Before he stepped on stage to audition for NBC's "Saturday Night Live," Herschel Bleefeld thought about some of the same things that used to go through his mind when he was a member of GW's comedy group Recess.
"You either have it or you don't, and if you don't, you don't deserve to be out there. I think about that every time I perform to this day," Bleefeld said.
Though he didn't land a spot on "Saturday Night Live," Bleefeld said he felt proud to have had the honor of auditioning for the show.
"They test maybe 25 people a year...to go to New York and perform on the 'SNL' stage directly for Lorne Michaels and the other producers," Bleefeld wrote in an e-mail. "I actually got to sign a contract for SNL and it had my name on it ... it didn't matter (to me) whether I got the job or not."
Some of the former members of Recess, GW's sketch, improvisational and video comedy group, have pursued successful careers in the entertainment industry. Bleefeld is no exception. He's acted in productions including "Bruce Almighty," "A Lot Like Love" and "Six Feet Under."
"In 'Bruce Almighty' I worked for the whole day with Jennifer Aniston and she was totally sweet to everyone and chatted, but I was way too intimidated to even say a word to her. At the end of the day ... she said to me, 'Even though we didn't really get to talk, it was so nice to meet you.' I left the set on cloud nine," Bleefeld said.
Another successful Recess alumnus is Ptolemy Slocum, who said that his experience in the group prepared him for the entertainment industry better than any class or program he's ever taken.
Slocum, a 1998 GW graduate, teaches classes at The People's Improv Theater in New York, a studio that New York Magazine ranked as having the best improv lessons in the city. He can now be seen in commercials for both FedEx and Pontiac, and will appear on the upcoming season of HBO's "The Sopranos."
Like his other Recess colleagues, Slocum has plenty of fond and somewhat disturbing memories of his days as a member of the group. He described the story of Learney the gerbil, who had passed away years before he became a Recess mascot that was kept in a freezer back when the group had a house on campus.
"You either have it or you don't, and if you don't, you don't deserve to be out there. I think about that every time I perform to this day," Bleefeld said.
Though he didn't land a spot on "Saturday Night Live," Bleefeld said he felt proud to have had the honor of auditioning for the show.
"They test maybe 25 people a year...to go to New York and perform on the 'SNL' stage directly for Lorne Michaels and the other producers," Bleefeld wrote in an e-mail. "I actually got to sign a contract for SNL and it had my name on it ... it didn't matter (to me) whether I got the job or not."
Some of the former members of Recess, GW's sketch, improvisational and video comedy group, have pursued successful careers in the entertainment industry. Bleefeld is no exception. He's acted in productions including "Bruce Almighty," "A Lot Like Love" and "Six Feet Under."
"In 'Bruce Almighty' I worked for the whole day with Jennifer Aniston and she was totally sweet to everyone and chatted, but I was way too intimidated to even say a word to her. At the end of the day ... she said to me, 'Even though we didn't really get to talk, it was so nice to meet you.' I left the set on cloud nine," Bleefeld said.
Another successful Recess alumnus is Ptolemy Slocum, who said that his experience in the group prepared him for the entertainment industry better than any class or program he's ever taken.
Slocum, a 1998 GW graduate, teaches classes at The People's Improv Theater in New York, a studio that New York Magazine ranked as having the best improv lessons in the city. He can now be seen in commercials for both FedEx and Pontiac, and will appear on the upcoming season of HBO's "The Sopranos."
Like his other Recess colleagues, Slocum has plenty of fond and somewhat disturbing memories of his days as a member of the group. He described the story of Learney the gerbil, who had passed away years before he became a Recess mascot that was kept in a freezer back when the group had a house on campus.
