How to Isolate and Stay Well with Ben Warren

In this episode actor and creator Ben Warren returns to the podcast with just as much warmth and wit as before, with double the insights. He also brings EXCITING NEWS!

International, intense, inside, in-tertainment; these are just some of the “i” words which describe the first ever MonologueAthon! The MonologueAthon is a 24-hour live-stream event in support of The Actors’ and Entertainers’ Benevolent Fund, which will be hosted on May 29th AEST. Actors will be given a Shakespearean monologue and 20 minutes to prepare it before they perform it! We plug this at about the 32:00 mark, so if you want to listen while you fill out your application, you can!

This episode has a heap of laughs, and tips from someone on the inside (though I guess that’s all of us now?) on how to handle social distancing and any isolation blues we may be experiencing. It’s my first zoom recording but Ben made it a fun, relaxed and really easy experience. I hope you enjoy it, even with the odd sound wobble.

Keep well,

Paula

P.S. A garbage truck put in a cameo appearance; did it sound like a War of The Worlds monster, or sad recorder? DM me on Instagram to let me know!

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Procrastination with Harry Wallace

This is not about productivity hacks! This is a fun episode where we talk less about how to do things in less time and with more attention, and more about why it’s so hard to, you know, do the thing.

Harry Wallace is a writer, journalist, theatre maker, adventurer, student, and a self-proclaimed expert procrastinator. Procrastination is a multifaceted issue, and Harry beautifully fleshes out some of the more nitty gritty issues as we discuss the psychological phenomenon of procrastination, what drives it, the ramifications, and it’s place within both the human experience and society.

This episode is a little bit longer than usual because I thought it might be nice now that a lot of folks are stuck at home, trying to occupy ourselves with nice thing instead of panic. I thoroughly enjoyed creating this, so I hope that you enjoy listening! And if you do, leaving a review would really help us reach more people (plus the nice ones make my day), and if you’re listening on spotify, sharing it to your stories would be equally excellent.

We recorded this before physical distancing became a thing, so don’t worry! Harry and I are both at home, minimising our contact with the outside world. I hope you are too.

Keep well,

Paula

P.S please, please please please, stop drinking energy drinks. Mama Paula wants you to take care of yourselves.

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How to Accept a Compliment with Peter Wood

Hello! We recorded this before physical distancing became a thing, so don’t worry! Peter and I are both at home, minimising our contact with the outside world.

In this episode I talk to performer Peter Wood about how to take a compliment, and why it’s so tricky to do. Usually I would have cut out most of the tangents and odd moments and put them in a blooper reel for later, but I figure we could all use a little more levity and a few more giggles. So, here is Peter and I at the end of a very long day, there are funny voices and Kath and Kim references, and I hope you like them.

Keep well,

Paula

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Death, dying and mortality with Steve Pirie

Hello! At 35:00 we discuss a submission to the Things I’ve Never Said segment which comes with a trigger warning around suicidal thoughts. To the listener who submitted it: you are cared for, you are as deserving as anyone else to be here drawing breath. No matter how logical it seems, you not being around is not easier or better for anyone. Steve and I really, truly, want you to get help.

I’ve put numbers for each state and websites you can use in the show notes; take care of yourself.

In this episode we talk about the one thing we can all be certain of: death. Which also happens to be the thing that we have the least certainty about. Hooray for the absurdities of life! While the topic is heavy and somewhat macabre, Steve and I manage to have a good laugh as we figure out this whole mortality situation. I hope you do too.

Steve Pirie is a stellar human and I am so excited to have him back on the podcast. You can discover the joy of his work by coming to the QPDA reading of his show “Return to The Dirt” on April 8th at QT here in Brisbane. Come along, it’s going to be a good time (lots of death, but also laughs).

This is an episode I really enjoyed creating, let me know what part of it you found most valuable!

Keep well,

-Paula

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Basic First Aid with Janani Jeganathan

Remember when we had to do life saving in PE? Or those first aid courses? Yeah, me neither. Which is why I think this is one of the most useful episodes we have made so far. Click through to see the most researched show notes I have ever done. There are numbers for non-emergency medical services for every state and territory, mental health help lines, Priceline first aid kits, and more! If you have any services to contribute, find our Facebook group and we can start a thread!

Janani is a final year med-student and soon to be trainee doctor. She is a wonderful human who is quite literally making the world a happier, healthier place. Neither of us are experts on the subject of health (yet), but we’ve done a lot of reading and research to put this together for you. J more so than me, but still. We had a lot of fun making the episode, and I hope you feel a bit more capable at the end of it.

Keep well,

-Paula

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Career Spotlight: with Teri Steer

We’re long overdue for another career spotlight, and so this week I chat to my friend Teri Steer about her career path to becoming a stage manager at La Mama. La freaking Mama. That’s so cool I’m not even going to swear about it. Teri is a stage manager, designer, and a familiar face in Melbourne and Brisbane tech crews. One of the many things I admire about Teri is her resilience, and it really shines through as we talk about her journey to where she is now. Her path hasn’t been simple, and that is what makes her sharing it so valuable I think. One of the key lessons from this episode is that the most important thing to do for your career, is realise it is yours. And you have got to do what is best for you; do your degree slower, work on projects while you do it, change your major, whatever best serves you and your growth, do that.

Keep well,

-Paula

 

Had a chuckle? Feeling less alone? Don’t forget to rate and review the podcast! It tells the algorithm to suggest us to other people.

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Breakups with Aimee Duroux

Breakups are, among other things, painful. Pain is a good teacher though. A tough, unnerving, total a****le, but a good teacher. I think we live in a society where we associate breakups with the end of romantic relationships, but they are far more widespread and nuanced than that.

In this episode I talk with Aimee Duroux (who you may remember from our social media episode) about why they hurt so much, how to go about them, and what is to be gleaned from them. Aimee is an actor, producer, writer, social media maven, voice over artist, and the human personification of sunflowers. She brings such warmth and insight to the conversation, and I genuinely cannot wait to share it with you. Let us know what you think! Tag us in your insta stories when you listen to it, or join our Facebook group to share your response! I’d love to put some human faces to the numbers.

Keep well,

-Paula

 

P.S our loud siren friends from the fire department make another appearance about halfway through this episode, so again, do not be alarmed if you hear some distant sirens, that’s on our end.

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