Long Post. Deal With It!

I finally have a moment to myself where I am not overly exhausted nor extremely anxious AND I have the time and the interest in posting a blog post. Here goes...

I've been working at a "real job" for a couple of weeks now. I am presently a salesman at the Houdini's Magic Shop at the MGM Grand. This is the job that I have described as kind of, but not really show business-related. I spend my day selling self-working magic tricks and gag gifts to kids and tourists. The pay is alright, but time will tell if I can actually live on it and get bills paid. There is a nice bonus program which has provided some extra scratch, but once again, I've no idea how well I'll be able to live on this job. It is fairly stress-free and even though I was only supposed to work weekends, they have actually had me in a hell of a lot since I started. I've no doubt that I can manage full-time hours while trying to get my entertainment career back on track (if that ever actually happens).

The job hunt out here has been as odd for me as it was for April. Vegas has far too many jobs and even more idiots taking these jobs, making life difficult for the people who do the hiring and firing. It also makes life difficult for the people trying to get those jobs.

Jobs for which I was tailor-made, such as the position at Gibson Guitars (entertainment & events liaison) I applied for never even called me for an interview. Jobs I applied for but didn't really want, such as the manager of a Piercing Pagoda (the job that would have paid me a ton of dough, but caused me to kill myself in a month or so) wanted to hire me on the spot.

One job that I interviewed for and really wanted, a job at a Time Factory watch outlet, offered me the job at a tad less than I'd hoped (but more than Houdini's) one day and then found out that they couldn't start me at the rate they'd offered the next. This was all after getting along brilliantly with who would have been my boss, found out I was PERFECT for the job, had more than enough experience, and would likely have been taking over that store in a few months anyway.

The same day I turned down the Time Factory job (even the manager said I'd have been a fool to take it for the money they offered) I got a call from someone at a different mall wanting a marketing assistant, a job which would allow for me to pursue my entertainment work to a reasonable degree and pay 35K a year. I got along wonderfully with the gal on the phone (a referral from Barry at the Mustard Museum) and told her I'd be forwarding my resume immediately. I knew she'd be out of town on business for a spell so I couldn't count on an interview or an offer just yet, but I was certain this would be the answer.

I sent off the resume, left a few follow-up calls and waited. No response at all for a few weeks, until today. I found out she'd been out almost this entire time and was just getting to her e-mails. As it happened she had not even received my resume and assumed I'd changed my mind about the job. I am guessing my e-mail ended up in her junk mail folder by mistake, but who knows? I have no idea if the job is still available, but a new copy of the resume has gone out along with additional follow-up. Keeping fingers crossed because the cash would be very good, even if I had to slow the entertainment marketing a bit.

Another interview with one of the MAJOR casino companies here (I won't mention the name as I still may get this job (but really...who the hell knows?) went extremely well. I had applied for a few different positions from being something of a tour guide for their Strip attraction, to a box office gig. I even applied for a spot in their special events division, a job I know would be GREAT for me and my line of work. Let's face it. If I can't make a living as an entertainer here I can certainly live with myself as someone in the casino entertainment business.

It ended up with me being told I'd be much better suited for the special events job than any of the others, but I could certainly fit in those positions as well. We left it with me being told my resume would be forwarded to that department and I should hope for a call. If I hadn't heard anything in 10 days to two weeks I could call the first gal and see what's what. Not being able to wait that long without money (I had to borrow another $1,000 from mom and there is no money available from any other family anywhere. YIKES!) I took the Houdini gig and have been hoping for the phone to ring.

I'm about to send in the follow-up e-mail hoping to hear that they indeed would like to talk to me about the special events gig, but am thinking that since I haven't heard anything I was probably being politely brushed off. Until I know for sure I am still happily selling trick decks of cards to people who want to do some silly tricks, wondering if I'll be able to make a living at it and being less convinced I'll ever restart my entertainment career.

Of course there are come calls for gigs. However, since this post is already too damn long I'll talk about that later.

Oh yeah, Kimmy is coming to Vegas and it looks as though we'll finally meet. That should be fun. More on that as well.