Today I taped my first voiceover in LA. It is for "The Famous Jett Jackson Show" I was playing the star for two episodes with hopes of doing more.

Things are pretty routine for me, a good number of commercials auditions and a few theatrical ones. One of my buddies tells me about a "Pizza Hut" audition in the valley. I had already done drop-offs over there and was on my way to Santa Monica when he calls to say I should check it out. I say "sure I have nothing to lose". I go back and scope it out and before I even feel it out the CD is bringing me in. Obviously I'm right for it. I sign in and he brings me in and I have good read and he says "that has callback written all over it", cool. A couple of days later I have a callback (my agent was wondering where it came from, they didn't know I went in on it). The callback is for a different spot and I am first to go in. The other guys already new what the spot was about, so the CD pulls me out of line and gives me the heads up. The call flows "smoove like butta" I get the call that I'm booked!!! We shoot at Sony Studios, they built a "Pizza Hut" in the inside one of the stages. It was so real. Anyway, it was a fun shoot. It didn't run too much I think I saw it once on cable, too bad, it was funny spot.

Back in LA finally!!! A 2 week trip ends up being 2 months, what a story. I've got my car and I'm feeling good. I don't go back to Old Navy, I just couldn't do it. I got a job in the valet department at The Standard a "Hollywood Hot Spot" on the Sunset Strip. At first it was interesting driving those expensive cars. I think the most expensive one was a Bentley that this guy had shipped over from London he said it was worth $500,000. It was customized to the nines, it even had right-hand drive. I have never driven a right-hand drive car, but I acted like it. I encountered lots of industry people.

After three weeks in New York I am back to face those other charges. My car is almost ready for the trip and I have two friends to drive across country with. I was a little skeptical about my car; it's a '89 Honda Accord with 165,000 miles on it. I just had to trust it; she never let me down before. I had so much stuff going on that my nose would start bleeding for no reason. I went to my other court date and again everything was dropped. I had everything I needed a new license, current registration & a new city decal. The judge told me that if I didn't have that new license he would have given me ten days in jail. WHAT!!!

Three days later I was on the road to LA. It was a great drive with my friend Patrick Mylod and former girlfriend Keilana Smith. Keilana and I had been on and off for some time. More "off" than "on" but we had always been there for each other. During the beautiful drive across this great country I actually started to feel that, one day, I will marry her. WHAT!!!

The moment of truth. I arrive in court and after waiting for 2 hours. I am informed that the magistrate gave me the wrong info. The correct date was the 26th. WHAT!!! So I decided to roll up to New York for a week and work at my old job to make some dough. Bless those managers, they had no idea how much they were helping me out. Obviously I wasn't supposed to leave the state, but "you gotta do watcha gotta do".

So I work for the week then go back to Virginia a few days before my court date. Here is where I really add to my problems. While working at the family deli with my brother & mom I get upset about something and leave upset. I decide to drive to another city and pick-up some parts for my car. I get stopped by the police. Remember that suspended license? Yeah. Oh Snap!! I'm thinking this guy is definitely taking me straight to jail for driving with a suspended license, expired registration and no city sticker. I couldn't get those things because of the "suspended" license. I received 3 tickets, but he didn't take me to jail. I also got another court date of June 29th '99. WHAT!!! I'm never gonna get back to LA!!!

A couple of days later I go back to court for the original suspended license charge and it is all dismissed. The only charge me a twenty-five dollar failure to appear charge. It was suspended by mistake. I left the courthouse walked a couple of miles to DMV and made everything legal. Yo, I'm outta here!! I blaze back to New York to work in the restaurant for 3 1/2 weeks.

This is the plan. I had "my" car back in Virginia Beach; it had been sitting in my brother's driveway for 4 years while I lived in New York. I figured I would go home; get it fixed and either drive or ship it out here to Los Angeles.

My "Ford" spot was running pretty well, but I made "high school freshman money" at Old Navy so I was living pretty low on the hog. A friend in Virginia Beach, John Dail, worked for USAir. He got me a cheap ticket back home. I was to leave LA on May 5th and return the 15th. When I got to Virginia a letter is waiting for me from VA DMV saying that my license is suspended. WHAT!!! I call DMV and they say that I have a warrant out for my arrest. WHAT!!! She says I have to go see the judge the next day. WHAT!!! "I had never been in front of a judge!!!"

I go to court the next day. After watching hours of cases being heard I was sweating bullets. They hear what I have to say and then I am arrested. WHAT!!! They give me a court date of May 26th. I am supposed to be back in LA on May 15th!!! They lead me thru the door that I had seen so many people go through.

The whole nine kid!!!

"Take out your shoe laces".

"Empty your pockets.........completely".

They search and document everything in my bag and then they put me in a holding cell with 5 guys and stainless-steel toilet. WHAT!!! At first I am tripping out and then settled into an observational mode. After 3 hours they handcuff me together with 3 other guys and walk us underground to the jail.

I was wearing a nice, pressed white oxford shirt to look presentable to the judge. As I was being led to the jail I untucked and unbuttoned my shirt to try and fit in, ya know, "look the part". It's all about survival baby! Then they separated me from the other 3 guys. WWWHY!!! I didn't know if I was better off or worse off. You always think the grass is greener on the other side. Turns out the other guys were going to jail and me to another holding cell. After 2 hours I saw the magistrate. My bail was five-hundred bucks. She also changed my court date to May 12th. As I was lacing my boots back up one of the inmates asked me why I was there. I told him and he said "man you look like you should be in college or somethin". I called a bondsman and was free.

DRAMA DRAMA & MORE DRAMA Remember that car situation I mentioned months ago. Well it was about to get interesting. Even though I knew quite a few people in LA I didn't really do much other than pursue my career and work at Old Navy. For one thing I was broke and the car kinda held me hostage. Often times I wouldn't even leave the house until work @ 10pm or going to a workshop. My life was closing in and I was feeling it. I'm a bicycle enthusiast, so I decided to go to a bike convention that was in town. I figured I would get off at 7am get some sleep and then go to the event. As usual I had ridden my bike to work the previous night. So I go out my car and it is gone. WHAT!!! Yep, it had been impounded. At first I thought it was stolen. I guess the expired Virginia tags caught up with me. No car in LA gotta think fast.

My commercial appointments are coming along fine, but those theatrical ones are MIA. I had a callback for "3Dfx" a computer software company, they had me on avail. The next day they called and released me and asked if I would do background work. I declined and my agent thanked me. The next day they called back and booked me as a principal. She said she wasn't allowed to urge me to decline, but she had a feeling that they were bluffing.

Back in LA and ready to rock & roll!!! I remember talking to one of my buddies about the lack of minorities on certain shows, particularly "Friends", I had never even seen the show. I knew it was set in NYC, but where were the Latinos, Dominicans, Blacks, Asians, and Indians, etc? Later that same day I get an appointment for the show. I booked a co-star on the show. My agent called me at 7:30 in the morning and said that they needed me at the studio ASAP by 9am I was face to face with Lisa Kudrow. It was my first TV gig and it goes down as one of the many highlights in my career. Being in hair & make-up with the 6 of them doing a line reading as the live audience went crazy was some kind of experience.