Josh Gondelman is OKAY. Gary Gulman and I are trying to comprehend this.
A little silliness for your Monday
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Josh Gondelman and all he’s not overcome
This week’s podcast episode is about NOT being depressed or anxious and somehow succeeding anyway.
I’ve been Twitter pals with Josh Gondelman for several years now and it’s been fun to watch his growth and evolution as a comedy professional. He used to be the web/social guy for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and then worked his way up to being a writer on that show. Now he’s a writer and producer for Desus & Mero on Showtime as well as an author and successful standup comedian.
He’s done all this, had all these wins in comedy, despite being TOTALLY FINE. Yep, Josh has ZERO diagnoses of depression, anxiety, OCD, or any kind of mental disorder. Interviewing him felt a bit like interviewing Iceman.
We talk about his family’s support of him being non-depressed, his wife being just great about it, and how he found plenty to talk about in comedy after all. He reveals that his culture has no specific dances associated with being just fine,
One of my hobbies is assuming that everyone knows the 1984 Timothy Hutton and John Lone movie Iceman. Here are two people not in that movie:
But seriously
I was so delighted to do this episode for a few reasons.
One, I just got to have a break from the heaviness of what we sometimes have to talk about on the show. Of course we need to talk about a lot of very serious things but so nice to just have a pause.
Two, I got to make fun of myself and the earnestness I employ (very sincerely!) in interviews.
Three, jokes are good. Laughing about depression is worthwhile and noble.
You should catch Gary Gulman’s special, The Great Depresh, if you haven’t already.
Here’s a panel he did about it with Judd Apatow, Patton Oswalt, and Maria Bamford.
Final thing about Iceman
In the movie, scientists discover a frozen caveman, an Iceman, and thaw him out. He’s scared because they’re all wearing masks and the Iceman is a Republican. No! He’s scared because he doesn’t understand the masks and then Timothy Hutton’s character takes off his mask and Iceman sees that Hutton has a beard. Just like Iceman! So he’s more at ease.
Here are some bands I photoshopped Iceman into where he might feel at ease.
Black Sabbath:
Fleet Foxes:
The Beach Boys:
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I’m just a caveman.
Yeah about those holidays
The Seattle Times has a fairly common sense reminder article that is nonetheless useful about holidays and mental health.
For a lot of people, the holidays are a really wonderful time of warmth and love as they gather with family. And GOOOOOOOD for THEM! For everyone else, it can be a complicated time.
While celebrations can bring positive feelings like love and connection, according to the American Psychological Association 38% of Americans say their stress actually gets worse during the holidays, bringing negative emotions like fatigue, anger and irritability. Women specifically say they feel the pressure, especially if they take on tasks like shopping for gifts, cooking big family dinners, and cleaning afterward.
Good points in this article, maybe you bookmark it and read it, like, Thursday morning.
