It’s impossible to tell the story of how I know comedian and psychologist Marc Gerber without getting into a host of sordid and vulnerable-making trauma from my past. He offered some perspective back in June that changed my life and comedy.

Gerber is an atypical hybrid of a professionally funny and employably empathetic person. He and I met when I performed on a show at the PIT called Relationshit where he served as on stage therapist for a story I told about a piece of material about my own childhood sexual abuse. In this episode I play the recording of that performance along with another version I did more recently at a recovery show in New Jersey. The revision of this bit over time is the best example I have of how my perpetual over-disclosure has unintentionally helped saved my life.

He also opens up about his own struggles and offers a much needed and practical solution for quelling loneliness, a call to 1-800-Contacts.

Check out his weekly show at Comic Strip Live on Mondays called Three Day Weekend.

@MarcAGerber

@photonoshedidnt

I hope that this conversation with one of the best and brightest French people I know makes up for my lack of insightful commentary on the situation in France. Sami Bronowski is a NYC comedian who walked around Manhattan with me back in April. (I’ve been sitting on this episode because I was worried you guys might think it’s too difficult/distracting to listen to a lively conversation which sometimes battles the sounds of dump trucks and helicopters.) We talked about the usual stuff: girls, mimicking people, food, death, and a lot of other very French type stuff. It’s worth a listen. Very John Cage-esque if you go in for that sort of thing. @SamuelBronowski