One on One: Jason Kravitz (Dwight)

memorable character. Um. And Jason has an extraordinarily um uh long and distinguished resume. And we'll get into that later, but let's get into the Gilmore stuff. Jason, thanks for coming on. Welcome. Good to meet you, pleasure. Hey, good to meet you too. And we thoroughly enjoyed all of us. Uh, the team enjoyed your performance. We were, we were. It was side splitting funny. Um. And that was the only episode of Girl Gilmore Girls you did. But it's so memorable.

How did you get the role? This is an audition for a role in you know, the same way you get a lot of jobs in this business. Your agents put you up for a role, your audition and hopefully you get the part. This kiss it worked out good, good good. Um we actually would have loved to have seen more of you. Um ah. So what do you remember about being on set? Oh? Well, I remember, you know, working with Lauren, who was really nice. I enjoyed working

with her a lot. And I remember immediately first thing as I got onto the set, I was told the script supervisor, uh, fast, fast for fast, the fastness of work, don't out of work, don't do anything okay, And the first take I did, I do remember. I believe I the line had sometimes you're forgetting me. I don't remember the line exactly, but it was something about and I

turned the corner and there it was. And I believe I said, and I turned the corner and boom, there it was, and I cut no boom, do not add beat, do not at a sentence, do not at a clap. Now that it's got to be very specifical. Of course, that's how Amy Shumpalasina rights her stuff, and I totally respect that. I just had no idea until I was on the set that that was in need case. So that's my that's my overarching memory and also the fact that you know, being in stars Holland and being around

that set was really phenomenal. Actually, it's a nice place to be. It was a nice place to go to work. It was it was great. It was great for the for the time I was there. Um, I have a fun Stars Hollow story though if I'm Gilmore story that will come into play with people who know this this actress from other Amy Shrump things and the second Uh Gilmore Girls incarnation. When I a few years after I did this episode, I was in l A doing a pre Broadway run of a musical called The Drowsy Shop

Grow and The Drowsy Shop Erne starred. Uh Stutton Foster, of course at that time, was that Tony Award winner for thirty Modern Millie and she also eventually was on the lead on Bun Headsman the next show, and then appeared in Gilmore Girls The Red Boot. So Uh, but she was not She was just a big Gilmore Girls fan at the time. And I was staying with you.

We're all staying in the same area, and I was still in touch with the people of Gilmore Roles, especially one of the casting directors Uh and Uh I said to Sutton deep do you want to go on set? And I'm sure we can get on in the warder lot. I just called my you know, call my friend Jamie who is Jimmy want the casting directors and she said, I'd love that. So I got to bring Sutton Foster two Stars Hollow and she I've never seen anything like it. People look at she looked at the world around her

the way that people look at her now. Who are fans of fun? Heads? Who are fun who are who are broad in musical fans? Um. She was really dumb struck by the whole thing. And she got to meet Lauren and she was really nervous, and it was just one of those really magical moments to be in that in that place with somebody who was such a huge fan of the show. Yeah, that's uh yeah it it was overwhelming from me and I was in the cast,

so I know what you're talking about. Um. Um. So the tone and the banter that you had with with with Lauren, it was it was really really perfect. How much did you get to rehearse that with her before you would shoot? Very little? We shot pretty quick because you know, they moved pretty fast and upset, and uh, I think, you know, having seen the show, you knew exactly what to expect in the way of a rhythm.

Um So, even though I had my little, you know, mistake earlier, it was easy with Lauren, who was such a professional in the situation. It was very accepted and we just kind of take it off very quickly, so it was very little rehearsal and just kind of swam right into it. Do you get recognized as Dwight when you're out in public? I really do. And the first time that happened to me, I had forgotten the name

of my character. You know. It was years and years later, and even just it happened about four years ago in New York City. I was going through Macy's and somebody who was like temporarily working in for the holidays stopped me and said, oh my gosh, it's Dwight from eight o'clock at the Oasis. And I said, who was pretty talking about? She goes Gilmore, Gilmore Gilmore And you couldn't be were you boring by that point because she was probably money? And she said, oh my gosh, I just

watched it again. Oh I love that show so much, and you're Dwight. Oh my god. So and then since then I've gotten stopped. Since it's been back on the air, you know, wherever it's been playing, it's got a lot of recognition for Dwight. It's really amazing. Have you ever met anybody? Have you ever met anybody like him? Dwight? Oh, I'm sure. I mean any's characters exist in a in a kind of a hyper real world in some ways. I don't know any he talks at that pace, but

somebody who's that fastidious and somebody who's that also. It's what I loved about this character is clearly the character is supposed to be a bit of a nerd. You know, he's got this fascination with peaky things, and he's got very specific watering of his plants, and he's gone to a divorce, and and yet there's something super confident about him.

You know, he was happy, very you know, gregarious of meeting his neighbors and smiley and and something very positive about him that you don't usually find in characters that people write that are that are more nebishy. Really, So I found that really fun. Yeah. Uma, So you've done a lot of work on TV and Broadway most recently and be Positive and c I S and the undoing. Um, very diverse. Do you have a favorite genre of of

work that you've done. I really, I really don't, because I I think when I was a kid, I just wanted to do everything. So I wanted to be really adapt and everything. I wanted to be able to do everything everything from uh, song and dance to to you know, Shakespeare, Moliere and dramas on television. And one of the one of the shows that I was most known for early on was The Practice, where I was a lawyer for

two years and very mean lawyer. But I had come from the world of comedies, so it was like I was loving the opportunity to sink my teeth into anything like that. So I don't. I really kind of like doing at all I can if people give me the opportunity. Um. So you're writing as well, You're doing comedy, doing all kinds of things. Are you always creating? I mean it's you wake up and this is what you do. I think that. Um yeah, I get really I get really

induced by doing the creative things. Uh. This business as a business so fickle, and even I feel like I do have a bit of a decent track record, a good resume, But I go long periods of time without getting the opportunity to audition for things or participate in the business. So I am constantly looking for ways to either entertain myself or entertain other people. So I think that's been part of my life, is just being creative. So you've had three decades of experience, What's what's what's

the secret for your success? What? What is it? H? You know, what's some funny? Uh? It depends on, of course, the ho you measure success, right, Like the fact that I've lasted three decades is pretty much the success. I recently found out that I'm at an age where I can start possibly collecting my pension. And that's the first moment in my career I felt like I made it. I made retired. It's amazing because at certain times you

really do feel like you're retired. Um, the longevity I think longevity is what I consider successful is the fact that I'm still stuck around. And I think you have to be Uh, you have to be able to deal with projection, or at least you have to be a glutton. You have to understand it comes out to all the time, and um, I wish I could say I handled it really well all the time, and I just still don't.

And I think it was instilled nearly on it that what I was doing had value um and not just and read more recently than it's had value beyond just um for value beyond you know, for my own self entertainment and the self worth, but value in the world that that there's there's there's people appreciate having Enter Cayman and creativity and someone doing that that they can look

to in darker times. So I think recognizing that what you do as value and I think I was taught that early on, and even though I've wavered him up and down, and it's been a core belief, I think. So I got very lucky to have a family and relationships and mentors and friends that have bullied that at times when it's believer. So that's been helpful. Yeah, I think you know when I when I got when I was studying in New York. I lived in New York for a long time and I studied, I did all

my training in New York. And the one thing that was instilled in me that I'll never forget was what a what a privilege and what an honor it was, and what a calling it is to do this as a profession, and that what a responsibility you have. Um. And I don't think a lot of people realize that. Um. But it takes, it does take a tremendous amount of

dedication and the rejection. Yeah, I used to take it personally until I stopped taking it personally and realized it was just a business decision on the other side, and that you can't take it personally because it'll just eat you alive and you there'll be nothing left. Um. It's just how old were you when they happened? Though? Um? Well, I you know, I'd come from a career where it was just so much rejection and heartbreak that I had it.

I had a pretty thick skin coming into this. Um. What I had was a work ethic, and I was late to the game, so I really needed to play catch up. Uh. And that's that's the thing that put me over the top, was the work ethic. Um. Well, it's funny is I had a similar but I felt like I had it was kind of coming from behind in a lot of ways. I grew up in the Washington, D C. Area, and I went to school down there to an undergrad program. I didn't go to grad school.

I worked in theater. It's a fantastic town for doing theater. And I was able to get on my union cards down there, but I had really had no plans to move. I was all set, and then I had enough people tell me, you know, you really should give this a shot that I didn't move to New York. And I was eight, thinking, Okay, the businesses here for the offing. I'd like, it's here's here's that's all on the table. I've been working in DC, I'll just pick up right here.

And of course that doesn't happen. So I had to learn to hustle. But there were so many people. There were so many people who had been there ahead of me, who had gone to grad school, who are already working on Broadway. And I was not able to get an agent and the cook until I was in my mid early early thirties and moving out to l A. Before I started making any kind of noise. But it was

really my own hustle that did that. I ended up writing a two man sketch comedy show in New York that got nowhere here, but took it to l A and just lucked in, been getting the right people in the room and heading off to the Aspen Comedy Festival, and then I suddenly had an agent and I said, they had a career. It was again, you know, it's the hustle. It's knowing that you gotta hustle, but it's

but it's creating your own content. That's a lot of my life has been creating my own pop. That's that's what they look for, that's what they want to sign. You know, Like that's worked for me in that scenario. But you know, again, but I thought, probably guys playing catch up the whole time too, Like everybody else has got an agent, everybody else is younger than me, and it's been signed and is working, and I have nothing. So I had to really scramble. But that's part of

the deal. The problem a lot of people have is they scramble when they get here and they pustle, but they don't create. They hustle they get there, they try to get them to connect to the agents and managers and they're not really producing anything. And I think that that the ability to kind of like know that I had to follow that path as well, was gave me a little bit an edge or maybe it's the nose. I have no idea what no one knows. Yeah, so now we're going to get into your resume. Okay, because

this is this is uh it's extraordinary. So let me just read this off. Okay, and uh um and and everybody in the audience to take note. This is a real privilege to read this off for somebody that has this diverse resume and has been this successful. Um Film credits include Chinese Puzzle to Step for Wives, Sweet Nose, Sweet November Morning, Glory, Laura gets a cat Accommodations, My dead Boyfriend, What just Happened? In an animated feature film Blink.

Ravitz has appeared in several Broadway shows, including the original production of Tony Award winning The Drowsy Chaperone, the two thousand three revival of Sly Fox directed by Arthur pen We need to talk about Arthur pen um um but the City Center on Course production of The Golden Apple, Relatively Speaking, and evening of three one Acts with Ethan Colen, Elaine May, and Woody Allen directed by John Detro. We have to talk about John Detro. Along with comedy partner

Drol Jones. Jason's two man Sketch Show On Evening with Kravitz and Jones took home the Jury Award at the nine US Comedy Festival at Aspen, Colorado. We have to talk about Aspen, Colorado. The show is based on material developed and long running Rumble in the Red Room Collective. As a writer, Jason penned a ten minute Green Eggs and Hamlet. Will you please tell me about? There's more? But I'm im a Hamlet fanatic, a freak, my favorite play,

my favorite character. What is that all about? I've had many things I've done on a dare, and I think somebody said. I came up with joking one day with somebody about green Eggs and ham and I said, oh, green Eggs and Hamlet, and I said you should write that. And it's a ten minute play that that starts with. You know, there was a sad fellow named Hamlet the Dane,

and all he would do is complaining, complaint. And then Hamlet says, I come back from college, my father is dead and my mother has married my uncle instead she sometimes my sister. And that was my queen. What can Let's come? If you know what I mean it just goes on and the ghost comes out and says, would you could you with a knife? Would you could you

take his life? You know? And it's a still devolved from there into the sparsible ten minutes of like Dr SEUs rhymes and people getting killed by eating poisoned breakfast fees. I mean that's just you know, because listen, I no longer do. But uh, when my son was very small, I would read him nothing but Dr. SEUs. And there's nothing more brilliant as people with children know. It's all I am, But it's all it's experience, it's it's it's

SEUs is the Shakespeare of children's books. Um. Yeah. But my son, on the other hand, my son was when he was a baby, his mother was rehearsing for the role of Titania and I at one point I said to him, what does daddy say? And he said, Daddy says, I love you. I said, what does mommy say? He said, Mommy said, these are the full juries of jealousy. Oh my goodness, Oh yeah, oh my gosh. Uh. Holiday stories, the holiday stories, the was and Bullwinkle, Yeah, the Christmas

Story Christmas. Yeah, we wrote that. My partner and Joel and I wrote that for Universal uh years and years ago. I never got made even own it, but we do every once in a while we'll do a charity reading of it. And again you know, it's all bad puns and non secutors, if you know, bowl eagle. And then the catch is a part of the Bridge, which is again it's it's the Han a conversion of the Bridge and Dr SEUs Ryan, which I love to write in.

So you graduated from University of Mayland, Maryland. You perform extensively at the Shakespeare Theater, Roundhouse Theater and Wooly Mammoth Theater Company. Wow. Um, tell me about your love for Shakespeare. How did you first experienced Shakespeare and what was the first character you had to break down and play that

you performed in uh? In high school when I was doing a summer school for the performing arts, I uh was told by a long departed, wonderful mentor of mine who was teaching that summer UH that I should try Puck and just just a month alogue just doing you know if we shadows have offended? And I got it. I was like, oh, oh this makes sense. And then in college I I continue I mean, I studied. I did some more in high school, you know, did the

mechanicals and did mercutio and little touches of things. But then when I got to college, I was a freshman and I had an upper class teacher, professor for upperclassmen, who was leaving, and he took a few of us underclassmen and said, I want you to study Shakespeare with me,

because I think you guys should try this. And we did a lot of studying the John Barton Acting Shakespeare Capes library and learning how, um, how the vocabulary work and how the pentameter work and what that told you about characters getting informed by the words, and I just it was just one of my favorite things to do. And then um, and then I had one teacher in college. We did Loves Labors and lost Uh, And we did it in in a park in Washington, d C. We

rehearsed it. I shouldn't say it before we reformed it on at school, but we did one rehearsal in the kind of a manicured park in Washington, d C. Just give a sense of surroundings. And that led to I did some Shakespeare after college as well. But I also did this one project that I just came up with again, you know, doing creative things and finding all of your

love for things converging. I did something called Shakespeare and the Rough, and what I did was I got a bunch of actors together and I cast The Tempest just randomly with actors that I knew from DC, and I said, we're gonna do a two day event on Saturday. We're going to meet and read the plan. Now, anybody, there's no director, So if you want to stop and say I have a question about that character, or I have some thoughts about her, I've seen a production where that

character did this. It doesn't matter who you are in the plan. You can comment on anything about the characters. And then the next day we went to a nature preserve in the suburbs of Washington, d C. And I mapped it. I gave everybody a map of the surroundings. I said, go find where your scenes take place, but

don't rehearse them. Come back and we'll map everything out the order of the show where things take place, will have lunch, and then we're gonna go and we're gonna go do one scene to one scene, and if you're in the scene, you should take off so we can discover you in it. But otherwise you can watch. We didn't have an audience. We performed for each other, we had musicians, we had just it was and I said, just improvised it. But you also are not responsible to anybody.

You're responsible to the text. That's it. You don't have to perform it for the other actors. It can be like a television performance. You can even think the lines if you feel that's the case. Of course, everyody's on book. I was holding the script. Um. I said, you can do whatever you want and just you know, and I saw that play come to life in a way that

I've I've never seen it since. It was just I mean literally, the people in the shipwreck scene that starts the tempest, literally one of them brought a little dinghy and put the king and the king's son and the dinghy, and they all went up to the lake, into the lake that we were near, up to their chest and screened the lines of each other while they had people throwing buckets of water at them from the shore. I mean,

it was like, I didn't plan that. But people, when they're given the opportunity for the freedom to create, you can watch it explode, and I just that's one of my favorite experiences, even though I very I mean, I played Caliban, I had my fund doing the character that I usually wouldn't get casting, but watching the creativity of people that I adored as performers anyway, just watching them

have the freedom to just go. I mean, that's that's friend of My best Shakespeare experience is that discovering the rehearsal processes is far more interesting thing invaluable. And yeah,

I'm filling the actual performances. Oh I really, I really felt like if there was if I was to direct, uh Shakespeare played, my first rehearsal would be that give the give the actor's first crack before you tell them, here's what the set is, here's what the costumes are gonna look like, here's what the theme is, and you're all going to fit in the box that I created

in my mind. I'm going to start with letting them play because they're gonna give me things to discover that I They're going to discover things that I would have discovered otherwise. So I haven't ad a chance to do that yet, but maybe somebody. Oh God, you're making me

miss New York so much. Okay. So when I was I had a teacher in New York named Sandra Lee, and I don't know if you know who she is, but yeah, she's one of the great ladies of the theater, right and um, she encouraged me to go um audition for the actor's studio and long story short, six weeks of rehearsal with my scene partner, we went in there. They stopped us after a minute and a half and said, thank you very much. Went into class. Did the scene. Learned a lot, you know. I went back to it again,

got shot down after three minutes. So it's really hard to get in. But I was an observer. Um. I was allowed to be in the even the playwright director sessions, which Arthur Penn ran, and I was exposed to Arthur Penn for a couple of years. Every week it was Tuesday, No, Tuesday was the acting Thursday or Friday was the producer director unit. And Paul Newman would go to both of them, Um and comment, and it was extraordinary. Tell me about

your experience with Arthur Penn. I'm usually more excited Arthur pun Um. So uh. He directed Sly Fox. The production originally starred Richard Dreyfus Uh with Bronson pin Show and Bob Dishy and Eric Stolts, amongst many others, and including Reneo Versionois Beery departed. I think Renee had the idea to do the show, and I think he brought it to the producer and he brought it to Arthur and they were The producer said this is great, except we can't cast you as Sly the main character. We need

to cast somebody else, like Richard Dreyfus. So I was not in that cast, but at a certain point they were doing a replacement cast on Broadway. Was my first Broadway show. Uh. And they brought me in and said, uh, I auditioned and then they said, for you know this part called Craving the Lawyer. And they said after I auditionally said okay, we're gonna We're gonna offer this to you and I said that's fantastically. They said have you seen the show and I said I haven't seen it,

and they said, okay, go tonight. But and Arthur said, but don't pay attention to what anyone's doing because they have ruined, they've got too big, they've stretched it out. Just don't pay attention to what anyone's doing. And I said, all right, Peter Scalari was immense production boy. He was God loved it and you know the rest his soul. He was talented in a way that nobody else was. He was. He was a brilliant comic and clown. But yeah he could. He could what they call stomp and feather.

You hit the joke of and you just make the laugh last longer and longer. He was the master at that. So I saw what Arthur was talking about. And after the show, I went backstage and I saw Renee and I saw a few other people and what they said, are you doing the show? I said, yeah, I'm coming in to replace Bronson, so playing that role. And Rene when he says, when you're in rehearsal, don't listen to

anything that Arthur tells you. So pictured me, this is my first Broadway show and I'm getting Arthur Kind telling me not to pay thing to them, and they're telling me don't listen to Arthur, and I was just like, how does have you been here? But then but then we spent three weeks rehearsing. Richard Kind took over for Richard drive this uh and Bronson actually took over for

Eric Stolts, and Larry Storch came into the project. Carl Kane, I think we were teeny another great actor, um and I was just surrounded by these masters, and uh, you know, Arthur was very, uh stressed about the whole thing. I think he was unhappy and he was trying to rend it in um. And I took the bus with him one day uptown, which was kind of like guitar's buying Clyde material are right. So it was a great experience

for me. I don't know if it was a great for him those two thousand and three How how old was he at that time? He must have been pretty old. He was pretty old. He was kind of career. It might have been one of the last things he did. Um m hmm um. John Taturo, Yeah, I first time I saw John Taturo was at the God What was it? It was the It was an Italian American reconciliation with Lars Angecomo and John Panco, all three performers where I love Did you see that? Did you see that? Extraordinary?

It was one of my favorite acts. He's gotten to prove it over and over again, especially in the last you know, five seven years. I mean when he did The Night Of when he was the detective in the Night and he was fantastic in that, and then recently in Severance, I just you know, just watched that and boy but he didn't walking together, just getting fantastic, fantastic phone. So, um, he's he's a really nice guy and I definitely count as a friend. So I'm glad to see him constantly busy.

Tell me about your experience at the Aspen Comedy Festival. Well, that was another one of those remarkable coincidental moments that you get. You know what they say the luck, the crossroads between persistence an opportunity, Right, that's what luck is. So I was very persistent. I was working on the show in New York and this two man comedy musical and music and comedy show, and um, we went to l A just on a whim. It was like, look, you know, we've got friends out there who want to

see our show. Let's go out there. There's this one agent that may be interested. You know, I can invite her. And it just so happened that it was at the exact moment they were doing the finalists, the final judging for the Comedy Festival for that year's Asking Comedy Festival. So this must have been the fall of like we're right between Thanksgiving the yearning and Thanksgiving Christmas, I mean, and then we just did our show and we got

somehow we got Mark Hushfeld got to the show. Mark Hushfelt, casting director for Seinfeld, went on to comedy casting. Yeah, you know, yes, so he's so he came to the show and he said, look, we're doing final casting. Can you throw together an hour long version of this for Saturday because we only have Saturday at like four o'clock

because we're seeing comedy people at five thirty downstairs. It was at the Improv, so you know, they had that upstairs at the Improv up stairs behind the parking lot, and then they were going downstairs to see uh comedians. After that they said, okay, with your it together and

quick turn around. We ended up getting invited to the festival, and it was overwhelming because as anybody who hustles and shure you have knows, when we were putting our own show up, you're pounding the payment to get people not just not just you know, agents and comedy people, and you're you're getting anyone comes to your show audience to see people in the seats, such a process, and you're doing your own costumes and you're doing your own costume

changes and it's all very bare bones. Well, you get in ready to the Askment Comedy Festival. They got their audiences are sold out ahead of time. You're gonna have two fifty people at night. No matter what you do,

you're gonna have people backstage helping you. You would literally have people backstage with oxygen masks because you're an aspen and you'd come off exhausted that So so we were like, we were unbelievable when you're given this, you know, great opportunity, the past of Second City years being celebrated at the festival. So there we've got the gene Levy and we've got you know, Andrew Martin, We've got all these people in the audience that are like heroes, heroes of us. And

it was like zero to sixty, you know. Two months before that, we were upstairs at the improv like you know, black box, like basically running our own lights and sound as we did. And after that we it was great to be there, but I think I was so we had come from New York I knew anything by l A. I didn't. I was only four years in New York at that point, so I didn't realize the magnitude of what we were doing and who exactly was. It was one thing to say, well, the cast of SETV is here.

It's another thing to say, well the head of development for ABC is here, or Castle Rock or you know, you name the production company. Everybody's are looking for the next thing. We didn't know that. So when we got back to l A. Our agents were pretty small potatoes at the time and they didn't know what to do with that. So instead of we had a lot of meetings. We called it the couch and water tour because you come in and say, would you like to bottle of water on a seat on the couch, and that's what

you would do. And what we didn't do was, oh, you know, pitch a sitcom idea, you know, give them some something that to work with us on. They just, you know, they just um. So at the end of the meetings they were like, this has been great. Have some water. The water is the consolation price. You know. It didn't go well when they're offering you more water on the way up because you're not going to get any part of that. But we had no idea. We were so naive, and by the time we figured it

out that way, if it preston and dropped. So I was very fortunate that I was in l A and was able to audition for a few things and end up getting some decent roles and starting a career from that. But I think if we had, if we had been smarter about it, or at least as more knowledgeable about the business, we could have a lot more pain for our book. But as it was, the Aspen Pacible itself was just a dream, dream true. We have time for one last question. I could talk to I could talk

to you all day. First of all, no, no, I have I have two more questions. Did you ever get down to the Wooster Group and see Elizabeth Comps Uh was Willem Dafosta? You never saw that because I was don't forget I was in d cret in the DC area until so the Wooster Group was still doing I did see. One thing they did was long after William Dafoe was you know, in Hollywood and not coming back

to do stuff. So you know, it was very a lot of that great, organically unique pieces of theater weren't happening at the same way, but you know, sche was here. I think there were some great venues downtown, you know, uh to get to and see crazy interesting stuff. But but the heyday of that in the in the late eighties and stuff was yeah, yeah, that's when I saw it. Um yeah, um. What would you give if you were

to give advice to a young actor starting out? And I know there's always one thing I tell everybody when they asked me, what would you What would your advice be to young actors starting out as far as what to study, where to study? Because I think that's the most important thing is you know when people ask me, hey, should I move to l A and like, who have you studied with? What do you know? You know, what

do you love? That's from every years. So you know, if you would ask me ten fifteen years ago, I had one answer, you know, and then I learned that how you succeed in this business? The very simple answer to that is, I don't know, because nobody knows. I get into professional wrestling. Then you go, you know, why are you not working right now? I don't know? Why did you get that job? I don't know, because nobody knows.

Even the people doing the pass and even people making the final decision, they don't really know the pain this work because because this is never consistent, everybody thinks they know and then it changes. Um. I always say to people, make sure that you're you don't let the creative muscle atrophy. You've got to be doing creative things that have nothing to do with getting work or making it in the business or making money, because otherwise you'll be your soul

will dry up. So make sure you're constantly like, even if it means just going to museum, just be creative

in some way some hoow. But I think the biggest piece of advice now for young people is get connected to other people, because those are going to be your people, and as you go forward, those people are going to be doing things, and you're going to be involved in those things, and then you're going to do things, and you're gonna have your tribe to call on and as you guys, as one person getting success, you will be more connected to them to a wider portion of the business.

So there's so many ways to be creative now that is also potentially ways of getting seen. I mean, obviously there's things like TikTok and YouTube, but there's also a million other things you can do to get involved in business. And there's no excuse for not getting involved in some way. But take classes in a way, I understand your point about like, you know, who are you studying with it? That's really important for your to learn a lot of the craft and you should learn the crafty strustle and

the skills as you know. I'm sure it's like there's a different skill set that goes along with doing a commercial audition than on camera audition, than a theater audition than I mean, you know, your televisioneration or a film audition. There's very different skill sets you have to understand, and

that's something you can study, you should study. But get yourself involved with other people and the connections you make are the thing that can make that that's going to make you have a career, that's going to give your careers who you know, it always it's the same in every business really, but I'm beginning to think that's the real key to this. Just connect yourself. Yeah, it's a community, It's definitely a community, Jason. It was a pleasure, my

pleasure listen. You know how at talking about themselves, So you know it's a difficult thing, but I think we got through you. What are you? What are you doing right now? What are you working on right now? Something coming out? What are you doing? Yeah? I have a show that I'm doing that I've been doing for about five years now, no more, called Off the Top, and it was just an idea I had that's blossom into a really bigger enterprise. It isn't a completely improvised cabaret,

by which I mean everybody writes down. People write down suggestions ahead of time at their tables at eater. They all put these I'm performing at Birdland right now, but they take their suggestions put in a fish bowl, and then I come out and I basically sing songs based on whatever suggestion I pulled from the fish um. And that could be a song called feature Vegetables, or it could be a song called your Villa is Here. And I have a band and we make up the songs

and the story as we go along. Are you in New York right now? Are you in a I'm based in New York at the moment, but I've done the show a few times out there at Botello's, you know, friend Stein's at Potelos. Now, Birdland here in New York is my current home. I'm doing the show Monday, uh this Monday the sixteenth at thirty and then I'm taking it over to London for two shows in London. And uh yeah, so that's kind of been my my kind

of side gig right now. My side hustle has just been putting together this this silly fun and music and comedy, terrific fun. Oh my god, I want to go. I want to go. I want to go. Get on the plane. Oh my god. I keep your mask on though, that's just you know, on the flight. All right, Jason, good luck with everything. Tell people where they can tell people where Birdland is and when when you're performing. Yes, Burgland is Burgland Theater is at Street in near Times Square

between the eighth and ninth Avenue. It is Monday May sixteen at eight thirty pm. You can get your tickets at www dot Bergland Jazz dot com. Burgland Jazz dot com. It is a guarantee it'll be a fun night. That's all I can tell you. I have no idea what I'm gonna sing. I have no idea who the character is going to be. I have no idea what the story is going to be, but it's it's usually a lot of fun. At least it's for me, I hope. It's how how long is the engagement? Does it go

on or is it limited? Just the one off? Okay, so just one off on the sixteen, and then hopefully I'll be back again to fall or next year, you know, whenever they can schedule me. All right, everybody, get out there, if you're in the area, go see him. Okay, thank you, Jason, all the best, good luck with everything, Good luck with the London shows up and uh hope we gotta have you back on. There's just there's so much more to unpack. I didn't get the half of the stuff I wanted

to talk about. I'm here, man, I got you know, alright, London, good deal man, good talking to you, a good meeting you all the best team my friends. Okay, all right, take care bye, y hey everybody, and don't forget follow us on Instagram at I Am all In podcast and Emailie at Gilmore at I heart radio dot com. Oh you Gilmore fans. If you're looking for the best cup of coffee in the world. Go to my website for my company, scott ep dot com s c O T. T y P dot com, scott ep dot com Grade

one Specialty Coffee. Yeah.