A Day in the Life of a (Semi) Normal Auditioner

As a human being - aside from being a theatrical one - I consider myself to be decently normal. Now, I am talking about upon first meeting me - what happens after that point is a completely different story! Because of this, each time I enter an audition scenario I automatically feel one of two things:

1. A sense of pride in knowing that I am far more sane than the individuals surrounding me.
2. OR I feel like someone who was once normal - but is slowly conforming into the people around me...which is a scary thing.

Don't get me wrong, I love my "fellow theatre artists," but it seems to me that those people that I come into contact with at auditions are of a completely different breed than the theatrical colleagues I interact with day-to-day. Am i missing something? Is this the type of person I need to be to succeed in this industry? ... No need to respond, I have already made up my mind. Here are some tweets by my friend Skyy Pamilton and I from our last auditioning experience at the Dallas Theater Center in Dallas, TX (one of the coolest theaters Texas has to offer):

I am not going to pretend like I actually think these people are crazy, but they truly are much more comfortable with vocalizing how they feel (AT EVERY MOMENT) without the benefit of an inner filter that says, "Hmm...perhaps no one really wants to know...or perhaps when I brag about myself or 'the love of my craft,' I am not so much causing myself to appear more appealing as much as I am just making everyone else feel uncomfortable..." 

Recently, I stumbled upon a study that Professor Arnold Ludwig of University of Kentucky performed. He analyzed over 1,000 artistically-minded individuals in art, science, business, sports, etc. and tried to form possible connections between their mental health and their professions. The result of his study, as one blogger put it, was that "Crazy people have jobs that rely on creativity." Here were the results:

• 9 out of 10 poets had diagnosable mental disorders
• 68% of musicians had mental disorders (and yet we still look at the social lifestyles of famous music artists like they're normal, intelligent ways of living)
• 73% of painters & other visual artists
• 77% of fiction writers
• AND 74% of theatre people (that's us!)

Now, that isn't to say that being in theatre will make us crazy... No, it's far better than that - we're already crazy! Although I previously stated that I am relatively normal, it's not true. I am a little crazy. We're all a little crazy. But I think Waylon Jennings put it best: "I may be crazy, but it keeps me from going insane." My eyes have been opened! The craziness that you find in the fine arts is not something to be afraid of - but rather, I admire my fellow theatre practitioners for being brave enough to enter a world where we wear hundreds of faces each day and attempt to maintain sanity. If we didn't allow ourselves to be a little crazy and seem a little "off" to the rest of the world, well, we wouldn't be able to continue to put on such captivating performances and rock the world with our creativity day after day.

(I used photos from Baylor University's 2012 fall musical, "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," as proof - it takes a little craziness to produce a little brilliance! Am I right? -- That's me in the green ;) Shameless Baylor Theatre plug, I know! But then again... it is my blog.)

Knowing this helps me to better interact with those around me...I can survive a little craziness here and there when I know that the result is being surrounded by brilliant actors. If I had to choose being surrounded by dull, sane people or THESE crazy nuts each day, I know which I would choose!

Until my next audition, keep calm - and a little crazy,

Kelsey