kristalgrace.com Blog

 Has it really been TWO WEEKS since I’ve last posted?! Wow. I’m sorry! Just so you know, I did try to post a couple of times, but both times were at the climatic part of exhaustion. If I had posted something then, I’m not sure how much sense it would have made!

What have I done since then? Saw Fringe shows, meant to and didn’t see Bard shows, worked, rehearsed, filmed, had a radio interview (102.7) and started a job being the publicist for a show in December. Whew! 

At any rate, I’m back now – now let’s get updated!

This year, I managed to see all four Pick Of The Fringe shows. They. Were. Amazing. Really! In no particular order: (well, okay, they’re in the order I saw them) Legoland, Jesus Christ: The Lost Years, The Best of the Pajama Men, and to finish them all off, I saw Colossus. Brilliant!

WHY were they brilliant? A)They were all good performers, B)they knew their material, and C) they had their timing down. They knew what worked for them! They weren’t afraid of pauses, and they embraced silence. I can’t remember if JC did, but I know for a fact that the 3 other shows all started with silence, and the actors just looking at the audience. And it was wonderful! They played! You could tell they were having fun, that they wanted to be on stage to share their work with us. And I, as an actor, appreciate that.

There was one instance during JC where instead of starting the section off with “Chapter 13, Verse 8,” jumped straight into the main part – and he knew he missed a section, I knew he missed a section, and others probably knew as well, and he didn’t freak out – he acknowledged it (”And when Jesus woke up, he gave his acting partner a dirty look, and continued on his way” – something like that), and carried on. And it worked just fine. MUCH more preferable than performers who will stop and verbally barf for a second before continuing – which I did see happen once, during a run of “A Streetcar Named Desire.” That totally brought me out of the story.

So Kudos to the POTF performers! You were wonderful and I loved being in the audience for your shows!

On a slightly different but still performance-based note, I went to the John Mayer and Sheryl Crown concert last Friday! The warm up band was…well, not really warming us up, IMO, but that’s okay. (Note to self: Row 26 floor seats are not close enough if everyone is standing and you’re only 5′3″.) John was fantastic (although I wish he would have played more of his old stuff!) and Sheryl was AMAZING. Great performer. She played off of our energy, and we played off hers. Under the lights, you can’t see anyone, but she knew how to talk to the audience and make them feel fantastic. “Hello Vancouver, you sound fantastic! Haven’t been here in a while, but I want to visit more often.” And even though I knew she couldn’t see us, it was genuine, and it felt good.

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“The Pirates of English Bay” open next Friday! Family and Friends night is Friday, October 6th (Tickets $45 and must be pre-paid.) All other nights (October 13/14/20/21) are $75, but if you say my name when you reserve your tickets, $10 of that goes directly to me! (Group sales of 10+ are 20% off.) For your money, you get a buffet dinner (www.hornblower.ca for the menu), a cruise, and a show!

• 6:30pm – Doors open
• 7:00pm – We set sail!
• 7:00pm – 10:00pm – Dinner and Entertainment
• 10:00pm – We dock, and you leave happy, entertained and full!

Good times will be had by all – there is a (cash) bar on board! The show is very audience interactive and will be fun. Come! Tell your friends! And please, come say hi to me after the show is over

A couple of weeks ago, I sent out an email to basically everyone in my address book with a link to the Lucky Spotlight magazine, and a brief update on my (work-related) life – OCTV and Pirates of English Bay. It’s always good to promote yourself, and enough people had said to let them know what’s going on, so why not, right?!

Anyway, a handful of times since then (including 3 times today, can you believe it!?), I’ll run into people who I’d sent it to, and we’d try to catch up (in the 3 minutes we can talk before everyone runs off to carry on with their lives). I ask what they’re up to, they tell me, then they ask what I’m up to. So I start to tell them – and they say, “oh, I know, I got your email!” Oh, right. Wow. What’s new, then? Nothing! I’ve already told them!

I started keeping this blog on June 14th – exactly 3 months ago, actually (!!) - and while that’s not a huge length of time, it’s still fairly significant. You know what? It still surprises me when I find out that people read it. Someone will tell me something that I’m doing, or quote what I said in an earlier entry, and it completely throws me for a moment! I might have had more to say about this earlier, but I’ve been on set all day, and I can’t remember if I’d wanted to write about anything else. I blame the lights, and the cement walls.

On that note: if you would like to be on my email list (either for shows I am doing, or the Talk-Show TV podcast, or both!) let me know, and you will definitely be added!

I found this in my locker back in college, and took it with me when I left. It’s now on the back of my current journal, and I want to share it with you.

 THE FOUR AGREEMENTS

Be Impeccable With Your Word.
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

Don’t Take Anything Personally.
Nothing others do is because of you. what others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.

Don’t Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and drama. With just this one agreement you can completely transform your life.

Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgement, self-abuse, and regret.

I think that’s important in life as a whole! In terms of the last agreement: in acting, a rehearsal could go wonderfully – find a whole bunch of new ways to say lines, play more, fabulous connection, never felt more “on” before, and you remember how it felt for the next time. And it doesn’t happen. In fact, it really is awful now. Why? Why wasn’t it as good as the last time? Well…it’s not last time. It’s NOW. And now is a different time than before. Everything affects the circumstances. And since you can’t be back in that exact same instance, you can’t expect yourself to do the exact same thing – but in the rehearsal process, you learn how to find different ways to get to the place you need to be at. The point of that? You have to do your best at all times, under the given circumstances.

Things change? You bet. Learn to work and embrace change? Well, you don’t have to, but I think it’s a great idea. After all, change means things are moving, and if things are moving, you won’t get stuck in place. Unless, of course, you like that sort of thing. Comfortable? Yes. Safe? Oh, yeah. Change? …why not?!

I realised something yesterday.

I know I’ve said before that I’m happy when I’m busy and on the go with multiple acting projects, and I still stand by that statement!

And now, I solidify it further.

I had the day off yesterday, the first in 10 days, where I had absolutely nothing to do all day, until dinner at 6:00pm. Not saying I stared into space for hours, no. I cleaned, did some writing, answered emails – I just didn’t leave the house. Midday, I get this nagging headache that will not go away. (And no, I didn’t take anything for it. I try not to. It would be awful to become immune to painkillers because I took them too often before.)

In the midst of my cranial misfortunes, I remember that the last time I had a random headache was another day that I’d had nothing going on, and had stayed home all day. I then think back a little, and it occurs to me that during the past couple of years, “Do Nothing Days” usually turn into “Headache Days.” It’s really rather unfortunate.

My conclusion? Busy Kristal = No Headaches = Happy Kristal! And believe me, we really like Happy Kristal. And right now? She’s pretty happy

Lately I’ve been saying (read: complaining, wishing) that I really miss theatre and I with I was doing a live show. I love the film stuff I’m doing now, but there’s something in my blood that makes me crave the adrenaline rush that comes from doing a staged show with a live audience.

And now, I get to get that feeling back!

I’ve just been cast in “(The) Pirates of English Bay” – a dinner theatre show that will run 3 nights a week, from the end of September to the end of October, on a boat called The Hornblower (located at the end of Denman Stree, just off of W Georgia.)

I am very excited.

And my interview with Kristen Tsetsi (of the online magazine Lucky Spotlight) has been emailed out! Check it out at http://www.luckytalentluckyfortune.com/LuckySpotlight.php.

AND I will be going back to Victoria next week to shoot another scene for The Aswang! It’s only one scene, so I’ll be leaving on Wednesday and coming back Thursday morning – but I’m still going away! A)I’m excited that I get to see everyone again, and do another scene, and B)…my train of thought derailed. At any rate, I’m glad I get to go back!

*AND* I did a second stock photography photo shoot today, with Fred Goldstein of www.stockimaging.com. My first shoot with him was solo, and today’s was with my friend/ex-classmate/actor Kevin Kraussler. My website is in the midst of getting redesigned, so when it is, look for photos there!

I know I talked about this in my last entry…but please watch www.talk-show.tv this Tuesday (Sept 5th) at 5:00pm Vancouver time, when I interview Tammy Morris of Tantra Fitness! And please feel free to call in during the show. We’d love to talk to you!

Things are falling into place career-wise. I love it. I’m also knocking on wood that this continues. Thank you to all who read this! I appreciate it. I really do.