Geoffrey Gould
Reports from the set/s...

The Birthday Boys
"The Long Piano" sketch, et al

Thursday, August 08, 2013
Booked
While on my way to attend a North Hollywood screening of a Louis episode, followed by a Q&A with Louis CK, as a guest of my friend Nancy Atalla, I found whilst on the Red Line I'd received a call from my service, notifying me that I was booked the next day on a project called The Birthday Boys, and that the calltime/location information would be emailed to me.
My SmartPhone has issues on how it accesses my primary email but I'd found a workaround by accessing it normally, via its Internet browser, so it looks as it does at home and actually shows me what emails I've received, and more functionaily... as long as I'm not replying or composing email. When my email gets an email with an address it does not recognize, it auto-sends an email to the sender pointing this out, requesting (albeit a bit too firmly), that they click on a provided link that sends me a notice that they've tried emailing me. I already know to check my Suspect Spam folder for such. I found such an Address Book Add request in my regular inbox, and selected it, with a request for availability for a project called Miss Mustard Glade, to which I added and managed to reply my availability for the three days for which they were seeking me.
After a time it hit me that that was not the same title, nor did it refer to the next day, so I went directly to my Suspect Spam folder and found the Birthday Boys information. To my horror, the location was in Fullerton, in Orange County. While this was strongly inconvient, it was not panic-inducing. For one thing, the initial calltime was 9am, giving me tons of time with which to travel. I had had a girlfriend for a time in Fullerton, so I was well aware the 460 Disneyland-bound MTA bus stops at to a Fullerton Park and Ride, and that OCTA buses were relatively spread out. As the location was Fullerton College, even metro.net indicated the OCTA 26 line would get me there from the Park and Ride, once I overrode metro's normal suggestion of the fastest and generally more expensive route, in this case going to Union Station and taking the MetroLink straight to Fullerton, which I'd later learn was about two blocks from the campus. I knew to arrive by 9am, I'd have to start out at around 6am.
Moments before going to bed, I'd checked my email one last time to find an updated: that our calltimes were changed to 10pm.

Friday, August 09, 2013
Shoot
I awoke at 5am and showered, checked my email, and as last moment as possible fed my cats so they wouldn't start getting too strongly the idea of pre-6am breakfast treat. With an additional hour, I decided to err on the side of caution, and get there an hour or so early. My prediction was correct; the 460 arrived at the Fullerton stop later than scheduled. Fortunately the next OCTA 26 was already there, and after about ten minutes took on passengers. The bus passed the MetroLink stop, so I knew where that was located in relation to the college, figuring depending on the lateness of our wrapping, I might just hop on the MetroLink for eight bucks or so and get back to Union Station faster than waiting for the late-day hourly #26 bus back to the Park and Ride and wait as long as I'd have to for the next northbound 460.
At just past 9am, the campus was empty. I had noticed the absence of production signage, and as I knew where was crew parking, I walked to there, finding an PA putting up some signage. He pointed me to where to head, and by 9:30am one or two crew began to make their appearance. I found background holding in which also was the minimal craft services (no breakfast of any kind was provided). There was no regular soda other than Mountain Dew; all that was left were the deadly unhealthy versions of Coke (Coke Zero) and (Diet) Pepsi.
Set PA Sabrina gave us our paperwork, and being a "variety" type show, we learned was twenty-six dollars less than SAG rate; at least mileage was 62, and we got some overtime.
Similarily to Key and Peele, this show would be sketches, filmed and filmed, then edited into various episodes, so there'd as yet be little to no way to know into which episode the sketches shot today would be placed.
While waiting in holding, I glanced at the day's sides, and found out what seemed to be two sketches, a prom scene and a "piano recital" of sorts, somehow overlooking the third set in a movie theatre audience.
One was a prom scene; after several hours Sabrina brought me in, where Jeff and Dave pleasantly introduced themselves to me. The primary directors (whose name I didn't get, but he reminded me of a shorter Jim Rash), liked my Distinctive Look, and wanted to use me as a close-up in a sketch to which he refered as "The Long Piano." I was already aware of what the visually amusing "Long Piano" sketch entailed. I returned to holding where I spent much of the day chatting with the pleasant Peter Angelikis and British born Phoebe Craddock, who loves Doctor Who, but is rather behind, in that, she understandably was a Jon Pertwee fan, but had not [yet] gotten into the Current Era series. I showed her my Dalek laden then-Cover Photo on my Facebook profile as the previous day was Terry Nation's birthday (and I'd not yet changed it back to my regular Cover Photo).
Just before lunch I got a call from my service that I was booked on Monday for The Crazy Ones. We broke for lunch at 4:30pm, during which my writer/director Jeffery Williams called with some updates on the Local Commercials that seemed to be heading very much in a Go position. He still had to check with SAG about that; being a "dinky" local spot (in Missouri; not even an actual Regional spot), would I be able to do it (e.g., would SAG let me)? I told Jeffery I would be on set Monday and (for the Miss Mustard Glade project), much of the following week.

(Remember that I do not believe in providing storyline spoilers myself [such generally currently and/or eventually being readily available Elsewhere notwithstanding], in my report/s I only convey indications of where I can be seen.)

Sabrina led us out to the courtyard where writer/director Chris filmed us in a series of semi-steadicam type shots for a montage he called Dumb People. He loved the expressions and such we were giving him.
Phoebe and I happened upon the fact that she and I share the same birthday, though, both of us born in the Chinese Year of the Rooster, Phoebe is twelve years younger.
Many of those playing prom student performers had been wrapped. The rest, along with Phoebe and Peter and I were brought over to near the auditorium building. We had gone into overtime shortly before we were brought into the auditorium. Due to my close-up for the Long Piano sketch, I was set a bit deep for this one, "but" at least dead center.
Set in a movie theatre audience, this sketch could have involved the entire troupe, plus a woman named Margaret Sutton who speaks to two brothers who're concerned with being out together in the same place as they alone know a Powerful Secret.
When that very brief bit was filmed, they began placing us for the Long Piano sketch.
First filmed was a handsome Golden Retriever named Doug, who was not the most cooperative performing dog I'd ever seen.
We were then placed along the row, the camera set for a close-up on me, our reacting to the pianist's performance on stage.
They filmed various reactions, applause, et al, then brought up a woman to do similar so with two audience-member close-ups they could choose in the editing bay, and give the illusion of a large/r audience.
We were done, and headed back to the new holding at which Sabrina signed us out. Chris came by, and accepted from me one of my calling cards so he would know I'm not Just a background performer; I'm an actor who Does Background. He told us that the show would air on IFC and premier October 18th. I told Chris I'd found the group's/show's Facebook Page and Liked it already, and that I'd promote it.
Peter and I walked Phoebe to her car. Earlier, Peter had indicated living not overly far from me, and not only accepted my request for a ride back, but it turned out he was not going directly home, and his pre-home destination happened to be my neighbourhood, so he was able to drive me right home, so I was home in 60 minutes instead of the 2 or 3+ hours it would have taken by public transit.