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Sometimes in Hollywood it feels like your career can be a series of missed opportunities. If only you’d been in town when they called for that series regular audition instead of at grandma’s funeral. Or if you had met Judd Apatow before the James Franco crew and built your own crew with him. Or if only you’d actually taken the time to film all those silly song parody ideas you had before The Lonely Island did it on SNL If you start to think about it too much you realize your life is just like that movie Sliding Doors...
On this week’s show I get to commiserate about missed opportunities and celebrate some pretty great ones with my friend writer/director Travis Oates. Once upon a time, Travis was my director at ACME Comedy Theater in LA. ACME friends will be interested to learn who his favorite company member was (ahem). We dive into the history and current state of improv in Hollywood, how he transitioned from child star in Canada (The Beachcombers, The Littlest Hobo) to adult writer in Hollywood. Travis has worked on huge feature films and side-by-side with major stars. None of which he can talk about because of the nature of his work.
One thing he can talk about is how he became the voice of Piglet on Disney’s Winnie the Pooh! He shares what it’s like to be a legacy voice for Disney, and personal thoughts on the man himself, Walt Disney. Travis is also a self-described huge nerd. He plays D&D, and even co-starred alongside his good friend Wil Wheaton on G4 back in the day on a show called Arena. It did not end well, but you can google that on your own time.
Travis is also father to the cutest little boy named Evan. Awww! He talks about the benefits and challenges of being a stay-at-home-dad and a writer. Here at MIH we never forget about dads. They can have just as much juggling to do when it comes to a career in showbiz too!
Basically this show is packed with great stuff for writers, actors, Jeremy Renner fans, improvisors, Canadians, animation fans, nerds, and parents. That’s pretty much everyone right? Then that’s exactly who you should be sharing this show with right after you subscribe on iTunes. Now get out there and share the MIH love!
Find more info on Travis at travisoates.com and you can follow him on Twitter @travis_oates
