Meet Tim Murray

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tim Murray.

Tim, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I went to the University of Miami to study acting and moved to New York City right out of college. I started going to open calls every single day. This went on for years and I was cast in some regional theatre shows that took me out of the city, but I always had to come back and start from scratch with a new apartment and new restaurant job. I felt like I wasn’t making the kind of strides I wanted my career to have so I started writing my own stuff. I used every free moment I had to write my own plays, sketch ideas, songs and web series. The impetus was to have something to do that was in my control while, I waited and hoped for someone to pick me for a job. I went to an open call for the Original Off-Broadway production of 50 Shades the Musical! and my voice cracked and I made a bit out of it.

Thinking I’d completely blown it they called me back and I went back in to do the material for them. I remember leaving that time and calling my mom and saying “I just got this job. I know I did”. That rarely happens, but sometimes you just have a great day where everything goes right. They laughed at my entire audition and I just felt like something was going to happen. I did not get the job. Months later I left to do another regional theatre show and while I was there I got an email from the casting director saying the role I went in for was available again and they wanted me to come back in. I couldn’t make it back to NYC from where I was so I sent a video, which they told me likely wouldn’t be enough to cast me, because the choreographer needed to see me dance. I sent a bunch of videos of me dancing and just hoped for the best.

On the opening night of the regional theatre show I got an email saying I got the part. I was going to be in an Original Off-Broadway production and get to pay my rent in New York City as an actor. The next year and a half was a really incredible time. We were a New York Times critics pick, got to perform at Broadway in Bryant Park, celebrities were coming to the show and I got to just live as an actor in New York City and do a show with nine of the funniest people I’d ever met. Then we closed and I spiraled into depression. I invited many agents to the show, took classes to get an agent, sent out cover letters, but no one would sign me. I literally couldn’t give my weekly paycheck away to anyone. Then it ended and I felt like I was starting all over again. I was really, really sad for a long time and just kept trying to go to auditions and see comedy shows.

Then something really wonderful happened. I saw my firmed Henry Koperski’s comedy show in a tiny theatre in Brooklyn and something shook me out of my sadness. I saw other queer people doing comedy that they made themselves and produced themselves and they weren’t waiting for anyone to pick them for a part. It was like I remembered that I had this power all along. I begged Henry to put me in his next comedy show. He did and I met another group of hard-working, comedians who were doing it for themselves! I started making sketch video after sketch video and putting them on the internet. A bunch of them went viral (“We Get It. You Know Each Other”, “A High School Production of Hamilton”, “Unfunny Gay Guys”). Stella got her groove back even if Taye Diggs still doesn’t return my calls I feel like the metaphor still tracks.

I started doing as much comedy as I could and finally from one of those shows a manager took an interest in me and gave me a meeting that has completely changed my path. She told me I had to start doing Stand-up. I lost all feeling in my legs and was like no, no, no, no anything but that. Sketch comedy and improv are a super fun and supportive environment that I was loving and if anything ever fell flat there are a million things you can blame it on. With Stand-Up you’re all alone. And I had done it a couple times in high school, but when I was 19 someone broke into my car and stole my computer and book of jokes and it was so jarring I was never able to try it again. But she told me I had to if I wanted her to help me. So I had a full on panic attack and started writing sets.

Then I started performing sets. Its the strangest medium in the performance world. On a Saturday I will slay and have a room full of people gut-busting laughing and on a Tuesday I will get literally no laughs at all. I’m still learning a lot and its every bit as scary as I thought it would be, but its helping me write better and perform better and I’m getting pretty good at it. RuPaul says you always have to re-invent yourself. I have tried… pretty much everything there is to try and I’m just going to keep going until it pays off.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
I mentioned this in my very long earlier story (which I’m now realizing was way too long haha), but when I was 19 someone broke into my car and stole my computer and book of jokes I’d been carrying around for years. I felt like I could never write again. If someone could so easily take what you’ve worked so hard on (this was way pre iCloud) I didn’t want to try anymore.

I’ve also heard everything from “too gay” to “not handsome enough” from different agents and managers over the years. I don’t think anyone in this business has a smooth road. That’s just the nature of it. It’s pretty much the most competitive thing you can do other than a professional sport. But even that I’m like… YOU TRY SITTING IN AN OPEN CALL AUDITION ROOM THAT SMELLS LIKE HAIRSPRAY AND FARTS FOR 8 HOURS JUST TO BE TOLD THEY WON’T BE SEEING YOU TODAY AND THEN WE CAN TALK!! And Michael Jordan is always like “Tim, I respect you, please relax”.

I also was kept out of my college’s senior showcase. I went to New York and watched all my classmates audition for a room full of agents and casting directors while I sat in the audience. It felt like my school was telling me I was not good enough. Ultimately it motivated me to work harder, but it completely destroyed my confidence for a few years.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
Tim Murray Inc. is a production company specializing in comedy. Specifically, sketch comedy on the internet (@TMurray06), but I also really want to get my full-length feature films and plays made. I’m different than any other company, because of my specific brand of humor. Its very LGBTQ centered and pop culture based with a heavy emphasis on satirizing every day human behavior.

I’m most proud of my screenplay that I originally produced as a play in New York. It’s called “How to Get People to Like You” and it’s about a homeschooled gay boy who goes to college and develops a system for getting people to like him so he can join the most popular fraternity on campus.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
I had a voice teacher in college who completely changed my life. Her name is Mary Scheibe and she currently teaches at USC. Even though comedy is my focus now, singing has played a huge part in getting to do musical comedy shows, music parodies and it has always been and will always be my absolute favorite thing to do.

When I was little I would sing around the house constantly and my parents recently confessed that that used to ask each other “Do we tell him that he’s terrible?”

I was AWFUL. There are videos from high school to prove it. I have no natural singing ability whatsoever. This woman took me on for free as a student even though I wasn’t in the vocal program. And I will never forget what she said to me “I’m going to teach you for free because I can tell you’re a person who really wants to learn. And want to teach people who want to learn”.

In two years she took me from a person who truly sounded like nails on a chalkboard to the lark voiced Celine Dion-esque singer I am today! Okay, I’m not an amazing singer, but I can do it well enough to get jobs. And she did that for me. She gave me something that I have always wanted to learn to do. She helped me achieve a life goal and I will be forever grateful. Also, Vincent Cardinal, the head of our program at Miami and Jen Vellenga and Jen Burke. I had lots of wonderful teachers who taught me to act and also helped with my writing and encouraged me to create stuff on my own.

Finally, my boyfriend Michael Bullard who has literally sat by my side, listening to my jokes and helping me shape them and encouraging me to keep going and try to stand up. He’s been my rock.

Pricing:

• I edit comedy videos for $350
• I coach auditions for $30/hour

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.youtube.com/user/TMurray06
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @TMurray06
• Facebook: @TMurray06 comedian
• Twitter: @TMurray06

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