October was a month of feeling the flow of fall, changing colors, crisper air, and a rush of new art. Autumn has never been quite my favorite, but I noticed it a different arrival this year, it arrived slowly, humid and hesitant, and yet everything seemed to move more smoothly. The theme running through the month: taking a risk as restorative. Nathan Lane’s line in conversation with Mike Birbiglia rang true — “The safest thing you can do is take a risk.”My risk this month was starting a 5-week solo show workshop at The Barrow Group (Seth Parrish directed Mike Birbiglia’s first three specials). I am currently about half way through and have been working on the outline. I have often compared my ambition to Hannah Gadsby and Mike Birbiglia miraculously had a baby and it is Gregory Meander. Here is an example of the story breakdown. The outline itself is challenging as I am working with 18 + years of material at this point. I had started it as a memoir in El Salvador in 2007, wrote a libretto to a musical in 2021, and have three drafts of plays that seemingly have nothing to do with my personal life. I have taken three essay writing classes, a playwriting class, and now I find myself in a “solo show workshop.” Yet, still through all of this I have not published anything other than these silly little blogs. All this “process” was parallel to mental health and physical healing. The story itself - asking myself- what is the intersection of interesting, stragetic, compelling, and of course, funny? I want this dark material to be funny. I am not setting out to shock, or be a provacteur for no reason. I want you to laugh. I want you to release the tension. But, first, I have to learn to build it, create my world and invite you into it. Testing out a story last weekend at West Side Comedy Club was liberating. The standup’s goal is to feel as comfortable as I am in everyday life on the sidewalk and take that to the stage. The bridge from sidewalk funny to stage funny is a long one. I have been known to crush at Schmakery’s cookie shop and Sullivan Bakery in Hell’s Kitchen. Showing up in unexpected places and making people laugh has been a new goal of mine.

I ran 20 miles for the first time, began work on a solo show workshop, moved on from coaching after two years with Team New York Aquatics, and launched a new personal website for my professional work. Here’s what kept me inspired this month:

THEATER & COMEDY

Little Bear Ridge Road (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) was the most stirring play I’ve seen all year — crafting silence as language, grief as subtle shifts across a stage. I have seen it twice now in previews, and it is a riveting 80 minutes. Beetlejuice (⭐️⭐️⭐️) was a wild night out again, campy and dark in equal measure. It has returned to Broadway for the third time ending their national tour at the Palace Theater.

Comedy kept me grounded during this unstable time. I attended Mary Beth Barone & Friends (⭐️⭐️⭐️) — small room, big laughs, and a lot of new comics. I started my Solo Show Workshop at The Barrow Group, where I’m shaping The Dope (working title). It’s part stand-up, part archaeological excavation. I want people to laugh, but also to hold their breath a little, to feel that tremor between truth and and the relief of laughing. I was able to test out a story this past weekend at West Side. It was interesting to hold the audience for a bit longer looking for that longer pay off after spending 3 minutes setting up the punch. Another risk! It paid off…this time.

VISUAL ART

Two exhibitions stood out this month: Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective at MoMA (⭐️⭐️⭐️) and Divine Egypt at The Met (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️). Asawa’s wire sculptures feel like drawings of space in suspended in air, elegant systems made from nothing more than patience and vision. Egypt’s ancient belief systems that reminded me how devotion and design overlap.

NATURERunning became my moving motivation again — the Blue Line Run with Frontrunners New York, 20 miles of the NYC Marathon course was a highlight. I found myself returning to my breath, noticing how the neighborhoods shift block by block as I ran from Brooklyn through Queens into the Bronx and finished in Central Park. It’s a reminder that I can do hard things. I signed up for my first marathon this coming April in Jersey City.

WHAT ALREADY HAPPENED IN NOVEMBER• Prince F****t (⭐️⭐️) Closing December 13• Bat Boy: The Musical (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) Closing November 9th• More time writing The Dope and rehearsing

WHAT I’M EXCITED ABOUT IN NOVEMBER• Studio Museum in Harlem Reopening• New York Comedy Week :: Alex Edelman at Carnegie Hall• Chess • Mike Birbiglia and J. Hope Stein at Joe’s Pub • Macy’s Day Parade Balloon Preview Tradition

UPCOMING LIVE PERFORMANCESDecember 6, 2025 at Westside Comedy Club at 6 PM Get your tickets now! It is cheaper in advance - write Gregory Meander.

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