Clown, Interrupted with KiKi Maroon

Welcome to the final episode of Clown, Interrupted with KiKi Maroon. I’ll explain in the closer why it’s the final episode, but first, let’s talk about today’s show. When I first started the podcast, I decided that a personal rule of mine would be not to have newly sober people as guests. Firstly, because the point of the show was to get advice from people who were more experienced than me on how to handle this new way of being. Secondly, it seemed dangerous. I remember how difficult my first year was; everything was so raw and confusing. I didn’t want to risk shaking up anyone’s fragile, or non existent, foundation for the sake of entertainment.

They say that the best standup is real. Yes, you need joke structure. Of course you need punchlines. But it can all feel empty if you don’t hear a real person on stage. They also say it can take years for a comic to “find their voice”. Though I conceptually understood that, I didn’t really get it. Anytime I was on stage, I used an over the top performance voice. Which makes sense. I hosted burlesque shows for years before doing standup. And BURLESQUE IS BIG! IT’S SHOWMANSHIP! But in a comedy club setting, that’s too big, too loud, and very weird.

I went to San Fransisco to meet up with my mentor and sober buddy, Kurtis Matthews (who will be the guest in the the next episode). I asked Kurtis if he had any suggestions for other sober comics I should reach out to while in the Bay Area. He connected me with his friend and today’s guest- Michael Meehan. Michael is a standup comic, sketch artist, and film-maker based in San Fransisco. He’s been on The Late Late Show, The Dennis Miller Show, Last Comic Standing, and many other shows and movies.

If you’ve ever been to (or seen photos from) Burning Man, you are familiar with Art Cars. They’re those crazy mutant vehicles you see driving around, like mobile sculptures. There are so many kinds of Art Cars! Some people paint them, some people do mosaic tiling, some people sculpt around the cars, and one person welded two flame throwers and a stripper pole on the roof of their car! That person is Paul McRae.

Welcome back! This episode’s guest is Dan Danzy. Dan is a standup based in Dallas, TX. I booked him to perform in my variety show, even though I knew nothing about him. He was recommend by another comic I knew, so I asked him to come do standup at my Burly Q Lounge show. While we were back stage waiting for Dan to go on, Confetti Eddie ( a magician who also lives in Dallas) says “hey Dan, congrats on that article!”

I always describe this podcast as me talking to artists and performers “who live and work in party scenes”. This week, I talk to someone with a very different experience. Jef Rouner is an author and a journalist. We’ve known of each other for several years, but I did not know he was sober until he contacted me to write an article about this podcast for the Houston Chronicle. I might be biased, but I think it was the best headline ever written: “Stripping clown explores sobriety, one podcast at a time”.

Welcome to Season 2 of Clown, Interrupted with KiKi Maroon! It’s been a while. Thank you so much for your emails, messages, worries, and concerns. I want to start off by catching you up on why it’s taken so long to get these episodes out to you.

If you missed Season 1, here’s the recap: I was an alcoholic stripping clown, lost everything, found sobriety, but still didn’t understand simple concepts like feelings or friendship. So, I started this podcast to as other artist, comedians, musicians, and other party people who don’t drink, “Hey, what’s your deal? How do you do this?” And they helped me. A lot.

I met Sam Tripoli in St. Louis a couple of years ago. I have to be honest, I thought he was shit-faced. Not that he was sloppy or anything. He just has so much energy and talked to me for 30 minutes about how Lady Gaga is a Satanist Illuminati agent (or something like that). But it turns out he doesn’t drink, he is just REALLY into conspiracy theories. On top of being a comedian, he has a podcast called The Tin Foil Hat with Sam Tripoli. If you are into conspiracy theories and want to hear a comedians take on them, please check that out. 

I went to this show called The Addicts Comedy Tour, which is put on by a comedian named Kurtis Matthews. He tours all over, doing standup about being an addict. You don’t have to be sober to go, it’s hilarious no matter what (it’s in a comedy club, so plenty of people were drinking). I went to the show because Andy Huggins (from episode 1) was opening and yet again, Andy simply existing changed my outlook on life. 

July has been my rock for years. She began as my intern and has since become my best friend, assistant, and un-official therapist. I wanted them on this episode for two reasons. First off, because they nursed through this last month’s pain, so I can’t do a catchup if you don’t know who they are. And second, I always talk to the unravelers. This time I wanted to ask someone (or two), “how do deal with someone you love unraveling in front of you?”

This episode makes me SO HAPPY. This is the first time I sit down with a stranger. It was very weird for my friends because I was walking around going, “Oh my god, I’m so excited! I’m gonna meet a heroin addict!” His name is John Rabon. He is a standup comic based in Austin, TX. He just recorded a comedy album at the Velveeta Room that will be out soon. He also has a podcast called “Yes, I’m still sober” because he was tired of people asking. 

I recorded this episode at the Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekender in Las Vegas. It’s a burlesque convention and fundraiser for the Burlesque Hall of Fame museum. I was invited to be a judge at this years competition, which was a really big honor for me. I used to go to this event every year and just be a giant wasted mess for 4 days straight. While some great stories came from it (I banged an acrobat) it still wasn’t the best use of my time. It hasn’t been that way for a while now, and I thank this episode’s guest for that: Kay Sera. She gives us a little bit of burlesque history, talks about the museum, and I tell her about how an article she wrote about alcoholism in burlesque changed my life. Kay went from starting her burlesque career to putting herself in an outpatient rehab center in 6 months! She’s since become an an advocate and created the BHOF Bill, which hosts meetings at the Burlesque weekender.

Hi! KiKi Maroon here. Second episode and were already jumping into my insecurities. Why? Well, I sat down with David Garrick. He’s a music journalist in Houston and hits 3-5 bars a night, promoting as many bands and events as possible. He quit drinking which makes that extra crazy. Mid-conversation he talks about first getting sober and realizing he didn’t know how to talk to girls anymore. Annnnd that’s were I’m at now. I stopped drinking while in a long term relationship. That shit’s over, so now, I’m in my 30’s and don’t know how to go on dates. I don’t know how to talk to men, I don’t know how to look at men, and dear god, I definitely don’t know how to have sex with men. (Which is way different than drunk me. By, like, a lot.)

Hi! Welcome to the first episode of Clown Interrupted. I’m KiKi Maroon. This is a new project. It’s going to change, its going to grown, and I have to be honest, I don’t know exactly what it is yet  . Here’s the bullet points. 

How do you go from being an alcoholic stripping clown to running a multi-media burlesque circus empire? Well..that’s a long story. While KiKi Maroon figures out how to tell her story, she is reaching out to other sober artists to hear their’s. Comedians, musicians, circus folk, and more talk about being sober in “party scenes”. Some just never tried drinking, others spent years in a blackout (KiKi, unfortunately, relates to the latter). Clown, Interrupted isn’t a normal “recovery podcast”. There are no rules, there are no assignments. There’s just a girl reaching out to ask, “Hey, how are you doing it?” The resulting conversations are sometimes funny, sometimes serious, often inappropriate, and always honest. If you don’t drink, you’ll probably relate. If you do drink, you’ll probably be entertained. Because let’s face it, rock bottom stories are kinda hilarious. The Clown, Interrupted theme song is graciously provided by The Last Domino. You can listen to or purchase the full song HERE.