What would you do if you didn't have to go to work for two months?
That's been my position the past couple of years. Last year I tried whining about the time off and my friend swiftly said I should shut up. She was right. But I’ve always enjoyed having jobs. Having a base schedule to build upon is critical for me. During “vacation” when I can do anything at any time I usually wind up lost. I also find it helpful in my creative life to have something to complain about. If work shifts are getting in the way of my writing time, that means there’s emotional energy waiting for me when I finally do sit down to do the work. If a coworker is bugging me, how much more peaceful will it seem when I get home to my Adobe premiere project (not a sponsor)? Without a day job it’s harder for me to motivate these things. I can instead pit multiple projects against one another, but since most of what I do is driven entirely by me that gets exhausting quickly. Not that I have much of a choice, but balancing a job, where someone else sets the conditions for me to fill out my role, with my self-guided creative projects is what’s best for me and my long-term productivity. Also it allows me to eat. Basically I’m a capitalist drone. But with my current job, I have these two months every summer. So what’s best for that short term? If you care at all, I’ll share how I spent my summer vacation.
I’ll be a bit translucent here and say that one of the reasons I began this newsletter was to share about some projects I’ve been polishing for multiple years at this point. I say that to say my primary goals this summer were the same as last summer, a fact that frustrates me. I designed an aggressive program for myself that prioritized editing, but rather than taking actual breaks I’d write and exercise, usually outdoors. I also had to speak to 3 strangers each day to ground myself in my community. I fell short of all of these ambitions in terms of projected volume of work. But I think I always knew that’d be the case. Shoot for the moon, land in the stars type shit. Some stuff got done and as of this writing I’m not totally burnt out!
And there’s been more going on in the present. I had one freelance editing job that got me through the summer. I’ve also been uploading sketches on YouTube, some from years back, and covering the third (and final!!) season of And Just Like That…. So I’ll talk about those things for a bit.
A few people in the real world have asked me my feelings on the cancellation (I’m almost certain that’s what it is) of And Just Like That…. For the uninitiated, last year I spent almost 7 months consuming the entire Sex and the City franchise daily and sharing my thoughts on TikTok. The reboot of that show began dropping new episodes at the end of May. Just after the 10th of 12 episodes dropped, the series creator announced that this was it. Firstly, I could see the signs from the start of this season. The show was running on fumes, dragging single episode stories out for the full dozen and the stretch marks were apparent. As my colleague Alex pointed out, they also were hesitant to physically move the show to New York locations, which took a noticeable toll on the energy of the piece. So I can’t really say I’m sad it’s over. It’s the only show I watch regularly and it is essentially homework to me. That said, the community over on TikTok has been a gift. I have complicated feelings about the app itself and it being an actual drug, but the addicts that have been supporting me have done so every day for 15 months. And I get that these people largely care more about Carrie Bradshaw than Eric McKenzie, but given that I’m not the target audience for the show their loyalty still means a great deal to me. YouTube doesn’t promote my output in the way TikTok does so all the engagement has been welcome. I doubt more than a small handful will follow me to any other project, but that’s why taking breaks is crucial. You have to check in and ask yourself if you want to keep doing it, regardless of any modest success. If you want to catch up on the weekly reviews, which is the most comprehensive portrait of things I did this summer, in addition to a therapy series I did with some friends, a parody song, fan fiction, and karaoke here is that page.
As for the view desert that is YouTube dot com, I’m putting out some of my favorite sketches I’ve ever done. ‘How to active listen’ was shot in the Fall of 2023 by my pal Will, who’s helped with a ton of projects since I met him a few years back. I play opposite my other friend Alec and the whole thing was based on a thought my broken brain had as I walked past a courtyard in Lincoln Park, Chicago. It was refreshing that the idea began with a real location - I don’t normally put a lot of thought into those for these one-off shoots. We shot this one on two cameras which is always a luxury, even though it was a rare scripted video from me. The editor Connar Brown Sprenger is responsible for the great timing throughout and the special effects at the end.
‘Our historic landmarks are being destroyed’ was shot in Brooklyn last October. It features close friends Grace, Jane and Ben. I’ve been making movies with Ben since 2015, but I don’t think we’ve ever worked on anything shorter than 5 minutes. This was probably the messiest video I can remember doing. It was an extremely noisy day in the park and nobody was in a remotely serious mood to turn my half-baked premise into a full story. So I tried to do a loose edit to match the energy of that day. Hopefully some of that giddiness comes through the screen.
Back to Fall 2023 for ‘I cold approached a girl in the park’, another Sprenger cut. Connar had a lot of footage to wade through here and I think sans cicadas loudly hooking up it’s super watchable. Connar’s original cut was 2 minutes longer and saw my character leaving, but we found a version where the strange energy didn’t need to fizzle out. That way the audience doesn’t get the relief you’d feel leaving an awkward encounter with someone you don’t have to see again. I don’t do this often but one or both of these characters may need to return. I really like the flavor of nerdy asshole this character turned out to be. Grace is really funny too, not giving me any chance whatsoever.
Then ‘Waiting on a friend’ was Spring break 2023. This is my favorite type of nonsense. Just a run on sentence of an idea that turns into pastiche and ends big. Don’t try to guess the end! is another one with this structure. I got to pay homage to Titanic as well as La Jetée in such a dumb way. The transition into still photos was making me crack up while filming, while no one else even understood what that gag was trying to be. But those are the kinds of ideas you have to see through! I like how it turned out and it was also an incredibly fun day with my old coworkers Bridger, Megan and Olivia.
Why was all this stuff on my hard drive for so long? A lot of reasons, but I’m glad they’re out in the world.
I did take a few days to go to Tennessee in July, where I shot zero videos (okay, one TikTok) and sat by the pool all day, which I’d never done before! I also spin out every summer and do way too much thinking about where I’m at, my goals and what’s going on Marvin Gaye style. That’s all better off being documented in my personal journal, but I’ll say I’m feeling healthy and present at the moment and I can’t ask for much more than that.
But if we do care to look forward, here’s a newsletter exclusive: my mom and I are doing our third stand-up show in October! Tickets are on sale now! https://www.crowdwork.com/e/mother-son-stand-up-iii
Don’t disappoint my mom! Take it from me, it doesn’t feel good.
Love,
Eric