Humor And The Abject Podcast

Artist Sara Greenberger Rafferty paid a visit to my kitchen this week to talk about her recent traveling survey “Gloves Off,” as well as childhood pranks, context and timing, television shows like “Mr. Robot” and “Nathan for You,” dissecting mainstream comedy, the influence of syndicated sitcoms on her Midwest sense of humor, making work that’s about being alienated without it being alienating, and her two-volume book project “Women Aren’t Funny” that we put out through Social Malpractice Publishing. This week’s episode is sponsored by holiday video messages from your family, cashiers who steal from their idiot bosses, Mark Cuban’s obvious erectile dysfunction, and the sinking of the bulk carrier SS Edmund Fitzgerald in Lake Superior on 10th November, 1975.

TEASER: Full episode available to Drip subscribers... Friends of the podcast Darcie Wilder and Azikiwe Mohammed came by this week to record the first of an ongoing, Drip-exclusive project: The DSA Podcast. I assigned watching “Jim & Andy” to everyone and we talked about it a little bit but mostly focused on people sucking dick while their man plays 2K, that time Fugazi covered “Red Red Wine” live, a steampunk event that Azikiwe attended, white rap music of the early aughts, getting addicted to nose spray, the millennial whoop, Darcie’s new tattoo, Holocaust documentaries, how tiny James Lipton is, and a whole lot more. This episode is 100% sponsored by the lovely subscribers to our respective Drip profiles. Join, or die. Subscribe to Humor and the Abject on Drip for the full episode: https://d.rip/humorandtheabject

Following “People Pie Pool,” his ridiculous extravaganza for Performa, artist Brian Belott drops by my kitchen to talk about the finest aspects of the fine arts. We discussed his obsession with collecting children’s art and the legacy of early childhood educator Rhoda Kellogg, slapstick comedy, lighting his head on fire dozens of times despite understandable protests from his mother, why Dada artists would hate Dada art, the Marx Brothers, the People Pie Pool performance, cacophony, calamity, and collaboration, having your mom as your own teacher, and much more. We’re sponsored this week by a new rock supergroup featuring members of the Stooges and fronted by the one and only Morrissey, a steam-powered alternative to Bitcoin called Dirigiblecoin, and a generous donation from mining mogul George Hearst from “Deadwood.” The outro song is “Tell the Truth” by Mizz.

Comedian and self-described “aspiring actress” Ruby McCollister is my guest this week. We covered a ton of ground including the true meaning of “glam” comedy, what exactly is up with Joshua Tree, growing up backstage in a Los Angeles theater, being an only child, the humble origins of the Blue Man Group, having your teen aspirations documented on film, existential Uber conversations, discovering that comedy is her true medium, supportive peer networks, and the terror of taking direction. We’re sponsored this week by anarcho-capitalism, parking lot fees, bluegrass values, and the band that Dustin Yellin used to be in before he decided to become an artist. Shout out to our new subscribers on Drip!

The absolutely hilarious comedian Mitra Jouhari (@tweetrajouhari) stopped by the studio this week. An accomplished writer and actor, she also moonlights as ⅓ of the group Three Busy Debras and co-hosts the monthly It’s A Guy Thing at Union Hall with Patti Harrison and Catherine Cohen. We talked about getting her start in the New York comedy scene, the value of vulgarity, staging a ridiculous Three Busy Debras production at the famed Carnegie Hall, the upcoming It’s A Guy Thing holiday spectacular, why comedians should be free to express their politics, the terror of receiving packages in New York, creating supportive performance atmospheres, collaboration, the Midwest, and lots of other very important things. This week’s episode is brought to you by the wonderful people who support Humor and the Abject on Drip, as well as the concept of time and the allure of danger. The outro song is “Am I Evil?” by Extreme Animals.

Support Humor and the Abject on Drip: https://d.rip/humorandtheabject In 2017 alone, artist Andrew Ross has had three solo exhibitions between New York and Milan. To say he’s prolific would be an understatement. He stopped by the studio this week to talk about his most recent exhibition, “Iceman Returns” at American Medium in Chelsea, and we also discussed science fiction and horror, corporeal tragedy, slapstick, what qualifies an event, ethically questionable ideas, leaving audiences hanging, and what he’s got in store this year. Besides our lovely founding subscribers on Drip, this week we’re sponsored by things that are objectively not that bad, but are insufferable because of the people who like them.

One of my dangdest friends, Chloe Wise, came by the studio this week. She and I got to talk about her recent solo exhibition in Paris (France, not Texas), whether being Canadian automatically makes you funny, trying out new mediums, her new kitten named Pluto Chicken Nugget Wise, the politics of dairy, Ubering to incredible pizza in Philly, food in general, sculptural carbohydrates, and a terrible joke I tried to tell to the man who owns my local wine store. We’re sponsored this week by bootleg ranch dressing hacks, impostor designer handbags, clowning on The Creators Project, and partying LOL.

Orlando Estrada, who just wrapped up a month-long fellowship in Seoul, South Korea, is my guest this week. On this episode, we talked about mysticism, his extended family of spiritual mediums, psychedelics, camp, his nightlife performance series Incarnata Social Club, paranormal research, and I got the run-down on his unique experience living abroad in September. We’re sponsored this week by the Milkshake Duck, a new bar snack called Drinkaroos, and Matthew Arnold’s classic poem “Dover Beach.”

Bonus mini episode! Jason Powell, lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for Guantanamo Baywatch took some time out of his busy tour schedule to catch up with me. We’ve known each other for almost a decade, and I was there when he drunkenly came up with the ridiculous idea for his band. We spoke about their current tour, new album, stealing drugs from fraternity houses in Boston, his old conceptual punk band PISS and their bad luck-filled mini-tour of Iceland, why Las Vegas rules but sucks, French audiences, and much more. We recorded in a bar before their live show last night, but at least the bartender had a cool playlist on in the background.

Columbus, Ohio’s finest, Brett Payne and Bryan Quinby from Street Fight Radio, joined me this week for the first-ever live Humor and the Abject podcast. We covered many of their favorite topics: shitty bosses, stealing from shitty bosses, the Midwest, doing drugs, anarchism, and why Republicans and Democrats will always suck. But we dug a little deeper as well, unearthing the Street Fight Radio origin story and the roots of their individual senses of humor that led to becoming “anarcho-comedians.” It also turns out that--wait for it--they kind of love New York. Special thanks to comedians Ana Fabrega and Julio Torres for opening up the show, to Taylor Moore for running sound and bartending, and to Throne Watches for hosting us. This week’s episode is sponsored by the United States Military, the D.A.R.E. program, and your fucking boss.

Artist, writer, curator, and gallerist Eileen Isagon Skyers is our guest this week. We spoke about her signature approach to experimental video art, what Florida is all about, her research on internet art and web interface histories, travel, contemporary modes of viewing, her new project with Eva and Franco Mattes, the co-founding of BedStuy gallery HOUSING, community engagement, the future of screens, why Stranger Things is good and Black Mirror is bad, hologram friends who advocate for brands, and so much more. This week’s episode is sponsored by the City of Tampa, trains, and Hungry Howie’s pizza. There was an event going on in the background at Kickstarter while we were recording, which is why you can hear all of those ghouls way low in the mix. LOL.

Alix Pearlstein is known for her unique video projects and perplexing installation work. She dropped by the studio this week to talk about working with professional actors for her pieces, her recent solo exhibition at On Stellar Rays, complicating traditional notions of the viewer’s gaze, watching bad TV, not buying video equipment, and her constantly-shifting relationship with the genre of performance art. Episode twenty-two is made possible by generous sponsorship from manifestos, bong rips, knife-wielding toddlers, mysterious dipping sauces, and undercover detectives rising from the dead to infiltrate motorcycle gangs engaged in the narcotics trade. We hope to see you on Sunday, October 22nd for the free live show with Street Fight Radio in Brooklyn!

Artist Molly Soda, one of the most recognizable names in internet-based practices, joins Humor and the Abject this week. We gabbed about growing up online, selfie feminism in hindsight, her recent solo exhibitions at 315 Gallery in Brooklyn and Annka Kultys Gallery in London, perceptions of sincerity and honesty in her work, isolation, aesthetic and interface evolutions in social media, how we actively present ourselves for internet audiences, and shitposting. We’re sponsored this week by wooden logs and liberal-presenting media people who participate in email chains with Milo Yiannopoulos. Make sure to come out to the live Humor and the Abject event with Street Fight Radio on Sunday, October 22nd at Throne Watches in Bushwick. Check the blog for details.

It’s officially the spookiest time of year, and to celebrate I hopped on Skype with Los Angeles-based poet Mira Gonzalez. She’s the author of the books “i will never be beautiful enough to make us beautiful together,” published by Sorry House, and “Selected Tweets,” a collaboration with Tao Lin. We talked about The Babadook, alt-lit, sexism in the literary industry, Twitter-as-writing, mental health, poetry, healing through humor, unlearning grammar, and weed. This week’s episode is sponsored by the fact that Bret Easton Ellis has no idea what autumn is. I hope you fuckers like AFI. LMAO.

Portland-based artist Daniel J Glendening joins the podcast this week to talk about his new science fiction novel, “The Gardener, The Visionary, and The Traveller,” out now through Small Editions. We discussed hauntings, astral projection and remote viewing, interstellar methods of communication, site memory, California-as-metaphor, and his interdisciplinary art practice that incorporates sculpture, performance, video, writing, printmaking, and installation. Daniel is part of a two-person exhibition, “the barometric pressure is all over the place,” with Laura Bernstein of Brooklyn opening Friday, September 29th at Anytime Dept. in Cincinnati, OH. This week’s episode is sponsored by the Devil’s Lettuce, Katy Perry Instrumentals, GlueTube, and the Hot Lake Hotel. The outro music is "Dead to Me" by the band Daniel’s little brother drums for, Kim and the Created out of Los Angeles.

Sincerest apologies for the delayed podcast this week! The Juggalo March on Washington had me busy all weekend. But the episode you’re getting is extra fantastic and extra long, featuring Pastiche Lumumba. Pastiche is a Brooklyn-based visual artist, curator, co-founder of the LOW Museum in Atlanta, educator, DJ, meme maker/philosopher, and one of the most articulate folks around. We chatted about studio practices, masculinity, sports, oppression, Atlanta, senses of humor, and--of course--memes! We could have kept going for hours, so I’ve invited Pastiche back to do a part two soon as to discuss satire in contemporary art and comedy, and who should quit using it. Pastiche's Instagram is currently @wokeback_mountain, and you should follow it quickly because the name changes hilariously and pointedly every couple of weeks.

In 2014, filmmaker Scott Cummings temporarily relocated back to his hometown of Buffalo, NY and befriended the local Juggalo Community. Over several months, he collaborated with them to produce an experimental portrait film, "Buffalo Juggalos," which won the Grand Jury Prize for Live Action Short at the 2014 AFI Fest. Leading up to my own visit to the Juggalo March on Washington this weekend, I invited Cummings to stop by, recount his story of collaborating with his Juggalo friends, and talk about a couple of new movie projects he’s got in the works including an experimental portrait of the Church of Satan. This week’s bonus episode is sponsored by lots of different genres of clowns. If you’re at the march this weekend, let me know!

The co-creators of the certifiably insane Turner Masters Memory Hospital podcast, Catherine Cohen and Steven Markow, came by the studio to talk about this new epic miniseries produced by the Forever Dog network. We also chatted about ghost stories, having lovers, people from our high schools who later became kind of famous, Catherine’s new show coming up at UCB, whether or not Steven and I should become closer friends, how to really wow people during an audition, and whether or not we’ve ever actually seen improv. This week’s episode is sponsored by Malcolm in the Middle, and local nightly news consumer report-style stories specifically targeting the restaurant chain T.G.I. Friday’s. The outro song is from an inimitable video by Miami-based artist Jillian Mayer, who is a fucking national treasure.

The prince of prints, Paul John, joins the Humor and the Abject podcast this week. We discussed his imprint, Endless Editions, as well as growing up as a first-generation American, competitive running, the Risograph bubble, urgency in contemporary art, how much I hate Sonic Youth, why soccer goalies can be out of shape, squatting, and never wanting to visit Boston. This week’s episode isn’t sponsored by anybody because Staffonly has suddenly decided that she’s a socialist and wouldn’t let us have any advertisers. Also, we recorded outside the studio, so the audio sounds like we recorded outside the studio. I think you can probably handle it though.

Los Angeles-based writer Amelia Gray has a brand new novel out on FSG, “Isadora.” During a recent trip to New York to visit the set of the new Emma Stone and Jonah Hill Netflix series “Maniac,” for which she was a writer, she dropped by the studio. We talked about writing, making lists of gross stuff, reading Amazon reviews of your own work, her hometown of Tucson, the economy of one-liner comedy, and how writers should choose their studio spaces. This week’s episode is sponsored by Kellogg’s Rice Krispies, Buffalo Wild Wings, and both my and Gray’s alma mater, Arizona State University.