Wisdom from the Starving Artist
There is a barbershop in Venice called The Old Glory. All of the internet’s coolest Hollywood Assistant types get there haircut there so naturally, I do too.
On top of a good haircut, I got some excellent Hollywood wisdom in the form of my barber’s life story. In the early 1980’s Chuck was part of a thriving Buffalo New York music scene. His band never broke out of Buffalo, but he did manage to party really hard. Chuck was broke and glam metal was over so he moved to LA to pursue acting. Many bit parts and TV spots later, he was back on the east coast living with his PHD student girlfriend. His experiences with her stuffy academic friends demystified college enough to convince Chuck he needed to go back to school. He studied Traditional Chinese Medicine but ended up missing performing so much he quit school in his last year to return to acting. “I mean yeah–it’s fucking cliché to be an actor in Los Angeles but then again it’s not really. I mean what the fuck, if you want to be a country singer you live in Nashville right?”
Currently he cuts hair, performs in David Bowie and Queen Tribute Bands, and was recently in the Jack Black starring revival of Jesus Christ Superstar.
Chuck gave me a lot of gems but the partial list includes:
- Actors are really arrogant and also really insecure (”I was great, don’t you think so?).
- Don’t be scared to swim with sharks. These people are your mentors.
- His generation was told a big lie: go to school and you’ll get a good job. (”My generation lived with our parents fucking forever.”)
- Value your anonymity. There is something to be said for a person who is a rockstar within the industry but unrecognizable outside of it.
- Despite critical success, its hard to feel like a man when your girlfriend pays your bills.
“If your happy and can do something you live nobody can say shit to you.” I’ll see you in a month Chuck.
Old Glory Barbershop - 1716 Main Street - (310-821-1103)