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Mental As Anyone

A podcast to promote and raise awareness of mental health issues in comedians and entertainers by exploring views on mental health (from personal experience, or observations of peers and loved ones, or society in general).
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Now displaying: November, 2019
Nov 30, 2019

Interview with Melbourne Comedian Lucy Best, who has been performing comedy for 2 years. Lucy was a 2019 RAW finalist and also performed a show this year with Comedian Jaxson Garni. The show is called Keep the Change which is all about embracing change. Lucy is also a writer, artist, photographer, director musician, and an environmental and human rights activist.

We discuss: Lucy’s unconventional upbringing, her Dad’s appellation and being the daughter of a Lord, experiencing anxiety and depression while growing up, Lucy’s positive experiences with medication, counselling and mindfulness, the importance of a good night’s sleep and finding the funny, the court jester role in society, where Lucy’s thoughts go when she has a bad day, Lucy’s marriage breakdown and subsequent transformation, the Writing Is Therapy course at the School of Life, Lucy’s conscious decision to move on, the nature of grief and loss, Ducks for Detainees and Lucy’s trip to Canberra, the Tarot Card experience and phoenix mythology, the physical and emotional impacts of alcohol, a mother’s intuition and knowing her children better than medical professionals, the daily roses and thorns activity, stories behind her kids’ names, Lucy’ super power, reframing “Lucy Quite Good” to “Lucy Does Her Best”, and Lucy’s message to embrace change and not be afraid to make change when it is needed.

Nov 16, 2019

Interview with the delightful Isabella Valette, who sings, acts, dances, improvises and more! Isabella started out with a degree in Musical Theatre in the UK, performed a sketch show at Edinburgh Fringe and then started writing one-woman shows. Isabella is part of the Melbourne Impro group Impromptunes, who amazingly improvise one-hour musicals. She is also part of The Big HOO-HAA! who perform shorter-form improvised shows. In the past year Isabella has started stand-up comedy, including a show in 2019’s MICF and Melbourne Fringe called How Far I’ll Go, about her life as a kid’s entertainer. And if you’re after more podcasts with Isabella, you can catch her on the Impromptunes Podcast and Off with the Fairies.

We discuss: The overlap between Impro and Counselling skills, the impact of capitalism and consumerism on mental health, views on modern romantic consumerism, the philosophy that life is a package of experiences, close family and friend connections, being mindful of comparisons and living up to social milestones, the gift and curse of self-awareness and knowledge that we are going to die, the dangers of mimicking emotional and financial behaviours from the media, the benefits of teaching independent and practical living skills at school, domestic violence and the book See What You Made Me Do by Jess Hill, the higher level of living by appreciating others’ success and building each other up by exchanging positive energy, The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield, Ariana Grande’s message that money and fame do not equate to happiness, Keanu Reeves’ down-to-earth approach to life, the importance of kindness and simplicity, Isabella’s super power, appreciation for the unconditional love and support from her parents, Isabella’s love of Queer Eye, the importance of spreading kindness, and Isabella’s message that you can change the game by changing what you value.

Nov 2, 2019

Interview with Nikki Viveca who has been a performer for many years, and moved into improv about 6 years ago, then officially began stand-up comedy with a solo show in 2016. She is also well-versed in acting, burlesque and other arts. Nikki has recently completed a season of her show Wasp Movie (to great success!) at Melbourne Fringe. Nikki has some exciting new shows coming up, including Cake Bride which is a look at marriage from a queer perspective, and ACEtravaganza which is a variety act show with asexual artists at Midsumma Festival.

We discuss: Coming out as asexual in her first comedy show (Asexual Healing), representing 2 letters in the LGBTQIA alphabet, becoming a comedy critic to justify her comedy habit, gaining insight into other people’s brains via comedy, the Wasp Situation and Nikki’s emotional responses, reflections on the difficulty of coming out as transsexual, exploring the varied definitions of asexuality and what it means to Nikki, admiration of the Spice Girls, Nikki’s super power, the sad ending to the wasp story, and Nikki’s message about the importance of authenticity and humans taking a lesson from wasps about sticking together in solidarity through tough times.

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