C'est la Vie by Jennifer Babcock for May 18, 2010

Yes it is

Lucas, Lucas, Lucas… If you don’t have a day job, how will you know the satisfaction of quitting it once you get your big break?

Mona the job counselor? That’s as bad as Tiger Woods the marriage counselor. For a moment I thought this was “Dilbert”.

Something is always lost in the translation.

Mona is more perceptive than Lucas, and more practical. Does that surprise anyone?

There’s a reason actors wait tables and tend bar, of course. The hours are flexible, and the skills are transferrable. If you need to take an afternoon off for auditions, it’s no big deal so long as somebody covers your shift. Likewise, it you get a gig and are unavailable for eight weeks (or whatever), even if you lose your old job there’s always some other restaurant hiring. Catering is even better, if you know someone, because you only have to work when you need to.

At any given time, the vast majority of those who call themselves actors (even moderately successful ones) aren’t actually working an acting job.

Why is it that people who refer to acting, painting etc… as their “art” usually stink at it?

Because they lack “the craft”, which is just as important.