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ICYMI: Tom Scharpling opens up
Also, please opt not to be a terrible person. Also, that's not a picture of Tom.
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Tom Scharpling usually doesn’t talk about this stuff
Our guest on this week’s episode, Tom Scharpling, talks a LOT. For many years, for like 230 years, he’s been hosting some form of a show called The Best Show. It started on WFMU in New Jersey and now exists on The Internet, which is also in New Jersey as well as everywhere.
The show is weekly, it’s a few hours long, and Tom (and his comedy partner Jon Wurster) talk and talk and talk. And it’s great! Very funny, smart, entertaining, a fun ride across the board. But my point is there’s a lot of it.
And in all that talking over the years, he never really got into talking about his mental health struggles with depression and suicidal ideation. Also never talked about his time spent in a couple mental health hospitals as a teenager or his treatment by ECT, which relieved his depression but cost him huge chunks of his memory.
For more information on Tom and his various exploits, please refer to the internet.
Tom also wrote on Monk all through the history of that show so here’s a clip from Monk.
In case you missed it, here’s you not missing it
We put out a special BONUS episode of the show last Friday, just ahead of World Mental Health Day. It’s about the six things I want you to know about mental health day. My goal was three things but I could have rattled off 500 so six is pretty succinct, actually.
Whenever I see the acronym, ICYMI, which means “in case you missed it”, part of me thinks it means “icy Michigan”.
And in case you missed it, here’s more ICY MI:
Well this took me a while
We’re in the beginning of the Max Fun Block Party! It’s your chance to go out and discover new shows and have fun and games. Fun AND games, John? Yes. I’m not a LIAR.
And there’s a poster!
Can you spot who I am on here? I couldn’t! But I eventually deduced it. I’m doing something kind of unconnected to my show but sort of connected to, I don’t know, baseball? Cookouts?
Crossover alert! Well, pre-crossover. Pre-alert.
We recorded a combo episode with the good folks at Go Fact Yourself so that will be airing soon. I challenge J. Keith and Helen on some antiquated psychiatric treatments and they do well and get a little sad, so that’s good.
The Dave Chappelle thing and my things about it
Okay, thing one. Trans people are people. Trans rights are human rights. It’s not complicated.
Two. If you’re in a situation where you have the option to side with the more powerful or less powerful, you go with the less powerful. So I stand with the trans community. Obviously. Duh.
Thing three. If you’re in a situation where you can attack a community, dehumanize them, mock them, and generally be an asshole, DON’T. Just elect not to. Chappelle made the wrong choice.
Thing four. An employee at Netflix who tweeted opposition to the company’s support of Chappelle’s transphobic material has been suspended. The company said it wasn’t because of the tweets. Which is convenient.
Netflix co-CEO(?!) Ted Sarandos said he’d like to have things both ways, please, in an internal memo:
“Chappelle is one of the most popular stand-up comedians today, and we have a long standing deal with him. His last special “Sticks & Stones,” also controversial, is our most watched, stickiest and most award winning stand-up special to date,” Sarandos wrote in the memo, obtained by Variety.
“As with our other talent, we work hard to support their creative freedom — even though this means there will always be content on Netflix some people believe is harmful,” he added.
Fifth thing, other people are being very eloquent about this situation lately and you should read what they have to say. Akilah Hughes is brilliant as always. So is Saeed Jones.
Sixth thing! (Man, I did it again with the six things!) It’s not hard. You’re with the people being persecuted or you’re with the persecutors. Choose your side.
I’m in the lower right of that poster on the left side of the hot dog.