Drag Artists Reveal What Really Connects With Live Audiences | Variety Pack Podcast

Puppets, Portraits, and Public Health: Kate Smith and David Rosten on Art as Healing

What does it mean for art to truly matter?In this episode, we dive deep into one of the most important questions facing artists today: how can creative work make a real impact in a world overflowing with noise, complexity, and crisis, both personal and collective?Joining us are two extraordinary guests whose careers sit at the intersection of art and healing.Kate Smith is a Chicago-based multidisciplinary artist with over a decade of experience as a professional actor and opera singer. She's the creator of One Woman Hamlet, a solo show featuring a full cast of puppets exploring themes of mental health, and now runs Mythos Lens, a fantasy portrait photography experience that helps clients discover and embody their deeper selves through character and story.David Roston, better known as Esmeralda the Puppet, an iconic figure in the Los Angeles puppet scene, is also a guitarist and vocalist with the band Shahari.What makes this conversation especially fascinating: both guests bring a public health lens to their creative work. David holds a master's in public health, and Kate is a trauma-informed yoga teacher and somatic healer.This is a conversation about getting attention and deserving it, about healing yourself, healing your audience, and why art still matters.🎧 Subscribe for more conversations at the intersection of creativity, culture, and healing.Kate Smith @mythoslens David Roston @esmereldathepuppet @shaherimusic @djcaesarsalad

Drag Artists Reveal What Really Connects With Live Audiences | Variety Pack Podcast

In this second episode, host Chloe Baldwin (“Christian Rock”) sits down with two fellow drag artists, Viv Gould (“Watson Side”) and Kyle Cragle (“Scarlett Business”). We cover everything from finding artistic practices you have to grow into to the relationship between “drag” and “clown” to what audiences expect in different cities. Guests: Viv Gould @watson.side on Instagram Kyle Cragle @scarlettbusiness on Instagram This episode is sponsored by Silver Lining Coffee - silverliningcoffee.com Watt's.side grinch video from Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/DSiPStFj0Lu/

Comedy Degrees & Hard Knocks: Erik Tait & Andi Gladwin on Finding Your Voice in Magic

In this inaugural episode, Chloe Baldwin sits down with Andi Gladwin & Erik Tait, two creatively comedic magicians who bridge business and art in their own performances and in their work with magic publishers Vanishing Inc. & Penguin Magic, respectively. We're coming right out the gate with with this collaborative conversation that spans everything from 10,000 hours of practice to navigating dealers rooms. This episode is made possible by Mystify Magic Festival & Wendy Gomez. What we cover: - Erik's comedy degree vs. Andi's school of hard knocks. Two very different paths to comedy magic - The single piece of brutal feedback that transformed both their careers - Why Andi says running Vanishing Inc. accidentally ruined him as a magic performer - How Erik builds magic tricks around Finland conspiracies, robot combat & Schrödinger's cat - Making a trick truly yours and why the best ones can never be released - Dealer's rooms, dopamine hits, and how to buy magic tricks like a pro - "I steal from dead guys" the creative philosophy every magician needs to hear - The Penguin Magic vs. Vanishing Inc. arms race to make the most beautiful magic books Guests: 🔗 Erik Tait — eriktait.com | Penguin Magic Podcast 🔗 Andi Gladwin — illusionist.co.uk | Vanishing Inc. The Variety Pack Podcast is made possible by Mystify Magic Festival.