What are some actor-friendly jobs?

There is no shortcut. You have to have a good attitude, don't act entitled, and hustle. Good luck. Look, I know that I have no control over the sort of answers that I'm going to get, but I'm looking for specific suggestions. If you look through my AskMe history, you'll see that I've been poor and hustling for a long time. I dont need a lecture. Thanks for the specific job ideas, as always, and I'm going to stop threadsitting.

You're in LA, right? Because freelance makeup is definitely a thing, but it's also a thing where there are A LOT of really skilled and experienced hair and makeup people and a finite number of gigs. A lot of experienced hair and makeup freelancers also work at, like, the Nordstrom Clinique counter to make ends meet. So that might be a more long-term solution (which might be okay!). Have you tried temping? What about becoming a messenger/courier? LA needs a ton of messengers. https://www.taskrabbit.com/become-a-taskrabbit

As an amateur actor but someone who takes the whole thing seriously, I've found that anything that involves using my voice is an opportunity. I work as a relay officer for the deaf. People who have hearing and speech impairments and the Deaf need to make phone calls and in order to do so they often use a service where they type what they want to say and someone else reads it to the person they're calling. I'm limited in my intonations because I can't try to represent someone else's words in an unintended way, but I've found that I'm obliged to try and represent their words in an accurate way, not just in a monotone. I really enjoy it on many levels. Before I found this job I did some telemarketing which is a particular kind of hell, but during the year or so that I did it it helped to approach it as an acting job. Often, you're reading a script and you have to sound authentic in order to be successful. Call centre jobs might be something worth thinking about.

Thanks for some of the out-of-the-box suggestions, guys. Really appreciate it. I have sent a few emails and applications already, and I'm feeling a little less "blugrhsdfj." MetaFilter is the damn best. http://www.emilymagazine.com/?p=817 by Emily Gould is a good distillation of the art vs. job issue, and reading her blog has inspired me to learn a trade, something that I think might be hair or make-up, but that's more of a long-term plan. I am not an Emily Gould fangirl, but this is a good read if you are struggling with this shit in your own life. To be honest, I've already done a lot of these jobs. I've been a working adult for a few years now, and I've been gigging around doing a mix of temp/background/whatever for a long time. I've been working full-time in TV for a few years, though, and I would like to find something that doesn't feel like I'm right back at Square 1 Circa 2009, but that might be the breaks for now. If anyone searching for "background work Los Angeles" or whatever finds this on Metafilter, feel free to memail me. It's a shitty gig and it's very difficult to get work, but if you need cash ASAP, it's not a bad way to do it.

Dog walking or pet sitting. Or learn web design or graphic design, or something you can do freelance. Also, consider that while unemployment pays more in the short term, it will run out, and you are not learning any new skills or growing or making any connections right now. Take any one of those flexible but low paying jobs today and hustle at it. Make yourself valuable, known and liked. You'll get paid better and be ona brighter path lickety split. There is no shortcut. You have to have a good attitude, don't act entitled, and hustle. Good luck.

I've known performers who temped between gigs, waited tables, or had some side money through a hobby - teaching voice, or photography. Good luck!

Since you aren't opposed to restaurants, what about being a host/ hostess? I used to make $16/hr when I was young & cute and also doing the acting gigs. It was flexible because someone was always happy to pick up a shift for you & vice versa.

Oh, and in order to the answer the question more successfully, my relay job involves lots of shift work because it is a 24 hour 7 days a week service and thankfully where I work shift swaps are encouraged. Hopefully, this is a usual thing.

You could be a http://runaroundbetties.com/ Also seconding babysitting--there is always a need for sitters! If you start asking around, it seems like the going rate around here is $15/hr. If you want to get hooked up with an agency, you could try http://www.sittercity.com/