When I met Leonard Smith, Jr., he was a guest on a podcast called Florida VS., a show where comedian Peter Murphy compares his experiences of growing up in wacky FLA with those of his guests. Leonard mentioned "energy" a couple times, and drugs several more times. All signs pointed towards his being willing to speak about all that and more on my show.

Additionally, I could tell that he was a big lover, smooshed into the caustic case that comedians can frequently inhabit. My own supposition is that it's this protective barrier that helps enable them to engage in what they do, which is lay their personal and often messy truths bare for the art of comedy, which I've always thought is a pretty trippy and brave endeavor.

Among other things, we get into growing up in the conservative south, the perception of psychedelics by Leonard's peers in the Black community, his relationship to a multitude of mind-altering substances, the unique challenges posed by the pursuit of a career that demands constant vulnerability, how not to get cynical to the point of despair, and why he just might be smoking too much weed.

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