{"id":4105,"date":"2024-08-11T19:50:42","date_gmt":"2024-08-12T02:50:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scot.fun\/damentals\/?p=4105"},"modified":"2024-08-11T19:50:44","modified_gmt":"2024-08-12T02:50:44","slug":"chasing-the-bar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scot.fun\/damentals\/chasing-the-bar\/","title":{"rendered":"Chasing the bar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I was in San Francisco. A scrappy underdog performing on the streets. Suddenly, I found myself starring in my own theater show with rave reviews and the respect of the performers I idolized. My face was on a billboard. My name was in a theme song. After my show, I would taxi across town to headline in another show. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was still the underdog. I was still the young performer who had a long way to go. I didn’t know where I had to go. I didn’t see this identity fading away, but a little bit… I noticed I needed a little more ambition. So, the move to Los Angeles – the entertainment capital of the world. I would surely be surrounded by great stage entertainers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I immediately performed in a show with Emmy winning celebrity comedians. Entered a one-man-show competition. The competition was scored by the audiences. I had no friends in LA and the audience was just friends of perfomers. Somehow I tied for first by other peoples’ friends voting! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I got bummed out. I lost my identity. I know in retrospect, this might look goofy – i felt I was at the top. I lost my underdog identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I started working on creating a show about propaganda. Creatively got a job at a marketing company to study marketing and propaganda. My disappointment with my success in performing made me consider sticking with the marketing job ”til retirement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The World Busker Festival called. It was the biggest street performer festival in the world and they didn’t really call anyone. I was invited to perform. I was Eeyore about it and I went. So ungrateful. Christchurch, New Zealand was a paradise especially for a street performer. People were giving me dinner, taking me a bee farm, giving me clothes, cheering, paying me. The performers were incredible. Beyond what i thought was possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I quit my marketing job before I got on the plane home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two things happened at that time of transformation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. I realized the bar is always higher<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. I remembered being the underdog was never the point of being an entertainer. I wanted to raise the bar for everyone else<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    These are the lessons I keep learning. I keep humbling myself and taking on the resposibility to be better than everyone. Do more than anything that’s being done. It enlivens me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Take action: Think of one hero you’ve surpassed. Breath that in. Set that as your identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I was in San Francisco. A scrappy underdog performing on the streets. Suddenly, I found myself starring in my own theater show with rave reviews and the respect of the performers I idolized. My face was on a billboard. My name was in a theme song. After my show, I would taxi across town to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":4106,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10158666434799935_26707174888":"","twitter_aToyMjM4MTQzMDs=_22381430":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc33gc-14d","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4602,"url":"https:\/\/www.scot.fun\/damentals\/reality-competition-shows-can-launch-your-act-or-burn-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":4105,"position":0},"title":"Reality competition shows can launch your act\u2014or burn it","author":"scot","date":"May 24, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"It sounds like a big opportunity... sometimes it is. I've helped with casting for these companies I've been on a lot of TV shows and helped other performers get on a lot of tv and film stuff. 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