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Excalibur Comics
Excalibur Comics
Writing My Own Ticket
“Here he is, the host with the most, the clown about town, the guy with the ten mile smile, dude with the attitude, top of the heap, A Number 1, here to have fun, the veritable king of comedy, all the way from Van Nuys, California, the entertainment capital of the San Fernando Valley, a man who writes his own introductions, and his own ticket too…Sharpo!” That’s the intro to my radio show, “Sharpo Says” on sharpo.am. It may be slightly puffed up but the point of my sharing it here is to share what I have learned in my adventures in entertainment. Write your own ticket!
So many performing artists sit and wait for the phone to ring. I learned that the phone rings only after you hustle hustle hustle. When I was starting out as an actor way back in the 1980s, I was cast in many roles in regional theater in New Jersey in dinner theaters and community playhouse productions, etc. Of course, there was little or no money for these efforts. Nevertheless, the Asbury Park Press kept giving me great reviews, so I mad a decision to move to New York and seek professional work. I asked J Lawrence Lowenstein, head of the drama department at Brookdale Community College, who I was studying with at the time, and he suggested that I go for it.
I moved to New York and took a scene study class with Norman Hall at the Weist Barron school. I started looking for an agent and sent out lots of head-shots and made the rounds door to door. I went to cattle call after cattle call but it seemed I couldn’t catch a break. I kept at it. After several months of pounding and pounding the phone finally rang. It was a commercial agent from Oppenheimer Christie who was reviewing my photo and resume. He sent me on an audition for a Kentucky Lottery Commercial. I booked it. They flew me to Kentucky. I shot several spots as the Pick Three Lottery Ball. The production company who shot the video never paid me or the agent as far as I know. My first speaking part on TV and I was burned. I think it was two years later that the director – a talented fellow by the name of Jeff Sexton – called the same agent looking for me. They wanted me to come back to Kentucky and shoot another spot as the Pick Three Ball introducing the Pick 4 Ball. Hey, you are never done paying your dues, right? They assured me that this time it was a different production company and I would be paid on time and it would all work out. I decided to take a chance since I really liked working with Jeff. He was true to his word and we had a great time shooting the new spot.
Persistence was my watchword and I stayed with it. Back in New York, I did a showcase at Weist Barron for Judy Wilson, who then started giving me background work on One Life To Live. I took my wages and quickly joined AFTRA. A lucky break came when I was doing atmosphere work on Malcom X. I had been waiting tables at the TGI Fridays right outside of Madison Square Garden when I was asked to report to wardrobe. I was selected to play one of the convicts in the prison scenes. On the fourth day of shooting I was bumped up to day player when Spike Lee instructed to speak my prison number in the scene. My line was “A two nine one nine four five”. I was then given my very own dressing room, and got an additional day of shooting. I was now eligible to join SAG. The money I earned was just enough to pay the initiation fee and get my card.
I was now in AFTRA and SAG and continued to make the rounds and mail out pictures and postcards and audition. Still, I couldn’t get an agent to sign me. One day, Dennis Lynch called me. I had worked with his former partner, Kathy Reed, in New Jersey doing murder mystery dinner theater shows. Dennis and Kathy were the producers at the Dam Site Dinner Theater which had launched the writing careers of Billy Van Zandt and Jane Milmore who went on to become two of the most produced play-writes in the world. Dennis was involved with a little theater company in New York called Theater Excalibur. They were doing a production of a play called Change Of Seasons by Macy Hunter. They needed someone to take over a role in a show that was going up in a couple of days. I got to step into a small part in a fun play in the ATT theater in Lower Manhattan. I did a good job and was asked to join this dues paying company. I jumped at the chance.
The group was looking for new plays for their next production and I offered my play, “Invasion Of The Oooogs.” The play was as silly as the title suggests but I had a great time and so did the audience. Macy Hunter directed it and shot a small opening title sequence on Video that played before Act 1. I composed a little ditty on my little Radio Shack keyboard and we launched our small multi media event.
Later on, I was doing children’s theater at Courtyard Playhouse in Greenwich Village and gave my play to Bob Stark and his co producer, Marylin Majeski to read. They loved it. Well, actually, Bob said it was so bad it was good. I think that sums it up really well. They asked to produce the play and of course I said yes. I asked Macy to direct but he and I had a big falling out and I can’t even remember why. We proceeded without him and the play was panned by the New York Post. We put up a flyer that said, “Post hates it – You’ll Love It”. We did okay at our little Box office and sold some T-shirts. One of the cast-members was dating Joe Quesada who was drawing for Marvel Comics – he is now the head of Marvel Comics. Joe created the artwork for the show which was much better then the actual play, I might add!
Over the years I have been quite fortunate. I have worked with the biggest stars. I got co-star billing on many primetime tv shows. My name was in the TV Guide. I wasn’t satisfied. In between it all, I never wait for the phone to ring. I kept writing my own ticket with Sharpo, Inc. Now, Nora and I produce our own dinner theater plays in los Angeles, murder mystery parties, magic shows, comedy events, team building exercises, crisis management programs, and more high impact entertainment/info-taiment for companies and audiences in L.A. and world wide. Now we have added Sharpo.pro to bring the same talent and results to other websites. It took a long time but now we are an established part of the business as Sharpo becomes a great little studio unto itself. Remember: Success happens when you stop asking “What do they want me to be” and just be yourself…Then you can write your own ticket.
About the Author
Eric Howell Sharp is a proud member of the Mystery Writers of America, the Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists, & the American Society Of Composers, Authors and Publishers and the Society of American Magicians.
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