Okay friends, so today is ELF auditions and all day I wrestled with something.

I like to think I’m a decisive person.

I like to think that when I’m coaching many of my consulting clients, I talk to them about being decisive, about making decisions, about one way and two way doors, about committing and all these things.

And yet I have been wrestling really for weeks since I decided to audition for ELF with what to do about my face.

So as you may know, I have a stubble beard at all times.

I trim it shorter with a beard trimmer once a week typically and then it just grows all week long.

I like my face with a stubble beard.

My look for years is a stubble bearded look.

That’s what I’ve got my whole time, all the time.

247, 365, I’ve got some kind of stubble beard on, but Buddy is young.

Lauren wasn’t sure I should even audition for this show because she’s like, I think you’re too old.

You can always count on her for support.

She also thinks I’m too tall for Gomez, bye.

But Gomez famously has facial hair in the Addams family, specifically a mustache.

I must ask you a question, but so I really was debating, do I shave this beard off for this role?

Like to audition for the role and I struggled.

The arguments against, it’s not what my face looks like.

They should be able to see me as younger.

If they want, I can always shave if they want and I could shave for this audition and then not get the role and then be annoyed that I’ve shaved.

I think I look better with it.

That’s why I have it all the time.

So if I want to look my absolute best for the audition, I shouldn’t have a beard.

All those are the arguments against.

The argument’s for, he’s supposed to be younger.

I looked at maybe 30 different community theater buddies online and photos and a hundred percent of them were clean shaven.

It doesn’t mean they couldn’t see their buddies having stubble, but they probably don’t want their buddy to have stubble.

It’s just not how the show is typically done.

So it was really wrestling because there’s definitely, like I was saying, that hardship, but that the crappiness of shaving off a beard that you’d rather have for an audition and then not getting the part.

A very, very realistic outcome and here’s what I decided.

I want the part.

I got to commit.

So I shaved the beard.

I got a lot of people’s advice.

Very few of them agreed.

The one argument that I didn’t get into that’s a con for shaving, which is too late because I have now shaved, I’m literally unrecognizable to myself.

But the one counter argument was if I had the stubble beard, I thought, boy, he looks a little old.

Then they could imagine, oh, he’ll look so much younger if we have him shave the beard.

Now that I’ve shaved the beard, they know that what they see is what they get, although they always make up to whatever.

It’s fine.

But so I gave up that.

Uh, but my face is hilariously smooth at this exact moment and um, I really don’t look like myself to me.

I look like a different person.

But um, anyway, what am I doing for my alpha audition?

You may wonder.

And the answer is I’m going full freaking throttle.

I’m going whole hog.

I’m going all in.

I’m going whatever idiom you prefer.

I’m going to be a real idiom.

Uh, yeah, you know, you know, elf, even if you don’t know the musical, you know who buddy is, you know how will Farrell made buddy buddy and how much of a child he is a man child.

And uh, I’m doing that.

I am auditioning with a Christmas Carol and uh, I’m going to be effusively joyful and young.

I’m going to give candy to the audition team, not like as a bribe, but as buddy while auditioning.

Normally you don’t audition as the role exactly, but they’re not doing callbacks.

This is it.

You’re doing this audition and then that’s it.

As far as anybody can tell, they’ve listed no callback dates.

They’ve told nobody who I know who’s auditioned about callbacks.

So you just, you go in, you audition and then they’re going to figure out the show.

So I’m going, I’m going deep like, um, I’ll be very joyful.

I’m going to give out candy.

I’m going to throw some candy up at the end and then we have to pick up the candy before I can leave.

And I’m going to pick up the candy that I’ve thrown in character.

I’m going to eat some is my guess.

Uh, it’s, it’s going to be ridiculous.

I’m going big as opposed to going home.

And uh, listen, that means I’m going to get the part for sure.

But uh, at a, at the worst case scenario is I’m going to leave that audition and they’re going to go, what the hell just happened?

That’s the worst case.

Uh, the best case is they won’t forget it and they’ll love it of course.

But uh, yeah, it’s going to be, it’s going to be wild and that’s just a few short hours from now.

Three as I record this.

Um, so yeah, that’s what’s going to happen tonight.

And uh, I, I am trying to leave all self-consciousness at home because you never see Will Ferrell or any of his characters, uh, you never see Will Ferrell certainly look self-conscious.

Maybe some of his characters are, but Buddy in particular has no embarrassment.

There’s nothing that can shame him.

He is just ready to freaking go and that’s what I’ll be doing tonight and it’s going to be bonkers.

Enjoy the rest of your Wednesday Lex.

Thanks.

Bye.

Bye.