorrow, too!
    Cheers!

  22. Oh geez!
    I can only imagine the horror you must have felt the longer you had to sit in traffic. I hope they were understanding (and that everyone else they saw wasn’t quite right for the part).
    We’re all sending you positive thoughts, man!

  26. Yay!!! Here’s hoping this story has a happy ending… Get in there and knock their socks off!!!
    Also, leave an hour before you were gonna leave… I’m sure you can find something to do with the extra time 😉

  31. Oh, dude, I’m so sorry that irony bit you in the ass today. That sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach is absolutely horrid to go through. I hope that they’ll still see you later today or tonight. Lay in a supply of Stone IPA to either celebrate or drown your woes.
    *big hug*
    [edit] Suh-weet on the rescheduling! Drink the Stone, and at noon tomorrow, I’ll totally be sending mojo.

  34. Oh homie, that sucks. I know how you feel! That’s happened to me a few times whenever I’m off to an audition and I’m at least an hour late because of traffic, and low battery on my cell phone. I’m the same way! If I’m at least 45 or 50 minutes late to an audition, I say “fuck it” and turn around and head home. Oh good, you have another audition tomorrow. Good luck homie! Break a leg.

  35. Ok I know its old and cliche but everything does seem to happen for a reason. You see it later when you realize hey had this not happen then *fill in the blank* wouldn’t have happened.. and that was totally worth the sacrifice.
    Who knows why today went crazy chaos from hell on you, but I am willing to bet somehow it will be something you look back on and say..Im glad I missed that original audition.
    Maybe its just me trying to cheer you up. and then again.. who knows.
    Good Luck tommorow wil!
    *hugs*
    Nephy

  36. Dude – I’m adding my Karma points to your Massive Audition Goodwill Pool. Hope you nail it!
    “…and are little more than that horrible exposition all actors hate to say.”
    You mean like “Why would anyone want to do drugs?”?

  37. I know the feeling. But Murphy can attack in different levels.
    Imagine how complicated this attack is; (it’s pure art): I bought a house in November, which I cut back on expenses to be able to afford. So, off went the cell phone.
    And, when I lost my job last Thursday, I’m without a cell phone. Friday I went and bought one of those prepaid phones, with 300 minutes. To this second, despite having sent out 30 applications and 10 resumes, half my minutes were used up by phone messages about my car’s warranty (yes, that message.)
    No car phone charger can fix that a-hole.
    Now, I’m paranoid and look at every phone call before answering.
    -=T=-
    ps: You’re made for the Dr. If it’s that obvious to you, it’ll be that obvious to them. Congrats ahead of time.

  42. Here’s adding my full bank of Karma Points to your Massive Audition GoodWil Pool! I’ll be sure to earn a bunch more to donate to the Sweet Pilot Pickup roll after you nail it.

  44. Remember the extension of Murphy’s Law…if you discover a discrepancy like “no charger in the car”, and you *don’t* buy one and put it in there, this will happen again. At the worst possible moment…think “on the way to the ER, someone hurt in the passenger’s seat, stuck in traffic”.
    I think my cigarette lighter adapter for my iPhone was $20. Money well spent.
    Good luck tomorrow.

  45. I learned that lesson already. My iPhone goes on the charger every night. NO MATTER WHAT. I made it my alarm so if its not charged, I don’t get up.

  46. Wil, do you remember Dr. Guerrero from the Glendora office? This is his wife, Alicia. Found you on Twitter! Love your blog! Hope the family is well. Take care. Alex says hi.

  47. Arggg…Glad to hear it worked out. FYI, I had this happen recently, and I knew I’d need my iPhone, so I unplugged my laptop and threw it in the car with the cord. Sure enough, phone died and I need it…fired up the laptop, turned down the gpu and screen, plugged the phone in long enough for it to come back on, then made the call and had the conversation with it plugged into the laptop.
    Worked out well…or, could just spend $20 and get a usb charger for the car.

  48. Congratulations on this latest creative opportunity. Best of luck to you tomorrow. Just don’t think about the fact it’s going to be Friday the 13th!

  50. If I may add (after ten years of marriage), if your spouse says anything that includes the words “in case of emergency” then you know you have to follow that. But I never say “I told you so”, because as you found s**t happens!

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