Dr. Lisa Gives a Sh*t

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

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.

⁠Jen Dalton ⁠+ ⁠William Powhida⁠ are the founders of the ⁠Zero Art Fair⁠. The basic concept that drives the fair is to get great art that artists have in storage—out of storage and into people's lives, irregardless of their financial situation to purchase art. They started the⁠ fair upstate last year ⁠and this year, they were invited to present it at a highly respected institution in Chelsea, ⁠The Flag Art Foundation. ⁠

Bill and Jen explore and illuminate their ideas and innovations with Dr. Lisa. They discuss their various projects and processes, (their first project together was in 2008), leading up to this fair and where they are now—getting work into art lovers hands, especially if those folks don't have the disposable income to buy art.

Such a fun talk to hear how Jen and Bill have really honed their thinking and process, keeping in mind the desire to make these fairs and interventions scaleable and sustainable simply so the plans can be implemented anywhere.

I encourage you to listen to this episode as Bill and Jen describe this important project which seeks to go beyond an art fair and open a dialogue about so much more—such as what is the value of art and what is the social purpose of it?

The basics of the Zero Art Fair ⁠HERE⁠

JEN DALTON

https://www.jenniferdalton.com/ @jendalton_

Bio: Jennifer Dalton (born 1967) is an American artist. She received her Master of Fine Arts from Pratt Institute in 1997.

Dalton's work has been exhibited in galleries and museums internationally, including the FLAG Art Foundation in New York, the Curator's Office in Washington, DC, Kunsthalle Wien (Vienna), Contemporary Museum in Baltimore and the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art. She was also included in La Superette at Deitch Projects, Participant Inc. and The Cult of Personality: Portraits of Mass Culture at Carriage Trade, both in New York.

She has been an artist-in-residence at numerous artist colonies, including the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, Vermont Studio Center, Millay Colony for the Arts and the Smack Mellon Studio Residency Program. She was a recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant in 2002.

WILLIAM POWHIDA

https://williampowhida.com/ @williampowhida

BIO: William Powhida (born 1976) is an American visual artist and former art critic.Powhida's work is critical and addresses the contemporary art world. Powhida received his Master of Fine Arts in painting from Hunter College in January 2002.

He is currently represented by Postmasters Gallery (NY), Charlie James Gallery (LA), Poulsen Gallery (DK), and Platform Gallery (WA). He holds a BFA in Painting from Syracuse University and an MFA in painting from Hunter College. His work has been written about in the New York Times, Artforum, Art in America, The Los Angeles Times, Hyperallergic, ArtFCity, The Guardian, the New Yorker, New York Magazine, and October among other publications. His work in the collections The San Diego Museum of Art, The Henry Art Museum, The Crocker, The Orange County Museum of Art, Casa Maaud, and JP Morgan Chase.

James and I had a very deep therapy session about James relationship with his mother and his relationships with women in general. It was highly personal and too revealing to post — so if you didn't hear it live, you missed it — but enjoy this video of James as Artist-in-Residence of Lockheed Martin .

Here's James show on Radio Free Brooklyn: James & Ibhan Radio Show:
Hosted by James Azzaretti & Ibhan Kulkarni LIVE every Sunday at 11:00am

James & Ibhan are Brooklyn Comedians who's lived and performed in the area for close to a decade. These golden voiced gods will regal you with wit, charm, smarm, and calm. Music, special guests, and special bits. Only here, only now.

Insta:

James Azzaretti: @snazzaretti

Ibhan Kulkarni: @doublelagaan

@jamesandibhan
@chickenbigcomedy

I invited comedian Casey James Salengo

“When the war broke out, Konstantin and Vlada were both 29 years old. They had been together for eight years, and married for five. The Odessa couple originally planned to flee for safety when the full-scale invasion began. But with bags packed and ready to depart, they could not bring themselves to leave.”

Konstantin and Vlada are in NYC on the last leg of their tour throughout the U.S. to accept an award from the US Embassy in Kiev. (I may have some award details wrong here, but you get the point.)

As they agreed to be on the show, I told them I wanted to focus on discussing their relationship in such an intense situation, especially since they had begun their practice as wedding photographers. I mean talk about a growth experience! Beyond my imagination.

MORE INFO:

THEIR INCREDIBLE PHOTO WORK: https://www.ukrainianphotographers.com/en/photographers/kostiantyn-and-vlada-liberov

A detailed photo story about their experience during the invasion in Odesa, Ukraine: https://civilvoicesmuseum.org/en/stories/viyna-tse-ne-statystyka-a-konkretna-lyudyna-zi-svoim-konkretnym-strashnym-gorem

A fantastic 14 min. doc about them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDt_PK1SU1c

Instagram: ⁠@libkos⁠

Website: https://www.libkos.com/

 Caroline is a really talented comedian who is very busy with her comedy career, partner and Vet School!

Listening to Caroline talk about her childhood and having been home-schooled, she helped me understand why home-schooling can be a really damaging experience. And maybe that's one big reason why, when she moved to NYC, she went alcohol-crazy (who wouldn’t? + also simplifying) —if you want to know details, you have to listen.

Anyway, here’s someone who really turned their life around and getting very close to achieving more of her goals. Her comedy is going great, she’s in a healthy 4-year relationship and soon, she will be certified as a  Vet Tech and making bank $$$.  @carolineblaircomic