Dr. Lisa Gives a Sh*t

I had a blast with Kevin Allison [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Allison] in this session. At over a million downloads a month, live shows [http://risk-show.com/tour/] all over the country, a book [http://risk-show.com/book/]and more-RISK [http://risk-show.com/]! is described as, "a hit podcast where people tell true stories they never thought they'd dare to share." Listen to any episode and you will see what we're saying! It's sooooo exceptional. Kevin is a professional sharer, so he didn't hold back with Dr. Lisa. He talks about his gay group therapy that shrinks kept quitting, his current shrink, what he's really like vs. the onstage version of Kevin, some of his dating experiences, how relationships with his fellow members of "The State [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0130421/]" developed throughout the show, and how there will never be enough downloads to make him happy.

I've always loved Brian Boucher [https://www.nytimes.com/by/brian-boucher]'s work and I was finally introduced to him by Ben Davis [%20%20https://www.instagram.com/benstoppable/] at the spectacular Zero Art Fair [https://www.instagram.com/zeroartfairs/]opening. Anyway, I immediately invited him to guest on the show. Doing research on Brian, I observed that in his writing [https://news.artnet.com/about/brian-boucher-244], he was an art writer that often gave voice to the voiceless, writing in a compelling manner about issues at the intersection of art and social causes that might otherwise go unnoticed. This recent piece in ArtNet about a rediscovered David Wojnarowicz mural in Kentucky [https://news.artnet.com/art-world/david-wojnarowicz-mural-emerges-2676804]is a great example. The other observation I had about Brian is how he doesn't inject himself into his work or even his career. Unlike many other art writers, (NO JUDGEMENT) , you don't see him sipping drinks at lavish art parties, and dinners, although I am sure he's invited and likely attends them. Which spurred me on to find out why not—what in Brian's personality influences his work? I found out he was a drummer in a punk band, 2nd youngest of five boys and a hellofalot more. Cheers to Brian for being a good sport! Bio: Brian Boucher covers art-world news in New York. He has also written for publications such as the New York Times, Playboy, New York Magazine, Frieze, Art in America and ARTnews. He studied art history at Vassar College and Williams College. Insta: @brianbboucher [https://www.instagram.com/bbrianbboucher/?hl=en]

WARNING: This episode may inspire you to work harder. [https://www.haywardmotivationalcomedy.com/] George Hayward [https://www.haywardmotivationalcomedy.com/] is a brilliant guy and a brilliantly original comedian. I met him at a favorite open mic at @PineBoxRockShop [https://www.instagram.com/bobby.condon/] run by @steve_malden [https://www.instagram.com/steve_malden/] and @bobby.condon. [https://www.instagram.com/bobby.condon/] George is very smart and talented, but his work ethic is a super power with his LASER FOCUS on standup is phonomenal. George has quite a life story. His mother is black, his father is white. Education was the top priority in his family, George is a testament to that. He got a full scholarship to Phillips Exeter Academy, then a BA from Harvard and a AB/JD degree from Stanford. Here's a story about how a kid who once thought he might become an astrophysicist, put himself through a rigorus education and found himself exceeding at standup. George has been on many prestigious New Faces shows and is well on his way to a thriving standup career. Not bad for a guy who's been in NYC for only a year. Here's some of the videos we discuss in this session: Take Ya Time: George Hayward Live From Pine Box | Stand-up Set [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41Riaq9dQCw] 14:00 George Hayward Delivers The Good News in 1997 First Communion [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9pvXkjghdc] 1:04 ( Clip of George lecturing as a child ) The Good News: George Hayward Addresses the 1Ls at Stanford Law School [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxIHtNJ5Y5A]25:00 The 25 min set to the Stanford law students that started it all [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxIHtNJ5Y5A] Talk to Em: George Hayward Addresses the MBAs at Stanford Business School [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in2MOJ-Hb8g] 1:10:24 - the 60-min set with no previous open mics that started George on his professional path

I saw Matt do a super interesting comedy show at a yoga studio last month called Misguided Meditation. It was great and he's doing another one January 22 at Yoga to the People – East Village TICKETS HERE [https://www.eventbrite.com/e/jan-22-misguided-meditation-with-matt-ruby-a-comedy-show-about-mindfulness-tickets-222156294457?fbclid=IwAR1ob-3J2ohQSBuhY4228FAMSrS0UWwgiJUwEIYQbRT0SmAoDjC25e33eZ4] He has a great newsletter too = sign up here: THE RUBESLETTER [https://mattruby.substack.com/] He's a really great comedian where you walk out thinking about what you were just laughing about. This episode stuck around in my head for a while—like a good acid trip. Matt really shared a lot of personal stuff. He’s has a very successful career as a comedian performing regularly at The Comedy Cellar. His comedy is hilarious! Plus exceptionally smart, thoughtful and his work has some great messages about toxic masculinity, which was refreshing to hear from a straight dude. I harassed him to share more specifically about the points he is making, why those issues speak to him and where they come from (a prosecutor dad and artist mom). Matt understand his feelings and is very articulate, There’s a lot to draw you in. More Matt: BIO Matt Ruby is a NYC comedian that tells smart/dark jokes for people with a finely tuned BS detector. He's a regular at the Comedy Cellar in NYC, in regular rotation on SiriusXlllllllM, his album "Hot Flashes" went top 10 at iTunes, and he's been seen on Laughs on FOX, MTV's Girl Code, and The Comedy Show Show on NBC/Seeso. He's also the creator of Vooza, a video comic strip about the tech world (called the "The Spinal Tap of startups" by Mashable) and co-producer of Hot Soup, one of NYC’s longest running independently produced comedy shows. H Outside of standup, he's the creator of Vooza [http://vooza.com/], a video comic strip about the tech world that’s received millions of view and was called the "The Spinal Tap of startups" by Mashable and (SIGN UP FOR THIS!!! ) he’s the author of the Rubesletter [https://mattruby.substack.com/], a weekly newsletter with over 15,000 subscribers.

Mick's special: Don't Be So Positive HERE. [https://open.spotify.com/album/6f8vX1im8psfTpNabD3DTD?si=xnYrpK85TEiwvyCRNtMiYQ&nd=1&dlsi=5bc4db78479f458c] Mick's webseries HERE. [https://mickdiflo.com/clips-webseries/] Mick's previous episode on Dr. Lisa HERE. [https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/RADIO7054205051.mp3] Mick DIflo has appeared on Amazon Prime’s ‘Hunters’, AXS TV’s Gotham Comedy Live, Inside Amy Schumer, and was a contributing writer to ‘The Idiot’s Guide to Jokes’, Jest Magazine, The Huffington Post and thecomedyconsultant.com. His webseries ‘Mick: Don’t Be So Positive’, written & directed by Roger Aylward, is based on Mick’s standup comedy. The webseries won Best International Webseries at Dublin’s International Comedy Film Festival and Mick received Special Mention for Best Actor. The series also received an honorable mention award at Worldwide Short Film Festival in London. More about Mick Diflo ⁠HERE⁠ [https://mickdiflo.com/]. Here's a bit of what we talked about: Mick started using drugs at 11, had hepatitis twice by 17, and became a successful boxer with 10 wins out of 13 fights. But addiction derailed his boxing career when he developed double vision from too many punches. He got sober at 28 in 1984 with his brother's help - that's 41 years clean now. After recovery, he worked as an addiction counselor for 15 years before accidentally falling into comedy. What started as an acting class in Philadelphia turned into sketch comedy, and when his group couldn't make a New York show, he went solo and discovered stand-up. Now he's been doing comedy professionally for 21 years, recently released an album called "Don't Be So Positive," and created an award-winning web series. His dark humor draws from his life experiences, which makes perfect sense. He's been married to Rita for 21 years - they met in recovery, got engaged after 9 months, and she now "heckles" him during his acts while working on her own novel. Despite everything he's been through, Mick has this calm, philosophical outlook and uses comedy to process his experiences.