Dr. Lisa Gives A Sh*t

Michael is an amazing LA comic here for a week of shows in NYC. His presence is a delight on stage but its his writing that supreme -extremely smart and original. We learn that Regilio has had a problem seeing out of one eye since birth and had to wear an eyepatch until around the age of 7. He grew up in a strict Catholic household where he was the king of outsiders in school. You'll have to listen, but there's so many crazy hijinks that happened because his school decided he was gay (he's not-though he is a sincere, hearty ally) and told his parents. He got beat up and bullied a lot. All this to say he is now an accomplished comedian and musician who is very happily married. https://www.michaelregiliocomedy.com/

Dr. Lisa wants to know why Nick isn't more active in promoting his work. This therapy session uncovers Nicks complex relationship with his work and how it's tied into his relationship with his parents who are both artists. Together Nick and Dr. Lisa figure out why these relationships may be getting in his way of where his art career could be going. Nick's work is INCREDIBLE. Check it out! Here's more.

ABBY EHMANN Bar Proprietrix, Sign Maker, Editrix, Costumer, Scribbler, Tiara & Crown Creator, Burner, Cheap Beer Swiller recently opened HEKATE, a new "sober bar" at 167 Avenue B between 10th and 11th Streets in the East Village, right across the street from her other bar - Lucky. Hekate is an intimate sober bar and specialty tea shop fueled by feminine energy, designed for those who seek the alchemy of herbal elixirs. It is a convivial community place for anyone who might appreciate an alternative to bars. Time Out New York loves Hekate! In this session, Dr. Lisa takes a deep dive into what Abby learned about herself while in pandemic shutdowns: alcohol, humanity, fantastic new developments in alcohol-free drinks. She is putting her new ideas into action—this lady is an inspiration!

I was totally jolted out of my art world cynicism by spending an hour with these two masters, one accomplished and one on his way. Don Porcella is a well-known artist with amazing, original work and a loooong resume of shows, fairs and collectors. Christian Williams, a young talent, seemingly plucked out of Buffalo, NY—comes to NYC and has the great good fortune of being paired with Don through Wild Geese Gallery. They share a sense of humor and other aesthetics in their work, but what comes through is the magic of a shared passion for creativity which produces a bond that transcends all of the other stuff. Though Don and Christian live hundreds of miles apart, I think these guys will be in touch for many, many years to come. Don Pocella Bio: Born and raised in Modesto, California, Don Porcella’s artwork has been exhibited at galleries and museums around the world including the United States, China, Greece, Germany, France, Denmark, Colombia and Mexico. Porcella’s art has been published in the New York Times,

Jen Dalton did a great show this summer at Mother-In-Laws, a wonderful, experimental art space in Germantown, run by  Jessica Hargreaves, Kathleen Vance and Daniel Aycock Here's a quote from the press release of Jen's exhibition that will highlight the genesis in topics we covered in this emotionally transparent session: There is so much to apologize for. And almost everyone does a terrible job of it, when they try at all. No amount of money seems to smooth the process from mistakes and bad behavior to self-awareness and reckoning. Famous people are terrible role models in this regard, as so in so many others; their vague, slow-to-emerge statements are designed to imply the bare minimum of contrition and help their careers survive another day. Each text is a shrewdly-honed gem that its crafters hope will dissipate a controversy or deflect attention; taken all together they expose the values of those in power and our culture at large. We’re living through a boom-time for disingenuousness, gaslighting and DARVO

Had a great chat with Liam-he was a well known standup and hosted an underground, well-respected comedy show in NYC for many years - Tell Your Friends, which he made into a movie directed by Victor Varnado. Thanks to Liam, I saw so many fabulous comics perform in an intimate setting such John Oliver, Kumail Nanjiani, Aziz Ansari, Janeane Garafalo, and so many more. In 2015, Liam decided to move to LA. Now at age 46, after receiving several awards for screenwriting he’s been accepted into which is a very prestigious film program at University of Southern California where he begins the end of this month! There’s a lot to Liam behind these details here and getting sober along the way is one part of it. BIOGRAPHY Liam McEneaney is a 2019 Academy Nicholl quarterfinalist. Two of his screenplays placed in the 2020 Final Draft Big Break Contest, and are both semifinalists in the 2021 Atlanta Film Festival. Most recently, he was a contributing writer for GARY BUSEY: PET JUDGE. Touted as one of the "100 Best Comedians

Jon Reid is writing a book. Is Jon’s experience fronting a band that he gave up going to affect the way he handles the publishing world? Will he be disappointed again? How is he going to prepare himself to handle the commercial world of publishing where editors and publishers fuck with writer’s work? These are some of the paths we go down figuring out how Jon is going to get the best results for his hard work of writing a personal and powerful memoir/novel. Here's a previous session I did with Jon from 2021 where we talk more in depth about his background growing up and his escapades as a performing musician. https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/traffic.megaphone.fm/RADIO5057730694.mp3?updated=1638205945 Check out Jon's extremely popular radio show: Race to the Bottom

I really like Jake's work—he's the real deal—no bullshit. He was on the show in 2015 and it was great to catch up and talk about how is career has progressed. He just got back from touring with a cool band Eve 6. Also we had a very thought-provoking talk about polyamory which was great because like I said—it was real. Check out Jake's comedy. I am a fan and I am picky! More about Jake Flores—he has an interesting background: Flores was born in San Antonio, Texas, and grew up in Houston.[3] His father, a chemist, is Mexican-American; his mother, who is white, is originally from the Midwest.[3][4][5] He is descended from Juan José Arredondo, a Mexican anarchist who worked with Ricardo Flores Magón during the Mexican Revolution.[3][6] Stand-up comedy Flores began performing comedy in Austin, Texas, when he was 19, after dropping out of the University of Texas at Austin.[1][7][8][9][10] In 2007, he performed in the finals of NBC's Stand Up For Diversity contest.[11] He moved to Brooklyn, New York, at age 27 to

I have been a huge fan of Portia Munson since I saw her work at the Bad Girls Show at the New Museum in 1994. In our session, she was an open book on so many topics which both surprised me and yet, made sense at the same time since her work is so honest. We talked in depth about her childhood, her dyslexia which likely help develop her focus to make visual art. She talked about growing up in a religious family, and how it affected her. We discussed her role as a young female artist attending Cooper Union and Skowhegan, before moving to the Catskills with her husband. Some great pre-gentrification, lower east side stories in there! She had an early job which including being a cab driver-weird, right? She has a great, secure take on being a mother-she has 2 children, a boy, now 24, and a girl who is 19. I could go on-but just listen for yourself! More about Portia's work: https://www.ppowgallery.com/artist/portia-munson/work www.portiamunson.com This video is a great studio visit with Portia in the Catskills: h

I start this session by blurting out to my guest, ArtNet's National Art Critic, Ben Davis, that I have an art critic crush on him because I do! And I barely know him. Ben is one of the most insightful, honest, direct and hilarious art writers I have ever read. He really stands out to me in his art writing in that he is able to place art in a cultural, economic and social context in a very articulate, comprehendible way, while somehow uniquely incorporating a great sense of humor which makes his work a pleasure to read. Let's give ArtNet a BIG SHOUTOUT too for having Ben in his role there! I dig into whether Ben sees himself they way I see him, as a bit of a rebel in the art world, and turns out Ben had an unusual childhood which I think, gives him a certain objectivity on culture. Ben grew up on a sailboat! This somehow full-on blows my my mind and I have a lot of gee wiz type questions to get to the root of Ben’s perspective on the world from his unusual traveling environment growing up. Ben has just publish

I don't usually like to have close friends on because I know the answers to most of my questions and I don't like faking it—but Holly DeRito and I had never discussed the experiences she had when she was working full time as a Dominatrix before she became the Founder and Director of Waggytail Rescue, a small dog rescue with a wide national/international footprint—or should I say pawprint? in the mid-aughts. Holly is a true self-made woman with a highly energetic, generous spirit and is the least judgmental of all beings, including humans that I know. She shares amazing and funny stories of the men and her associates that she worked with as a Dominatrix as well as growing up in rural Pennsylvania, and coming to NYC with some musician friends that were traveling there. Waggytail Rescue is the real deal. A great community of volunteers and fosterers. If you've ever thought about fostering a dog, you can't go wrong working with Waggytail Rescue. They look out for their fosters every step of the way. They also hav

I have followed artist Eric Doeringer's career since the mid-oughts and he has been a guest on this show many times. Once of the particularly facinating aspects of Eric's work is that every project or body of work he takes on involves a complex and new way of making work that he must investigate, analyze and then. execute, which he does masterfully. Artist Eric Doeringer's latest project is an appropriation of a project artist Tom Sachs is doing. What is "appropriation art" you ask? Appropriation, similar to found object art is "as an artistic strategy, the intentional borrowing, copying, and alteration of preexisting images, objects, and ideas" It's so fun hearing Eric talk about his experience creating the work, the adventure of launching it in the desert, and going to one of Tom Sach's launch with hundreds or rockets, art collectors and a formally dressed staff. Eric's project intersects with the NFT world as well and I learned a lot from Eric about his process and the process of incorporating NFT's and wh

I don't talk about this a lot (shrinks are supposed to be a blank slate, ha!) but, I make art too, conceptual art @lisalevyartwork - check it out, This is a bit complex to explain, but Sharilyn and I created a persona which came to life using a sex doll that I got from a therapist that specializes in sex dolls. The doll is named Skye Cleary. Sky works as an "exotic dancer" to get enough money to pay for her MFA without taking out loans. She resents the men sometimes, but she also loves the power and money she gets by showing herself. She's conflicted. The gallery show is a pretend art studio with all the work Sharilyn and I made for her on display. All those emotions are what she uses to inspire her work and expresses her thoughts through her paintings. In this episode, Dr. Lisa, (Lisa Levy), Sharilyn Neidhardt, Gallerist/curators M Charlene Stevens, Roman Kalinovski, Moderator/artist, Christopher Stout discuss the artwork, the relationships to Skye and the whole adventure. There's an artist talk at the galle

As I’ve known Eryn for all the years she’s been with RFB, we’ve been able to watch her advance in her life/career. At our last session, several years ago, Eryn was emerging from too much of “catering to others.” In this session, we get to hear some bold moves Eryn has made in her life/career, including returning to school to learn professional audio engineering.. At the time of this session, Eryn has just finished school literally less than a week earlier. We get to hear about her full-on job hunt, a valuable new friend and share some of the excitement/trepidation as she embarks on the next phase in her life. I’m excited to see where she lands. I’ll report in again when it happens!

Leigh Celent is a great musician and a gold standard of anyone leading a band. She’s been on before where we discussed her evolution and process a bit so this time we got insight into what someone who leads a band and lives a life in music which is means being out in crowds is routine for her . Leigh is the real deal—she navigated a pandemic to come out stronger and more creatively committed than ever. 3 new songs are included in this episode. http://www.castleblackmusic.com/ https://soundcloud.com/castleblackmusic Previous episode with Leigh Celent from 2018

I found out Paris Campbell was autistic from a joke she made about herself onstage. I approached her afterwards and invited her to be on the show because seeing her/meeting her made me realize how little I know about autism and as a self-proclaimed psychotherapist, I needed to know a lot more. Paris is a smart, beautiful, charming and funny. I am grateful for all the first hand knowledge she shared candidly and am glad to be able to hopefully create more awareness about a neurological condition that in my opinion, is greatly misunderstood. We can help neurodivergent people just by learning about them and better understanding them! Follow Paris Campbell on TikTok, Insta and Twitter @stopitparis Learn more about autism HERE and HERE And HERE! What people with autism wish you knew: 'We want to be understood, not hidden away' https://nationalautismassociation.org/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2022/04/28/autism-awareness-what-autistic-community-wishes-you-knew/9542346002/ 3 What is Autism?

I was blown away by Richard Pasquarelli's solo exhibition, As It Should Be at BravinLee Programs. The show is up until May 14, 2022. GO SEE IT!  526 West 26th Street #211 NYC 10001 212-462-4404   info@bravinlee.com Hours: Wednesday-Saturday 12-5 Richard Pasquarelli is a New York based artist whose paintings study the psychological relationships between our minds and the physical world. He has what he refers to as Organizational OCD. This condition was originally pointed out to him around 10 years ago by his then teen-aged sons after a long period of watching their dad continuously straighten out everything around the house, including their casually placed backpacks. It was a bit of a wake up call for Richard and he went into a deep dive researching his condition, including attending a professional conference on hoarding and visiting hoarders' homes, immersing himself in their environment and personal stories. RIchard Pasquarelli's journey is a great example of how art is healing. Not only did Richard's exper

Drew and John were both producing/hosting storytelling shows in Beacon, NY. Over the pandemic they decided to join forces and it's to all of our benefit—their Artichoke Storytelling show is a hit—sold out shows and top storytellers every month! I learned so much about creative collaboration from listening to these two gentlemen. Also, I have to say, I really pushed these guys on their personal lives—they were great sports and so candid! Drew Prochaska is a Brooklyn-based writer/performer and two-time Moth StorySlam winner, who has been featured on the “RISK!” and “Stories in Session” podcasts. Drew was the creator of the SPOILER Comedy Film Project, a bi-annual film night featuring original films by some of today’s top comedy stars. A graduate of The Tisch School of Arts Dramatic Writing Program, Drew’s writing was regularly featured on the website of Running with Scissors author Augusten Burroughs. John Blesso: John Blesso is a writer, storyteller, mediocre guitar player, singer and woodworker, and artisana

If you know anything about the art world, likely you've heard of Bill Arning. He's been an important influence on art in many areas since he emerged as a prominent figure in the 1980s East Village art scene, serving as chief curator of the alternative art space, White Columns. Prior to joining Contemporary Arts Museum Houston in 2009, he was a curator at the MIT List Visual Arts Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts for nine years. Arning is also known for his personal collection of roughly 800 works by gay artists and recently announced the opening of Bill Arning Exhibitions, his new gallery in Houston, in October of this year. Most importantly, Bill is getting married and just bought a house in Old Chatham, NY with his fiance, a terrific artist—Aaron Michael Skolnick. Aaron's work is connected to. nature—Aaron does plein air painting, so living in Houston full time just wasn't practical for them. Here's a quote from Bill's Instagram: Just bought a house from 1830 in Old Chatham NY - I’ve never lived out of the