Recently I auditioned for the CBS Diversity Showcase. It was one of the best growing experiences I've had as a performer. I was told by someone who'd performed in a previous showcase to prepare a sketch comedy monologue and the raunchier, the more racist, and the more sexist the better.

That was totally a challenge. Anyone who knows me knows that raunchy, racist, and sexist are already areas that stretch my comfort boundaries. Adding the sketch comedy, a newer skill set that I've been developing, piled on an added layer of S-T-R-E-T-C-H.

Performing everyday dramatic and comedic monologues is something I'm totally comfortable with. But writing and re-writing and performing and developing characters and then re-developing has been so exciting and fun and terrifying at the same time. I've learned so much. Whether or not I'm selected, it was worth it.

Plus, in going back to my usual auditions --whether it's for producers on a television show or for a casting director who specializes in films--there's this extra sense of quiet confidence. Just in knowing that I've done something harder. Not just willing, but willing and able.