Baby New Year

Today is the start of the New Year. Last night I started the New Year by delivering a singing pink gorilla to a woman in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. I sort of got lost and a helpful woman pointed me in the right direction. When I delivered the pink gorilla my recipient was surprised but loved the fact I handed her a banana. Overall, these ladies seemed very nice. When I left the site of the delivery I went to jump on the train. As I was walking to the train I was hugged by a stranger wishing me Happy New Year.

New Year’s Eve started off by me getting a compliment from a comedian I admire very much about a TV appearance I just did. I got to work with this guy a while back and it was amazing. To receive a compliment from him was just as amazing. The awesome thing is, for as far as I have come I have so much farther to go and so much more to learn so I can be as good as those I admire. But Wow!

I was on Layover as well as Chef Roble. I remember they grabbed me on the street to film Layover. Then I also remember filming Chef Roble. Suddenly I was on both! I had no idea I was going to make both. That was a very cool surprise. The weird thing is I don’t have a TV so everyone else has to tell me when I am on. And then my friends come out of the closet about how they are fans of these people and how they are so happy I was on those shows. I am like, “Really, watched them before I filmed for them. But I think I will become a fan now that I have been on them and become a regular viewer.”

This past year I had a lot of people tell me I was on TV and how they saw me. I had people stop to take fan photos. I remember one guy goes, “You were that puppet chick. That was wrong of your man to tell you that it was him or the puppets. I thought that as I was watching you on TLC last night.” After they snapped the fan pic I was like, “I was on TLC again last night? This is news to me.”

I also did a lot of cool things this past year. I acted and starred in a short film called Death of a Dummy, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe8rIuoL64U. I hadn’t been in a film in sometime but Jesse Waugh had heard about me through my friend and party planner Derek Scott Graves and had the idea. Filmed in the cold and with no budget, this has the makings of a cult classic. Still it was awesome to make and I am dreaming up the sequel as we speak.

Because of my Reality TV visibility I branched out into music. I had been delivering telegrams for years and decided why not record original songs. I even received some airplay on FJS Radio. While there are no gold records or Grammys yet there could be. Some people only dream of radio airplay and I have it. Here is an original vid I still love http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEruCQi6WnE.

Also became involved with YouNow.com where I explored not only my abilities as a comedian and ventriloquist but also as a singer and a freestyle rapper. While not as gifted as many of the emcees I have come up against I have learned a lot from them, whether it is to receive a compliment or receive a diss knowing it is a part of the game. Want me to prove I can freestyle? Watch me go. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3evYmXg-vY&list=UU1XhN3fj2pUzvXj7UX-heng&index=7&feature=plcp.

I also received the start of a wonderful fan base this past year, fans who are so wonderful in the way they reach out that they actually make me cry sometimes. Whether they are my little poppyseeds in their lion onesees ringing in the New Year or those who have seen me on the tube stopping me on the street or writing me letters I love them all. But more than ever, knowing that I have their love makes the game easier when things get so damn political. Also, for the first time when you have fans you know it isn’t about you. It’s more than just people who love your work but now people need you and they need you to produce content meaningful to them that touches their heart.

As a result of my fans I spoke out this past year about some things that were close to my heart. One was the subject of bullying, and I was part of an anti-bullying project soon to come out. The other was dating violence that I was subjected to at the hands of an ex. I remember how both seemed ruinous at the time but helped shape the woman that I am today. I received a lot of letters from young people telling me how they had been through either experience and my job as the receiver of the praise was not just to let them know it wasn’t their fault but that it was going to be okay.

My attitude has changed this past year. I am not jealous when people do well anymore but am happy for them. I found out a classmate from college was in ONCE at NY Theatre Workshop and not only am I happy he’s doing well but wish him much more deserved success. He has worked for it. Same for my other classmates on Broadway and in the industry. One even stopped me on the street to tell me how proud she was of me. Then it occurred to me that people who do well are happy when other’s do well because they don’t feel threatened. That was refreshing in a year when I lost a lot of so-called “friends.”

One girl I was kind to just because it was the right thing to do. Next thing I know she dissed me very publically. Another stopped saying hello because he felt I sold out. Then a third started a rumor I slept with people to get my breaks which was vicious and stupid. It hurt because I never saw it coming. I thought they were friends. I thought they changed. They didn’t change, they just showed me who they truly were.

As 2012 starts I feel hopeful. I have a book ready to be published. I have a single ready to be dropped and am plotting the video. I am interviewing for a job as a vlogger and possibly might be a part of a radio show. Plus I am pitching a project.

All and all things are looking swell. Hope I don’t jinx myself by saying so. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Love April

PS. Watch Confessions tonight on YouNow.com’s 24 plus channel from 8-10 pm EST. Tonight’s topic is New Year’s Resolutions/New Year’s Debauchery