Resumé, meet Google

Late last night, I received a text from a number I didn't know.  A long text.  A three-paragrapher.  It was signed with a name that I vaguely recognized, and in the three paragraphs, I was offered comps to a new "Broadway" show in which this person was performing.  With only four performances.  Three of which were on the same day.  That's not normally how Broadway shows work.  As I stared at the name he signed on the text, it rang a bell.  Memories started flooding back of Googling his name at a show when my friend and I couldn't believe his bio. 

I went to his website and confirmed that yes, this was the actor I remembered being in awe of for the sheer audacity of the huge number of seeming... shall we say "un-truths" contained in his bio.  According to his website and bio, this man has done it all.  In addition to years on Broadway (multiple Tony nominations!) and in Television and Film, he was even instrumental in transforming Broadway's Times Square Theatre District!  If that wasn't enough for a young man who appears to be in his 20s, he's also a coach and teacher in "a wide variety of courses" who has taught "major celebrities," plus he's a "humanity activist... on many ventures."

Exhausting and impressive, right?  Funny thing is, you can't find a resumé for the guy.  You'd think someone who's been nominated for a few Tony Awards and who's worked extensively in TV/Film would have a resumé on his site.  Or at least some specific names?  ONE Broadway show he's performed in, ONE major celebrity he's coached, ONE venture on which he served as a humanity activist?  Oh, well, that's fine, because this is the digital age, so I'll just look him up on IBDB and IMDB.... Huh.  Well, that's weird.  No record of him having ever performed on Broadway.  There's one show he's credited with being a co-producer on.  It got a few Tony Award nominations (for individuals on the show -- not awards that go to the producers), so I guess those are his multiple Tony nominations.  A few IMDB credits (no major episodic or studio work) seem to fall short of the "years in commercial Broadway, TV, & Film" that his website boasts.  There's also a rather grandiose claim of an award from an organization I've never heard of, whose website is, well, a bit lacking.

The crazy thing is that I can attest to the fact that this guy has worked as an actor on at least one commercial Off-Broadway show, and yet, that credit is no where to be found anywhere on his site.  All he puts out there are boastful claims that he hasn't substantiated with any specifics.  If I were behind a casting table, a resumé with that one real credit would mean far more to me than a bio that, at least on appearance, doesn't seem to have much truth to it.  Especially when there's this magic tool called Google.

I'm sure that resumé lying/fudging/padding is a fairly common practice, though I imagine it's usually handled with slightly more finesse.  My favorite encounter with it is when I came across a resumé for someone who listed herself as an Assistant Stage Manager, "in charge of wardrobe and scene changes," on an original Off-Broadway musical.  Sure, that's great experience.  The only problem is that I knew that show had only one ASM from the first day of rehearsal until the closing performance.  And it happened to be me.

Be careful where you lie.  It's a small world.  And a large internet.  Oh, and that show I was offered comps to?  Yeah, it's free admission.