Gavin Rogers has the most genuinely positive vibe of anyone that I can
personally think of. I think because his happiness is the real deal
and hard won. He was diagnosed with non-hodgkin's lymphoma the day
after his 7th birthday and was very sick, in and out of hospitals,
doing chemo, and all the difficulties that go with that.

Gavin was lucky and remains grateful today to his rock solid supportive family for getting him through all that and coming out ok. In my opinion, on an emotional development level, maybe even better. He's been in
remission since then, some 20+ years. He's still processing his
experience, since as he gets older his perspective changes, but he is
one happy dude!

He has found a passion for comedy in the past few years, performs regularly, has his own show @coldbeercomedy. And that's not all! Gavin met the love of his life 10 years ago (he's only 30 now!) and they are getting married Valentine's Day!!!!

I just wish I could bottle the rare version of Gavin's positivity
cause it is real and you can feel it-not like "influencer" fake
positivity.

This is the 3rd time I've had Lana on my show and we rocked it. Lana is a brilliant rapidly rising comedian whose doing the hard work it takes to get to where she is—performing at The Comedy Cellar and having her own special (shot—coming out soon) on DryBar comedy .

We start talking about Lana's relationship with her mother and I suggest doing a "role-play" where I act as her mother and she says what she wishes she could say to her. I think we surprised ourselves on what came out of this. I know this sounds like a teaser, but it is seriously hard to describe. Absurd, hilarious and VERY REAL.

Check out Lana at these spots:@drybarcomedy SPECIAL @amazonprime @nycomedyfest @comedycellarusa HEADLINING Peckville, PA 9/28; VA 11/1 ; MD 11/16 & lots more tba

Instagram @lanasiebel

Hear Lana talk about being a refugee from Ukraine to American at 7 years old. how she built her comedy career, her husband and now 11-year old son (destined for comedy, I think) on our previous episodes here:

DLG277 Lana Siebel is a rare find in the comedy world: talented, hilarious, smart and KIND.

DLG323 A funny/serious session with comedy mentor Lana Siebel.

Charles H. Traub is a photography legend. His accomplishments are vast. He taught my husband photography at SVA 25 years ago. I was grateful to have a chance to interview him (Charles H. Traub is the chair of the Photography, Video and Related Media department at the School of Visual Arts in New York City)—BUSY GUY), in conjunction with his solo exhibition, Something Funny in the STILLLIFE at the Dog House Gallery, which is a gallery I run to highlight funny artists such as Charles, housed in the offices of The Brooklyn Comedy Collective, 137 Montrose Ave., Brooklyn, NY. The show is up until Jan. 2, 2026. Gallery Hours: Monday-Wednesday, 1:00pm - 7:00pm. Sundays 12-6pm

Since I am a pretend *shrink*, I wanted to talk to Charles about his life and emotional/creative development in relation to his work. After reading about Charles's family on his website, I was really curious to learn how his relationship with his father had a foundational role in Charles work as well as his relationships with mentors and students.

It was really interesting to hear about, as a young man, Charles formed a lot of relationships with other older photographers, inspiring him to became an innovative leading educator and world-renowned photographer.

A real treat was talking with Charles about the work he's making today. His face lights up with the childlike enthusiastic vibe thats as shiny and inspired as ever.

Instagram: @charlestraub

Charles Traub Bio

Charles Traub Website

I had a blast with Kevin Allison in this session. At over a million downloads a month, live shows all over the country, a book and more-RISK! 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" developed throughout the show, and how there will never be enough downloads to make him happy.

I've always loved Brian Boucher's work and I was finally introduced to him by Ben Davis at the spectacular Zero Art Fair opening. Anyway, I immediately invited him to guest on the show.

Doing research on Brian, I observed that in his writing, 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 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

WARNING: This episode may inspire you to work harder.

George Hayward is a brilliant guy and a brilliantly original comedian. I met him at a favorite open mic at @PineBoxRockShop run by @steve_malden and @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 14:00

George Hayward Delivers The Good News in 1997 First Communion 1:04 ( Clip of George lecturing as a child )

The Good News: George Hayward Addresses the 1Ls at Stanford Law School 25:00 The 25 min set to the Stanford law students that started it all

Talk to Em: George Hayward Addresses the MBAs at Stanford Business School 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 He has a great newsletter too = sign up here: THE RUBESLETTER

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, 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, a weekly newsletter with over 15,000 subscribers.

Mick's special: Don't Be So Positive HERE.

Mick's webseries HERE.

Mick's previous episode on Dr. Lisa HERE.

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.

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.

Misha Wurman is a professional bartender and cocktail creator. If you want to get one of Misha's original cocktails, here's 2 options of where you can visit him bartending—

Paradise Lost (Tuesdays) 100 2nd Ave., New York, NY, 10003

Public Records upstairs cocktail lounge (Friday/Saturday) 233 Butler St, Brooklyn, NY 11217

Misha Wurman is 27-year-old bartender who Dr. Lisa has basically watched grow up since he was born. He's got this really interesting mixed background - Afro-Caribbean on his mom's side and Russian/Swedish/Jewish on his dad's side. Growing up was pretty complicated because he'd spend weekdays with his mom and grandma in Spanish Harlem, then weekends with his dad in this fancy SoHo loft. When his mom got sick, he ended up living with his dad's parents in Rhode Island for over six years.

How He Got Into Bartending

What Makes Him Good At It

⁠http://saraschaefer.com/⁠

@saraschaefer1

Crafting Through It on YouTube

This is a great session with Sarah Schaefer, a comedian and artist who's created a fascinating art exhibit called "A Few Slight Concerns" - three miniature rooms at 1:12 scale representing her personal anxieties. There's a hotel room (from years of touring comedy clubs), a green room where comedians wait before performing, and her own craft room. She's literally "minimizing" her problems by turning spaces where she's had obsessive, anxious thoughts into art she can put on a shelf and walk away from.

Sarah's been doing comedy for 23 years and has performed everywhere from Comedy Central to Netflix, but she's questioning whether to stay in the industry because of the moral compromises it seems to require. She grew up in Richmond where her mom ran an amazing charity operation feeding homeless people, which gave her strong values but also this sense that her own problems weren't "big enough" to matter. Recently diagnosed with ADHD, she now understands her obsessive, hyperfocused work style - like how she gets so absorbed making miniatures that her workspace becomes what her husband calls a "nest."

The interview captures this really relatable struggle of being a creative person trying to figure out meaningful work when the world feels chaotic. Sarah's doing a solo show called "Going Up" that combines comedy with miniatures, and she's honestly wrestling with whether art matters and what direction to take her career next.