Risks, Folks.
I had plans. Visions for my immediate future that involved taking a break. Relaxing. Maybe resting on my laurels a bit and giving in to the idea that I could start easing out of patterns and my insane work schedule and try to enjoy life.
Plans have changed.
The original idea was to finish my tour, see if I could get a special, shoot it and take stock. Assess where I’m at with things. Maybe pull back a bit. Try to enjoy life or at least see if that is possible as we enter the hell of the next few months leading into the election and whatever happens after that.
Then, opportunity knocked. As usual, I was resistant and kind of mad about it.
Apple TV+ offered me a role in a new series that stars Owen Wilson. It’s a show about a washed up golf pro with a heavy past who’s kind of a fuck up. He blew his career twenty years ago and has lived an anonymous sad life since. He sees a teen prodigy at a driving range and becomes obsessed with taking him on the road and making him a pro. My character is Owen's old caddy and friend.
Like all big decisions I’m put in a position to have to make, I just wanted out. I didn’t want to decide. I just wanted to stick to my plan of winding down. Which, in all likelihood, was probably a fantasy. I mean, I’m 60 not 80. If I have any desire to act professionally I should do it. Opportunities are hard to come by. Working as a supporting character with Owen could be fun. He’s funny.
I struggled for a couple of weeks. Just making it a bad thing in my head. It could’ve been fear or it could’ve been just exhaustion. I mean, I do have a couple of jobs already and I want to do them all the best I can. I’m also consumed with anxiety until I actually get to where I’m going or make a decision.
People take jobs that take them out of the patterns of their lives all the time. People with families. I’m just stuck wondering how my cats are going to handle it. I almost had to sell my house when I got divorced the second time and the only thing that stopped me was wondering what Boomer would do because he lived outside. Crazy.
This show seems sweet and human. It’s not quite like any character I’ve done but it is definitely in my wheelhouse. I just have to tell myself that everything will be alright. I went back and forth with them a lot about what I would need to be in place in order to do it. The primary thing was to be able to do the podcast at the level we’ve always done it because that is my most important gig. Also, the standup, but that will require rescheduling some shows and maybe push the possible special into the new year when I may have to change my entire set to accommodate the end of America. Which I probably would’ve had to do anyway. We’ll see.
Today I talk to Malcolm McDowell about a life in movies and his unforgettable turn in A Clockwork Orange that made him a cultural meme long before memes. On Thursday I talk to comic Jimmy Carr about what I talk to comics about. Great week!
Enjoy!
Boomer, Monkey and LaFonda live!
Love,
Maron
