Thoughts On Auditions

Today I helped audit the Harold auditions at iO. It was a long day, draining but fun and fascinating. Lots of great people, lots of people I didn't know who surprised me and a lot of odd patterns that emerged.

There was almost always one creepy dude. In most of the audition slots there was a guy who would manufacture a reason to massage a woman's shoulders.

Ideas got repeated. EpiPens, dead grandmothers, emojis, A couple different things were brought up again and again from slot to slot in one scene or another. Themes lingered in the ether and people tapped into it. Improv residue. Del's ghost.

Subconscious vocalizations. In scenes people would say how they were actually feeling. Things like- "I don't want to be here" "I want to leave" "get out of here" "what's going on" "I'm nervous" "we're lost" "you're making me nervous".

The other thing that crystallized as the day wore on was the perspective of the other auditors. That people, for the most part, enjoyed variations on a specific type of player. Some people liked grounded players, some move makers, some wild or unpredictable energy. Collectively I think we did a good job, or as good a job as can be done, of selecting an eclectic mix to callback.

I expected the experience to be interesting what I didn't anticipate was the emotional toll it took. Discussions, arguments, voting. It takes it out of you.