Birds in Hands vs Bushes

"A bird in the hand is worth two in a bush"

This old maxim has been in my brain a lot since starting my acting career. In this ever changing world of the arts, this saying is particularly applicable. You can rarely trust that what you presently have will be around much longer. Even if you're cast in a "big break" kind of show, you can't just sit back and wait for the future work to pour in. You have to always be pursuing it.

This is not the situation I am presently in, but this is only a certain circumstance on a spectrum of related issues.

A few months ago, I auditioned and was cast in a production of The Man Who Came to Dinner. Why didn't I post about this great achievement? Because I didn't accept the role. I chose to put my money on better future projects coming along as opposed to spending months rehearsing in the suburbs for a minuscule part.

I know as well as any actor that famous quote about there being no such thing as a small part, but only small actors. Well this part was literally 3 lines and the lines were merely to serve as exposition for the audience. Not only this, but the company was about 40 mins by car away from my locale and was not a theater company that could be taken seriously.

All these details added up to me throwing that bird in my hand out the window and making my way to the nearby bushes.

But now I have looked through many bushes in Chicago for those birds I bet on months ago and there's no sign of them. Everytime I make one out, a different hand grabs them before I can.

So do I kick myself about snubbing that little part for this little actress? Eh. A bit. Not really.

But I am seeing that this isn't going to be the first time I will be gambling with my career. I had the same decision to make when I was cast in a Renaissance Fair in WI (which, by the way, happened). It's a long time commitment for the summer and with no pay and another long commute I was wondering where to place my bets.

I, ultimately, clung to this bird in my hand fiercely. As I realized that not only was this a life-long dream of mine, but also that the training I would be receiving for free was an invaluable opportunity I had to experience.

That, and the summer is notoriously dead for theater.

So, art is a gambling game. We need to be able to put up with the shit projects we do for "exposure", but also need to know when the shit is too shitty to handle.