* program note: this episode was recorded two months ago and avid listeners of ISTS may note that we discuss things on the episode chronologically for the first time but that would be followed by subsequent conversations that are in episodes that have already aired* (whew that was a confusing sentence to write) Intro : Biopics are not for the living. Let Me Run This By You : Love languages and a pharmacy apparel update. Interview : We talk to Mary Kay Cook about being a working child actor, not ...
Feb 16, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 20
Intro : Jen gets co-dependent with the Superbowl, Boz as a 7th grade alternate cheerleader, waitlists, Birkin bags, working at 2 donut shops, Gina has had 37 jobs, the top floor bar and restaurant at the San Francisco Hilton , the horrors of being a cocktail waitress, Lord Jones . Let Me Run This By You : Safe spaces. Gina wonders about the origins of the quote "The arc of history..." and it turns out it was first spoken by Theodore Parker and was paraphrased by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr . Then...
Feb 12, 2021•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 19
Intro : Imitrex , Ambien , night eating, the job of a Hollywood assistant, studio execs and hazing, performative equity. Let Me Run This By You : Jen wants to get to the bottom of stage fright. Interview : We talk to John Jenkins about the San Quentin Drama Workshop , Alexander Technique , Martin Esslin , Krapp's Last Tape in Berlin , Patti Rocks , Oleanna , Harmless by Brett Neveu at Timeline Theatre Company, The Doctor in Spite of Himself, Woyzeck , Waiting for Godot , Six Degrees of Separatio...
Feb 09, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 18
Intro : Gina and Jen make a list of embarrassing things and read them off in an attempt to reduce their unnecessary shame! Stories include John C. Reill y, Nicky Silver , and Norman Mailer . Interview : We talk to Allison Zell about choosing directing over acting, Savage/Love , taking acting classes to overcome piano recital stage fright, Grotowski and Towards a Poor Theatre, casting from the vantage point of a directing student, Insignificance , Desdemona , Soul Monsters , Best plays of 1994 , ...
Feb 05, 2021•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 17
Intro : Screen-free Sunday, Planning ahead in projects, the charm of a child asking you for presents. Let Me Run This By You : Mementos: Marie Kondo it or....be a hoarder? Holding on to stuff or holding on to stuff ? Interview : We talk to Dave Dastmalchian and John Hoogenakker about a special moment with F. Murray Abraham , finding friendship in a cutthroat environment, having substance abuse and authority issues, mind-f***ery, the cloistered nature of conservatories, using skills gained at TTS...
Feb 02, 2021•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 16
Intro : predicting the future, oh look! another example of income inequality!, would you want to live in a tiny house?, Pioneer House , Colonial House , Sherlock , Clementine Dimmerswitch, Fort Atkinson Wisconsin . Plus! Miles makes an appearance in his lumberjack cape! Let Me Run This By You : cancel culture, reconciling the artist with the art, Louis CK , Eddie Murphy , Richard Pryor , Patrice O'Neal , can people be funny without being offensive?, Sarah Silverman , Amy Schumer , Bill Cosby, ou...
Jan 29, 2021•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 15
Intro : Do we have to be a mess? Representation matters. When you weren't there they day they told you how to pronounce cashew. Let Me Run This By You : Are you afraid of death? Interview : We talk to Jen Ellison about not only surviving theatre school but going on to teach there too, the ethical quandaries that can arise when teaching ethics, differences between students at different schools, the handling of gender issues in the Gen X drama school world, Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind ,...
Jan 26, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 14
Intro : Are we joining a cult? Undeniable Writers . Let Me Run This By You : Is anything a meritocracy ? Recognizing your own privilege, AOC , combo platters, creation myths, what would your cult look like? Interview : We talk to Patrick Belton about being the social glue, expectations of a conservatory from a kid from South Bend, The Clearing, Antigone, Diogenes the Dog , Spring's Awakening , BW3 , Goose Island , Ed Debevic's , the character of the fun loving hippie, being a DJ , mixtape etique...
Jan 22, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 13
*program note: Unfortunately, we were unable to record the audio for this podcast in the usual way so you will notice diminished sound quality. Apologies for the annoyance. Intro : Fenty , plastic surgery, self-acceptance, Wild Wild Country , Paris Hilton, the Donner Party , where do you stand on documentaries?, feeling trapped. Let Me Run This By You : letting go of unnecessary shame Interview : We talk to Lee Kirk . The power of TTS marketing department, not getting movement to music, juggling...
Jan 19, 2021•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 12
Intro : We should all be paying more for food. Let Me Run This By You : Who would you be if you were ONLY nature with no nurture. Also, Jack White , Fran Lebowitz , and introducing the flexapology. Interview : We talk to Jonas Abry ! Getting cut, Tisch , being a child actor, voiceovers, Joe Lieberman, Mother Night , figuring out your identity with fedoras and pipes, Westchester Broadway Theatre , playing the Scarecrow, playing Peter Pan, being a blond-haired blue-eyed King of Siam, playing Micha...
Jan 15, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 11
Intro : Gina and Jen talk pitch decks , learning new skill sets, Circle of Confusion Fellowship , the conundrum of praise, query letters, literary management, and negging . Let Me Run This By You : codependency, why is it always our job to protect assholes?, invalidation, fear of conflict. Also, Heaven's Gate , Wild Wild Country , post-pandemic travel plans, and LA Influencers. Interview : We talk to Nick Bowling! Dreams of Gene Kelly, "determining your path", The Lesson , Free Will and Wanton L...
Jan 12, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 10
Intro : Boz leaves her MFA program. We talk about the Midwest approach to "sticking it out", the perils of mentorship, consolidating power and amassing fortunes, 2021 as the Year of Big Asks, hiding out at institutions of higher learning, Let Me Run This By You : choosing not to cater to White Fragility, "progressives" and their art, 2021 as the Year of Is This a Waste of My Time?, Interview : We talk to Jess Hanna ! Making your living in theatre in LA, Ithaca, Cornell Savoyards , Trial By Jury ...
Jan 08, 2021•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 9
Intro : Gina and Jen talk peasant DNA, jobs, the specific experience of being employed by the Catholic Church and how that convinced Nicolas Cage to hire Jen, making the quarterfinals of the CineStory TV writing contest. Let Me Run This By You : on the topic of Woo Woo culture, does one have to buy in to the whole culture or can they just adopt the tenets? Also, having a finely tuned bullshit meter, the allure of MLMs, spending $90k at the Bodhi Tree, The Power of Now , The Secret , Oprah's podc...
Jan 05, 2021•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 8
Intro : Gina and Jen talk about what it means to be home, zero ICU bed availability in Los Angeles , clarifying the aim of this podcast, what it means to survive, surviving one's desire to be famous, and fame adjacency. Let Me Run This By You : Hope in a Jar, putting too much stock in beauty products, wtf is a serum?, Noxzema , multi-level marketing schemes , the Kylie Jenner go fund me campaign (in which Gina was relieved to later learn it was not the conspiracy she thought it was), laying down...
Jan 01, 2021•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 7
*This episode was recorded on Election Day , 2020* Intro : Gina bastardizes a beautiful e.e. cummings poem Let Me Run This By You : Lack of acceptance, Japanese death philosophy , Unsolved Mysteries , tsunamis , personal responsibility, aggressively fearful flag waving, wearing your fear like a cloak of armor, more on NXVIM , channeling a lil' psychopathy, emotional felonies. Interview : We talk to Tait Smith ! Feldenkrais , feeling in over your head at TTS, Le Mars Iowa the Ice Cream Capital of...
Dec 29, 2020•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 6
Intro : Death Valley , camping, San Pedro , LSD, rageaholics , serial killers Let Me Run This By You : the perils of not letting you be you, codependency is like an MLM because there is no end user Interview : We talk to Jen Kober , who says she was "NOT a happy camper" while at TTS. Getting cut, knowing yourself, being among the first fat girls accepted into the program, being taken "back to neutral", comedy, terrible casting, The Birds , Rob Chambers , the value of knowing yourself, TTS then v...
Dec 22, 2020•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 5
Intro : Meet Snoball. Let Me Run This By You : clothes from Walgreens, coffins from Costco , the infernal unbreathabililty of polyester, shopping at Forever 21 vs Chico's vs Flax vs Eileen Fisher , the promise of the premise with Anthropologie , Mod Interview : We talk to Eric Slater - talks the life of a struggling actor, Jon Berry and Shake Your Groove Thing, Around the Coyote, (side note: Eric says the first show he did after college was one thing, but it was actually The Big Funk with JABOA ...
Dec 15, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 4
Let Me Run This By You : COVID, NXVIM , we are all in a cult because everything is a cult. Interview : Jen and Gina unpack their own memories of and experience with The Theatre School.
Dec 11, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 3
Intro : Jen tells us about her Disney audition and a conversation about " getting discovered " myths ensues. Let Me Run This By You : We talk home decor and what informs a person's personal style. Do you even know what your style is? When did you learn? Then we talk about decorating for the holidays and the potentially dangerous resentment trap that often comes along with it. Should we all just get Prince-themed Christmas decorations ? Or what about a fully Anthropologie/Mexican Street Fair/Boho...
Dec 08, 2020•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 2
Opening : Jen and Gina discuss microphone woes, professional gamers, and taking pictures of the television. Let Me Run This By You : Dolly Parton documentary , an idea for a new take on 9 to 5 , and comforting watching in a pandemic. Interview : Jeffrey Brown talks getting into The Theatre School, growing up in an elite musical family, inappropriate audition pieces, the pelvic clock , drumming, discipline, Ric Murphy , the legendary production of Frank Galati's The Grapes of Wrath at Steppenwolf...
Nov 13, 2020•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 1
