While this book started off a little slow for me, I came to really enjoy it. Theis gives a very informative peek behind the curtain. Whether you’re interesting in acting, the Hollywood scene, stand up comedy, or narration/voice over work, Theis opens the shutters of his life experience and shares the details.

Initially, there’s lots of info about the Chicago theater scene. I know nothing about this and there was a fair amount of name dropping. Since I’m so ignorant on this subject, this section of the book was a little boring for me. Then Theis moves things on to all his prep work for taking his shot at becoming a Hollywood star. I really didn’t know how much work goes into promoting yourself but I do see how it is absolutely essential. Theis’s family must all be saints for how much support they put into his endeavors.

Then Theis makes it off to Hollywood and initially things look great. Then he shares his rollercoaster ride of auditions, informal meetings, passing out his resume, etc. He speaks well of many people in the area that assisted him on his journey and he’s candid about the few people who blew him off or such.

While much of the book read like an entertaining resume, there were some particular highlights for me. Theis tried his hand at open mic night with some standup comedy at some place outside of Chicago. This section got several laughs out of me as Theis described the various spiels people did during their shot at making people laugh. As it turned out, not all were there for comedy but rather to make a loud and lengthy personal statement.

I have been a bit curious about voice over work – like how does one go about picking someone to do the job? How do you decide who has that voice? Does the artist get to see the video footage while they record? Theis talks a little about his voice over work and he makes one particular job sound very exciting and secretive. I definitely hope that works out well and that someday he can talk about that work. Maybe it’s secret government training videos that won’t be released for to the public for decades!

At one point, Theis was scheduled to show up for a theater promotion of sorts. However, with traffic and parking, when he got there, there wasn’t a table for his to set up his materials and do the handshaking and smile thing. Obviously, someone messed communications and it was an awkward situation Theis. But he and the folks there all did their best to handle it with grace.

All told, it was a detailed, intriguing look at what it takes to land an acting job – any acting job. I think this would be of use to many actors, fledgling or ones wanting to revamp their own resume. 4.5/5 stars.

I received a free copy of this book.

The Narration: Kevin Theis narrated his own book and it’s done well. There were one or two short sections that sounded a little like they were recorded in a cavern. His voice is very pleasant to listen to and his pacing is perfect. He even did a few character voices for various people and those were done well. 4.5/5 stars. ( )