Remind me of your name again

I'm listening to the "Free to be You and Me" soundtrack, which many children of the 70's are familiar with. I don't think I've heard it in nearly 20 years, but here I am singing along with Tom Smothers. I am constantly amazed by the things surviving in the deep recesses of my brain. I think I would give up remembering a commercial for the Franklin Mint that I memorized when I was in 6th grade if I could remember where I parked every night at Second City. Ironically, I can remember that when my dad and I went on a ski trip when I was around 12, we parked on C1 Level 2 at the airport. Now that I look at those two examples, I think they have in common that I insisted on repeating them both relentlessly because I thought it was funny; the commercial because it was on all the time and fairly dry in subject matter, and the airport parking area because my dad probably said something to the effect of "Don't let me forget C1 Level 2."

I know what you're dying to hear/read right now, so for you, dear reader, let's see how much of that commercial I remember...

The American dollar is easy
But if you want the Russian ruble, or Japan's 500 yen, or Seychelles' 10 rupees,
You could either travel the world
Or telephone the Franklin Mint for coin sets of all nations
The Franklin Mint has done it for you
Working with state banks and government officials of over 100 countries
To bring you the ultimate collection in modern world coinage
Each coin mint fresh
Each coin sealed in its own cache
Each cache individually stamped and date cancelled in the issuing country
Four handsome hardbound cases accompany the collection at no added charge

...And then a bunch of payment information. I know paying by COD was an option. Ah, the good ol' days. I'm still not really sure what "stamped and date cancelled" means. Guess I should have ordered it. I know I love things that are "mint fresh" though...like toothpaste.

Now see, I would gladly release this commercial from my brain if I could, for example, remember the rules to card games for more than 48 hours after I learn them.

The Softer Side of Me

This past Wednesday I shot a Sears commercial. This is noteworthy for a couple of reasons: it's the first thing I've booked since Sonic, and although that keeps me busy by shooting every couple of months, I booked that in January of last year and I was starting to think it was a fluke because no one else seems to want any of what Erdman has to offer. In recent weeks I'd gotten close on a few other things - A US Mint commercial and a couple of voice-overs, but I ended up not getting them. Second, this is my first truly national commercial. Sonic is actually regional, though it plays nationally on cable even in places where Sonic doesn't exist.

The downside to this upcoming national exposure is that I may be unrecognizable, or wish that I was, because of my hairstyle. For some reason, and I have my theories, there was a last minute decision to brush my hair forward in a way that makes me look like a Beatle trying to sneak into a PTA meeting. So this fall, if you see a woman dressed in purple, possibly holding a hand-mixer, who makes you wonder if maybe I have a cousin who does commercial work, that's me.

Mind Bloggling

Boy, where have I been, huh? I wish I could tell you. I thought that once the show opened I would be greeted with more free time than I knew what to do with, but alas, that hasn't been the case. And what have I been busy with, you ask? I really don't know. I've been getting a lot of auditions recently, which is great, but a bit of a pain since they take place downtown. So for a 5-minute audition, I have to set aside about 2 hours of my day to get downtown and back. And if I'm done at 4 or later, I'll end up just staying downtown until I head to Second City...so I've ended up killing a lot of time downtown and by that I mean shopping.

Other events of note:

I completely submerged myself in Lake Michigan for the very first time.

I played in the Improv Match Game with the mainstage musical director Ruby.

I performed with Second City all 3 days of Lollapalooza and walked to lunch alongside the Flaming Lips.

I went to Denver overnight for a quick shoot and spent 24 hours feeling a hardened mass of Cheesecake Bites in my stomach.

I met Jeff Garlin and he played our improv set.


I think that covers the highlights. I'll try to do better and have more updates in the future. Sorreee.