Welcome to episode 231 with Krystal Evans who is a writer and stand-up comedian.

Krystal is also the author of The Hottest Girl at Burn Camp, a memoir about growing up poor in America, living with a mentally ill mother and narrowly escaping a house fire that led to the unimaginable tragedy of losing her sister.

In this episode I chat to Krystal about the chaos of her childhood, the impact of constantly moving from place to place, changing schools and repeatedly starting over and how identity and a sense of place are important for how we come to understand ourselves and build a foundation for good mental health.

We chat about what it’s like to grow up in an unpredictable household, why things like blame and responsibility get complicated when it comes to family and how everyone assumes a traumatic childhood automatically leads to a messed-up adult.

We also chat about the housefire that Krystal survived when she was 14, the process of finding comedy in that tragedy and how she wrote about it for her comedy special and her book.

Krystal’s book is funny and heart breaking and a lot of other things too and it was a pleasure to chat to her all about it.

Follow Krystal @krystalevanscomedy and learn more at www.comedykrystal.com

The Hottest Girl at Burn Camp is available here: Buy the Book | Krystal Evans

You can connect with me on social media @propermentalpodcast or via www.propermentalpodcast.com.

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Thanks for listening!