Funemployment Diary #28: The Sesame Street Gig I Can’t Take (or: The Job Search Begins in Earnest)

The summer of funemployment has been great, but the calendar, my bank account and my ambition are all saying that it’s got to end soon. I’ve peppered my time off with interviews  with a number of companies, from startups with a handful of people to a large and very well-known organization employing about 70,000, both on the phone and in person. These days, I’m devoting more of my time to landing my next job.

In case you missed it, be sure to read the article Why You Should Hire Me on my tech blog, Global Nerdy.

In my search, I’ve come across a few jobs for which I can’t apply but where I’d probably excel. One such job was announced in this posting on the Sesame Street blog, which I found by way of Laughing Squid:

Sesame Street Seeking Recurring Character

We recently announced an open casting call for a new, recurring character onSesame Street. Here are the details:

Male or female actor, 18-25, fluent in Spanish and English, comfortable with multiple Spanish dialects and accents. Good sense of humor. Must sing well. Actor should be comfortable with both physical and improvisational comedy. Actor should be warm, likable and engaging. Must be prepared to sing a cappella in Spanish and English.

DATE: Monday, August 20th

TIME: 10am – 2pm

LOCATION: Roseland Ballroom, 239 West 52nd Street, New York

Please bring a headshot and resume if you have one.

If you have any further questions, please contact Joe Lopick of McCorkle Casting at joe@mccorklecasting.com.

I like to think that I meet all the requirements except for age and Spanish fluency. My Spanish is limited to ordering food and beer and asking “¿Donde son las filmas con action caliente ‘chica sur chica’?”, which I’m quite sure is completely inappropriate for Sesame Street. (I’m also sure Oscar the Grouch would know the answer.)

I daresay that I’m more qualified to be a Sesame Street character than the Average Joe. The accordion helps, but more importantly, I have actual improvising-with-puppets experience. I present the evidence below: clips from the short-lived web show Developer Jr., which was created by Microsoft and Butterscotch.com and got cancelled due to a shortage of funding.

Here’s the promo clip:

Here’s the first episode, How to Create Your Own Games with Kodu. Developer Jr. episodes had a basic plan, but everything that “Junior” (played by Brian Hogg) and I said was ad-libbed:

Here’s a behind-the-scenes interview with Matt Harris from On Deck:

And finally, the second (and final) episode, Making Movies with Live Movie Maker:

C’mon Sesame Street people, hire me! I may be too old for the character you have in mind, but isn’t it time you had a Mr. Hooper for the 21st century? I could be play the loveable curmudgeon Asian shop owner, except I’d be encouraging the kids to read the magazines on my shelf instead of yelling the stock phrase “Dis no libarry! You buy or get out!”