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SN1:EP8 “The Sacred Struggle of Bedtime”
It’s one thing to be invited into the home of a comic, but to see them in the thick of motherhood is, to me, like the spotted owl of documentary conversation. Today’s episode is a sort of extreme form of eavesdropping. An audio portrait of the sacred struggle to get a kid to bed with comic, mom, and brilliant facebook satirist Julie Kottakis. AKA Madge the Vag.
I first saw Julie perform at the New York Fringe festival last year in her solo show “Does This Dress Make Me Look Alone” which she called an “Alone Woman Show. She did address the circumstances surrounding the conception and birth of her daughter, what it’s been like to care for her on her own, but I hesitate to bring that up because there’s a danger in thinking this was just a mom doing a one-woman-show about being a single mom. That sells it way short. Her performance spanned the range of comic and tragic registers and she laid out some rawness in a way I don’t remember seeing before. Not tell it like it is stuff. Afterbirth type stuff. Literal and metaphorical. Frankly, I wish more comics packaged their jokes less and did more of what Julie is doing.
As you’ll hear in this episode she offers her life with abandon and pushes nothing. Frankly, I was surprised she allowed me to put some of this audio in here. Having wireless mics on people makes them forget they’re on tape sometimes and that yields some very candid moments. The moments people don’t talk about like a 5-year-old kid that still asks to breastfeed sometimes. Take a listen. I’ve received permission to use all of it. And I’m so grateful to Julie for that because it’s stuff people need to hear I think.
It’s a very real, very earthy, and absolutely beautiful and generous look at something a lot of us who don’t have kids take for granted. And if you don’t laugh at this, rot in hell.
Friend her on facebook (Julie Kottakis) if you can because that’s where the really good stuff happens. Also @theweirdjulie
Music this week:
“When the Saints Go Marching In” – Marysville Marimba
“Glockendoodle” – Aaron Campbell (@banjoporkchoppy)
Technical Help from:
Vince Fairchild at WNYC (@vincefair)
Doug Shugarts at WBUR in Boston
Consulting Producers:
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SN5:EP15 “Ham & Table”
Comedian Adrian Mesa @amesathings gives @wanderingaisles a crash course on Cuban cuisine and presents a compelling case for his theory of pretentious restaurant naming. Check it how you check it. Consider supporting the show on Patreon! (or just tell a friend).
A strolling inventory of the chicharrones, fresh spices, and Llama-cop piñatas at the vibrant Lowe’s Supermercado in Denver, CO. -
SN5:EP13 “The Bachelor”
An afternoon with one of my real-deal, go-to friends here in Denver, Alex Elliott @alexelliottpics. And by afternoon, seriously, I mean the better part of an entire afternoon.Mostly Sprouts and us just talking in my truck. Verité podcasting. I didn’t cut much because it’s really hard to get tired of this guy. He’s a genuine, wise, cat who never brags or name drops AT ALL even though he totally could. For example, I was months into knowing Alex before he happened to casually mention he was a finalist to be on “The Bachelor.” And (paraphrasing here): “It’s funny you bring that up because one summer I filmed some stuff with Jimmy Fallon and slapped Hannibal Burress in the face a bunch of times for a thing.” Stuff like that. Introducing Alex Elliott. Consider supporting the show on Patreon! (or just tell a friend).
Adrian Lambrinos invited me to a sweat lodge ceremony in April and it was such a powerful experience it shut me up for about 9 months. This is my attempt to take you through it with me. Glad to be back.
