{"id":2598,"date":"2015-06-03T23:25:30","date_gmt":"2015-06-03T23:25:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/articles\/life\/arts-culture\/82-jobs-in-2-decades-the-job-pirate-to-share-story-in-long-beach-next-week-3\/"},"modified":"2015-06-03T23:25:30","modified_gmt":"2015-06-03T23:25:30","slug":"82-jobs-in-2-decades-the-job-pirate-to-share-story-in-long-beach-next-week-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/art\/82-jobs-in-2-decades-the-job-pirate-to-share-story-in-long-beach-next-week-3","title":{"rendered":"Working 82 Jobs in 2 Decades, \u201cThe Job Pirate\u201d Plundered His Own American Dream"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-39223\" src=\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/October_30_2014JobPirate-1208_copy.jpeg\" alt=\"October 30 2014JobPirate-1208 copy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>Brandon Christopher: The Job Pirate. Photos courtesy of The Busby Group.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In one of Brandon Christopher\u2019s biographical videos, he explains his many occupations.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s the man who took your dead grandfather to the morgue. He\u2019s the man who answered the phone when you called the rehab hotline at 2:00AM. He\u2019s the man who showed up at your front door and tried to sell you that expensive water purifier.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI&#8217;m the man who wrote the script to that porno you just watched,\u201d he says casually. \u201cI probably even took you to the airport in a limousine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Having held 82 jobs in just over 20 years, Christopher does the math: that averages one job about every three months. And the Los Angeles native has survived to talk about all of them in a new book, called&nbsp;<em>The Job Pirate: An Entertaining Tale of my Job-Hopping Journey in America<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Christopher will make a stop on his tour for <em>The Job Pirate<\/em> next week, June 13, at 6:00PM at Gatsby Books.<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/FnDBCviGdOE\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" seamless=\"\" style=\"border: 0; outline: 0;\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>When Christopher graduated from high school in Los Angeles, he knew he wanted to be a writer. At 19, he moved out of his parent\u2019s house. His father, a film industry professional, told him the only way to be a writer was \u201cto live life,\u201d Christopher told the <em>Post<\/em>. And so he did.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" alignright size-full wp-image-39224\" style=\"float: right;\" src=\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/the_job_pirate_cover_copy.jpeg\" alt=\"the job pirate cover copy\" width=\"300\" height=\"464\" \/>He took a series of jobs, from working as a plumber to a salesman to a florist to a morgue driver, with the sole purpose of paying his rent, while also attending community college and taking the occasional night class. He said one of his most memorable experiences was as a morgue driver.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI lasted a day,\u201d he said. He had seen the mortuary position advertised as a job that offered great hours and great pay\u2014just what he was looking for when he was in his mid-twenties. He applied. After receiving a job offer, he began training with a mortuary veteran.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe get a call to drive to this location,\u201d he said. The man they were driving to the morgue had died in the bathroom, apparently. \u201c[&#8230;] A man named Richard Fowler was curled around a toilet, and his eyes were open. It was so creepy\u2014like a doll\u2019s eyes, following you around.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said that per his instructions, he and his co-worker picked up Fowler\u2014in spite of his rigormortis. He could hear Fowler\u2019s tendons snapping, he said. When he took the body to the van, he dropped the body, and a girl from the family saw it all, to Christopher&#8217;s&nbsp;horror.<\/p>\n<p>He said was done driving bodies to the morgue after that moment, but his experiences as an employee in unique settings didn\u2019t end.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA lot of jobs were so bad that the only way I could stand them was to write about them,\u201d Christopher said. \u201c[My writing] originally started as a way for me to vent about my jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-39226\" style=\"vertical-align: middle;\" src=\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/October_30_2014JobPirate-1056_copy.jpeg\" alt=\"October 30 2014JobPirate-1056 copy\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Then he read Upton Sinclair\u2019s <em>The Jungle<\/em>, a 1906 novel by the muckraking journalist that exposed the poor working conditions of immigrants at factories in Chicago. Christopher was inspired by Sinclair\u2019s research techniques, which included getting hired and working undercover at a meatpacking factory in Chicago to gain a firsthand glimpse into the real-life conditions.<\/p>\n<p>Christopher approached each new gig with the focus of a muckraking journalist, he said\u2014and his experiences grew more and more colorful. He was hired and fired in \u201cincreasingly dramatic ways,\u201d he said in his video.<\/p>\n<p>Part of his experience included \u201ccolorfully embellishing\u201d his resume, which led to his firing from his last job in Los Angeles. He said he learned lessons on times he could \u201cbend the truth\u201d and other times, when no amount of \u201cB.S.\u201d could make up for job training.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought I wanted to be an accountant,\u201d he said about one particular job. \u201cThat\u2019s one job you can\u2019t bullshit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His forays into Los Angeles job culture even lead him to a job writing scripts for a Playboy-funded reality show looking for the &#8220;next great porn star.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat people will do on these auditions for no money\u2014I mean, they\u2019d win a couple of hundred thousand dollars if they won\u2026 the lengths people will go to for a little bit of celebrity blows me away,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Christopher\u2019s LA experiences extended to working at Universal Studios, making candles for tourists, writing gay erotica as the only straight man at a gay magazine and standing in as an extra, before his eventual firing from another unrelated job.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" size-full wp-image-39228\" style=\"vertical-align: middle;\" src=\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/October_30_2014JobPirate-1247_copy_2.jpeg\" alt=\"October 30 2014JobPirate-1247 copy 2\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Shortly after his firing, Christopher packed his belongings, and, with $4,000 in the bank, moved to Seattle, Washington. Pretty quickly, he obtained a job writing copy for a Seattle-based seafood company.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a good job market for writers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He currently lives in Washington, where he continues to write and sometimes work odd jobs. But he\u2019s also built an impressive writing resume beyond porn scripts and gay erotica, writing more than a dozen short stories and essays in magazines, literary journals, websites and anthologies. He\u2019s written and produced documentaries and television biographies, including <em>Just for the Record &#8211; The Rolling Stones<\/em>, <em>Definitive Elvis<\/em>, and <em>The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made<\/em>. Christopher also published his first book in 2007, an autobiography called&nbsp;<em>Dirty Little Altar Boy<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs I get older, it gets easier,\u201d Christopher said. He added that, as a writer, one must get used to facing rejection on a regular basis. Now, he can find copywriting jobs quite easily, and has worked for such companies as Amazon and Zulily.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" alignleft size-full wp-image-39230\" style=\"float: left;\" src=\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/October_31_2014JobPirate-1267_copy_2.jpeg\" alt=\"October 31 2014JobPirate-1267 copy 2\" width=\"300\" height=\"450\" \/>What advice would he give to other dreamers seeking to survive the uneven temporary job market?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou have to stick with it; don\u2019t be afraid to try something new,&#8221; he said. \u201cPlay your part, pretend you\u2019re an actor. Devote yourself to this role like a journalist.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>These days, Christopher said, the job market is different than what it was for his father\u2019s generation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAmerica has changed a lot in the last 20 years,\u201d he said. \u201cYou used to get one job for life and work it for the next 25, 30 years. In the 1970s, you could buy a house with one to two years\u2019 salary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now, he said, one needs options for more than one career, more often than not.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou need to reinvent yourself,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to get creative with life\u2014especially with writing or acting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Brandon Christopher will be at Gatsby Books in Long Beach June 13, at 6:00PM to read from&nbsp;<\/em>The Job Pirate <em>and<\/em>&nbsp;<em>sign books. Gatsby Books is located at&nbsp;5535 East Spring Street.&nbsp;<\/em><em><br \/><\/em><\/p>\n<p>{FG_GEOMAP [33.8107663,-118.12372949999997] FG_GEOMAP}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Having held 82 jobs in just over 20 years, Christopher does the math: that averages one job about every three months. And the Los Angeles native has survived to talk about all of them in a new book, called&nbsp;<em>The Job Pirate: An Entertaining Tale of my Job-Hopping Journey in America<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":154,"featured_media":67920,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1142],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-2598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","tag-gatsby-books","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/154"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2598\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2598"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=2598"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}