Episode 133: "Embracing Irrelevance & Chaos" (ft. Joe John Sanchez The III)
On this week’s episode of “The Smoke Break”, we had a delightful time with comedian, darling, and silly goose Joe John Sanchez the III. We started off talking about standing up for ourselves—times we’ve done it, times we wished we had done it, and how to get better at it, since none of us seemed to be experts on this one…. Then we got into some delusions—the sort of magical headspace you have to get into to make being an artist of any kind worth it—comedy, writing, anything—and how that also helps us create the world we want to live in, a little bit at a time. Lastly, we talked about embracing irrelevance and chaos—because whatever, it’s all a simulation, life is short, and we’re just doing our best. You’ll just have to listen to understand this one. Basically, we had a great time. Episodes drop every Friday on ALL platforms! Thanks for listening.
--------
45:42
Episode 132: "Absurdism & Asking For Help" (ft. Jane Dillinger)
On this week’s episode of “The Smoke Break”, we had a ridiculously good time with our friend Jane Dillinger—a comedic icon, a total sweetheart, and the genius behind some of the silliest moments we’ve ever had on an episode. We began by with the importance of asking for help….and how we all basically hate it, and are trying to learn to do it anyway. Then we got into the concept of absurdism, not taking ourselves too seriously, and leaning into the opportunity for things going sideways. Lastly, we talked about improvising—whether it comes easy to us or not, what we need in place to feel comfortable, riffing, how improvising comes up in other parts of our lives that aren’t on stage, and the inherent risk in saying something silly when you don’t know if it’s going to land or not. All in all, one of the best episodes ever. Episodes drop every Friday on ALL platforms! Thanks for listening.
On this week’s episode of “The Smoke Break”, we were so excited to have a conversation with the extremely talented and dynamic Kingsley. We began by talking about the concept of “Breath-play” (versus “breath-work”) and how something as simple as breathing that we do all the time can be really powerful when we start paying more attention to it. Then we discussed the idea of creation being the opposite of depression—and how we tap into our creativity even when it’s hard or we aren’t in the mood. We ended by talking about culture shock—living abroad, and moving from a small town to a big city. Episodes drop every Monday on ALL platforms! Thanks for listening.
--------
44:12
Episode 130: “The Golden Age & Alter Egos” (ft. Iris)
On this week’s episode of “The Smoke Break”, we had a real good time with Iris. We got things going talking about an awfully big topic—love….how we find it, how we accept and reject it, how we offer it to others, and how our approach to it and experience of it have changed as we personally change and grow. Then we moved on to the idea of their being a “Golden Age” in your life—and how we almost always assume that our golden age is in the past, with a little help from our friend nostalgia, which tends to be an awfully beautiful liar—because what if your golden age is right now and you’re missing it by pining for the past? And we finished up the episode exploring the idea of visualizing our alter egos as a way to give ourselves the confidence, strength, and wit to get through things where we might not be feeling so strong or may have imposter syndrome….. you know, like most things…. Episodes drop every Monday on ALL platforms! Thanks for listening. Link in comments…
Episode 129: “ ft. Jasmine Nothing and Telltale PresentsOn this week’s episode of “The Smoke Break”, we are excited to officially announce our new collaboration with Telltale Presents, a production company running various shows and events over the last nine years. We are proud to welcome to the show our new co-host Jasmine Nothing. We started things off discussing collaboration—how it can be effective or disastrous, and what we’ve learned from each. We also cover the history of The Smoke Break and Telltale and how we came to start working together. Secondly, we talked about our relationship with the idea of predictability—do we feel like predictable people? Where does our desire for predictability show up in our lives? And we ended the episode talking about self reflection, especially how it can be useful or troublesome, depending on how we’re using it… Episodes drop every Monday on ALL platforms! Thanks for listening. Link in comments…
The Smoke Break, hosted by Zane Thomas, Zoe Schwartz, and Taylor Barrett, is a mental health and comedy podcast recorded in Portland, Oregon. Since 2020, they’ve been having candid conversations with comedians, musicians, performers, and other community members that help to make things like medication, psychosis, trauma, diagnoses, recovery, and loss feel normal. With their personal lived experience, working in the mental health field, and being comedians/creatives themselves, they balance the vulnerability of personal stories with some ridiculous jokes and wild laughter.
Ireland