Breaker/Broken (Stories of the Heart)

Nima and Michelle look back on 2018- the year, the season, the show, the marriage... J. Keith van Straaten (www.jkeith.net, T: @J_Keith), tells us about the unexpected results of crossing paths with his high school crush. Sea Glassman (omvelope.wordpress.com, IG: @seaglasswoman) talks about the dangers of being conned while grieving.   Stephany Burns (www.stephanyburns.com, T: @Storeyfilms) works through the tragic death of a life-long friend.      J. Keith van Straaten writes about points and miles for ThePointsGuy.com, travel for The Los Angeles Times and theatre for tdf Stagesmagazine. He creates puzzles and games as a senior writer on NPR's “Ask Me Another” and has performed in storytelling shows including Sit N Spin, Rant & Rave, The Liar Show and Bawdy Storytelling.  http://www.jkeith.net T: @J_Keith     Sea Glassman- Yaysayer, Naysayer, Soothsayer, Performance Artist, Poet, Painter, Story-Pusher, Lover, Hambone, Wild Wench, Pro-Evolution, Pro-Planet, Pro-Animal. Check out more of her writing at omvelope.wordpress.com   IG: @seaglasswoman   Stephany Burns was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. A former child actor (Peaches and Cream Instant Quaker Oatmeal anyone?), Stephany earned her B.A in Film/Theatre at Arizona State University. These days, she spends her time as the Executive producer of Underwire Comedy: Support the Funny, and as one of the top commercial agents in LA. www.stephanyburns.com Tell us what you think! www.breakerbroken.com

Nima and Michelle discuss Holiday heartbreak involving cancer, exes and cats.  Stories about the power (and DANGER) of a maybe, open relationships, and beautiful friendships.  Stories from: Hannah Williams - Hannah Williams is one year strong in LA moving here just last year from Chicago. A graduate of Chicago's Second City, she has studied improvisation and sketch writing and has gotten into storytelling in Los Angeles. She has performed at the Moth and various other shows throughout the city. James Crosby  James grew up outside Boston, Massachusetts as a fairly straight-laced church going Catholic boy. A career in the arts and life in Los Angeles changed that drastically and not necessarily for the best. James come to terms with the hearts and promises he's broken and hopes you can forgive him. Or drag him into the street and stone him. That's a fair reaction too. You are more likely to see James selling school food to lunch ladies than in anything on stage or screen. His career began in theatrical construction, morphed into improv and acting, and has now settled where mediocre actors go to make a living: SALES. He stumbled into story telling when a gracious friend bailed him out of a really terrible stand up routine. What a blessing because he tells lots of stories and his friends are happy he's practicing. He's told stories for the Moth, T+T, and comedy shows in Boston and LA. Marry Patterson Broome T/IG: @MaryPattersonB Originally from Mobile, Alabama and now residing in Los Angeles, Mary Patterson (that’s a double-name, y’all) Broome has performed at clubs, colleges and casinos all over the country ever since her starring role in the elementary school classic, “Crosspatch and Cupid.” She has entertained US troops in the Middle East and written for WE TV’s Sex Box, AOL’s Making a Scene with James Franco, AfterParty Magazine and Women’s Health Magazine Online. She is a graduate of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and loves making smoothies in her spare time.  

Hosts Michelle and Nima discuss keeping in touch with your Exes and their families. Stories about Psychics, Postpartum Depression, and making a connection with a crabby neighbor.  Ersilia Pompilio is a Pediatric Nurse Practicioner and a writer/producer/podcaster, She wrote and produced her solo show “The Nurse And The Hypochondriacs,” And currently produces: “Nurses And Hypochondriacs,” storytelling show and podcast. Check her out at roguenursemedia.com T: @nurseshypochond   Jenny Novak started writing early in childhood with runaway note to her mother and using inappropriate language in many of her elementary school assignments just for the attention. Her greatest claim to fame so far is getting the only A in Professor Rhodes English B class for her paper on the Vegetation imagery in Macbeth.   T:  @Jenny_Novak     Ray Barnhart is an actor, writer and blogger. Originally from Independence Kansas, he has lived here long enough that he can, with good conscious, call Los Angeles home. IG: @raylbarnhart

Nima and Michelle discuss letting go of THINGS from past relationships. Storytellers: Joe Quint (www.chooseyourownreligion.com, T: @joe_quint) is a comedian and storyteller in Los Angeles from Newton, North Carolina.  He hosts and produces the podcast “Choose Your Own Religion”, interviewing comedians, artists, preachers, and more about their spirituality, as well as a live storytelling show also called Choose Your Own Religion—”the Moth with religious stories”—produced at Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church in Pasadena.  He also runs the Copper Still Comedy show every Tuesday night at 8:30 at the Copper Still bar in Koreatown. Erin Jourdan (T: @erinimus)  is a writer, editor and teacher living in Los Angeles. Her writing focuses on the fantastic, often creating paracosms, or imagined worlds that have their own language, customs, and rules. She also works with the concept of blind spots, the idea that there is a limit to human perception, yet we feel more than can be quantified. She thinks of writing as "creating clothing for ghosts." Or as the German photographer Oliver Boberg stated, "I try to build set decorations for a film which is inside the people." She collects ideas, post-it notes, to-do lists, fragments, curious words, photographs, anecdotes and overheard verbal musings and spins them into the stories you see here. T.J. Peters (tjpetersonline.com, T: @tpeters) is a humorist of little note. His screenplays have advanced in competition at the Austin Film Fest, Final Draft's Big Break, Bluecat, and others. His prose and poetry has been published by Rattle, UCLA's Journal of the Arts, No Extra Words, and is forthcoming to ELJ Publications. He considers himself an amateur falconer, but there is not evidence to support this claim.

Michelle and Nima talk about Thanksgiving heartbreak.  Stories from: Rebecca Hapin (www.rebeccahalpin.com),   Mel Green (www.melgreenonline.wordpress.com) Libby Doyne (www.libbydoyne.com),  Rebecca Halpin is an actor/director according to Facebook,, which won't let her choose just one. You can catch her as the bitchy best friend in the short film The Big O.   Mel Green has survived disco, military school and a childhood in Odessa Texas. Discovered as a stand-up comedian and improvisational performer at The Comedy Store, The Improv, and The Holy City Zoo in San Francisco, he wrote on such seminal television series as SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE and SCTV. His novel Marker: A true story of misery and misinformation with an Appendix of lies is available on Amazon.  Libby Doyne is a writer and comedian living in Los Angeles. She is the proud recipient of the Thomas Angel Foundation Scholarship to Upright Citizens Brigade and the UCLA Writers’ Extension Program Scholarship for TV Writing. Her work has been published in The Invisible Tattoo, a collection of essays about grief, and LGBTQ Comedic Monologues That Are Actually Funny. She has a pet rabbit named Juniper.

Michelle and Nima discuss Dreams, Disappointment and giving up. Aron Kader Raised in a typical political Mormon/Palestinian family from Utah and Washington DC Aron moved to LA to pursue a life in the arts. He has been seen and heard in many national publications and news shows for being one of the first Arab Americans on television doing stand-up comedy. He does a lot of political satire and can be considered smart because he understands the middle-east and even read a book or two. He tours N.America & the middle-east often as well as hotel ballrooms where he gets paid to entertain various Arab organizations in a blazer.  Twitter: @aronkader Julia Pels is an LA based stand up comedian, storyteller, producer & LGBTQ activist. She was recently featured in WhoHaHa as one of the TOP 35 LGBTQ creators in the nation. Instagram/Twitter: @Queercomedian Christopher Rivas is a 2018 Rothschild fellow, an award-winning storyteller, published writer, social entrepreneur, film/television and theater actor. Chris’s artistic mission is to create and share powerful stories that move us forward, blend boundaries, and encourage dialogue. As a storyteller, he has developed and facilitated storytelling workshops for The WWE, Upworthy, United Nations High Commission for Refugees, Hollywood Heart Foundation, SoulPancake, Safe Place for Youth, Museum of Broken Relationships, CalArts, UCLA, and many more. Born and raised in NYC. A proud graduate of CalArts and currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Expressive Arts for Global Health & Peace Building from The European Graduate School. Twitter: @lifestyledezine Instagram: @christopher__rivas   www.breakerbroken.com  

Michelle and Nima talk about FIGHTING FAIR, and stories include a young Jewish girl goes to a Christian church camp to save a friendship, a Hollywood story about sharing a late-night meal with a legend, and having a nervous breakdown in a foreign country.  Check out our storytellers! Becky Flaum http://www.beckyflaum.com/ Twitter: @beckyflaum Chambers Stevens (Twitter: @chambersstevens)  https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0828313/ Annie Korzen https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0466843/ https://www.anniekorzen.com/   Tell us what you think!  www.breakerbroken.com  

@HayleyTerris  Hayley Terris is a writer and producer, known for In Therapy (2012), The Handlers (2011) and Reward If Found (2016). @JackZullo   Jack is an actor, writer, indie filmmaker, playwright, producer, burner, world party tourist, poet, lover, dog, & brother. http://jackzullo.com  @LisaLaureta  Engaging audiences by mixing character work, storytelling and classic stand up techniques, Lisa Laureta has performed her original written stand up, group and solo sketch at many venues around the country including Comedy Central Stage, UCB LA, The Nerdist Showroom at Meltdown Comics, The Laugh Factory, The Hollywood Improv, The Second City, iO Chicago, iO West, Zanies, Chicago Underground Comedy, The Annoyance and The Lincoln Lodge. Lisa's stand up was featured on the Oprah Winfrey Network's "My Life is a Joke,” a television show which she was a main cast member of. Her improv skills have been featured on VH1, and other material and performances have been featured on Funny or Die, Vimeo and Youtube.  http://www.LisaLaureta.com 

More wedding talk from Nima & Michelle- the heartbreaking moment Michelle yelled in a man's face, "I'm the Fu#king BRIDE!!!!"  This week, stories include an obsession with a French boy in Montreal, a new relationship that suddenly turns abusive, and a long-distance relationship that sparks a fun new game.  Stories from: Sonja Hyde (twitter: @busybeejams) Cristal Bubblin (twitter: @CristalBubblin) Matt Price  (twitter: @Mattyprizzle) www.breakerbroken.com

Breaker/Broken (Stories of the Heart) with co-hosts, exes, and current Fiancees (!) Michelle Miracle and Nima Kharrazi.  Oscar Sagastume @oscarsagastume has performed across this great country of ours, he is also a 3x Moth StorySLAM winner and has hosted shows at the House of Blues, Disneyland, the Rose Bowl, and more. Oscar is always involved in a variety of projects, including (his most important) raising his #4kidsandadog with his beautiful wife. He has produced and hosted a variety stand-up/storytelling shows including: Tales from Tinseltown, Muse Lit Salon, DIRT (at UCB), Tattletales, and Whiz Bang. His greatest accomplishment was purchasing a 1978 Skylark with stories of adventure. Diana Dinerman  (IG: @dldinerman)  is a writer, comedian, and actor. Her essays have appeared in #NastyWomenEverywhere, Wifey.tv and the Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism. Her Creative Nonfiction can be read at Contently. ​Jenny Noa is a (Tom Waits kind of) New Jersey girl, who now resides in Los Angeles, California. She is a trained actress and improvisor who has been seen reading original personal essays around town, in shows such as Piñata: The Personal Essay Show, BYOB PEZ Show, and Muse Salon for Writers and Performers. She also wrote a solo show, called Pulp & Prejudice, about the joys and sorrows of romance novel reading. A couple of her favorite essays are available here, with more to come. Currently she's writing my first full-length screenplay while working in nonprofit fundraising for art and design education. ​At home, she parents what I call The League of Elderly Gentlemen, two recently adopted senior dogs, George and Nicholas, and a cat named Ozzie, who she hopes will one day forgive her. (Their lives are chronicled on a somewhat regular basis @noastories on Instagram.) www.jennynoa.com Produced by Devan Liljedahl, Michelle Miracle and Nima Kharrazi. Opening by David Conley. For more information on the podcast and the live shows in Los Angeles: www.breakerbroken.com   

Co-hosts, exes and Fiancees (!) Michelle and Nima are back for Season two!  If you've never bought a wedding cake, you're in for some big surprises. Stories from: Paul Goebel @paulgoebel, Jenny Tao @HelloJennyTao  Brandon Burkhart @BurkhartBrandon For more info about the podcast and the live shows in Los Angeles, visit www.breakerbroken.com 

Breaker/Broken (Stories of the Heart) with co-hosts, exes, and current Fiancees (!) Michelle Miracle and Nima Kharrazi.  Stories from Casting Director and writer Cathy Reinking @CathyReinking   Comic and star of Twitch's "Bake stuff with Lindsay," Lindsay Adams @LindsayFace and Comic Jim Bruce @ComicJimBruce   For more information on the podcast and the live shows in Los Angeles: www.breakerbroken.com 

  Sunah Bilsted @thesunah tells a about lessons in attachment, secret notes, and competing against Kleenex Cold-Touch Tissues.     Ed Galvez @EdGalvez tells a story about dead Dads, Tinder/Brunch dates, and how sometimes laying down for an hour might just save your life.     Dylan Brody @DylanBrody talks about Susan Sontag, a one-armed love, and and shooting flares into the Hollywood sky      

Sara Mattison, Pattie Tierce, and Esther Kustanowitz share their heartbreaking moments with us.    www.breakerbroken.com    

Meghan Parks is a performer/writer/comic at the Upright Citizens Brigade theatre. You can currently see her in Thrones! The Musical Parody at Hudson Theater in LA, and on your TV talking about toilet paper in a Cottonelle commercial! Twitter: @Meghan__Parks

Stories from Haley Driscoll (@haleydriscoll, emptygirlfriend.com), Brandon Burkhart (@BurkhartBrandon), and Cathy Ladman (@CathyLadman)   www.breakerbroken.com Live show in LA May 16, 2017 @BrokenshipsLA!

In this episode, Nima & Michelle discuss their recent GOOD NEWS, as well as losing friends, crying at TV-Shows, and advice for anyone who needs a good jeweler! 

Amber Tozer Is a comedy writer who used to say she "lives in LA but wishes she lived somewhere else." She now lives in London with her new husband, so wishes do come true! She has an illustrated memoir called Sober Stick Figure. Please buy it. 

Vicki Abelson is a wrtier/performer/producer and promoter.  She runs a literary salon called  Women Who Write. Featured contributor to Huffington Post, The Fix, and Reimagine Magazine.  Her book, Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll, and my Fucking Mother is an Amazon best-seller, and made the San Diego Book Review's Best of 2015.     

Episode 5- Jay Montepare stops by the Breaker Broken studio to talk about relationships, death, Indiana Jones, and the experience of being vulnerable onstage. We could have talked to him all day!  Jay is a stand-up comic, host and actor. He's married to a woman named Elizabeth who he doesn't deserve. They live in Woodland Hills with their pitbull Maggie- who believes that Elizabeth is her mom and Jay is her boyfriend. @jaymontepare

Renee Gauthier stops by the Breaker Broken podcast to make us laugh and get real about old relationships, sisters, and boundaries. Originally from Chicago, Renee started out doing improv with The Second City. She has done stand-up comedy for 10 years, has appeared on Chelsea Lately, Last Comic Standing, and currently works as the Head Writer on Lip Sync Battle. Follow her on twitter @nenegooter  

As the co-host of the Breaker/Broken Podcast, and the catalyst for the show itself, Nima Kharrazi tells his side of the breakup, and he and Michelle discuss the before, during, and after the C-WORD (cheating).  P.S. Two years later, Michelle and Nima are okay!   

After her breakup from her boyfriend Nima, Michelle Miracle started the live Breaker/Broken live show, and a few months later she told her story onstage.  In this episode of the podcast, hear the story Michelle told onstage, and then Michelle and Nima discuss the aftermath, the importance of grieving the loss, getting back together, and lemon bars.    @twiraclemeet  

When Nima Kharrazi broke up with Michelle Miracle, she started the Breaker/Broken live show as a way to process the pain and as a place for storytellers to talk about their own heartbreaking moments. Now, Michelle and Nima discuss their breakup, getting back together, and their goals for the Breaker/Broken podcast. Two years later, they can see that the end was the beginning...