Nice problems to have.

I need a job. I'm not unemployed, I work at a grocery store in Hollywood. I've been employed by the company for half a decade now. It was a great place to work while going through college. But now I want a career. I need a job that at the end of the day, I feel that satisfaction of knowing that I did something worthwhile.

I'm busy seven days a week. If I'm not stocking shelves or scanning groceries, I'm either at my internship or improv classes. My internship gives me that satisfaction, two days a week. I can leave there knowing that I learned something that day and it feels damn good.

My improv classes give me a different satisfaction. It's still based on the idea that I learned something, but the satisfaction comes from the creative element of it. I created something, and even if it was as short lived as those moments on stage, there's still a powerful sentiment that comes from creating.

Yesterday, I applied to a job at United Talent Agency or UTA. I'm excited about it. I know that the job itself will be soul draining. Long hours, low pay, and extremely stressful. Did I mention it's an entry level mailroom job? But even a position in a mailroom offers more potential for growth than where I am.

I haven't heard back from them. I assume it's because of the massive number of applications they receive each day. Or maybe it got marked as spam, who knows.

But here's the rub. I absolutely love improv comedy. It gives me an opportunity to get creative juices flowing with other people in an environment that harbors it completely. I want to pursue improv comedy and continue taking classes at UCB. But I know that I can't do that if I have a nine to five (more like seven) job at an agency. I know that my Monday through Friday will be devoured by ten hour days. I know that the weekend classes at UCB are almost impossible to get into.

Working at UTA would offer me the growth potential, industry insight, and connections that will undoubtedly help me further my career as a screenwriter. Classes at UCB will help me hone my craft and teach me the lessons I need to be a better screenwriter. Ah, there's the rub.

What's a kid in his quarter-life crisis to do?



Do I continue working at the unrewarding grocery store to pursue academics in improv? Or do I take arms against the monotonous melancholy of melon stacking, and by opposing miss out on the thousand natural pleasures which comedy is heir to? To perform, and it is by performance that I must indulge that I've never considered myself an actor. No, I'm but a funny guy making observations and witty comments at apropos moments. But perhaps it is a strength that I've never fully explored.

Pox upon it.