Humor and the Abject Podcast

TEASER: Full episode available to Drip subscribers... Friends of the podcast Darcie Wilder and Azikiwe Mohammed came by this week to record the first of an ongoing, Drip-exclusive project: The DSA Podcast. I assigned watching “Jim & Andy” to everyone and we talked about it a little bit but mostly focused on people sucking dick while their man plays 2K, that time Fugazi covered “Red Red Wine” live, a steampunk event that Azikiwe attended, white rap music of the early aughts, getting addicted to nose spray, the millennial whoop, Darcie’s new tattoo, Holocaust documentaries, how tiny James Lipton is, and a whole lot more. This episode is 100% sponsored by the lovely subscribers to our respective Drip profiles. Join, or die. Subscribe to Humor and the Abject on Drip for the full episode: https://d.rip/humorandtheabject

Following “People Pie Pool,” his ridiculous extravaganza for Performa, artist Brian Belott drops by my kitchen to talk about the finest aspects of the fine arts. We discussed his obsession with collecting children’s art and the legacy of early childhood educator Rhoda Kellogg, slapstick comedy, lighting his head on fire dozens of times despite understandable protests from his mother, why Dada artists would hate Dada art, the Marx Brothers, the People Pie Pool performance, cacophony, calamity, and collaboration, having your mom as your own teacher, and much more. We’re sponsored this week by a new rock supergroup featuring members of the Stooges and fronted by the one and only Morrissey, a steam-powered alternative to Bitcoin called Dirigiblecoin, and a generous donation from mining mogul George Hearst from “Deadwood.” The outro song is “Tell the Truth” by Mizz.

Comedian and self-described “aspiring actress” Ruby McCollister is my guest this week. We covered a ton of ground including the true meaning of “glam” comedy, what exactly is up with Joshua Tree, growing up backstage in a Los Angeles theater, being an only child, the humble origins of the Blue Man Group, having your teen aspirations documented on film, existential Uber conversations, discovering that comedy is her true medium, supportive peer networks, and the terror of taking direction. We’re sponsored this week by anarcho-capitalism, parking lot fees, bluegrass values, and the band that Dustin Yellin used to be in before he decided to become an artist. Shout out to our new subscribers on Drip!

The absolutely hilarious comedian Mitra Jouhari (@tweetrajouhari) stopped by the studio this week. An accomplished writer and actor, she also moonlights as ⅓ of the group Three Busy Debras and co-hosts the monthly It’s A Guy Thing at Union Hall with Patti Harrison and Catherine Cohen. We talked about getting her start in the New York comedy scene, the value of vulgarity, staging a ridiculous Three Busy Debras production at the famed Carnegie Hall, the upcoming It’s A Guy Thing holiday spectacular, why comedians should be free to express their politics, the terror of receiving packages in New York, creating supportive performance atmospheres, collaboration, the Midwest, and lots of other very important things. This week’s episode is brought to you by the wonderful people who support Humor and the Abject on Drip, as well as the concept of time and the allure of danger. The outro song is “Am I Evil?” by Extreme Animals.

Support Humor and the Abject on Drip: https://d.rip/humorandtheabject In 2017 alone, artist Andrew Ross has had three solo exhibitions between New York and Milan. To say he’s prolific would be an understatement. He stopped by the studio this week to talk about his most recent exhibition, “Iceman Returns” at American Medium in Chelsea, and we also discussed science fiction and horror, corporeal tragedy, slapstick, what qualifies an event, ethically questionable ideas, leaving audiences hanging, and what he’s got in store this year. Besides our lovely founding subscribers on Drip, this week we’re sponsored by things that are objectively not that bad, but are insufferable because of the people who like them.

One of my dangdest friends, Chloe Wise, came by the studio this week. She and I got to talk about her recent solo exhibition in Paris (France, not Texas), whether being Canadian automatically makes you funny, trying out new mediums, her new kitten named Pluto Chicken Nugget Wise, the politics of dairy, Ubering to incredible pizza in Philly, food in general, sculptural carbohydrates, and a terrible joke I tried to tell to the man who owns my local wine store. We’re sponsored this week by bootleg ranch dressing hacks, impostor designer handbags, clowning on The Creators Project, and partying LOL.

Orlando Estrada, who just wrapped up a month-long fellowship in Seoul, South Korea, is my guest this week. On this episode, we talked about mysticism, his extended family of spiritual mediums, psychedelics, camp, his nightlife performance series Incarnata Social Club, paranormal research, and I got the run-down on his unique experience living abroad in September. We’re sponsored this week by the Milkshake Duck, a new bar snack called Drinkaroos, and Matthew Arnold’s classic poem “Dover Beach.”

Bonus mini episode! Jason Powell, lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for Guantanamo Baywatch took some time out of his busy tour schedule to catch up with me. We’ve known each other for almost a decade, and I was there when he drunkenly came up with the ridiculous idea for his band. We spoke about their current tour, new album, stealing drugs from fraternity houses in Boston, his old conceptual punk band PISS and their bad luck-filled mini-tour of Iceland, why Las Vegas rules but sucks, French audiences, and much more. We recorded in a bar before their live show last night, but at least the bartender had a cool playlist on in the background.

Columbus, Ohio’s finest, Brett Payne and Bryan Quinby from Street Fight Radio, joined me this week for the first-ever live Humor and the Abject podcast. We covered many of their favorite topics: shitty bosses, stealing from shitty bosses, the Midwest, doing drugs, anarchism, and why Republicans and Democrats will always suck. But we dug a little deeper as well, unearthing the Street Fight Radio origin story and the roots of their individual senses of humor that led to becoming “anarcho-comedians.” It also turns out that--wait for it--they kind of love New York. Special thanks to comedians Ana Fabrega and Julio Torres for opening up the show, to Taylor Moore for running sound and bartending, and to Throne Watches for hosting us. This week’s episode is sponsored by the United States Military, the D.A.R.E. program, and your fucking boss.

Artist, writer, curator, and gallerist Eileen Isagon Skyers is our guest this week. We spoke about her signature approach to experimental video art, what Florida is all about, her research on internet art and web interface histories, travel, contemporary modes of viewing, her new project with Eva and Franco Mattes, the co-founding of BedStuy gallery HOUSING, community engagement, the future of screens, why Stranger Things is good and Black Mirror is bad, hologram friends who advocate for brands, and so much more. This week’s episode is sponsored by the City of Tampa, trains, and Hungry Howie’s pizza. There was an event going on in the background at Kickstarter while we were recording, which is why you can hear all of those ghouls way low in the mix. LOL.