Artists of New York | Podcast on RSS.com

Artists of New York

Artists of New York

by Dan Riley

Episode 136: Marito Lopez - The Extraordinary Alien

Marito Lopez is a stand-up comedian based in New York City. Instagram and all episodes (00:00) Paying $10,000 to move to New York (02:07) Why Canada made him a better comedian (04:25) Fleeing El Salvador for Canada (06:01) Understanding the Salvadoran Civil War (07:42) His father documenting the war (10:11) His parents’ immigrant sacrifices (12:31) Growing up Salvadoran in Calgary (14:34) Discovering acting, writing, and comedy (17:49) Addiction derails his university years (19:15) His unforgettable first stand-up set (20:26) Recognizing his alcoholism (22:58) Sobriety after losing his mother (24:50) Building a comedy career in Canada (28:41) Resilience and becoming a stronger comedian (31:10) Getting an extraordinary ability visa (34:15) Starting over professionally in New York (35:34) Falling in love with New York (38:43) Breaking into The Stand (40:06) Acting and making New York home (43:02) Race, culture, and finding his voice (47:23) Career ambitions and his New York dream (49:03) Defining success, freedom, and fearlessness

Episode 135: Adam Wade - The Courage to Try

Adam Wade is a storyteller and 20-time SLAM winner at The Moth, based in New York City. Instagram and all episodes (00:00) Falling in love with New York (04:18) College radio builds his confidence (07:41) Winning a talent show changes everything (10:02) Arriving in New York with almost nothing (12:47) Virgil’s Barbecue becomes his first community (16:08) Relentlessly pursuing the NBC page program (20:03) Finding community and kindness at NBC (24:21) Building a career through relationships (28:56) Discovering The Moth (31:06) Colin Quinn tells him to be himself (36:57) Why storytelling became addictive (39:50) Learning how to win story slams (44:59) How he prepared his Moth stories (47:20) The story that became his signature (53:14) Stepping away after 20 Moth wins (55:27) Friendships and opportunities from The Moth (58:01) Teaching storytelling and giving back (59:31) What makes a great story (61:53) The creative projects he’s pursuing now (65:15) Helping shy people take creative risks (68:24) A student finds her moment onstage (72:23) Redefining success and living creatively

Episode 134: Stephen Rodes Chen - More Important Than Money

Stephen Rodes Chen is a songwriter and saxophonist based in New York City. Instagram and all episodes (00:00) Moving to New York (01:54) Discovering the saxophone (06:52) Music and identity (08:57) Choosing Yale over conservatory (11:06) The strange history of the saxophone (15:28) Creating musical opportunities at Yale (18:59) Graduating into the financial crisis (20:50) Committing to music (23:02) Building Great Caesar in New York (26:02) WeWork and the hippie capitalist scene (29:00) Joining San Fermin (30:59) Leaving Great Caesar behind (32:02) Making money between tours (32:56) How necessity fuels ambition (36:30) Second-guessing the artistic path (39:05) The value of an interesting life (43:31) Becoming a professional touring musician (46:34) Covid stops everything (48:02) Building a virtual choir business (52:19) Does a musician still need New York? (59:12) Seeking music that challenges you (65:42) Redefining success

Episode 133: Nore Davis - No Finish Line

Nore Davis is a standup comedian based in New York City. Instagram and all episodes (00:00) Growing up in Yonkers (02:09) Being the funny kid (03:04) Art before comedy (04:52) Discovering stand-up at Pratt (05:59) Secretly taking a comedy class (08:06) Finding the thrill of stand-up (11:06) Making comedy financially sustainable (13:58) Building connections and community (15:32) Albums, SiriusXM, and independence (16:46) Finding material in real life (18:30) Living with sickle cell anemia (23:23) Becoming a working New York comedian (27:04) Getting discovered at Just for Laughs (28:58) The first Conan appearance (34:25) Acting, writing, and career milestones (36:42) Money, ambition, and destination anxiety (40:41) Building an hour of stand-up (44:45) What separates great comedians (47:21) Why New York beats Los Angeles (50:07) The importance of constant stage reps (52:11) Learning to move past bombing (53:17) Defining success as happiness

Episode 132: Nancy Borowick - Pictures, Parents, Passage

Nancy Borowick is a photographer, author, teacher and speaker based in New York City and St John in the USVI. Instagram and all episodes (00:00) Finding photography in New York (02:18) Teaching photography in Ghana (05:29) Discovering photography’s power to create change (07:41) Learning both parents had cancer (11:02) Using photography to process illness (13:35) Planning a wedding amid terminal illness (14:52) Sharing her family story publicly (17:12) Losing both parents one year apart (20:41) Grief transforms her photography career (22:17) Leaving New York for Guam (24:28) Turning her family story into a book (26:31) Deciding whether to have children (30:29) Motherhood, birth trauma, and postpartum depression (31:40) Processing birth trauma through photography (34:33) Discovering the hidden reality of stillbirth (37:23) Knowing your normal during pregnancy (40:35) Pregnancy, advocacy, and trusting your intuition (45:18) Finding joy, family, and a quieter life

Episode 131: Luke Strathman - The Creative Economist

Luke Strathman is a writer, economist, comedian and poet based in New York City. Instagram and all episodes (00:00) Moving to New York before COVID (01:58) Growing up on a donkey farm (03:26) Discovering comedy by accident (05:58) Lessons from poverty research (10:25) Finding creativity at grad school (11:17) Choosing joy over the expected path (13:23) Pursuing comedy in New York (15:27) Uncertainty around a creative career (16:51) Keeping a foot in policy research (17:38) Building a varied comedy career (18:58) Creating PowerPoint comedy shows (23:02) Booking comedians through outreach and community (24:16) Finding the humor in economics (26:24) The Beanie Baby business years (27:51) New York’s alternative comedy venues (31:57) Favorite New York comedians (34:15) Balancing comedy with a day job (36:31) Redefining success around happiness and creativity

Episode 130: Gastor Almonte - The Stories We Carry

Gastore Almonte is a storyteller and comedian based in New York City. Instagram and all episodes (00:00) A first-generation New Yorker’s story (01:07) Why his parents left the Dominican Republic (04:43) Growing up around funny, creative people (05:51) Family, struggle, and growing up in East New York (08:21) From Frito-Lay sales to stand-up comedy (09:52) Roy Wood Jr.’s life-changing encouragement (11:38) His wife encourages a leap into comedy (13:45) Knowing when to go all-in (15:20) Learning from an early career opportunity (16:49) Pursuing comedy while raising a family (18:29) Making art financially sustainable (19:58) Artistic risk without economic risk (23:31) Why comedy made him happier (24:56) Marriage, disagreements, and finding humor (26:05) Fatherhood as his creative center (28:46) Discovering New York’s storytelling scene (29:55) The best storytelling venues in New York (32:37) Learning storytelling from his family (35:50) What makes a great storyteller (36:22) Losing his father and confronting mortality (38:03) Emptying the creative tank (41:48) Why stories are so powerful (47:14) The storytellers who inspire him (51:02) How his storytelling craft has improved (53:39) Redefining success around quality time

Episode 129: Cale Hawkins - Songs, Stages, Studios

Cale Hawkins is a songwriter and music producer based in New York City. Instagram and all episodes (00:00) From western New York to New York City (01:10) Discovering music, country, and the Beatles (03:55) Taking music seriously as a kid (05:05) Finding mentors at the Infinity Program (07:15) Talent, improvisation, and learning from better musicians (10:18) Why the Beatles remain the gold standard (14:30) High school and choosing music professionally (19:17) Knowing music was the only path (20:29) Professionalism, listening, work ethic, and rejection (24:35) The music industry’s unwritten rules (26:40) Berklee, Derek Sivers, and moving faster (31:25) Leaving Boston and starting over in New York (35:08) Touring dreams and surviving through poker (36:16) The Quincy Jones audition that changed everything (38:40) Learning from the legendary Quincy Jones (42:54) Marriage, touring, and putting down roots (47:02) Making a long-distance marriage work (48:09) Knowing when touring was no longer worthwhile (50:32) Falling in love with producing music (54:09) Making creativity financially sustainable (59:26) Simplicity, songwriting, and unexpected passive income (63:38) Redefining success as freedom and fulfillment

Episode 128: Bonnie McFarlane - Craft, Comedy, Clout

Bonnie McFarlane is a standup comedian based in New York City. Instagram and all episodes (00:00) From Canadian poverty to creative ambition (04:45) Choosing a cow and building a business (07:19) Family, hard work, and money (10:30) Discovering writing, acting, and advertising (13:07) Finding safety in the comedy world (17:18) Winning a contest and reaching New York (22:01) Bombing at Caroline’s (24:11) Surviving New York without a day job (25:54) Falling in love with stand-up (29:52) New York’s legendary comedy scene (32:19) Letterman and career breakthroughs (35:47) Meeting Anthony Bourdain through a roast (40:00) Writing jokes for Anthony Bourdain (42:09) Remembering Bourdain’s character and authenticity (44:45) Why fame suddenly started mattering (48:32) The psychological block around social media (51:46) Why fame makes stand-up easier (53:22) Stand-up as a spiritual journey (55:49) How young comedians work differently (56:56) Challenging beliefs through comedy (60:52) Redefining success, fame, and artistic freedom (64:14) Finding new paths to an audience

Episode 127: Claire Wellin - Songs, Stories, Survival

Claire Wellin is a singer-songwriter and musician based in New York City. Instagram and all episodes (00:00) Moving to New York for Broadway (04:50) Growing up in a musical family (06:43) Childhood in Bismarck, North Dakota (10:01) Violin training and musical burnout (13:00) Discovering songwriting and Andrew Bird (18:35) How Once changed her life (22:55) Surviving as a working musician (27:52) Finding time to make her own music (29:54) The unstable state of music (31:13) Why she never considered quitting (34:01) Songwriting, family history, and grief (39:12) Family stories of perseverance and forgiveness (47:17) Redefining success as an artist (49:49) Why music has become pay-to-play (51:56) The rise of covert music marketing (55:26) Music industry in a new era (56:16) Artists making great music today (59:19) Upcoming release show

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