Dr. Lisa Gives a Sh*t

Leslie Goshko is a talented comedian, storyteller, writer, musician, singer and great human. She's been successful in a range of endeavors but at this point she is one of the very few elite live karaoke pianists and music directors with regular gigs at Good Judy and Arlene's Grocery.

Leslie had some heavy shit go down in the past year with her husband having medical problems and emergency room visits where Leslie was the point person in a series of stressful situations. A huge out pooring of support from folks during this difficult period for Leslie and Kyle took them as a big surprise, I know these guys, so I will say it makes sense that people would rush to help this kind, generous and hardworking couple. Thankfully, he's much better now, and we are still working on Leslie accepting help from other people. (She says her professional shrink is too!)

Here's Leslie's previous Dr. Lisa Gives A Shit episodes:

2019: DLG218 Comedian, Writer, Musician, Singer Leslie Goshko and I demonstrate the value of creative people supporting each other.

2016: DLG1646_Leslie Goshko is great at too many things.

More about Leslie Goshko HERE

Gabrielle Bendiner-Viani is an accomplished artist with 2 books, Contested City and a new book, The Cities We Need. Gabrielle makes work about how people connect to their neighborhoods in a communal emotional way by touring and photographing the neighborhood with individuals that live there.

Dr. Lisa wants to know haw an artist as accomplished as Gabrielle is hasn’t put the regular amount of navel gazing that most artists put into their work—what connects Gabrielle to these stories made personal by the people that tell them?

After much discussion it seems as if Gabrielle is maybe just grounded and fulfilled on her own that she is able to be generous and connect with her neighbors by making them the stars of her art and photographs.

Thinking later, after the session, I thought maybe since she got along so well and felt understood by her parents, so perhaps instead of a typical adolescent rebellion to the authority of her parents, her rebellion manifested in reaction, as a professor, to the authority of academia.

About The Cities We Need

Gabrielle Bendiner-Viani is an urbanist, curator, and artist practicing new modes of public arts, design, and urban research for community engagement, and is author of Contested City: Art and Public History as Mediation at New York's Seward Park Urban Renewal Area (University of Iowa Press, 2018). She is principal of the design and research studio Buscada and teaches urban studies and public art at the New School. She was a post-doctoral fellow in visual culture at the International Center of Photography and holds a PhD in environmental psychology from the Graduate Center, CUNY. She regularly consults with arts and culture organizations on community and art engagements and strategic visioning. Her creative practice has been shown at institutions including MIT, the Brooklyn Public Library, the Center for Architecture, Artists Alliance/Cuchifritos Gallery & Project Space, the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, and Tate Britain. Her work on cities, culture, and photography has appeared in journals, including Visual Studies, Urban Omnibus, Space and Culture, Society & Space, and Buildings & Landscapes. She lives in New York City.

Artist Scooter LaForge is a delight. To be honest, I somehow felt like connecting with him on this show was healing for me-now who’s the shrink!?

Scooter’s work is amazing and so instinctual- he cannot not do it. Even though he’s worked with big names like he is as humble as can be. So much to learn from his perspective—growing up as a gay man in a tiny town in Arizona. I have to say I was envious hearing of all the free-range outdoor time he had, but alas the town, it’s sounds really small and devoid of gays which means a pretty homogenous group of people (boring!)

Scooter is the best of what an artist is—someone fueled by their work and satisfied because of it. He complimented me a lot, so I’m going to give him an A as a guest rating.

Follow and learn more about Scooter HERE: https://www.scooter-laforge.com/ Instagram @scooterlaforge @scooter_laforge_a_life_of_art/

BIO: Scooter Laforge began his love affair with art at a very young age while growing up in the small town of Las Cruces, New Mexico. His burning desire to render things beautifully began with his singer/songwriter mother, and his landscape painting father; both equally inspired his creativity and lust for art.

Laforge’s work can be characterized as Pop Art partnered with abstract expressionism and Dutch classicism. His paintings and drawings are portraitures, landscapes, and objective subject matter, utilizing his special painting techniques and incorporating his homoerotic, in your face, non-apologetic lifestyle.  Like Golden Books on acid, his work employs a 50’s illustrated storybook technique, modernized by 70’s color palettes and are influenced heavily by gay pornography, cute fluffy animals, and sometimes iconic cartoons (i.e. SpongeBob Square Pants, The Cookie Monster, and Popeye and Brutis) which are reoccurring characters and themes within his work. 

LaForge earned his BFA from the University of Arizona in 1993,[5] and began his career as a painter in San Francisco.[6] He moved to New York City in 2001,[3] where he attended the Cooper Union School of Art under a fellowship.[8] His art is in the collections of the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art[9] and Beth Rudin DeWoody.[10]

LaForge has a line of hand-painted, unique clothing items that are sold through fashion stylist Patricia Field.[11] He has twice collaborated with Belgian fashion designer Walter Van Beirendonck.[12][13] His clothing has been worn by Susanne Bartsch,[14] Sandra Bernhard,[15] Beyoncé,[8] Miley Cyrus,[6] Boy George,[3] Debbie Harry,[8] Nicki Minaj,[3] Madonna,[8] Iggy Pop,[3] Rihanna,[6] and Lil Wayne.[3]

Joe Kelley has a very long, successful career in the music business, both on air and off. Currently he runs his own management company, Black Jeans Management which represents bands such as @houseofharm, @socialordermusic and @rosegardenfuneralparty Joe is also a fellow host with his own radio show on, Fascination Beat, live every Thursday, 4-5pm on @radiofreebk

I note in the beginning of this session with Joe Kelley is that a first impression presents as a physically large, outgoing, charismatic person who is going to just through his natural vibe likely more often than not becomes the focus of many of the rooms he enters. It's a natural gift that he has. I ask him about it, and in this session we find out if's a double-edged sword and also in the ways that it is. Joe had a traumatic experience with his group of friends in high school. The residue of it is evident today. Does Joe's large personality and physical appearance make people jealous? its seems thats something that his mother and I agree on.

About Joe Kelley

Joe Kelley is a seasoned music industry professional with over a decade of experience in artist relations, booking, and concert and content production. Since 2010, Joe has been actively involved in the music scene, making significant contributions to the industry.

Joe's passion for promoting talented artists led him to manage the internationally renowned online performance platform, BalconyTV, in New York. During his tenure, he played a key role in discovering and showcasing emerging artists, helping them gain exposure to a global audience.

With a strong focus on fostering talent, Joe joined Billboard as the head of artist relations. In this influential position, he oversaw most of Billboard's artist bookings across all departments, showcasing his extensive expertise and network within the industry. Additionally, Joe created and curated the long-running BillboardLive series, which became a highly acclaimed franchise showcasing exceptional live performances from renowned artists.

Following his success at Billboard, Joe joined Magus Entertainment to work alongside a small team as management for Duran Duran and other acts. In this role, he contributed to the production of Duran Duran's 15th studio album, Future Past, and was instrumental in coordinating a series of festival appearances and a long-awaited tour. His work with Magus Entertainment underscored his capability to manage high-profile artists and navigate the complexities of the music industry.

Kambri Crews is an extraordinary woman. Not only in her notable achievements (NYT bestselling author, QED comedy club founder/owner, just to name a few), but also how her hard-to-imagine childhood as the only child of 2 deaf parents, growing up between a shack and a trailer in rural Texas, having a father in jail because of violence against his girlfriend that she witnessed. 

As a performer, club owner, publicist, writer, producer, Kambri has a full pedigree in the comedy world, as well as being married to comedian Christian FInnegan, Comedy Central, James Corden”, “Good Morning America” and “The Today Show”. (And even Dr. Lisa!—episode 291 + episode 314.

It's a joy to have Kambri on Dr. Lisa at this particular moment in time. She's concluding an 11 year stint of owning/creating a beloved (voted #1 venue in NYC by TimeOut New York readers 2022) comedy venue and is turning the reins to a hand-picked, new owner, comedian and friend, Hannah Lieberman, who is eager to embrace her new mantle as owner of

QED. Kambri will still be involved though, she's not going anywhere!

It seems like this is perhaps, the first time in her life, Kambri feels she has

finally accomplished enough that she can take her time deciding on where to put her

focus next. In the meantime there's always ice skating and watercoloring to do...

I've known Jane Mogel since we were freshman in college—50 years!!! And her smart, funny, charming husband, Peter Pitts for almost as long. I went to their wedding in the mid 80's. Jane has a successful business as an interior designer and Peter has a global trotting business as the co-founder of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest. His research, reporting and public appearances range from the New York Times to The Daily Show with John Stewart.

Though I don't usually have close friends on, (I'm trying to be a real shrink, remember?!!), I make an exception here so Jane and I can exchange some college stories and we can talk about Jane and Peter's parenting adventures with their two boys, Jeremy and Ben, now both in their mid-thirties and doing well.

Jane would invite me to stay with her family in New York City in the later 70's and her parents were a big influence on me. They were very sophisticated for a young person like me and they opened my mind to a lot of new things. Her father, Len Mogel was the publisher of the National Lampoon in it's heyday, so some fun stories from that time too. I moved to the East Village right after college and Jane had her own place in the city by then, so we had a lot of fun running around NYC in those years too!

Miller is a comedian that exudes positivity. He has OCD and has struggled with depression which led him to ocd eating and at one point at 6'1", he was 400 lbs. In 2020, he suffered a series of strokes and took charge of his health—he's close to 1/2 the size he once was.

Art is healing. Millers journey through comedy has made him a happy man. He has a close circle of comedy friends and is producing a show of his friend @tahaakahn Halalarious It's coming to the @sohoplayhouse May9, 2025 Sohohttps://ci.ovationtix.com/35583/production/1228838. 

Follow Miller HERE: @themillermark

Miller is obsessed with sports! Listen to his podcast HERE: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/miller-mark3

Originally from Morocco, Layla is a lovely young lady who recently moved to Bushwick from Park Slope a few months ago to find and nurture her creative side which she is pursuing seriously. We talk about the how's and why's she moved to NYC to Morocco, mostly through her career in finance.

She is thinking of playing in a black metal band eventually and as a trans woman, finding photographers and fashion designers to collaborate with and explore different sides of her identity in including androgyny. Personally I loved hearing Layla describe her hometown in Morocco surrounded by the beach.

Roman is 18 years old lives w his mom in Stuyvesant town. 

He’s studying sociology at Pace university and he also founded and fronts a band, Holiem. Roman is all about his music and his band. Dr. Lisa is a bit verklempt listening to a young person who has found his true love - and his excitement of starting out on his journey in music. He is also in love with his girlfriend-personally - I had a little counter transference of envy witnessing his excitement of the world that’s open to him at this phase in his life. He’s humble and grateful to his folks, his 2 brothers and his girlfriend. 

Listen to his music on Spotify HERE: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5HQOT0L9FSN2ek1xiVJHpM?si=oiDsRZlBQy-Sx-G_XMvGig

Follow Roman on Instagram HERE: @holiem__

Nick Viagas is very talented comedian. You can hear me say in the beginning of this session that he is handsome, which he is. He also stutters a bit. That combo of funny, attractive and vulnerability (a stutterer!) makes him appealing to the ladies. It seems he doesn't have to try too hard to get their attention and truthfully, they mostly take the initiative with Nick.

Nick enjoys this of course! but he has reservations. Is he spending time (euphemism, you know what I mean) with them because it's what he wants or is it more that he's just not turning it down?

Nick talks about his childhood and his family (challenging) and where he is now. He is extremely forthcoming and if I wanted to I could make this summary into lascivious clickbait but I have too much integrity for that! Damnit!

Anyway, Nick is very articulate and self-aware with a great heart. You can learn a lot about how men see women from this session and maybe even a sexual health session. I know I did!

See Nick perform! Feb. 15, 7pm https://www.secondcity.com/shows/new-york/struggle-bus-nyc

Follow Nick @nickviagas