Wally Feresten, iconic cue card writer for shows like SNL and Late Night with Seth Meyers, Explores his craft's artistry and his journey during the pandemic. He shares how he adapted to the challenges, starting his successful business, Cue Cards by Wally, and the joy of bringing personalized cue cards into people's lives globally. Wally also reflects on his relationships with hosts and performers, stressing the importance of rapport and discussing the unforeseen inventiveness brought about by navigating COVID-19 restrictions. The conversation rounds out with insights into the supportive and creative environment of his work and the significant but often overlooked role of cue cards in live television production.

https://notrealart.com/snl-cue-cards-wally-feresten

00:00 Wally is a lovable, funny, cue card writer.

07:33 Discussion of various dimensions of sign painting.

12:44 Discussing tradition, design, and obsession in conversation.

21:25 Building trust and relationships for successful collaboration.

24:03 Building trust with SNL hosts every week.

29:50 Grateful for long-lasting job on TV show.

36:33 SNL returns with COVID restrictions, logistical challenges.

39:24 Wife entrepreneur rejects personalized cue card idea.

46:41 Christopher Walken hosts SNL, asks for card.

51:39 Sharpies, Power pilot pens, and old markers.

57:18 Meeting artists and celebrities can be challenging.

01:00:42 Talent, hard work, and kindness matter most.

01:05:13 Endorsement for custom cue cards by Wally.

Introduction to Wally Feresten

- Introduction of Wally Feresten as a guest on the Not Real Art Podcast.

- Explanation of Wally's role as a cue card writer for notable TV shows like SNL and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

- Mention of Wally's personal life, including his family and recreational activities.

Cue Cards and Artistry

- Discussion on the artistic aspect of writing cue cards.

- Comparisons made between Wally's work and famous sign painters.

- Reflection on the history and evolution of cue cards in the entertainment industry.

Business Ventures and Adaptations During COVID-19

- Exploration of Wally's business "Cue Cards by Wally" providing personalized cue cards.

- How the pandemic influenced Wally to start the business.

- Transition to remote work and adaptation of the business model during COVID-19.

Operational Details and Employee Management

- Insight into Wally’s operational and billing practices for shows.

- Discussion of employee status transitioning from independent contractors to full-time staff with benefits.

- Wally’s approach to maintaining a good work environment, highlighting the importance of being nice.

Impact of Cue Cards in the Industry

- Highlights of famous cue card writers and their contributions.

- The preference of cue cards over prompters by traditional hosts.

- Story about Wally's mishap during a live show and handling different personalities.

Creative Side Projects and Personal Stories

- Wally’s involvement in creating cards for various personal events and celebrations.

- Mention of his sons’ careers and personal projects.

- Story about Wally’s interaction and relationship with fans and other industry figures.

Reflections and Philosophy

- Wally’s reflections on the stability and changes in the entertainment industry due to strikes and other disruptions.

- His philosophy on work ethic and the advice of being nice as pivotal to success.

- Scott and Wally’s shared experiences and appreciations for behind-the-scenes work.

Conclusion and Further Engagements

- Summary of the episode’s discussion points.

- Promotional mention of Wally's forthcoming book.

- Encouragement for listeners to visit Wally’s business website and explore his offerings.

- Closing remarks thanking Wally for his contributions and a nod to the viewers to stay creative.

Meet Wally, a seasoned television professional whose career spans various high-profile productions. Wally's primary responsibilities are with two iconic shows, "Saturday Night Live" and "Late Night with Seth Meyers," both of which are conveniently located on the same floor, allowing him to seamlessly manage his duties. In his role, he adeptly coordinates and supervises the integration of these shows' elements, ensuring everything runs smoothly.

Apart from his core commitments, Wally also oversees a small, efficient team dedicated to "The Tonight Show." He describes this team as being on "automatic pilot," attesting to their competence and his trust in their abilities to handle responsibilities with minimal intervention. This allows Wally the freedom to engage with diverse projects beyond his day-to-day tasks.

Adding variety to his career are the special assignments that take him around the country. Over the summer, Wally found himself in Miami for a shoot, and he also traveled to Toronto to work on a commercial featuring none other than Ryan Reynolds. These projects serve as exciting deviations from his routine, infusing his regular schedule with fresh experiences and challenges in the dynamic world of television production. Through it all, Wally remains enthusiastic and passionate, continually embracing the "spice" these opportunities bring to his professional life.

• https://cuecardsbywally.com/

Former software engineer John Houck is a multidisciplinary artist whose work examines human perception and memory. From subtly folded and rephotographed pieces of paper to paintings of psychological landscapes overlaid with personal objects, John explores how shadows can act as signatures of both the condition and the limits of our experience, playfully navigating the intersection between reality, memory, illusion, and imagination.

In today’s podcast episode, host and NOT REAL ART founder Scott “Sourdough” Power sits down with John Houck to discuss the artist’s thought-provoking practice, which marries visual art with his background in technology. “I love thinking through code as a tool to work creatively and playfully,” he says. “Then I [also] get to be in my studio. It's the best of both worlds for me.” In our conversation, we also investigate John’s fascination with psychoanalysis and find out why he believes that therapy is more effective than grad school for artists who want to get in touch with themselves and their artwork. “Being in therapy did more for me than grad school ever did,” he says. “It was way more effective and helpful in terms of getting in touch with who I am [and] the art I want to make.”

Listeners will also learn time-management techniques for better focus and why truly great artists are constantly “emerging” as opposed to becoming firmly established, as the art world would have us believe. As John comments during our conversation, being alone in the studio is vital, but “at some point, you have to go out into the world and emerge.”

Key Points From This Episode:

• How Inversion Art makes John’s practice easier (and introduced him to Not Real Art).
• What it means to him to be a creative technologist and how it influences his work.
• The language of programming, how it relates to art, and how John navigates both worlds.
• Fascinating ways that art-making “amplifies” his humanity.
• The evolution of John's iterative artworks and the mediums he uses to create them.
• Insight into his transition from photography to painting and how he “found his voice.”
• The inspiration behind his current exhibition, Perfect Temperature Lava in New York.
• Why hope, joy, and play are more important than they might seem.
• Work-life balance for artists and how self-care keeps John focused.
• How the Pomodoro time-management technique can benefit artists.
• John’s emergent vision for himself and his practice in 2024 and beyond.
• The power of therapy, putting yourself out there, and other advice for aspiring artists.
• Reflections on what it means to be a truly great artist.

For more information, please visit http://notrealart.com/john-houck

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this episode ran in March 2021 and has been updated with a new introduction. 

Historically, street art has been used as a powerful tool for community engagement thanks to its ability to transcend physical and social boundaries. In today’s special podcast episode, guest host and muralist Erin Yoshi sits down with public arts luminary Judy Baca to discuss the painter’s pioneering social work in the urban environment of L.A., the former “mural capital of the world.”

“Long before the predominance of graffiti art on the street, there were writings on the street," says Judy. “There was no control over who could paint where, and it was in that climate—1972—that I stepped out onto the street.” 

Soon after, In 1974, Judy founded the City of Los Angeles’ first mural program, which produced over 400 murals, employed thousands of local participants, and eventually evolved into the Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC), where she continues to serve as artistic director. “The work I was doing needed to be institutionalized in educational systems,” she says. “There was so much work to be done around the kind of training that we needed to get another generation of artists into the world, to [give] another generation of young people the stepping stones to advance, and [without] having to start at the very beginning, as I did. So it became increasingly important to me to do the teaching, to see SPARC thrive and continue.”

Judy attributes SPARC’s success to their unique participatory model, which allows community members to contribute their ideas and talents to local murals. “I was interested in a participatory methodology that not only included the ideas of the people but included them in the process of the making,” says Judy, who observes a vast cultural distinction between murals in different L.A. neighborhoods. “Whose memories are saved?” she muses. “Whose stories are told? Whose history is taught? That became a quest that has been my life's work: the land’s memory, whose stories are told and remembered, and how we come up with the real story of America.”

Key Points From This Episode:

• Insight into Judy’s start as a muralist in LA, the former “mural capital of the world.”
• How permitting and bureaucratic control have hindered the creative process of public art.
• Ways that SPARC sought to change the face of LA by representing the people in it.
• The genesis of SPARC and what Judy’s cross-cultural vision for it entailed.
• Judy’s unifying ambition to excavate unknown stories that led to The Great Wall of LA.
• What she learned about dynamic imagery from the late great David Alfaro Siqueiros.
• Steps for creating a participatory community-based project like The Great Wall.
• Relationships built during the creation of The Great Wall that are still intact today.
• The drive to institutionalize her work that led Judy to become a professor at UCLA.
• Why she decided early on that she wouldn’t try to “make it” in the world of fine art.
• Unpacking the hierarchy of the arts that deems community art “low brow.”
• Reasons that The Great Wall is so critical at a time of heightened awareness of injustice.
• How SPARC has become a modern marvel with an inspiring heritage.
• The future of women’s leadership that Judy’s Matriarchal Mural addresses.

For more information, please visit http://notrealart.com/judy-baca

“Making artwork probably saved my life,” says mixed-media artist Amanda Maccagnan. “[It] helped me figure out who I am, where I was going, and what I was doing—and it continues to do.”

Navigating the boundary between traditional techniques and contemporary influences, Amanda is rapidly making a name for herself as a rising star in the art world. Working primarily with stained glass, Amanda combines multiple mediums to create unexpected, radical pieces that satirize cultural expectations through exaggeration. Her bold, tongue-in-cheek works frame the artist as a rebel who’s comfortable with making her own rules whenever necessary. 

On today’s podcast episode, host and NOT REAL ART founder Scott “Sourdough” Power sits down with Amanda to discuss the glass artist’s belief in the spiritual nature of her practice. 

“My spiritual practice is one of open acceptance,” she says. “As a human, I just want to be receptive to whatever the universe has for me at this point. I believe in vibrational resonance and the powers of symbols and belief, as well as practical and intuitive magic. I feel like that's where my spirituality comes in with my work—it feels like it's more about an energetic realization that creating artwork and being able to manifest thoughts into something tangible and real is alchemy.”  

Amanda shares her thoughts on using art as therapy, incorporating magic mushrooms into her creative process, and preserving archaic art forms, like glasswork, through apprenticeship. As you’ll discover, Amanda’s success story hinges on the artist’s resilience, reinvention, flexibility, and creative audacity: “There is no such thing as talent,” she quips. “Just try hard and believe in yourself. It's just putting yourself into what you do. That's the talent.” Tune into today’s podcast episode with Amanda Maccagnan for plenty of charm and just the right amount of attitude.

Key Points From This Episode:

• Amanda’s creative upbringing and what drew her to stained glass.
• Art as therapy: how making art helped her figure out who she is.
• Amanda’s love for John Waters and her inclusion in the Pope of Trash exhibition.
• The important role of apprenticeship in preserving traditional mediums like stained glass.
• Why Amanda says she took to glasswork like she’d been doing it her whole life.
• The alchemy of art: how artists can manifest their thoughts into something tangible.
• The role of psychedelics and spirituality in Amanda’s practice.
• Insight into her process and some of the exciting projects that she is working on currently.
• What John Waters had to say about the stained glass portraits Amanda created of him.
• Her journey into the novel world of augmented reality (AR) painting.
• The mental toll that the current state of the world takes for many young people today.
• Final thoughts on the nature of talent (and why Amanda believes there’s no such thing).

For more information, please visit http://notrealart.com/amanda-maccagnan

If our hosts were going to exploit anyone, they’d choose Sean Grant. During this episode, you’ll find out why. Sean might be unsure about whether or not he’s an artist, but he certainly doesn’t kick off his set with nearly as much violence as the comic he once saw using the term ‘pussy boy’ in his opening line. He knows a thing or two about how hard the Mexican community can party and he’s here to remind listeners that Will Smith is not the inventor of slapping comedians on stage. He also shares his perspective on what a mother’s love can and can’t cure, fertility and family planning, the secret to a long-lasting marriage, and breaking the stereotype that Black men take surveys. Tune in today to hear all this and more!

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Sean Grant

Sean Grant on YouTube

Sean Grant on Instagram

Laugh Gallery

Laugh Gallery on Instagram

Scott "Sourdough" Power

Katie Love

Jackie Loeb is one of those rare comics where the more you watch her, the more you realize that she lives in her own world and that you are just lucky to be there with her! Her humor is also extremely accessible and radiates with unadulterated kindness. That said, this hilarious woman is no joke and will take down anyone that stands between her and a great punchline. After she took part in a video version of Laugh Gallery, we invited Jackie back for a 20-minute set as part of our 420 Comedy Show. Tuning in today, you’ll hear the premise of Jackie’s first feature-length film (a middle-aged woman who tries to break into people’s homes and steal their packages), why she is constantly being addressed in Russian, and how her BMI revealed that she is, in fact, the wrong height for her weight. Her set is filled with incredible one-liners (who else would describe themselves as a proud member of the LGBTQI plus-sized community?) and priceless observations from an Australian living in America. You won’t want to miss Jackie’s rib-tickling outlook on life or her special rendition of an English-French love song!

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Jackie Loeb

Jacie Loeb on Facebook

Laugh Gallery

Laugh Gallery on Instagram

Scott ”Sourdough” Power

Katie Love

Crewest Studio

Warning: today’s episode is only going to get weirder and weirder! Lisa Gopman is a comedian and the co-founder of Oh My Ribs! And she joins us today to give us an overview of her unusual conversations with name-dropping health professionals, a glimpse into her horrendous experience of the global pandemic, and the highs and lows of her recent psychological unraveling. Hear about her podiatrist's comedic suggestions and the highlights from her screenwriting rabbi’s memorable free services. Lisa also shares the story of her father’s coma, assuring her audience that it gets funnier. If you’re looking to adopt a couple of cats, find a new show to watch in a foreign language or learn what not to do at your next Thanksgiving gathering, this episode is for you! 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Lisa Gopman on Twitter

Oh My Ribs!

Laugh Gallery

Laugh Gallery on Instagram

Scott ”Sourdough” Power

Katie Love

Books by Katie Love

The theme of this show by Mark Fernandez is gratitude. From the gratitude he feels to his audience to the gratitude his dog experienced when he pulled an entire Q-tip out of his ass. In a short 20 minutes, Mark manages to cover some seriously big topics like racism, the Me Too movement, the complicated nature of relationships, and aging. Even though Mark has reached the ripe old age of 60 (which has been a rude awakening, as you’ll hear today), he’s still as dynamic and hilarious as ever, and he’ll probably be gracing audiences with his jokes for the next 25 years! Mark is a love bug, very accessible on stage, and there’s no doubt that his 6-word short story, his explanation of his interaction with a coyote, and his takeaways from The Vagina Monologues will have you laughing! 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Mark Fernandez on Facebook

The Vagina Monologues

Laugh Gallery

Laugh Gallery on Instagram

Scott ”Sourdough” Power

Welcome back to the Laugh Gallery as we continue to bring you brilliant comedy sets from our recent 420 event. Adam Barnhardt is on the mic today, and his impeccable timing and transcendental characterization earn him the title of a true comedic genius! After our hosts break the ice with some amusing country song titles and lyrics, Adam takes the stage to talk about how strange life is in L.A., with anecdotes of owning a dog, the hypocrisy of “woke,” the inconvenience of COVID, and the freaks that exist in every corner of L.A. Adam also reminds us to stop being assholes as he explains why he’s letting go is his resting oh-my-fucking-god face, and why using drugs is still a bad idea. Tune in now to find out why homelessness is freedom, how laughter is medicine, why angry people are easier to trust, and why not all gay people are the same. Adam is a very physical comedian, so his jokes might be a little strange to listen to without the visuals, so be sure to head over to our YouTube channel for the full experience of his wonderful set! 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Adam Barnhardt

Adam Barnhardt on Twitter

Adam Barnhardt on Facebook

‘Adam Barnhardt | Laugh Gallery Stand Up Comedy’ 

Crewest Studio on YouTube 

Crewest Studio

Laugh Gallery

Laugh Gallery on Instagram

Scott “Sourdough” Power

Katie Love

What does the NBA have that Formula One doesn’t? And have you ever considered that the Grinch may be exhibiting some unusual symptoms that typically accompany issues with substance abuse? Today’s guest, Sean Conner, ponders all these questions, and many more in his 420 set at the Laugh Gallery. Tune in for a set that’s bluer than most, with bold takes on topics like kink-shaming, unusual threesomes, and what you can learn about a woman from the type of soap she uses. Sean tells us about loving Dragon Ball Z as a kid, how anime helped him lose his first fight, and why he’s not on board with the fact that Japanese cartoons have become a perfectly respectable interest. To hear all of Sean’s fascinating takes and wicked punchlines, be sure to tune in! 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Sean Conner on Instagram

Sean Conner on Twitter

Laugh Gallery

Laugh Gallery on Instagram

Scott ”Sourdough” Power

Katie Love