Quote of the month: “Enthusiasm finds the opportunities, and energy makes the most of them.” – Henry Hoskins
Hi Guys,
Here it is a short month, but packed with lots of info. Hope you all have a wonderful Valentine’s Day…and remember even if you are not with a “specific someone” there is always somebody who loves you in this world.!”
Summary of events.
1) Fran has her head examined…on TV
2) Tsuami of Talk slows down for serious point
3) Shooting a reality show
4) Fran punches a director after strange voices
5) The Science of Getting Rich
6) Jesus is missing a hand
7) Fran heads to San Francisco on Valentine’s Day to power up electric company.
8) Forget the Subways…Zipline in New York
9) Nothing is Impossible in the school system
10) The power behind Fran’s website.
Reminders:
-Become one of Fran’s myspace friends at www.myspace.com/francapo
-Give the gift of laughter and love this Valentine’s Day with an autographed copy of one of Fran Capo’s books. Many books to choose from. (Sound like a commercial?- it is…but it really does make a good gift.)
-check out Fran’s weekly blogs at www.mysweetconnection.com — new one every Friday.
-My first audio book, The Science of Getting Rich is now available…
yes of course it makes a great Valentine’s Day present — especially if you give it with a lotto ticket and a $1 bill and say…”See you are getting rich already!”
1) Fran has her head examined…on TV
Okay, so you all know that I talk fast. But do you really know what goes on inside my head? ( I can hear all the ex-boyfriends now…yeah Capo we’ve been trying to figure that out for years…) Well, the truth is I do tell a lot in my blogs,..but the real inner workings are quite fascinating, Freud type fascinating…the mechanics.) Anyway…a show by the name of “More than Human” on the Discovery Channel, with host John Pullman…did a 8 minute entertaining segment on my brain about a year ago…well it turns out that not only did the show make it around the world…but someone from an Asian country apparently liked it enough to put it up on You Tube for the world to see. My friend Alan spotted it and sent it to me…now I can share it with you guys.
So if you missed that episode…just go to my website, www.francapo.com and go to the links button OR go to www.myspace.com/Francapo. I think you will get a kick out of it. (They are the ones who nicknamed me the Tsunami of Talk.)
2) Tsunami of Talk slows down for serious point (complete story on blog)
Everything I’m involved with performance wise usually is centered around humor, whether is my motivational talks, my stand up (which better have humor) or my commercials. So naturally when I was recommended not by one, but two casting directors, Donna Drake and Donna McKenna, for a dramatic role… I was a little shocked.
The way it happened was I got an email from Donna, which Donna you say? I said the same thing, since it came from an email address I didn’t know. Then I got a call from Donna McKenna, so I assumed the email was from her also…WRONG! Talk about embarrassing… I finally had to say, “Okay, which Donna am I speaking to?” Who is recommending me? Turns out both of them were which is rather nice, (it’s just that one Donna happened to be cute and use a different email), but agent 99 figured it out quickly.
Anyway…I was asked if I would be interested in auditioning for director, Lisa Regina for a project called, “The Write to Heal.”
Donna M. gave me some background, “Lisa’s a great gal to work with. In addition to be a director, she’s also an educator, filmmaker and acting coach. As a matter of fact she coaches Donna Drake’s kid. Anyway, Lisa has been an actress for over 25 years, so she knows how to direct actors. She herself has been in the Sopranos, The Bakery, The Tournament and national commercial campaigns for Delta Sky Miles and Macy’s. Now the reason she is doing this project is because she was the victim of a domestic assault by her former fiancé. She was messed up bad, but following her assault, she used writing as a way to heal. Instead of letting the assault stop her, she created a not-for-profit domestic violence program called, A Write to Heal which is a weekly writing program where Lisa gets together with other women who have been abused…and through writing and letting it all out, they help themselves heal.
The thing is Lisa being a performer took it one step further. She wanted the public know what it was like to go through an abusive situation…so she created a series of monologues and put them into a powerful stage performance. And that’s where you come in Frannie. They have been looking for an actress who understands comedic timing, but also can end the piece on a powerful dramatic note.”
“Wow, Donna…this is a heavy topic.”
“Yeah, I know…but I am sure you can handle this.”
“And you say this is a comedic piece?”
“ She said it had comedic elements.”
“Comedic elements…why do I feel I’m about to enter a science experiment, with my own career as the guinea pig?”
“Why don’t you call her and discuss it and see if it’s something you want to do. I really talked you up, and I think the two of you will hit it off great.”
Not being one to hesitate, I called Lisa up. We talked, got along and I agreed to audition. She emailed me the sides (that’s the lingo for script in the acting world).
I looked over the sides and to my relief I was not playing an abused woman. I was instead trying to talk my best friend into leaving her abuser boyfriend. Okay… I can handle being the wise girlfriend with the sarcastic remarks about the fat ass Romeo who thinks he’s hot and beats his girlfriend.
Fast forward to four days later.
To read the rest of this go to www.francapo.com
hit the blog button icon that says mysweetconnections on the left.
Blogs
Information about Show date, time, location is on the blog.
3) Shooting a reality show
As you know from the mass press release I sent out, and from the mention on E! Entertainment, I am in a new reality show called, “John Basedow TV!”
I play…the fast talking Fran – Adventure girl…(Yes I know a big acting stretch for me…but it is REALITY TV…and that’s about as real as I can get.) Anyway the first episode went up Jan. 31st.
you can view it at www.myspace.com/johnbasedowtv.
I do the voice overs for the opening, the explanation of the dog, and I am part of the cast…although not in the first episode…but it’s coming up and of course I will let you know when. You will see me in the cast photo though. But I did write a whole blog about the second episode we shot….and this week we go back to Fashion week with a press pass and shoot some interesting footage…you know I’m going to have comments. Joan Rivers watch out.
To read it go to
www.francapo.com
hit the blog button icon that says mysweetconnections on the left.
Blogs
4) Fran punches a director after strange voices
So I was asked to go to a recording studio to do the opening voiceovers of the JohnBasedowTV reality show. Fooling around, the director, Jarett decided he wanted to try his hand at doing some of the male voiceovers. He comes into the VO booth does a sample read and says, “”So how do I sound?”
“Mmm…a little like Casey Kasem.”
He tries another voice…”Okay how’s this?”
“Well, sounds like Casey Kasem on speed.”
He tries a third voice, then just looks at me…”Casey Kasem?”
I nod yes.
We joke…we start teasing each other and the next thing I know he says,
“Capo you are an interesting woman…but you ain’t so tough.”
Of course, the Tom boy in me came kicked in (After all I didn’t get to the top of Kilimanjaro by being a prima donna.)
“Really? Well it just so happens that my dad Frank (Frankie Crooks for those of you who read “Almost a Wise Guy”) taught me how to box.” I playfully punch Jarett in the arm.
“Careful Capo…I do know kick boxing.”
At this point the engineer is politely asks us to leave the booth.
We go outside and start to play fight. Jarett is surprised I know how to kick.
Then he says, “Come on Capo, Give me your best shot.”
Not wanting to punch out the director of the new reality show I’m in…I said, “Okay hold up your hand.”
He holds up his hand, I wind up and launch a hard punch.
He shakes his hand, “Owww. Oh man, I might have to sue you if I can’t edit.”
I apolgize and realize, “Wow, I guess I do remember what my dad taught me!”
We start to listen back to the takes and I feel a throbbing in my hand. I look down and it looks like I have a third knuckle. Apparently I caught his hand with my two weakest knuckles, the pinky and ring finger…not a good combination. I could see my dad from heaven shaking his head in shame.
Meanwhile on Earth, I see Jarett rubbing his hand…”Capo, that was really hard!”
“Ah…sorry. If it makes you feel any better, look at this!”
Jarett looks at my hand. It now looks like an eggplant. I comment that’s a rather nice color combo with my French manicure.
The engineer gives me a bag of ice and tells us to play nicely.
Jarett and I smile sheepishly.
Later that evening John Basedow emails me. “So Fran how did the session go?”
“It went Great John. Oh and btw, I punched out Jarett and my hand is black and blue.”
“LOL…that’s nice….glad to hear things went well.”
I realize he doesn’t believe me. Well who would!
Then I think, “Well at least I can use this as motivation in my dramatic monologue”.
I know one thing…it’s a hell of a way to learn method acting!
5) The Science of Getting Rich
(MY FIRST AUDIO BOOK – NOW AVAILABLE!!!!)
Well, as I mentioned in my last update, I finally decided to give a shot at doing a book on tape. I chose The Science of Getting Rich as my first book, because it follows the same principles of thinking that I used to break my world records, climb Kilimanjaro, get down to the Titanic, and basically everything else I’ve set my mind to do.
I added my own intro onto this timeless classic (hey its the Capo way) but basically the tape talks about the method of thinking one needs to follow to accomplish their goals.
So for those of you who are interested…the CD is now available.
I have only 100 in stock, and I just got them hot off the press.
It’s a 2 CD package. (No, I don’t talk fast in this one)
It’s not even on my website yet.
But you can email me and I will happily send you an autographed copy.
Only $19.99…okay who we kidding…it’s $20 bucks.
But if you want I’ll send you the penny. (Plus $3.95 s/h)
You can pay by check or paypal.
And for those of you in the neighborhood (Yes Dawn- I will drop it off at Curves for you thanks for the pre-order:)
Let me know what you think!
6) Jesus is missing a hand
Not all my comey gigs are in comedy clubs. A lot of times a place hires comedians to do fundraising shows for them. Like firehouses, ambulance corps, Knights of Columbus etc. Well a few weekends ago was such the case. My good friend, comedy booker, Rick Morgan put together a full night of laughter for the Knights of Columbus. The only problem was it was way out on Long Island and there was a tad misunderstanding in the directions. Since my GPS was in the shop and mapquest didn’t do the trick, I was on my own locating this gig. After asking six people how to get to the gig, and circling the same Horseblock Road area enough times that people thought I was doing a police investigation…I finally made it to the show.
I was late and pulled up outside the event.
I was a tad worried when the statue of Jesus in the front of the building was missing a hand. “Man talk about a rough neighbhorhood. What could Jesus possibly have done to get someone so mad that they’d steal his hand? I was just hoping it wasn’t being served with the desserts at the end of the show.”
Luckily the show went well, I joked about the Jesus, asked for any body who by accident might have just happened to have the Jesus hand in their pocket to kindly replace it, no questions asked”.
I sold a lot of books that night and the really nice thing was I got emails from audience members afterwards.
One email was from this guy named Nickolas (Nah…not Italian at all) he wrote:
“I saw your show last night in Centereach. You were great! I’d like to send you one of my taco stand inventions as a way of saying thank you for making me laugh.”
I emailed him back and the next thing I know I have two taco stands sent to my PO box.
The stands are great…. www.tacorack.com
Who would have thought the helping hand of Jesus would have led to my taco’s standing up.Things sure have a way of working out strange.
7) Fran heads to San Francisco on Valentine’s Day to power up electric company.
So while most of you will be sending flowers, candy and mushy romantic love notes to each other…I will be flying to San Francisco to do my “Dare to Do it” keynote for PG&E company (Pacific Gas and Electric – one of the largest combination Gas and Electric utilities in the United States…with an outstanding record for service.)
I got the gig because one of their employees saw me do a keynote two years earlier at a Toastmaster convention. We’ve had several conversations since then and I can’t wait to talk to the audience…what can I say I love what I do for a living!
PS. Won’t hurt however if I see a bunch of flowers on my doorstep when I get home 🙂
8) Forget the Subways…Zipline in New York (complete story and video on Blog)
A few weeks ago my friend Ali left for the Cayman Islands to do an art exhibit. She asked if I would like to go to relax in the sun and maybe do some scuba diving. The thing with me and adventures though, is I like to constantly experience something new. After all, anyone who knows me, knows I’m not much of a lay down in the sand type of gal…I need to be moving. So since I had already been diving in the Cayman Islands I told her I’d go if I found a new adventure to do there.
Then I remembered that someone mentioned there was treetop ziplining in the Cayman Islands.
A quick look on Google, and I found many places that offered ziplining…like Costa Rica, Belize and Maui…but I couldn’t find any in the Caymans. So I passed on the trip.
Three days after Ali left, my college skydiving buddy, Shelly emails me. “Hey Frannie, my wife Susan and I are going to the Adventures in Travel Expo in Manhattan and we thought of you. Want to meet us there?” I hadn’t seen Shelly in about five years, so I was game.
I went online to check out the Expo. It looked interesting and the price was right, a whopping ten bucks admission. Then as I was perusing the site I saw it… “Zipline at the Adventure Expo.” Wow what were the odds? The Capo click factor set in (the moment when I know I’m going to do something without a doubt. Like me with climbing Kilimanjaro and going to the Titanic.)
I immediately bought a ticket for Spencer and myself.
(to read the rest of this story go to www.francapo.com and hit the blog icon on the left).
9) Nothing is Impossible in the school system (complete story on blog)
As you know I do keynote motivational talks for corporations called “Dare to do it” and “Creativity in Marketing” -(People tend to think doing a book signing at the top of Kilimanjaro and down by the wreck site of the Titanic is a bit out of the norm…nah! I like to think of it as a tad daring and creative.)
The point is, I like to live what I teach…that nothing is impossible. Of course a nice side perk is that I have a blast doing it.
(Okay, when I was at the top of Kilimanjaro freezing my butt off, I wasn’t thrilled at the moment…but when I came down and looked back I was really happy.)
Speakers will often say, “You have to get to the top of the mountain in life.” But I believe if I am going to teach that philosophy, I damn well better back it up by being a living example (hence I really climb the mountain!) Seems logical to me.
Then I love to write and relay the stories to audiences to inspire them to peak performance. (Yes, pun is intended here – come on it fits so nicely 🙂
Anyway, one of my favorite audiences is school kids of all ages. Why? Because if you get them young enough, they are not jaded yet to think that things are not possible. (You know what I mean…in later life people start to “settle” in work, in life, in relationships- “okay he’s not a prince charming but he does have teeth and an insurance policy!”)
Kids however still believe in dreams and have the enthusiasm for life. I love that. I want to make sure they know through example, that any dream they have they can attain (no matter how bizarre) as long as they have a passion for it and take massive action to obtain it.
Now because of my enthusiasm kids get a kick out of me…
(to read the rest of this story go to www.francapo.com and hit the blog icon on the left).
10) The power behind Fran’s website.
I have been a lot of compliments on my new website.
It was designed by a company called Intelihosts.
If you are interested you can go to www.intelihosts.com
intelihosts.com – Intelligent Business Solutions: Build, Manage & Improve
Till next time…..
CREATE A GOOD MONTH!
Fran