Let Me Ascertain You: The Civilians Podcast

We are in the thick of exploring our competing sex and death drives, and that interesting space where the two overlap and even coalesce.

In this episode, we are searching for the "white light," that surreal experience that can really open happen in sex or death, when we glimpse the soul. First up is actor Parker Drown performing Trevor, an NYC “rent boy,” followed by Jeanine Serralles performing Kelli Dunham, a writer/performer with the tag line “Everyone’s Favorite Ex-Nun, Genderqueer, Nerd Comic.” Learn more about Kelli’s fascinating story at kellidunham.com. To close out this podcast, we welcome back Grace McLean, whose layered vocals you may remember from our Sex Variants series. Grace’s original song, “Where is the White Light,” was inspired by an interview we did with Veronica, an energy healer.

Let Me Ascertain You is back with a new series examining two of The Civilians’ favorite fixations: sex and death.

This first podcast in the series focuses on death as the ultimate turn-on. To start us off, we have Stephen Plunkett performing a monologue from an interview we did with famed porn director Craven Moorehead. Then we have Sam Breslin Wright performing an interview with Johannes, an Austrian who runs an arts/technology festival that buries people alive, aptly named, “The Six Feet Under Club.” Following that, cabaret superstar Lady Rizo performs her original song “Under” which she wrote with Yair Evnine. This song is based on our interview with Kitty, a “Six Feet Under Club” participant who got buried alive with her lover.

This is our fourth and final episode of our Let Me Ascertain You: Sex Variants 1941, taking inspiration from a study conducted in the 1930’s by Dr. George Henry in which he interviewed a couple hundred individuals and cataloged data such as a complete family history with symbols to indicate who had what venereal disease, tuberculosis, alcoholism, who committed suicide, who was psychotic. We set some of these personal histories to song and brought others to life with monologues performed at Joe’s Pub in NYC.

To kick us off, we’ll start with a song written and performed by Max Vernon taking inspiration from the case study of Moses I. And the little intro you’ll hear is taken from Dr. Henry’s own words, performed by Trey Lyford. Also featured, actor Nedra McClyde performing the case study of Myrtle K, a vaudeville comedian. After that, we’ll wrap things up with a sea shanty, “Odd Girl Out” written by Jill Sobule, inspired by Roberta H., and performed by Marykate O’Neil. Many thanks to everyone involved in this project and our project contributors Ian Daniel, Joel Glassman, Amina Henry, Leicester Landon, and Benjamin Viertel.

Welcome to episode three in our series Let Me Ascertain You: Sex Variants 1941. Recorded live at Joe’s Pub in New York City, this show takes its inspiration from the medical book Sex Variants: A study of Homosexual Patterns by Dr. George W. Henry. For each of his case studies, Dr. Henry recorded a detailed and intimate personal history, and we are sharing some of these with you now through performances by actors and in original songs. In between, you will sometimes hear Dr. Henry’s own introductions to these case studies; those bits are performed by actor Trey Lyford. Our first piece is a song by the writing team of Erato Kremmyda and Maggie-Kate Coleman. Cyrilla Baer interprets the words of Rowena K. Following that is Rudolph Von H, a monologue performed by David Cale. And to close the third episode, we have a song by Michael Freidman inspired by the case study of Sydney H. Michael’s song is performed here by Dito Van Riegersberg accompanied on the piano by Nathan Dames.

Hi! We’re back with the second episode of Let Me Ascertain You: Sex Variants 1941 recorded live here in NYC at Joe’s Pub. This series takes its inspiration from a 1941 medical book by Dr. George W. Henry. Subtitled "A Study of Homosexual Pattern," Dr. Henry classified these case studies as homosexuals, bi-sexuals, or narcissists. A little something for everyone. In this episode we’ll start off with the case study of Irene K., played at our live show by Kate Buddeke. The evening’s MC Trey Lyford will first give us a little intro to Irene K., and his words are taken verbatim from Dr. Henry’s "general impressions" of the variant in question.

Then you’ll hear "That Crazy Business" a song written by Andrea Grody about the case study Nora M. performed by Jessie Shelton and Nathan Dame. The last two performances are based on the same patient, Donald H. First actor Dan Domingues performs Donald’s own words from his personal history and we’ll follow that with a song, "The Future Looks Very Fine," written by Cesar Alvarez, and performed here by Cesar and the rest of his band The Lisps which are Sammy Tunis, Eric Farber, and Lorenzo Wolff.

We’re kicking off a new series here at Let Me Ascertain You. These podcasts are taken from our live shows performed at Joe's Pub here in New York City, and our most recent show was called Sex Variants 1941. As you may know, our shows are typically inspired by interviews we do ourselves but for this one we are borrowing our inspiration from a medical study entitled Sex Variants: a study of homosexual patterns. The book is a collection of case studies conducted by Dr. George W. Henry of Cornell University. Dr. Henry interviewed over 200 people about the sex lives, their childhoods, their family history - pretty much no stone was left unturned. There are also some really amazing drawings of the subjects’ genitalia, though only those of the female subjects. It’s unclear as to why that is exactly. We are bringing it all back to life in this podcast series.

Dr. Henry provided his written analysis of each case study, starting off with his general impressions. So throughout this series you’ll hear actor Trey Lyford quoting from Dr. Henry’s impressions. Starting off here with his thoughts on Molly N, followed by a performance of her personal history by the actor Nina Hellman. After Nina, you’ll hear Molly N.’s words turned into song by Grace McLean in her song "(not) Normal." Then, Brandon Miller performs an excerpt from the case study of Louis E. And we’ll wrap up with a song written by Tim Acito inspired by Noel W. The song which is titled "I Have Had the Earth" is sung by Brandon Davidson accompanied by Tim.

If you haven’t yet, please subscribe here on iTunes to hear upcoming episodes in this "Sex Variants" series. You can find us on Twitter and on Facebook – like us we’ll like you back. Until next time!

This is our fourth and final episode of “Let Me Ascertain You: Holy Matrimony” from our investigations into American Weddings. In celebration of the defeat of DOMA in the Supreme Court this past summer we decided to poke around in the grand old institution of marriage and then as we do with each of our Let Me Ascertain You shows, we have actors perform these verbatim interviews in front of a live audience. This show took place in our home away from home, Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater. We’ll start things off with a couple here in NYC who celebrated their 25th anniversary by traveling across the country to get married in every state that currently recognizes legal gay marriage. Here are actors Greg McFadden and Brad Heberlee playing Stephen and Pat.

Then, Susannah Flood plays Caragh, a designer from Australia and Daoud Heidami plays Paul, from the town Normal, Illinois. We did these interviews separately and then edited them together, so Paul and Caragh can tell you their story together.

Our final song of the series is based off of an interview with Brian, manager of the Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel who stars in all of their themed weddings from Elvis to Darth Vader to Fat Bastard. “In Vegas” was written by Erato A. Kremmyda, with lyrics by Maggie-Kate Coleman. Erato and Maggie-Kate are both currently members in our R & D Group this year working on a new show of theirs and we’re glad they lent us their talents for this Vegas extravaganza. “In Vegas” is performed here by Brian Charles Rooney, Annalisa Ledson and Christine Perotta, accompanied by Erato Kremmyda.

Interviews for this podcast were conducted by Joel Glassman and Talya Klein and many thanks to everyone involved in this project and our project contributors Darien Battle, Nora Sørena Casey, Molly Coogan, Ian Daniel, Meredith Domalakes, Gibson Frazier, Joel Glassman, Donnetta Grays, Laura Hedli, Amina Henry, Michelle Jalowski, Alexandra Keegan, Talya Klein, Leicester Landon, Calane Schafer, Jessica Watkins and Colleen Werthmann. If you haven’t subscribed yet there’s no time like right now!

We’re here with episode three of four podcasts of our Let Me Ascertain You: Holy Matrimony! series looking at all things about weddings. Our crew of artists talked to real-life couples as well as the people in the amazing and strange world of the wedding industry. And all these interviews were performed live by actors at Joe’s Pub in our hometown of New York City.

Our first piece is a little bit of a twist: one of our Associate Artists Donnetta Lavinia Grays interviewed and will play here, her very own wife, Shalema. Then, we’re off to New Jersey as Brian Sgambati and Emily Rossell portray the couple Dominick and Rachel. And for this episode’s song, we have something written by composer Andrea Grody inspired by an interview we did with a high-end wedding dress saleswoman in Chicago. "Best Dressed" is performed live by the vivacious and talented Miss Emily Rossell, with Michael Friedman on piano. The interviews for this podcast were conducted by Nora Sørena Casey, Donnetta Grays and Leicester Landon. If you like what you hear or if you have an opinion, please write us or tweet us or facebook us, we love to hear from you.

We’re back with the second episode of Let Me Ascertain You: Holy Matrimony! For this series we did a deep dive into the wonderful world of weddings in America. Or maybe more like a face plant into a three tiered wedding cake. So with icing on our faces and hangover from too much cheap wine… here are a few more interviews performed by actors live at Joe’s Pub in New York City. In this episode, we’re going from Minnesota to the Mississippi Delta and then we’re going off the grid to a Hippy wedding on the land. Greg McFadden and Colleen Werthmann perform Minnesota high school sweethearts Randy & Diane. Emily Ackerman plays Amy, from the Mississippi Delta who is something of an expert on marriage, though as you’ll hear largely through trial and error. And to wrap things up the very talented actor singer and songwriter Rebecca Hart wrote a song “Bad Hippy Wedding” based on an interview we did.

Thanks for listening. Interviews for this podcast were conducted by Talya Klein and Leicester Landon. Please subscribe if you haven’t already, and if you’re feeling extra generous write us a review. It makes a big difference. Until next time.

We’re starting up a new series here at Let Me Ascertain You called “Holy Matrimony!" With DOMA getting taken down by the Supreme Court this past summer and with marriage equality spreading state by state, we thought it was a good time to look in our own Civiliansy way at that very special occasion – the wedding. For the past few months, our intrepid team of interviewers gathered stories from all over America for glimpses into weddings in a Vegas Wedding Chapel, a Courthouse in Louisiana, and even a Taco Bell in Normal, Illinois. Everything was recorded live at Joe’s Pub here in New York City.

We start this first podcast episode with a couple from own home turf, Brooklyn: Becca and Jon, portrayed by Jess Watkins and Trey Lyford. Then, Nedra McClyde plays Ashley, a bride in Michigan who gets into all the details about her wedding night (you might want to send the kids outside to play during that one). To close things out, we’ve got a song by Michael Friedman. This is “Little Match Girl,” a song that has nothing to do with Hans Christian Andersen. This one’s taken from an interview we did with supposedly the number one matchmaker to the rich and powerful here in New York.

Interviews for this podcast were conducted by Amina Henry and Talya Klein . If you haven’t yet, please subscribe to hear upcoming episodes in this “Holy Matrimony” series.