Dr. Lisa Gives A Sh*t

Nikhil Melnechuk, is the director of the Bowery Poetry Club and https://www.bowerypoetrystudios.com and producer of feature documentary "Don't Be Nice," https://www.bowerypoetrystudios.com/dont-be-nice/ which is about to premier at 2018 Bushwick Film Festival https://www.bushwickfilmfestival.com. We had a great deep dive into the world of slam poetry, which is a great template for understanding performance, writing and art in general. What's more important, "Making the work or pleasing the audience?" question gets turned over and examined a few times. More about Nik here! https://www.bowerypoetrystudios.com/staff/nikhilmelnechuk

Anthony is a thoughtful guy for such silly songs. I guess I’m thinking now his silly songs are not very silly at all when you really think about them. https://music.anthonykapfer.com/ He’s super-talented and can’t help following his own path, which makes for a lot of great stories. We really bonded, especially since he reminded me of Frank Zappa. We got to play his music, a song from his album “Songs for Children to Cry To”— “D is for Divorce,” which is hilarious and created an earworm that I still have right now. Thanks Anthony :/! There’s some really intense conversation about 2 car accidents, one that affected Anthony as a young child and one as an adult. This episode is extreme crying and laughing. I really felt like we got a window into Anthony in this one. www.anthonykapfer.com/

I’m really depressed and overwhelmed because of Bushwick Open Studios self-pressure, as well as all the other shit going on in my life. A commission – making 12 paintings in 2 weeks! You can feel my distress in the beginning of the session, then Norton comes in and we talk about the spectacular show he is curating at the gallery 100 Bogart which is next store to the studio.so When he comes in, I finally chill out. Norton, who is a spectacular curator and artist, http://www.nortonart.net/ also lives in my same building — we were able to have a direct hilarious conversation about the tension between our dogs! Norton also has a terrific Insta: http://www.nortonart.net/

Marianne Faithful, who knew! I love Billy-I’ve gotten to hang with him at the RFB studio quite a bit. He makes me feel better about my age group cause he’s such a cool guy and has totally kept up, showing me you can stay young forever! Billy’s had a life in music and hosts TWO RFB shows, Thursdays 11am: https://radiofreebrooklyn.com/show/the-attitude-adjustment-show/ AND Sundays 11pm, https://radiofreebrooklyn.com/show/cosmic-debris/ He met Marianne Faithful at the 8th Street record store he was working at in the late 70’s There’s also a lot of boldface music names in this episode from Billy’s adventures. Billy’s childhood includes a tough dad which has likely made him more sensitive. In the past few years, he’s also been devoted to making art and paints all the time, which I didn’t know—great to hear about the motivation behind his paintings.

Amy Hill and I have known each other for a long time, but like with so many artists, we mostly see each other circulating at openings. We use the occasion of her 3rd solo show at Front Room Gallery-https://www.frontroomles.com/ — open until Oct. 21 to sit down together in the RFB studio. It was particularly lovely to be able to sit down with her and grill her about whatever I was interested in knowing about her. She is a charming sport! See more of her incredible work HERE: http://www.amyhillpaintings.com/ So much to uncover about Amy — her childhood — her creative, intelligent family — scientist dad, artsy mom, talented sibling. Everyone had drawing talent. Amy's drawing talent and consistent hard work has definitely been the compass in her life and has opened more doors for her than she will likely admit to — she's way too modest:))Her stories about her early artist years in the lower east side stick in my head. Eventually she and I get to talking about how people have said she and I look alike, which inev

Ikechukwu Ufomadu is an actor, comedian and entertainer. He trained at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and internationally in The Netherlands and Indonesia. Who would've guessed we'd wind up talking about Buddhism? And so much more! I didn't know a whole lot about Buddhism, so it was fascinating to hear about Ike's practice‚— and which helped me understand why Ike is an original performer, like no other. He has a background in experimental theater from NYU Tisch. When you combine it with his original sense of humor and innate desire to simply entertain you get this: http://www.ikehimself.com/ In my role as Dr. Lisa, I got to find out a lot about Ike. How his father moved back to Nigeria when he was a kid and left him with his siblings and mother in Texas. We also dig into what part of Ike does his character come from and represent? I loved hearing Ike talking about how he came to New York to go to NYU and what that was like for him to be new in such an open town. "I’ve always felt strongly that I should dis

When I first, met Sharilyn Neidhardt a few years ago when I moved to Bushwick, I noticed that she was a leader in the community right away, and now I know why. Sharilyn has the goods—in her work, how she handles herself and her presence in a group of people. What I’m saying is, this lady has her shit together. We get to check in with her just a few days before her solo show, SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE, opens at Art During the Occupation Gallery http://www.art-during-the-occupation-gallery.com We talk about the feelings in her work, influences from her job in a newsroom, how making art has replaced drinking, the art group she helps run, Tran-scen-der https://www.facebook.com/transcenderart/ , and how she makes her own fucking oil paints! If you want to read her love of art in her own words, read this: https://drawingnewyork.com/2018/06/12/why-i-draw-by-sharilyn-neidhardt/ After reading this and talking with her, I felt so inspired, I spent my entire weekend working on art, so consider yourself warned—make sure yo

It’s likely you are familiar with Spencer Tunick’s work, but in case you are not, he’s the guy that organizes, photographs and exhibits huge sculptural, landscape type photographs of naked people. https://www.spencertunick.com/ Spencer and Kristin Bowler, check her/her work out here—https://www.instagram.com/krystlpink/—literally travel the US—all 50 states https://tinyurl.com/y9c2a4dp,—and the globe together https://www.amazon.com/Naked-World-Spencer-Tunick/dp/B007NE050Q, self-funding and producing these otherworldly bodyscapes. Spencer has been interviewed and documented widely, but rarely with his wife—and them as a couple. I have known Spencer and Kristin since the 90’s, when they were just dating and before they had their two girls, Seda and Isla now 13 and 11, so I was able to test out some of my Dr. Lisa theories. Here are some of the topics we discussed: • How Kristin and Spencer met. How they began dating • Reactions to my impression of their AMAZING girls • Reactions to Dr. Lisa’s take on their rel

In my position as an untrained therapist, I would say that the way Heather “presents” and the way she really is don’t quite match up. Kind of the way the Kerry Russell character on “The Americans”, can go from glam to hand to hand combat without breaking a sweat. Except Heather wouldn’t hurt anybody. She’s SUPER caring! Heather is a writer/director who’s made a lot happen, including a feature film, "Inside You", that she wrote, directed and starred in. https://www.amazon.com/Inside-You-Heather-Fink/dp/B075RMN46NWhoa! We talk about her take on life which relates to some of the themes in her film, how men and women function together in society without thinking too hard and women get the short end of the stick too often. Heather’s opening story about being called out in a dramatic horrible way in front of the class kind of says it all. She simply doesn’t see why she is getting in trouble. We both agree – the boys would’ve gotten away with similar behavior! More Heather HERE: http://www.heatherfink.com/

So I had a seriously deeply engaged humanitarian come to the studio and discuss how he came to the service that he is in now, which is mostly leading young people at risk into exemplary human beings. He's been doing it for over 20 years and he makes crazy positive shit happen. Ambassador Tate's road was harsher than I can imagine. It involves foster homes, alcoholism, abuse and the murder of his brother. You can't help but find this dude inspiring. The thing about this session that stuck with me is the story of how he had the agency as a child to get himself out of a terrible situation. Dr. Tates program is called Hip Hop to Hip Hope. Find out more or get involved: unitedunderonestar@gmail.com or 347-286-3942

This was so fun and outta control! Artist Eric Doeringer http://ericdoeringer.com/ teaches a pre-college class at the school of Visual Arts http://www.sva.edu/ in the summer. He has these 15-16 year olds that he teaches art making, art appreciation and how not to fall into the subway. I actually learned a lot because I don't interact with that many kids at one time and I was so impressed with the range of personalities and how they each translated to the radio show! They had questions for me and I had questions for them, and we all had a great learning experience! Photo From left: Cindy, Manuel, Eric, Akiva, Charlie, Gabriela, and Sophie.

The Devil's Pimple is a short film about life, love, death, and a large pimple man, created by the two boys Leo Galen Rauf and Martin Kramer, with an all-star cast of Anna Slate, Bryson Jenkins, Colby Howell, Felipe Sevilla, and Martin Kramer. This session with Martin and Leo we cover the true story behind this adventure (hint: Sheepshead Bay) and the process of how these two resourceful young men got their film done. We also got to dig into their perspectives on the older generation. And Leo and Martin give us a peek into their future as well. COME TO THE PREMIERE!! July 25, 7pm at Barbes, 376 9th St. (corner of 6th Ave.) Park Slope, Brooklyn 347 422 0248 http://barbesbrooklyn.com/ HUGE SHOUTOUT to Eryn Levine for recording and editing!

In our phone session RevJen highlights some of her (frightening to me!) adventures, such as being at a balloon sex fetish party. Or how she was a stripper as an experiment at a hole-in-the-wall bar in Queens. Then there’s the family float party her dad instigated when the basement flooded. She's fearless and funny. Besides all the art, performance, Art Star Matriarching, RevJen is an amazing writer. This is one of my all-time favorite books EVER. https://www.amazon.com/Live-Nude-Elf-Sexperiments-Reverend-ebook/dp/B005PQSTX4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1531934480&sr=8-1&keywords=Reverend+Jen More Reverend Jen Books: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Reverend+Jen About REVEREND JEN’S WORLD-FAMOUS TROLL MUSEUM: http://narrative.ly/reverend-jen-and-her-den-of-four-hundred-trolls/ Marc Maron remembers the Lower East Side with Rev. Jen Part 1: https://youtu.be/3esdlwx4SrM Marc Maron Remembers the Lower East Side Part 2: Reverend Jen: https://vimeo.com/17772288 REVEREND J

Lane Twitchell http://lanetwitchell.paspartout.com/ is an intense, complex, accomplished artist. His work is remarkable and as multi-layered as he is. Although I’ve known Lane since 1996, we covered a lot of new ground here. As a self-proclaimed psychotherapist, I would say from hearing about Lane’s siblings, that he comes by his intensity biologically. I also think that we got into “an elephant in the room,” topic about how his work and how his history affects the presentation of it. One thing we can be 100% certain about—Lane has integrity and a beautifully powerful connection with his work.

Rinat is an extremely accomplished 39 year-old woman. She’s still single. This is a great and productive session as we learn how one special person opened Rinat’s eyes to her intimacy obstacles. The session concludes with a discovery of Rinat’s relationship to the ideals of family and how that manifests in her dating life as an individual on her own road. Rinat’s highly generous vulnerability in her own story is a gift to the rest of us trying to uncover our own selves. In Rinat’s own words about this session—“It was so touching to be part of your show and I'm still having a hard time believing I opened up like this, very not on character. It makes me embarrassed and yet I do hope those worlds will be a help even one person out there to overcome their challenges with being vulnerable.” Rinat Sherzer is an interdisciplinary scientist, engineer & experience designer. Creating ventures at the intersection of tech, design & social good. She is the founder of two ventures aligned with her vision: It Makes Sense;

Chris and Bria have worked together for a long time on a bunch of extremely interesting film projects. They take us emotionally behind the scenes on this recent endeavor where they are making a documentary about a film being made by a young couple who have recruited seniors to remake "Annie Hall". A documentary about two young directors who remake a classic New York film with a cast of seniors. Help them finish it!! https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/reconstructing-annie#/ https://vimeo.com/chrisrogy Bria Cole: https://vimeo.com/125279616

Did you know artist and writer, Chris Bors trained with Olympic Wrestlers? I’ve known Chris Bors for years and I’ve always thought of him as a particularly bright, talented, highly educated, interesting, but mild mannered. How did someone who has macho heavy metal, indie cartoons and “Fuck Kanye West,“ in his paintings present as such a different personality from his work? We find out about his rebellious childhood and how wrestling kept him from possibly going down a dark path. More about Chris and his work here: www.chrisbors.com More about Chris's recent show, AMERICAN JESUS @ http://art-during-the-occupation-gallery.com/ and here: http://www.chrisbors.com/solo-exhibition-american-jesus/ Chris Bors is a New York-based artist whose graphic, post-pop, conceptual works feature a mash-up of images, in which any visuals are fair game for repurposing. His recent paintings, which appropriate logos from hardcore punk bands, are meticulously painted to resemble silkscreen prints, political advertising, or t-

Heather was a hoot. She's a successful musician, singer and writer of songs for her band, Crowd The Airwaves. https://crowdtheairwaves.bandcamp.com/ She's only 26, but so her own person with her band that's been together for 5 years. Heather was on the path to becoming a serious opera singer, but at a certain point became disillusioned with all that conforming. She really lives and breathes music though and has a rich life cause of it. Her happiness is infectious. This episode will leave you in a good mood, in part because we give you a taste of her music.

Have you heard of the Fireside Mystery Theater? It's this incredible monthly performance that gets made into a podcast every month. Kind of old timey radio with a contemporary science fictiony twist. A new episode is written, rehearsed, performed live (includes music!) at The Slipper Room and then edited into a podcast. Everything you need to know about it is HERE:https://www.firesidemysterytheatre.com/ Anyway, it's a pretty slick highwire act to be doing that monthly for over 2 MILLION listeners. But I must say, it's incredibly, creative, compelling and original-nothing like it! In this session I dig into the dynamics and personal relationships in this troop and find out how they get along. My guests are co-creator, Gus Rodriguez and director Holly Payne-Strange. The other co-creator is Ali Silva—she couldn't make it, but I GRILLED Holly and Gus to find out if the 2 hetero co-creators ever had sexual tension. I can honestly say I don't think they did. It's a testament to the whole troop how well they work to

Check out Marcellus' reaction after listening to this recording of our session: "Omfg. Just finished listening. I’m a piece of work! I wish I could just chill a little bit more and be an A-" Marcellus is crazy talented and SUCCESSFUL at SO MANY THINGS - New Yorker Cartoonist, Children's book author/illustrator, successful touring musician/songwriter, fronter of bands... Look!:http://www.marcellushall.com/ https://marcellushall.bandcamp.com/album/afterglow https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/a-day-at-the-winter-olympics-in-pyeongchang Plus he's good-looking-did I mention that too? He was a great sport here. I really dug into his personal life and childhood and answered everything as openly as possible. I did get a feeling he was tough to get to as I told him, due to his perfectionist expectations of himself. Nevertheless, I think he and I had a growth experience.