Comedy 4 Life

David Lee Morea Talks Film Making, Amazon Prime, Improv Comedy & More

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Meet David Lee Morea
David Lee Morea is an accomplished New York-based filmmaker and photographer who holds both a BFA in Film and Television Production and a Master’s in Italian Studies from NYU. With a diverse professional portfolio, he has contributed to major productions like “The Voice” and “American Idol” while serving high-profile clients such as NBC, Michael Kors, and the United Nations. In addition to his commercial work, Morea is a dedicated documentarian, having produced titles like “Before Neorealism” and the Amazon Prime feature “We Are Mermaids.” He currently offers versatile photography and video services tailored to accommodate a wide range of budgets. https://www.instagram.com/davidlmorea/

REMEMBER ME?
For 30+ years Walt Frasier has been entertaining audiences live from Times Square NYC, Touring Nationwide, and occasionally popping onto their TVs and other devices. For casting Walter in SAG AFTRA Film, TV & Commercial projects, contact (Jaime) Baker Management. International credits include TV, Commercials, Theater, Music & Comedy. Currently the Artistic Director of the NEW YORK IMPROV THEATER and North East Managing Director for THEY IMPROV.
https://www.instagram.com/waltfrasier/

WATCH We Are Mermaids on Amazon Prime

Florida’s oldest and last remaining roadside attraction struggles to compete against Orlando’s mega parks and keep its famed tradition of being the worlds first and only real City of Live Mermaids.

https://amzn.to/492JEzS

WATCH Su Corongiàiu

“We traveled to Laconi, Sardinia and met Fausto, the head of Su Corongiaiu, traditional masked beasts of ancient Sardinia.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2klGnoeX7U

Come see David & I live form Times Square.

SPEAKER_02

Hello. Welcome to Having Fun with Walt Frazier. I'm Walt Frazier, and this is my podcast. I'm talking today with David Maria. David, please introduce yourself.

SPEAKER_00

Hi, my name is David Moray. I am a cast member of 8 Improv.

SPEAKER_02

Awesome. You're much more than that. You're a filmmaker. Oh, yeah, all that stuff too. You're an actor. You do all kinds of stuff.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I'm a full-time videographer, photographer. I've made a couple of documentaries. Uh, I'm not particularly an actor, only when it comes to uh improv is when I'm okay, okay.

SPEAKER_02

But more about mermaids, but yeah, yeah. But yeah, a great film, great documentaries, great work. He's teaching for us now at our Saturday 12 o'clock club shows, popping into a lot of our murder mystery shows. And how would you get started with us?

SPEAKER_00

Um, how did I get started with you guys? Well, I was doing uh the UCB thing for a while. I was never on a team, but I had done the cycle, and by the you know, the ever-changing system that they had, and by the time I got through it, COVID happened, and I hadn't done improv for maybe like two or three years at that point, and then I saw something online that you had posted that you needed somebody um for a show that night. And I was like, Well, improv's kind of like a bike, isn't it? So I contacted you to see if you had any space open, and you said you got it casted for that night, but to come in and do the do the jams, and so then I did the jams for a little bit, uh, and then you eventually asked me to join. So I've been funny ever since.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, you're a funny guy, David's very, very funny, and uh we love having a part and does almost all of our Saturday three o'clock shows, a lot of our Saturday, 12 o'clock classes. Um, so talk to my and uh this is interesting because a lot of people I've talked to, the first three episodes, were all theater students, I think, or we're at least were doing comedy as kids with some aspirations for comedy or theater, or you know, started early. When did you start getting on stage doing improv for the first time?

SPEAKER_00

Uh it was with uh the UCB classes. Uh improv was something I I had always wanted to do. Um, and I had chosen film school over acting school just because I don't have a desire to be an actor. Um and by the time I, you know, I then I got a master's degree in Europe and I came back, and it was just trying to kind of like build your life post-college, and and improv classes are very expensive. So it took me a couple of years to get in the position where I can actually pay for one. Um, and so as my videography uh company jobs got better, I was able to afford some classes and I end up fast tracking it. And that was the first time that I got on stage to do improv. Now you do want to do that. I did do like um I did do plays and like in elementary school, middle school, and like I think maybe I did something in like college, but I don't remember. But I've I have done shows okay, uh, just because I like the aspect of creating and collaborating. Right, right, right, right. But I'm not I'm not good at it. Don't say that. Everybody says that. Yeah, you know what? There's very who are good at their things, and I I'm just that's just not where I should.

SPEAKER_02

Well, there's talent, and then there's like, you know, if you're auditioning for Broadway, you gotta be really good in most cases, or you have reality TV credits and you can bring an audience. Uh it's like everything else, but no, I'm not complaining about that, just the reality of the world these days. But I I work with a lot of people that they say they're not good and then they do it, and like that was pretty good. It's like, like, you know what I mean? It's like, are you auditioning for Broadway? Maybe no. But to get up and do that and have fun, you know, and I was always my whole thing is like trying to knock stage fright off the top of the list using improv. I always say I'm not teaching improv, I'm teaching confidence, listening, focus, public speaking, especially because I do mostly corporate team building and K-12 educational outreach. But so, like, even that statement to me is like, yeah, what do you mean you're not that good? You're great. It's just maybe you're not ready for Broadway, but you can do it, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00

I think mostly the problem back then was like there was it was very amateur-ish, there was no training, uh, terrible, terrible scripts, terrible storylines, which that's putting the onus on them. Um, but it's you know, I didn't have any knowledge of like the technical aspects of acting, and I'd done the technical aspects of improv, so I think that's probably why I'm a bit better at it than I would be as opposed to like Shakespeare or like Days of Our Lives.

SPEAKER_02

Well, then along those lines, what was it like getting on stage for the first couple times? What was your experience with, if not stage fright, those anxieties and dealing with the first couple times, getting in front of people either at the audition or at the opening nights, rehearsals? What was that like for you at the beginning?

SPEAKER_00

It's kind of the same as it is now, or it's just terrifying. Um the audition process is is scary. Um as but doing the actual show, it's not as scary. Of course, you get nervous because if you are if you're not nervous, you don't care. And um, but I kind of go on like an autopilot whenever I'm on stage, and because I know I'm there with somebody else and we're there to support each other. And again, another reason why I like improv, because it's more of a convivial atmosphere than it is uh like stand-up where you're on the stage by yourself and it's all on you. Um like we're all in this together, and you're out there to make me look good, and if I look bad, I make you look bad. Uh so I kind of just it's kind of like a fight or flight um situation at that point. So that I enjoy.

SPEAKER_02

Tell me more about the terrifying. I'm I'm curious digging into where you where you say it's terrifying.

SPEAKER_00

Um it's like definitely kind of the uh it's when you have the first wave of imposter syndrome, you either have to decide to like bail out or fake it till you make it. Uh and so then I kind of decide to fake it till I make it. Awesome. I've never bailed out on an audition or on a on a on a process. I just like, well, I'm here, I might as well give it a shot. And if I'm not good, I'm not good. Like, what are they gonna do? Mock me? No, we're all there for the same reason.

SPEAKER_02

Uh it's funny you say that. The uh you know, opening night, still nerves, you're you're excited, you're anxious, but you're confident from a standpoint of you've done the work, you've you're surrounded by people you trust and all that kind of stuff. And as opposed to the audition where you're just there, and I I feel that's the only time. I don't even know if I would call it imposter syndrome for me, but the one time where I don't feel comfortable in my own skin doing what we do is that an audition where I'm not prepared for. And full disclosure, I think my if any failure I have in my career is not taking auditions seriously too often. And when I do, yeah, I usually book the part. So I know I'm capable, but all those times I walked in either thinking I was good enough, I didn't have to do the work, you know, or I there are too many times with TV auditions per se where it's like a one-line and I don't take it seriously, I don't respect it as an actor the way I should, and that's on me. And and that's you know, and the couple times I did, I either got a callback or I got the booking, you know? And uh and that's yeah, 100%. And with the improv, yeah, like you know, I always say what's great about the improv, I never feel like I have imposter syndrome because we you can't do it wrong. So, but but it is at the beginning quite terrifying, and every once in a while, even like 23 years in, 53 years in on life, almost 54. Uh I know you're right, we're not old. Uh I'm gonna take your word for it. Uh, I dyed my hair just to convince myself of that. Yeah, uh no more, no more aging gracefully. I'm going, I'm back to protect.

SPEAKER_00

Solution always comes in a box, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's possible. And I use the beard and mustache stuff because it came by mistake, but it's effective, it works, you know. It's like it doesn't have to be perfect. There's still still enough, just the little lines. And actually, this isn't two-tone, this is the lighting. It actually is incredibly like emo dark for my taste. It was supposed to be light brown. I didn't.

SPEAKER_00

Dawn, Dawn dish soap.

SPEAKER_02

It opens it up. Oh, right? Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00

Not just the bleach and uh or the no, you just put some Dawn in it and I'll take uh take a couple shades off. All right. I had used Brock by to try to go blonde in the summer. About the auditioning stuff, I think the paradox for me is like again, like I'm not an actor, I didn't come up trained, trained as an actor. I just never trained how to audition. So I think one of my big issues is that I come to auditions woefully underprepared. Sure. Uh I didn't never audition for eight, you know. I think I just kind of proved myself after a while.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, I didn't think so. We in fact, after pandemic, we didn't do a lot of auditions because we'd have auditions and nobody would show up, or nobody we could use would show up. Um, it's funny, I think back in the day I used to get all these like Broadway types. I even had people that had Broadway credits auditioning for us. And since pandemic, we we are not getting a lot of those people. Um, thanks to places like the Magnet Theater doing more musical improv training, we're getting improv people that are now trained in musical theater. But our old casts used to be Broadway people, and even Sam, who's a fully trained UCB guy, he's done the you know the sketch, the improv, the whole thing. But he was a Broadway guy first. Yeah, he went to college for musical theater. He was doing regional plays, he had a lot of performance training. And my experience, people that just came from UCB back in the day were not great performers. They had they could do improv, but if they weren't actors first, if they didn't do college training, the college wasn't enough. They needed what UCB gave them. But those people that had both those trainings were amazing. Uh, if they just had UCB, they were kind of like they weren't doing yes and they were kind of like kind of like like the modern bros mentality, you know, if they're especially the guys, and then a lot of the ladies were just like, I'm just looking for stage time because it's like five guys in every team, and I can't get on a team. It was like the the old school. So um, but now more and more we're getting the people because of Magnet Theaters and other places that have both skills. But you came in with UCB and working in our workshops, learning our short form style, uh, you you picked it up pretty quick. Did I even have you lead class before I put you on a show? Or did I put you on a show first?

SPEAKER_00

I think it's kind of happened at the same time.

SPEAKER_02

Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. And uh, you're in the 12 o'clock workshop, and I'm like, hey, I'll give you a couple bucks to run it this week. Because we got busy, and uh, you know, and a lot of times with improv murder mystery, sometimes like, uh, we're a quadruple booked, and if you're a client watching this, we never send new people on a uh a big corporate event. But for our public shows, like we have four or five people on a show, like that fifth position, sometimes like a training position. We'll put a fifth person on there, or doing some of these jams and whatnot, we'll put somebody in there and a way to train them. Uh, if you're if you're hiring us for a corporate event, you're getting myself, Sam, Dave now, uh, we'll could do one of those. And uh, Amelia, of course, Thomas, Liz, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, Larice. We have people have been with us for years that are excellent corporate trainers and corporate performers. But, you know, as you're training new people up, our process. I very have very few people that would I have auditions that they came in ready to do our show. You know, our show just has a particular style about it, and and some people come in, they're amazingly talented, and they never get there because they're locked in this. Or they come in after one rehearsal, and I'm like, I have a gig tomorrow. It says, Clearly, you know what you're doing. You've been doing other short form. A lot of people come from outside New York City, have done a lot of short form. They've done more comedy sports, they've done more theater sports, they've done more um local troops that do what we do. Um, and we just have to train them up on the musical theater. But a few of those, you know, that are actually gigging out there have done that training. So they're ready to rock. But uh, but most people know, even the people that have four years of uh UCB behind them, they need they need to learn the short form in our style. But uh so tell me about what is there anything you do? Because again, my my kind of whole mission statement right now is knocking stage fright off the top of the list. I I say I've been saying for years our mission is to spread joy and laughter one show and workshop at a time while training all these invaluable life skills. But realize that's what we do. The mission for me is like knocking stage fright off the top of the list. Because when I go into a workshop and I see that one person that's afraid to participate, my goal is to get that person comfortable on stage, to create that safe space. What do you do individually? And then what and then later we'll talk about what do you do as a teacher to help create that?

SPEAKER_00

To knock off stage fright.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, and not even to stage fright, but getting yourself a headspace where you can have fun on stage and not worry about, you know whether it's what dealing with stuff that's going on in the real world, uh, because that's always kind of fun. Uh, not just news and politics, our own lives life happens, and then we got to go be funny and entertain other people.

SPEAKER_00

Well, I think um above all, like I as like somebody who's like not an actor or not somebody who's professionally trying to become like a famous actor or whatever. Um I would do and I go to these classes, I went to the jams, um, just because improv brings me a sense of joy, and it's like that serotonin rush that I enjoyed having. Um, as far as like beating stage fright, I think like I said before, it's very convivial, and you're like not by yourself, you're not alone, and you have people there with you that are their goal is to like help you succeed and make sure you succeed, and then I feel like a jerk if I'm if I'm bringing down this scene because I'm scared or nervous or something. I remember like there was one time when I was performing uh with a UCB class show, and I got so nervous that I I like the toe the muscles in my toes were flexing in order to like push me off the stage. I was getting ready to run, but it ended up sticking through the scene. It was a it ended up being an absolutely horrible scene. Um but it's also because you don't know the people that you're performing with. I think another thing that helps me with the stage fright is that we've developed in our team uh a relationship so we have a synergy when we go on stage and that we're able to kind of like work with each other and just be like, okay, so what are we doing now? Like, how's this going? And you kind of know how each particular um actor that you're doing a scene with at this point, you kind of know where they could take it, what their mindsets are, and how you can like gift them and help them kind of move in the direction that you think you're going, or how you can like pick up on the cues that they're doing where they think the scene should be going. And I think when you get kind of like lost in that and caught up in it, that's you stop thinking about the audience and whatever's happening in your own life. I never kind of think about my own personal life whenever I'm like doing a show. That's just not something that I bring with me. Also, like, especially if like we have a stage or an audience that I feel I say this all the time, where it's like either we have a thin audience or we have an audience that's not receptive, or maybe it's like a European audience where it's like they love it at the end, they're like, Oh, that was great. But during the show, they're just dead silent, and we're like, Okay, well, this is just uh I'm just performing for you guys. Like, let's just have fun with this. Right, right. And I mean, we're there to have fun. If you're not there to have fun, then why are you here?

SPEAKER_02

You know, it's interesting you say because you're not a trained actor, quote unquote. But the uh I think the difference between a trained actor and people that more just do comedy, we have experience with like Sunday matinee crowds, where they are very quiet, they're older usually. And I learned over the years that they're they're quiet because they're listening and they're afraid to laugh, or they're afraid to even clap sometimes because they don't want to miss anything. They're they're they're they're struggling with age or struggling with hearing all this stuff, and in some cases, or they're just like you said, the European crowds, they just listen, they don't give you as much feedback. You know, they always people joke about the English uh demur or whatever, you know, it's a little more reserved and whatnot, but they're engaged, they're just not engaging as an audience, and and it it's when you're when when you're not used to that, it's very painful when you're on stage of like nobody's laughing, nobody, but I've learned I started teaching this in comedy, quiet is better than wrestling. As when I talk to comics, I did a podcast a few weeks ago where a quote unquote comic interviewed me, and I say that because it's like the way he was talking to me, the question he was asking, I'm like, I don't know if you really know comedy. Like, this these questions are coming from weird places. But he would ask me, like, what do you do when it's quiet? And I was like, Thank God. And now, because I've had audiences that like to talk. You know, you have audiences, you know, there are certain types of audience that talk to you the way they do at a movie theater, per se. They're not respectful of the live theater progress, they realize they feel like talking to you is part of the theater going experience. That's what they've been learnt, trained over years, and culturally and whatnot. Other audiences talk to each other in the back, and at the end, they both tell you how great you are, but you're like during the show, it's like, oh my gosh, I have a headache trying to compete with you the whole time.

SPEAKER_00

I think we had somebody on the phone once during during the show. They're in the back ordering something online, I think. Lovely.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, you know, we yell at the kids, listen, folks, respect, the adults are worse. And a lot of times we're doing a show that's what's like a family-friendly show, and like the drunk uncles are in the back at a bar mitzvah or graduation party or something like that, and and they're just talking, and then like at the end, they're like, Oh, you guys are so good. Like, really, you were just screaming at each other in the back. I could hear you more than I could hear the actor next to me. And uh, the louder we get, the louder you get. And I'm like, oh, the kids had a good time, but it's like, or even worse, you're in a classroom and you're teaching and you got the kids' attention. I like I've got 26 special ed kids in there, whatever the name is now, forgive me for nomenclature, but I have their attention. You threw three classes in one for some reason, you separate them every other day because you know teacher ratio is important for those type of groups, for all groups, but you put them all in one room for me, and I have six teachers that are bored because I got their attention by myself, and then they start talking in the corner. And I'm like, hey, I got them. Stop. You're you're you're you're they're now looking at you because you're talking, right? All those things that we hate, like as teachers, when we're they're talking in the back. The teachers do it when they're not on focus, right? So it's yeah, as a teacher, as a performer, and again, uh, you want to work, so you only say so many things. But I find myself the older I get, at least, I feel more comfortable. Not I I don't think I'm throwing anybody in their bus, but I'm calling them on their you know what. I'm saying you don't like it when they do that, so lead by example. Count cam counters, especially 14, 15, 60-year-old so-called leaders, the CITs and whatnot. No problem telling them you're ruining this. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Also, I want to I want to clarify, I'm not a trained actor, but I am a trained improv improvisationalist.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, yeah, fair, fair.

SPEAKER_00

Improv. Nevertheless.

SPEAKER_02

And it's funny you say that because I would never guess that you're not a trained actor. You're you're very good with characters, you're very good with story. That might come from the filmmaking too, but uh I think so, yeah. You know what I mean? I think story is story is story. It's almost like sales is sales is sales. There's a thousand ways to present a story from animation to live to film to documentary to narrative to improv. And there are elements of story that are pretty universal, you know, and even if it's even, and again, once you know the universal rules, breaking them is how you be original. But you you have an idea of there's a character, there's a setting, there's a there's a why, there's a what. You know, we break improv down to those who wear what's, and the why is part of the who when you're you know being technical. But but you know, you come with that storytelling element, and then once I think with improv, you know, I always say what I do isn't rocket science. A lot of actors I deal with hate it when I say anybody could do what I do. Not that anybody could do, can do what I do because they haven't had the experience or the training, or not that they would do what I do because they're too afraid to get on stage in the first place, or quit their day job with a steady paycheck. But but beyond that, nothing I do is rocket science, it's just over years and years and years you get better and better. And and that was with you. You came in, you're fun, and over a few months you figured it out to the point where I could pay you to do this, sure. Yeah, and again, you have to learn how to do it, yeah, and you had the full UCB program. It's not yeah, like you said, you're not not trained, and and like I said, I find people that just had UCB programming, but because you went to film school too, you had the framework of a story of and production, um, and I think that also why um More and more kind of lean on you as a leader. If I if you're the only one there, if I'm not there and you're there, I'm like, I'm gonna send Dave the information on the client. Potentially, I'm gonna say send Dave, because those are the skills that sometimes you don't learn in college. Um, you learn from producing, you learn from doing it from teaching, too. I think you learn how to organize a space and a group of people beyond just okay, these are the games we're gonna play.

SPEAKER_00

Right. Yeah, production, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And that's a whole nightmare. I can't imagine.

SPEAKER_00

It's pulling everyone together.

SPEAKER_02

So talking about production, now, first of all, let's talk about mermaids because I see mermaids. I bought it on Amazon, and then like eight months later, I finally sat down and watched it. I love it, I think it's amazing. And I'm wondering like, how often have I heard about this place and just forgot about it until you saw the movie? Because I've had at least three times where I saw it in pop culture references or people talking about it because I have families south of there by maybe an hour. Uh it's up by Gainesville, right? Or north of Gainesville?

SPEAKER_00

South. Yeah. So South of Gainesville, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So they're in Ocala, between Ocala and Tampa. So they're probably maybe it's even less than an hour. Uh they're in Dunellan, my brother and mother and father. Half halfway. Yeah. So probably not that far from there. I gotta go there and there's something down. But uh, tell me about mermaids, tell me about the process, and and also you're one of the few people I know that produce. I know a lot of people produce and they go to festival. I know a lot of people that produce and they go to YouTube. Uh that's what we did with our mockumentary short film. Uh, but you got it on Prime Video right now. Like people could buy it through Amazon and watch it on Prime Video.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Uh the whole process of making my own.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, the whole process, you know, the uh the 30-second pitch, the elevator pitch.

SPEAKER_00

It was uh it's uh it's a park that I grew up close to, and I always want like even through film school, I always thought about it. And I just one day I was just like, I have the equipment. Uh if anything, I could just like stay at my mom's house. Like, let me just call, see what they say. So I was like, hey, just want to make a documentary about this place. And the response was like, take a number, and I was like, sure. Um, but they're very friendly, they were very open, and I found out that I'm a local um who's known the place, and they kind of just tolerated me for like it took me about two years to make. Um, so the first sort of like six, eight months of it was just getting to know everybody and uh getting to know their stories and gaining their trust. Because when you're doing a documentary, uh, especially with this place, they're very protective about it. Um and it they're easily ostracized from the community if they do the wrong thing or say the wrong thing, or they're easily they'll they're very fast to cut you off if they think that you're telling the wrong story that makes them look bad or whatever. And I get in I eventually gained their trust and they tolerated me for a number for a number of years, where I would come in maybe maybe every month or two, and I would I would film, they would let me uh free dive in the water with the mermaids, which was a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_02

So you're not on scuba while you're filming down there?

SPEAKER_00

No, if I was scuba diving, I would have to have a team of like five people to um to be there, and that was logistically not not possible for what I wanted to do.

SPEAKER_02

Um, is that because what from as a filmmaker you think you need that or like insurance kind of things? Like they would make you do that. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00

Well, they would make me do that, they would make me do it. Um, it was a state law, I think, at that point. Like if you have a scuba, one scuba diver in there, you have to have a safety team. Um if you're free diving Dios, you know?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. I used to be a certified scuba diver, so now yeah, that side of it makes sense, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so I would free dive because I I'm a pretty good swimmer. Uh but there was a lot of times where I'd film somebody holding my breath, and then by the time it was like my lungs started collapsing, I would look up and I'd realize I was probably like 20 feet deep still. So I it was definitely a big risk on my life.

SPEAKER_02

Um what would be easier would be safer to be on scuba.

SPEAKER_01

It would have been much safer to be on scuba.

SPEAKER_02

Like, but that but they need but free diving, and you know, pearl divers that have died because they go down there and they're like trying to make a living, you know. There's documentaries on that too, I think, out there. But yeah, you just and you're 50 feet down at that point because they could do that, but it's like they want to get that one more pearl because time is money and all that stuff, yada yada. But that's crazy, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I still have I still have dreams about it, and which is part of the film. Uh I still have anxiety dreams about it too. But I don't know, there was something about it where it's like I was able to hold my breath a little bit longer than I should be able to, and I was able to like kind of glide along the floor of the performance area with an ease that I shouldn't have been able to have. Um but yeah, so then I I made the film and I went to a couple of festivals, one a few. I took it to the Marshea at Cannes and showed it there, which was really fun. Nice. And uh yeah, now it's on Amazon.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. No, I I I love it. And uh for those who don't know, the mermaids are you know what I didn't know about it? I I I think you maybe you've heard about it, but before Disney, it was like it was like the thing in Florida.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. The movie's called We Are Mermaids, first of all. Right. Third one.

SPEAKER_02

Right, right, right.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's one of Florida's first and only remaining roadside attractions because back in the day it was to go from New York to Miami, you would road trip with the family down um I-19, I guess it is, and uh then Disney came along, and then they built I-75, which was slightly to the east of it, uh, which took all the traffic away. So that took away a lot of their um their business, and the park eventually became started to decline in in um in guests and you know, aesthetically and funds. So it faced foreclosure a lot. I remember growing up, there was always like, oh, the park's closing, and then then there would be a fundraiser, and people would come together and support it, and then it'd be open for a few more years, and then it's like, oh, the park's closing, and then do it again. Uh it was a cycle, and then I guess the state took it over eventually.

SPEAKER_02

And then the park, it's it's an amusement park too. I know you had the mer the the mermaids were ladies that do like underwater stories and ballet and kind of things, and yeah, on the other side of it, yeah, on the other side of it, there's a water park because it's a natural spring.

SPEAKER_00

So the mermaids the mermaids perform at the at the um source of the spring. Yeah, and so if you're in it, you're swimming around, you're getting tossed around because the current is really, really strong, and then it flows out into the river, and the river goes out into the Gulf of America, or Gulf as they say, Gulf of Gulf of Mexico, whatever you want to call it. Yeah, I'll never call it that. I'll never call it the Gulf of America. I don't know what's that.

SPEAKER_02

It's it's the Gulf of Mexico. It's the Gulf of Mexico, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um, but it would flow out to there, and so the next part is the water park, which is like the beach and the slides, and like if you swim under the water, sometimes you can hear the show reverberating through the water, so you know that they're performing at the time and you can hear it clear as day, uh, which was cool.

SPEAKER_02

And I love about the documentary, it it actually you bring back like retired veterans of the show, right? And and you got a few modern performers in there, I think, if I remember correctly, but it's really talking about yeah, but like the documentary about the people, about the space, about and it really is a story, it's about the people, it's about artists, performers, it's about these uh this this business that was huge, and what was it? ABC owned it, right? No, right?

SPEAKER_01

ABC owned that.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it was like it was I mean, we're talking about a major thing that went away because of trends changing, and it's still there, and it's you know, it it's just a fascinating story. I think it's a very American story in that sense, you know what I mean? I would it's not to try to put it in a box or anything like that, but it's more than you know, and I think that's with most documentaries that people are like, oh, it's about these people that do this thing. It's so much more than that. If you're if you watch it, it makes you think about a lot of anybody who owned a bookshop back in the day that's gone now because of Amazon. You know, it's one of those stories, but it's also a story of resilience because they are finding a way they they're still operating today.

SPEAKER_00

It's also kind of a story about like Americana in a sense. Yeah, right, right, right. Also, how like people often think that we as a country don't have culture and we don't have history. Uh and we do, and especially Florida. It's like that old, old Florida where it's like they're people of of the sea, they're people, they're water people, they're people of swampy lands and rustic living. Uh, and that's how a lot of them still are. They really appreciate their connection with nature, yeah. Um, which is lost on a lot of us.

SPEAKER_02

And a lot of Florida, you you know, it gets a bad name, and in many cases for good reasons. But I recently was visiting my parents and they had like a for lack of a term, a swamp tour, but they have a spring there, the uh the rainbow river, the rainbow spring, and and the rainbow run, they call it what you know with with the river that's actually spring, and you you you get on the swamp boat, little uh pontoon, and the guy takes you around and you go up the spring, but you you're in the river, and then it crosses from river to spring. There's a line where it's like murky, darky swamp into completely clear spring water that is 72 degrees 24-7 year-round. And then over here, it's you know, and you don't get a lot of alligators up that way because there's less places for them to hide. Um, but it's also where the manatees sometimes go because it's warmer, coming, you know, they're trying to get out of the cold water, the they like it warmer. The alligators like it warmer, so they don't like to go in there unless they're looking for food. But you know, but it's just it's fascinating, like the birds that are you know, just unique everything. And then you learn about like the aquifers of Florida, these massive aquifers, and and it was it was funny. It's uh it's it's a sightseeing nature tour, but then it really gets into the science of what's happening to the aquifers because of pollution, because of things going on. Uh, there's so much more to it to learn down there. Um, and then just to pivot a little bit, uh, because I could talk all day about this documentary, I'm curious about it. If you're interested about it, I'll I'll put the link in the show notes. Go on Prime. What is it, like 20 bucks or something like that to watch this thing?

SPEAKER_00

Is it 10 to buy? I think it's like three to rent. I I I paid too much.

SPEAKER_02

No, uh no, I thought it'd be funny. So yeah, so I I I think I bought it. It's in my library. Uh but yeah, go watch it. Three bucks, rent it, watch it. It's great. Um, and then you got this new thing I'm fascinated by because I love history of theater. I love mummers. I love, you know, if my dad's somebody from Pennsylvania, um, I Philadelphia specifically area. I love old Europe stories of minstrels and theater. And these, and I've only seen clips of your was it a teaser? You actually have a documentary out. You're this whole new project you're working on.

SPEAKER_00

Um, yeah, it's a it's like an anthology. It's pitched to be, it's so early. Yeah, but it's being pitched as an anthology series uh about Sardinia. And I think what you saw uh is a it's a documentary style interview of a um a group of mass perform traditional mass performers uh that perform in a remote village in central Sardinia called Sukuronjao. Um and so they would be part of a short film called The Forest, which is basically just gonna um feature them and just kind of showcase what they do in a so in a somewhat abstract way. There's gonna be seven other stories, some are a little bit more some are dramas, some are satirical sort of takes on um Sardinia's uh political strife with mainland and their own policies, their protection. But I think the connecting theme with these seven stories or these eight stories, as well as the mermaids, is like my exploration of humans' connection with nature and self because Sardinia is a very it's a very it's very isolated because it's an island. Um but they're very connected to uh the land and their history and their culture, which is known to be one of the oldest uh societies out there. They say they're the birth of society, birth of humanity, but who knows if that's you. I choose to believe it. Um so it's just kind of like where they where they stand and how they're sort of like navigating with their culture and their world and maintaining maintaining it. And I there's a lot of outside sources. I think like one of it is that you know, a lot of a lot of um NATO tests and develops uh bombs and stuff on Sardinia. Sardinia is known for having a really big weapons factory, which the citizens of it obviously do not care for.

SPEAKER_02

Um yeah, that's terrible. Like it's such a beautiful place.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and it's it's the development and the testing is polluting a lot of the the the pure pristine natural resources that they have. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's making the it's making the locals sick. So that's another that's another short in the one of the seven, eight.

SPEAKER_02

I'm fascinated because I've I've been to Italy for a few weeks. You you you're you're like part-timer Italian living there, it seems like you're there more. Um, you know, you you you travel a lot, I'm jealous a little bit. I I have very little uh FOMO and jealousy, but you go to Italy as much as you do. I'm like that might be the way. I live there. Huh?

SPEAKER_00

I lived there for a number of years.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And and you and you go back regularly, right? I mean, you're there a couple times a year, I think, if I'm not mistaken. And uh I love the idea of it.

SPEAKER_00

That's how work is.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I love the idea that you're creating work that forces you to go there too. I think that's amazing. I've got a friend, uh, people that don't know, I'm a fan of David DeCovney, and uh he thinks I'm the president of his fan club, and he's not too far off, but uh I've kind of stepped I've stepped back from my responsibilities in recent years. But his drummer, for those who don't know, David DeCovney has a band. Uh, for those who if you know you know, I'm gonna skip the whole thing I usually say at this point, but it's great. I I love the music, I love the band members, and one of his drummers, uh percussionist, he's a very accomplished musician, is also a videographer and travel blogger, and got a one-year deal, I think, with Condi Nest, where they sent him all around the world like 50 locations to film and blog about for a year. And I'm like, is that not the most amazing dream job? We talk about being on Broadway and Opera, living the dream as actress, but man, you know what? I would take that job. Um, I'd sadly probably take it at a third where he probably got paid to do it, and you know, expenses paid, seeing all these amazing places and great articles. Yeah, he's a great writer too. Uh but yeah, Sebastian Modak, it's just phenomenal, phenomenal. But again, creating work um that allows you to do what you love to do a little bit. And and then, but it's also something I saw you say that the Florida, what I what I found when I was in Italy, I think Mediterranean culture, this in general, um there it's a different vibe for sure. You know, it's a moderate climate, so you know, a lot of aggression comes out of there politically, you know, from the Roman Empire and everything. But at the same time, the people, you know, you can survive on a minimal because it's not freezing that much, especially down south. And you've got access to the waters, you've got fish, you've got amazing agriculture. The food is simple but delicious, you know, that the Mediterranean diet, all you know, all these things. There's just so much to learn from that. And then, of course, human nature comes in and pollutes it with politics and other things and ruins it. But and weapons factory on Sardinia, that's that sounds like horror, the story to me. But there's also an element like the costumes, the mask. I I uh if I can, I'll maybe I'll try to. I don't do any editing for these podcasts, but I'll again I'll put a link to what I can find for that, or send me the link, you know, where that that video is. Uh on YouTube, I think. I think it's on YouTube. The teaser or the uh I guess it's like a short documentary that's meant to promote the program, right?

SPEAKER_00

It's like a six-minute clip of just them explaining who they are, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

There's elements of it, like the handmade mask, the handmade costumes, but I could also see taking like creating like a horror story, because they're the kind of like old-world costumes and masks that you just randomly ran into a person in the middle of the woods wearing one of those things. You might assume they're an axe murderer, you know, like out of concept.

SPEAKER_00

Very A24 concept, but exactly.

SPEAKER_02

You know, like you're some cult thing.

SPEAKER_00

I wouldn't, I wouldn't not that they are, but right, exactly.

SPEAKER_02

I don't think that they would agree to do something like that because it it does it is of that old European period that's that they're keeping alive, that like the the performance troupe. But it's I love stuff like that. I love going to Renfests when it's the good stuff. And I have a mentor that was a mime that did Renfests and just one of the best mimes, Marceau Marceau train, or the people that really do, like I said, the mummers that bring that keep the old traditions alive. Um, and similarly, like people and friends I know that do the African dance or um the cr the Caribbean stuff, you know, it's like the those real cultural things. And like you said, we've got it here, and we've got jazz, and we've got you know, all these different art forms that are uniquely American. Um, we just need to get out there more. Um babbling all day long.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, both in both in both sense, the mermaids and the um Kurajayu guy, uh the masky, both of them, uh the older women who had done it in the past, they had re re uh had a bit of a renaissance of it. Like one day, around the same time, uh, they're like, we should pick this up again. And they did. Um, for the mask guy, they had stopped doing it for a couple hundred years, and then he kind of talked to some older people who, you know, hundred-year-old people from the past who have like passed on all these stories and gave the him information about it, and he re-birthed the whole uh troop. In Sardinia, they all have their own, each sort of like village or you know, small region has their own specific uh group of that nature. Yeah, in all of the nation, all of the island, they had the Mamutone, which is the famous ones, um, which are very particular looking, you have to look them up. Um, but yeah, it's both of them are kind of people who like went back into their history and decided to bring it back because it had died for a moment.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, I love I recently saw something probably on YouTube or history, one of those channels, but a similar type of group, uh maybe a slightly bigger scale, but in Greece, that are doing like old Greek plays in outdoor forums in massive festival manners, the way they would have been done back in the day. And uh and well, even for that, the people that do Shakespeare in the festival manner with you know the Globe style theater, uh, either at Renfest or otherwise, you know, keeping that old theater style alive. And I think a lot of people, they see modern versions of Shakespeare, they love it or they don't. But if you ever get a chance to see those old plays presented the way they used to be presented, I just think I I love the history of it. I think you know, submerging yourself, submersing yourself in that kind of uh it's a time capsule that you get to live in for a couple hours.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it's great to bring this stuff back.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, we need more of that. Uh cool, man. Anything else you want to leave us with? Anything else you're working on?

SPEAKER_00

Uh lots of stuff. I'm I'm shooting a lot of arrows. It's they gotta land somewhere.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll wrap this up. I I have two main things that I do. I I promote improv as an entertainment and as an education. And even to me, the murder mysteries are an extension of that. And I have my quit your day job babble about creating your own work, don't wait for opportunity. You want to be an actor, there is work out there. You just can't wait to be hired sometimes, and having the employee mentality, and you're somebody as a filmmaker that's out there doing it, and and it's creating opportunity as well as, and and I feel like even if it's you know, and I don't know if mermaids is making you money kind of a thing, but just even doing that, I think makes you a better improviser, it makes you a better storyteller. Every time you're creating, I always say always be creating, kind of taking away from the uh Glenn Gary, Glenn Ross, always be closing, always be creating because you never know where it's gonna lead to. Like I said, you yeah, you're shooting a lot of arrows, but that's what you have to do. I always say try to do it as cheaply as possible until and then ROI when you make money, reinvest. But you know, you gotta do that in this business. And I at some point I want to sit down and talk to you. I have a lot of ideas for projects that I'm like that have been on the burners. I've even started to write scripts for things, but you have more you know production experience. And we've even talked about, or even doing like a sketch comedy special or an improv comedy special because the nature of the SEO game now. Uh for the whole reason I'm doing a podcast is you know, I have no desire to sit down and do a podcast. I love talking to you about this. I could talk about this stuff forever. And we go on roadshows, we have conversations. We always say we should have filmed that. Uh while we're in the car, we have like really amazing conversations about the industry. Amelia and I have amazing conversations about her growing up in Brooklyn, me growing up in the burbs, uh, African-American woman, white guy, and just comparing stories and trying to figure out what the hell's going on with this world. That conversation should be a podcast. But I know if we had the camera on, it would be never be as good. But but but that's the secret. I think it's finding that sauce. Like, how do you get that onto the camera and translate it? But you're good at that, you know how to do that. So uh we should talk more because I think that there's a lot of opportunity.

SPEAKER_00

With We Are Mermaids, it was something where it's like I didn't wait to apply to thousands of grants that you'll never get, uh especially with documentaries, because like they you only get funding basically if people die and if it's something really tragic, which is just not the case for this film. I was I I had the equipment, I had the resources, so I did it. Yeah, I was lucky too. They were very comfortable.

SPEAKER_02

And some people with an iPhone, you could have filmed that. Not that that not to diminish your work, but if you're like 14-15 years old out there, your parents gave you an iPhone, start shooting stuff.

SPEAKER_00

Starting Sean Baker got into Sundance, I think, shooting a film and an iPhone.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah. There's a few out there that have broken through the ND and usually with the horror, too. The horror, they always say, if you ever go to film festivals, if you ever want to hope to make money making films, do horror. You know, because like horrible scripts can make money in horror. Horrible filmmaking. You know, you got a couple jump scares. Bad acting can make money in the horror world. It's sad. But uh, you know, the Toxic Adventure guy that makes like what 10, 20 films every year, it seems. And then one breaks through like Toxic Avenger makes a fortune over time, and then all these other ones like through the festivals and the showings, they break even, sometimes they lose, but one a year breaks through enough that pays that he's making six figures, you know. And this is an old story. I haven't this is 10, 20 years ago that I've heard this story about this guy. But uh, but again, create, create, create. I always talk about um Danny, not Boyle, Danny uh McBride, Foot First Way. Oh, he has a movie called Foot First Way. He's bound it out. I'm not a huge fan, but his comedy style is good, but it and people love him. I I'm not his biggest fan. But I was working at the Laug Factory when they showed his film in the Times Square Laugh Factory that was there in 2005 to 2007, and the main theater got sold out because Will Farrell saw it, loved it, got behind it. And ever since that year, he's been working non-stop. He's had a half a dozen shows now, I think, on HBO, but all started with him just making this weird kind of martial arts film and weird documentary comedy thing, right? And I don't even know, I I think it's that. I I know I didn't see it, I was in the other room doing a show. But that's the first time I ever heard of this guy, and then I and then he's in something ever since, you know. Yeah, yada yada yada.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, well for me, like the goal is like you know, I never got into film production filmmaking with the intention of making money, because if you do, that's you're in it for the wrong reason. Yeah, the goal is to just be able to keep the it's the keep the ball rolling and you know make keep creating something, and and the more you do it, the more of a team you'll amass, and yeah, hopefully the more the more uh opportunities you'll get. Like, you know, for me the biggest the biggest obstacle was COVID, uh to get to the top of our conversation that we were having before, where it's like I had finished the mermaids around COVID time, and so when it came time to do festivals, they're all gone. Uh everybody that I collaborated with left the city, everybody that I did UCB with left the city. Um so it's it's you never know what's gonna happen as you progress through your career, but you always have to just be ready to bounce back.

SPEAKER_02

I wonder, I've been having this thought. I have a my manager is actually producing a horror film, he's about to he's getting ready to put it in all these festivals, and I keep following him on TikTok. Uh Jamie Baker, follow me is fun. Um great manager, got me a lot of work over the years. Um and he's talking, and I almost want to have a conversation with him or have a conversation with you. As serious, legitimate filmmakers, our arts, artsy folks, and that's the wrong word for it, but you know, in the game, it's still all about the festival. And as somebody who has made money as a commercial producer, doing the corporate world, doing this thing, but also producing content, I wonder more and more, you know, there's making content and then there's finding ways to monetize it so you can support yourself doing it ultimately. And I feel like if you focus on that too much, the art sucks. But you know, but you gotta focus on the art, you gotta get it. But I wonder if the festival world, if you're not gonna break through, especially with distribution deals like only going to Marvel now, uh, you know, only going to Blackbuster, you know, would you be better off, you know, are there I guess if you put on YouTube, a theater doesn't want to show it. Um if you festivals, you might get picked up by a theater to show it or something like that. But I I wonder as a path forward for filmmakers in 2026, what still is it still make the most sense to focus on the festivals or maybe festival first? But you know, putting on Prime, you can make more money per view. Would you get more views putting it on YouTube or something like that? You know what I mean? Or how how how what where how do you feel? Where do you come on where do you come down in that kind of argument?

SPEAKER_00

I think I don't think the festival circuits dead yet. Um and then uh Prime, for me, Prime was a great option just because uh I did have some distribution offers uh and I just never took them. They didn't seem like they were like the right fit for me. Uh I had a few in Europe that I probably should have taken advantage of, um, but they wanted shorts and stuff like that. And also it just didn't, my ROI wasn't great. Um but yeah, I Amazon's good because it gives like it's a 50% cut. And then there's a few other options that you can do. There's film rise that'll help you um, I think it's film rise that'll help you find distribution, get you in other platforms. Um but yeah, it's just at this point for me the goal would be to um get just to fuse it out there just so people see it. Like you're not making I think I make like if you've I make 50% of the sales on Amazon, yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh which comes to like I think the most I've made so far was like six hundred dollars a month on it. And that was after making uh an appearance on the news. It's something it's great, like yeah, and I'll I get something in the in the mail every every month, uh, which is whatever.

SPEAKER_02

But it's well a lot of people don't realize the beautiful thing about that, it will make money in perpetuity, even if it's like five dollars a month for the rest of your life, you know, with worldties on TV shows, same thing. I I make a few bucks every year from shows I did 15 years ago, but all the shows add up to the point where I'm still making like I don't know, two to three grand a year from things I created, and not just the TV shows, books I've written that are on Amazon as well, KDP and whatnot, self-published, but just all these income streams by creating, creating, creating, and if you don't, and one may or may not break through. Well, I'm still making all my money from the live experience, but at the same time, all those things, my credits, my books, the blogs, the content online promotes the live experience.

SPEAKER_00

So it's you know there's also another another way of go about going about any of this is to just create um vertical content. Uh then you don't have to do the festivals, you don't have to do any of that stuff. You can just make quick 90 second 90-second clips, uh episodes. I mean, I watched this one guy, Bistro Huddy, uh, who's hilarious, and it's about working in a restaurant, he's great, and I I think he's doing pretty well for himself. But you'll see like a people put on their own, develop their own short form TV shows, and it's it's it's different. And maybe you'll get some funding for it, maybe you'll get some revenue from it. But again, you're just you start a project because you have a story to tell and you want to get it out there. Uh if the money comes, the money comes. And if anything, you keep creating and you will find more people with whom you can collaborate and create more. And if you're if you're lucky to do it, if you're lucky to do it.

SPEAKER_02

Well, you're doing it, you're creating sketches, you're creating one man short films a few times a week.

SPEAKER_00

I do that too, don't I? Huh? I do that too, don't I?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah. And and it's like you might get a couple hundred here, you might get a thousand here, you might get a few hundred here, you might get that. But again, over time it adds up. And again, everything you do promotes everything else you do. So it's like, hey, who's this guy? Oh, he's got a movie, oh, he's got an improv show, oh, he's got this, he's got that. And it's, you know, it's reductive to an artist, I think. But there's something called a sales funnel, and there's literally everything we do plugged somewhere into that funnel, and and some of those things make money, some of them don't, but it's all about building brand, it's all about building, and I know as a lot of times as an artist, you don't want to sound like a marketing schmuck, but if you peel back in all the things, it is ultimately we're creating stuff, and ultimately, for me at least, the goal is not to have a day job, it's not to support myself from my talents. So, and I've been and I've been doing that now day job free for 20 years because of it. But you realize, and I and I learned about funnels years after I was doing them. Uh, but you realize I'm creating content, I'm getting thousands of views online from videos, I'm blogging, I'm doing this, I'm doing that, and then people hire me to do a show or workshop, you know. But it all came from that stuff when other people are spending thousands of dollars on marketing to do what we do at the corporate world, so we could charge less one, but everything we do, but you know, you have a short film that promotes you as well as the film, and then everything you do potentially promotes the short film, or the film rather, actually, it's a feature length, right? 85, 90 minutes, yeah. Um I think it's 82. Yeah, and then it's just all a matter of just getting one to the other, it's harder and harder these days, but it you know, it's amazing how that works, and then you know, with this project, you know, it's and then you also have that body of work that says, Why should I hire this? Oh, he's done all these other things, and and you have proof of your experience. Everybody on their website says, I've done this, but you have a video proof of it. I have a product, I could show you something. The reason I had my books, you know, anybody could do what I did. I wrote a book on improv comedy, and it there I have my own waltisms in there that are original, but because I'm the guy who wrote the book, Business Success, I don't sell any copies. But on my website, I'm the guy who wrote the book, so I get hired for the corporate event.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

A lot of times, right? It's it's it's like another business card. Uh, it costs me three dollars to for an author copy, and I give them away all the time. And but they're more effective. People don't throw those out. They give them, they keep them, they read them, or they give them to a friend, yada yada yada. Um so yeah, awesome. I'm badly a little bit, but uh, I just want to say I appreciate what you're doing, and uh I think it's amazing. I love that video, and uh I'm gonna post it. Everybody should see it, and it's it's great. Um not what not anthropology, what anthropology? No, what do you call it?

SPEAKER_00

Anthropology.

SPEAKER_02

It is anthropology, yeah. That is the right word.

SPEAKER_00

Anthropological.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, right, right. It's historical, it's culture, it's there's so much to it. It makes you want to go to Italy so bad and just eat, you know what I mean? So it's right, they're very particularly, it's not Italy, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00

Wait, Delta Airlines just started flying there nonstop from New York City, so maybe they're not gonna be a little bit more than their own airport, so that's something. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02

You know, if you're Sardinia's like, is that is that where the big volcano was, right? That's Vesuvius, that's in no, no, no, not that volcano, but the one like prehistory that might have gone off that might have been like it's one of the places that could have been Amazon by some document or you know, documentary.

SPEAKER_00

Um Vesuvius and Aetna in Italy.

SPEAKER_02

No, not no, those are the two active ones. Or am I thinking no, where's where's Minos? Where's the I'm thinking the Greek island?

SPEAKER_00

Uh Greece. Yeah, actually, Sardinia is uh I think Sardinia is the only um seismically inactive place in Italy because I was there once. I was visiting Friends in Florence and Rome, and then I'm I think I'm thinking Santorini. Oh probably. But I was visiting Friends in Sardinia and we had an earthquake in uh mainland, and so you didn't feel it?

SPEAKER_02

No, wow, yeah. I've seen your pictures from there too. Like I just want to go there and I'm a swimmer. Right. I I would yeah, I feel like if I lived there, I I feel the same way about Florida too. If I lived there, I get nothing done. I think by living I think this is why a lot of science came from the colder climates out of Jets. Yeah, yeah, you know. Uh I I would I would wear a toga and just chill and go swimming. And uh it's a life. Cool, man. Any man, thank you for doing this. I really appreciate it. Check out David and all the socials, and I'll put some links down there in the show notes. And uh, we'll see you guys next time. David and I are both sh showing up regularly. David more than me sometimes, because I'm always on the road, it seems, but every Saturday at 3 o'clock, improv comedy in Times Square. Most Saturdays at 12 o'clock, improv class. We have two new students starting this week. Um, and new students, we might even have to start adding times because the last couple weeks um our regulars have been more consistent, and we're getting like a new student every week now. So we might have to start adding some times or something because uh I've had requests for Sundays. Oh, there is a request for Sundays or your request.

SPEAKER_00

No, no, no. I've just had people be like, ah, Sunday.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, we might have to start adding Sundays back. Uh, we used to do every Saturday, Sunday, and post-COVID, it's just not just because of COVID and crowds, SEO marketing and everything else has been weird more and more so. If you follow my social media, you've heard me complain about that plenty of times. And although I was complaining about less than everybody else until March 27. And if you're in the marketing game, if you're in the arts game, look up the Google changes that happened March 27 that knocked 95% of my SEO traffic off my website in overnight.

SPEAKER_00

So uh I went from 3,000 Well, like I said before, it's like it's it's just like COVID. Bam, you're doing great, and then bam, COVID hits, and everything's gone. You gotta start over. It's just we're all with the punches, adapter, get out of the way. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02

Although I'm not doing any worse because we do the content, we're on the platforms, so you just gotta have your links to sick ticket sales. You can't, it's it's not about getting them to the website anymore. It's just like if they like the video, buy a ticket. You like the video, buy a ticket. There is no more funnel, it's just you'll you know, just make it easy for them to buy a ticket if they want to, or blah blah blah blah blah.

SPEAKER_00

Come see us, come and we're gonna be at the rat on the 29th.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah. I don't know if it's gonna be Wednesday, April 29th. Yeah, April 29th, uncentered at nine o'clock in Dumbo, Brooklyn. Uh, if you haven't been, I'm sure most people, if you haven't been to Dumbo, Brooklyn, it's it's like one of those new spots in the last 10 years you really should be at. Um, great bars, great restaurants, great theaters. St. Ann's Warehouse. Have you ever seen a show at St. Ann's Warehouse? I saw the old Vic production with Jillian Anderson again, X-Files, but and Ben Forster, Ben Foster, and a few others doing streetcar. And it was maybe one of the best theatrical experiences I've ever had. It was streetcar in the round, and St. Ann's Warehouse does a lot of great theater. They got the carousel, you got the views of Manhattan. It's fun. Go to nice lineup. Yeah, awesome. All right, guys, thank you so much. It's been having fun. Walt Fraser. Check me out and check out David. Check us out. So notes, we'll have all the links. We'll see you guys next time. And this is where I got to figure out how to say stuff. Stop. I'm getting better. All right. Oh no, I saw one more button to push. I think I saw.