Comedy and Horror

Hello again!

I apologize for the lateness of this post, it is long overdue. I’ve been busy with work and looking for a new waitressing job, as well as doing some filming with Already Indie for our Shocktober series and creating my steampunk costume for Halloween. So I guess the best way to go about this would be to tell you my plans for the rest of the month.

Tonight, I will be MCing for Michael Night, a comedian/magician/hypnotist that has been seen on television and has an incredible act. I am incredibly lucky to have this opportunity and I am hoping to be able to do well. The show is also featuring comedians Kennedy O’Reilly and Jake Dickey, two very funny local comedians whom I have worked with before. Tomorrow, I will be competing in the Best in the Midwest comedy competition! It’s my first comedy competition, so I’m pretty excited about it. The grand prize is $500, although, to be frank, I don’t hold any illusions that I will even place let alone win. Not because I am a bad comedian, but because the majority of other comedians are really good and have more experience in the field then I do. However, I didn’t decide to do the competition for the money, I chose to do it for the experience and the opportunity to hang out with some amazing comedians.

I also designed the poster. Yeah, it’s pretty sweet.

As I said before, I’ve been doing some filming with Already Indie and we are working on doing some things in the area to help promote the show. For example, tomorrow we are taking part in a costume drive, sponsored by STAR 105 and the Andrew Z in the Morning crew. The purpose is for people to donate old costumes and clothes for underprivileged kids who can’t afford to buy costumes this year for Halloween. Already Indie, as well as Lionface Productions, will be providing face painting for the event. Next week, Already Indie will be attending one of the largest Halloween parties to hit Toledo, Ohio, hosted by Angelina from the Jersey Shore and CNN’s Carlos Diaz. We ended up winning tickets from Phototwine, a great new app for the iPhone that everyone should check out. It’s going to be a great networking opportunity for us and a lot of fun to boot.

I’m hoping to start a series on here regarding my steampunk Halloween costume that I am still in the process of finishing. I’ve been making prosthetics for it that I hope are going to work out really well. But for now, I leave you with a teaser photo! Hope to talk to you all again soon.

Getting ready for Halloween!

Clothes make a statement.  Costumes tell a story.  – Mason Cooley

 

“Vampire Leprechaun”

Dear Reader,

Things have been rather busy for me as of late, though no more than usual I suppose. I’ve been working hard waitressing and working with kids through the Educational Service Center as well as filming and doing some promotional things to network more. Things with Already Indie have been going very well and we just released another episode:

I think I am starting to get more comfortable in front of the camera then when I started working with the AI group. Naturally, I still have a long way to go, but there are things that I noticed from the first episode I did that improved with this episode. A lot of it has to do with confidence and the more confidence I have in my performance, the better the performance will be. There is also a commercial that we shot for this that you can also find on YouTube.

As I stated before, I have been working more with kids at the ESC and I absolutely love doing it. It never ceases to fascinate me how intelligent kids really are and how these first few years of their lives can completely set the standard for who they will be in the future. I had a great moment with one of our first grade students where I was able to help him figure out how to do long addition problems by using tally marks. It was a great feeling, especially because he had previously been reprimanded for sitting and staring at a problem for too long (the teachers just thought that he didn’t want to do it so he was just procrastinating to waste time). It also kind of annoys me to see people simply write things off as misbehavior, when most of the time there is more to the story than that. One of the more interesting things that happened was that several of the students deemed me a “vampire leprechaun.” The vampire part is due to my incredibly pale skin and slightly sharper than normal incisors. The leprechaun part was because of my red hair and my ability to find four-leaf clovers without really looking. This was a gift I evidently inherited from my great-grandfather, who would walk along the fields and would randomly bend over, pick one up, and throw it out into the field. I discovered this when I was very young and would be walking around outside and just randomly see one and pick it up. One would think that this would mean I have good luck, but it seems that it only applies to finding four-leaf clovers.

One of the four four-leaf clovers I was able to find at work one afternoon

Aside from the things previously stated, life has been fairly quiet. I finally got around to ordering business cards from Vistaprint and I had the opportunity to hang out with some of the radio crew the other day which was a lot of fun. I am hoping things will start picking up for me again soon, but that may not be until after I find a new place to live in this area as my lease is up soon. I am still waiting for acting work, but my casting manager is confident that I should be hearing back from people fairly soon. The most I can do now is be patient and ready for whatever comes at me.

“Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace.” – Victor Hugo

On my way

Time for another update!

This past few weeks have been rather busy for me, but in the best way possible. Currently, I am working two “real” jobs and have been getting more hours at both, which is great for me as rent will be coming up very soon. I’ve gotten to do a couple more gigs with Random Acts, playing Tina in “Tony and Tina’s Murder Mystery,” which thus far has been a very fun role to do. Tina is an interesting character for me, as she is an over exaggerated “bimbo” who occasionally has insightful moments, but they are often due to someone else having them first.

A dramatic picture of the bride and probably the most serious Tina would ever look

As you may have seen from my last post, I have been working with a fantastic group called Already Indie, who makes web videos on guerrilla filmmaking. Last week, we took a break from filming for the website and decided to try to apply to win a contest through Film Riot. We have two submissions, one from Already Indie and one from Cullen Park Productions, a sister company to Resurrection Films/Already Indie. For the contest, we were told to use 3-point lighting and follow some dialogue from a pre-prepared script. The first one we did was a horror-style clip (Warning! Though the dialogue and filming are clean, you may want to review it before letting your kids (if you have any that wish to see it) watch it, just to be on the safe side).

I felt that this one was pretty good, all things considered. There are several things that I would do differently if I had a chance to shoot it again, but overall it was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed doing it. We also got a LOT of great feedback for this one, people seemed to really enjoy it and we are very hopeful that it will be considered, at the very least, for the contest. The next one we did for Cullen Park Productions was more of a comedic take on the script. We set it up as an infomercial and, due to the lack of available actors and because we thought it could be funny, “cloned” myself so that I played the two characters. The ending is also improv-ed, I was actually unaware that this would be included, so I had to laugh when I saw it show up on YouTube (again, watch before your kids do, you know what’s best for them!)

Sadly, this one did not receive as well as a reception as the other one did. While we did receive some really good feedback, we had an issue with a troll (for those not up to internet lingo, a troll is someone who is purposely rude on message boards, Facebook, etc. in hopes of a comedic effect, or in this one’s case, to be simply be a jerk) where he was posting inflammatory comments about Cullen Park Productions, Already Indie, Resurrection Films, and myself being one and the same. Originally, the troll was simply being annoying, but was later blocked by Cullen Park Productions after he began to insult me personally, saying that I was “too ugly” to be an actress and that I should get my “hook nose” fixed before I even bother trying again. I won’t lie, initially this stung a little as I have never thought of myself as someone who is particularly good-looking. My self-esteem in this area is rather weak, though I’ve come along way with self-perception than from when I was in high school. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that he didn’t actually insult my acting. To me, this means that he felt he needed to attack some other part of me because he didn’t see an issue with my acting. I realize this may just be stretching it, but I did feel that this is almost a compliment in that regard. Granted, if he knew that this was how I felt no doubt he would find a way to contact me to tell me that this was not the case, but at least it made me feel better about the situation. Plus, coming from someone who didn’t have any videos or photos of himself, I’d say that his opinion is moot.

Next up, I will be filming with Already Indie again tomorrow for yet another episode! Additionally, the Stand Up Toledo DVD should be out soon, so I will finally be able to get some of my comedy clips up on here.

“If you were absent during my struggle, don’t expect to be present during my success.” – Will Smith

Boom! Headshot!

Hello again!

I finally have a chance to sit down and update this blog on the happenings in my life as of late. Firstly, for those of you that read my earlier post, I went to see The Hunger Games this past Thursday and it was honestly better than I expected and my expectations were fairly high. I was incredibly pleased that they kept to the book, omitting things that were unnecessary for a film version and including the things that were necessary without adding too much. I particularly enjoyed how the Hunger Games promo in the film (a short added scene that basically portrayed the Capital putting a positive spin on the games) seemed to be an homage of the Nazi propaganda films back in WWII. While all of the actors gave a phenomenal performance, I was particularly fond of characters Haymitch and Cinna, played by Woody Harrelson and Lenny Kravitz, respectively. Though both characters were somewhat underplayed in the film, the short bits with them brought a smile to my face every time. It is a complete and utter shame that others have not taken too kindly to the casting of Cinna due to racial preferences. I recently read an article that claimed that many people were upset with Cinna being played by a black actor. Though everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I think it is idiotic to judge an actor, or anyone for that matter, by the color of their skin. Kravitz gave a phenomenal performance and if people cannot see that, then they are clearly not looking hard enough or have warped views on what makes a good actor (which, being an actor myself, I can say has little to nothing to do with the color of one’s skin).

On a happier note, my headshots came in! Huzzah!

My favorite of the bunch! For a couple of my other favorites, check out the actress tab and there’s a link to them or find my page on Facebook to see the rest.

My hair is so red in this and I love it! Personally, don’t think that I photograph well, but Cole Simon (see previous post) is a genius and made it so that I don’t look terrifying and/or freakishly pale. With these, I can finally start being submitted for work! My casting manager informed me that I should hopefully start hearing back about shoots/auditions/etc. in a couple of weeks and I can’t wait to get started.

Other than that, Murder in the Cathedral is going very well and my job waitressing has as well. I don’t get to perform as much stand-up as I would like and there seems to be some silly rumors flying about because of it, but for me that doesn’t seem to be out of the ordinary. If people can’t find a story that suits them, they will make one up. As long as the people who matter to me aren’t affected by it, I don’t see any reason to get upset. Regardless, I am working on a poster design for a fellow comedian (clearly he has not heard the rumors! Le gasp!) and I hope to have it done within the week. I also need to update the Murder in the Cathedral poster since we have a space for the show that is much nicer than we anticipated (not to mention in a different location then to that which I have on the poster currently.)

It’s about 12:30 a.m. so I best be signing off for the night. The temperature has dropped considerably and as my health has been questionable lately I’d rather not get sick from a lack of sleep as well. Until next time!

“If you haven’t got anything nice to say about anybody, come sit next to me.”  – Alice Roosevelt Longworth

Happy Ginger Awareness Day!

Good morning,

Which is odd seeing as I have not yet gone to bed. For the record, this is not due to St. Patrick’s Day shenanigans (or as I like to call it, Ginger Awareness Day) but rather due to a late night of work resulting in some insomnia. A strange night as well; we actually had a frog sneak into the kitchen! It was a shame though that I was unable to go out and celebrate, especially considering my wonderful aunt/godmother (works as a beautician) put my hair up so I looked unusually cute (seeing as hair and I don’t get along). I was unable to show it off much due to work, but I have pictures!

Ignore the somewhat dead look on my face, twas a long night at work

A better view of the hair. It’s amazing what my aunt can do with my insane amount of hair.

So you may be wondering what the occasion was (aside from the holiday and desperate need for a haircut, obviously). I am officially getting headshots done on Monday! I’m incredibly excited about them as well! I am having them done by Glass City Stills which is an incredible photography company out of Chicago. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to work with them!

Alas, sleep is finally starting to kick in, just as a storm started outside my window (I love storms! Not being out in them, but just the sound and sight of them) so I shall wrap up for the night. However, as my Ginger Awareness gift to you all, I shall post an interesting link that I found regarding Redhead Superstitions. It is definitely worth the read!

One other note before I leave you: I just found out today that my namesake, Octavia, was born on St. Patrick’s Day. Perhaps it was only fate that I would later become a fair skinned, green-eyed, redhead.

“May you have the hindsight to know where you’ve been
the foresight to know where you’re going
and the insight to know when you’re going too far.” – Irish Blessing

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Meghan O. Koesters was born and raised in a small town in Ohio. She was first introduced to theatre in 2004 and has performed ever since. Her most notable appearances on the stage include Lavinia in Titus Andronicus, Harriet in Boy Gets Girl, and Avril in Bird and Fish. At age 22, Koesters published her first children’s picture book on technical and backstage theatre. Around this time, she also began to do stand up comedy and modeling. Most recently, Koesters graduated from Bowling Green State University with Bachelor’s Degree in Arts and Communication with a specialization in Theatre: Acting/Directing and English. Currently, she resides in Northwest Ohio working with Lionface Productions.

For booking inquiries, please contact Meghan O. Koesters at meghankoesters@gmail.com

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