One womans laughoutloud account of the oddities indignities and outrightabsurdities of a life in show business. In this strikingly candid memoirNancy Balbirer d... » 

One womans laughoutloud account of the oddities indignities and outrightabsurdities of a life in show business. In this strikingly candid memoirNancy Balbirer distills two decades of drama school auditions bit partscameos and offBroadway plays into an account by turns hilarious andhorrifying . From studying theater in college under the searing purism of DavidMamet Being a woman in show business youll be asked to do only two thingsin every fucking role you ever play take your shirt off and cry. Thats it.Take your shirt off and cry. to weathering advice from her brazenlyinsensitive L.A. agent I didnt think it was possible. But you managed tobore Luke Perry to scoring a Saturday Night Live audition based on a drunkenDebra Winger impersonation Balbirers adventures are sometimes bizarresometimes painful and always unforgettable. Between runins with an eccentriccast of alltooreal characters including an infatuated acting teacher whointroduces Nancy to the joys of firearms a former sex symbol desperatelyseeking a toilet and a jazz musician who fancies himself a reincarnated JackKerouac Balbirer wrestles with her own ambitions and disappointmentsstruggling to determine what she really wants and who she really is. She maynot be destined for Hollywood stardom but as Take Your Shirt Off and Crymakes clear she is definitely a oneofakind talent. «