So I'm an actor in Lisbon now - but not really
I haven’t made a blog update in like over a month and it’s not because I’m a lazy ass this time. I’ve actually been Getting Shit Done™. I hosted that show on the 18th of June. My first time like foreally real real hosting a show and having to talk with the comedians and work out the lineup and everything. And it all went really well! I acted in not one but two (very) short films. Then I hosted ANOTHER show with O Zebras and closed a Lisbon Comedy. event on back-to-back days. Now I’m enjoying a bit of downtime but I’m headed back up to Porto for a comedy show on the 16th. But the most important thing you need to see right now is RED COCAINE the short film is out and it’s actually good! Check it out.
Holy fuck that was so much fun to make and I got to eat pizza while making it. Best day ever. I don’t think there’s a lot of acting in my future but working with great people on anything is good times for me. Even if I don’t really know what I’m doing. And I didn’t. I didn’t even memorize my lines. Like I forgot that was a thing I needed to do and I showed up and had to start memorizing them in front of everyone. And then I realized there’s a bunch of people that would be standing around waiting if I didn’t get my shit together. Getting really high before I showed up didn’t help either. But.. like… method acting or whatever. It all worked out tho. I got my lines sorted and rehearsed a bit with the other dude while they were setting up equipment.
Here’s the joke that the video was based on:
Then I did a second one but it was for someone else’s project and I’m not sure I can share it right now. It was cool too. A lot of the same people worked on it. And so this was pretty dope as well. This actress, Ana Cunha, was in it as well. And she’s like an actual fuckin actress. She’s on TV shows and commercials and shit in Portugal.
Ana Cunha_Showreel19 from Ana Cunha on Vimeo.
Fucking professionals yo. I love being around people who know what they’re doing. Especially when I have no idea what I’m doing. That’s where you have tons of opportunity to learn. I didn’t come out on the other end of this feeling like an actor but there’s a lot of details that I can appreciate more now having been exposed to the process a bit.
That was all fun. Learned a lot. Got to work with cool ass people. Back to stand up comedy!
So it looks like the Zebras are going to let me host as many of their English comedy nights as I want. At least for now! I already have another show planned with them at Cargo 111 on July 30th. And that will give me one or two opportunities to perform/host a month. Salazar up in Porto said he plans to continue doing English shows every month. So my goal is to travel up and do a show in Porto at least once a month. Maybe some other shows will pop up in the city but it’s nice to finally have some regular opportunities.
It’s really frustrating having to wait weeks to try out new stuff. Or only do bigger shows and feeling like I don’t have the opportunity to try out new material. Like there’s still not enough shows here in Lisbon and general not enough comedians to sustain a regular rotation if there were more shows to pop up.
So I’m gonna see how I can help to solve both of those problems. I’m going to continue to collaborate with and encourage other Portuguese comedians to try out English. Help as many people set up shows and perform wherever I can. And hopefully, somewhere in the middle, I can improve myself through the process. There’s so much potential here in Lisbon and it’s going to take a group effort to see a real scene develop.
Trust the process.