Podcast appearances and mentions of ann randolph

Dear Wonderful Readers,The following vignette is what we call a “raw write.” I wrote it in 40 minutes in my writing class called UnMute, led by my incredible writing teacher, ANN RANDOLPH. I've been attending Ann's classes for the last three and a half years, and working with her has been a huge part of my creative journey. She'll be starting up UnMute again in the fall for any of you who have a lot of stories bubbling away inside of you but are unsure of where to start. I highly recommend her class.Today's prompt was the poem “What The Living Do” by Marie Howe, and I took the question: “Write about something broken in your home—something small and stupid. Let the description grow. What bigger thing does it mirror or hold? What grief or yearning lives inside that broken faucet, that squeaky hinge?”Also, I've got an exciting and quick Misseducated update. Starting this week, I will be experimenting with posting my work on Tuesdays. I've tended to publish too late on Friday evening, and I hope that publishing earlier in the week will give me more opportunities to share my work on social while it's still fresh. Still, I am eternally grateful to all my regular Friday readers, and I will keep you in the loop as to how it goes! You can expect posts from me on Tuesday from now on.I hope you enjoy this piece and have a great weekend.Love,Tash

Thank you for tuning in to The Prosperous Woman Podcast! Today, we're discussing: What to do if you're afraid of sharing your story and letting yourself be seen How to overcome fears around being judged And so much more! Ready for more? Follow me on ⁠Instagram⁠ For the woman ready to start a business: Join my 4 month business birthing program ⁠The Dream Accelerator⁠ ⁠ For the woman scaling to multiple 6 figures: Join ⁠The Opulence Mastermind⁠  Connect with today's guest: Visit Ann Randolph's website here

IntroductionHello Wonderful Readers,One year ago, I became an author. As I tucked into a giant half-baked cookie pan and vanilla ice cream to celebrate (thank you to the charming man who ordered it for me), I reflected on my failures and learnings this last year. Today, I want to share those with you.This year, my attitude towards living a creative life has changed completely. Since I started believing that self-improvement is a farce, I quickly put aside all my excuses to “merely do the work” (Seth Godin), and I found myself with a complete first draft of my second novel. This perspective will take a little longer to explain than a 2,200-character Instagram caption, but I believe that you deserve something comprehensive on this topic. So, I hope that what I have learned is helpful for you, for brand-new baby creatives and aspiring authors alike.Here goes nothing.* You must keep going. After I held my first book baby in my hands, I expected to feel happy. Instead, I felt depressed for a long time afterward. I had spent 14 years, about half my life, as “an aspiring author.” Now that I was simply “an author,” that identity shift completely overwhelmed me. I felt like I was facing the death of all my former selves who had made my book happen. In fact, years ago, I had accepted the very real possibility that I might never publish my book at all. Now, I was bewildered. Did I have it in me to sit down at my desk again? What else did I possibly have to say?After you accomplish anything major in life or go through any major change, things will take time to reorient themselves to a new normal. You will have to become a new person with new goals. How do you do that? My writing teacher, Ann Randolph, shared a story from Steven Pressfield, which I'll paraphrase poorly:Steven Pressfield spent ages working on a draft of a book. When he submitted it to his editor, he expected to sit on his hands. But as soon as the editor received it, they said to him, “Great. Now go start the next one.”Put simply, you must keep going. Sometimes, it's the only thing you can do. Once you're past the craziness of the launch, the screening, or the wedding, the next steps of life remain. Starting another project might feel cruel at first, but please don't sit around.After I floated for a couple of months, slowly, I got my butt in the chair, and I started writing again.* Be very attuned to which projects you want to do. “You have this natural want. That want is the thing that moves evolution. Like a plant, it's like, "Oh, there's sun. I want to move in that direction." It's the thing that allows us to know that's our evolutionary path…And they kind of show where the growth is occurring or wants to occur." – Joe Hudson on Lenny's Podcast.I had an idea for a second novel about three years ago. I wrote a small bit of it in 2022, but then I stopped. I was worried. Do people even read novels anymore? I should be writing SEO-optimized articles, I thought to myself, if I really wanted to be a successful writer. This preoccupation with what I “should” be doing left me stagnated, flailing, and ultimately stuck.Then, at some point a couple of months ago, I basically decided: f**k it. I didn't care whether or not anyone would read my second book. I wanted to write that story for myself! And write that book, I would. Once I made that decision, everything changed. Suddenly, I felt inspired by the world around me again. As I wrote my second book, new ideas for other projects and pieces came to me constantly. Energetically and creatively, it was like night and day.I can't overstate the importance of this: as much as you can, when you have an idea for a project that you really want to do, do it. Run towards it and embrace it. Get started. Somewhere. Anywhere. The energy that you get from doing the one project you really want to do will solve everything.If you find yourself thinking, "I should do XYZ project or activity," stop for a second. Notice how it feels in your body. Do you feel heavy? Do you feel guilty? Do you feel stuck? Now, imagine doing something you want to do. Do you feel lighter? Do you feel curious? Do you feel excited? Try to do things you want to do more often.* Make up a deadline. Create a friendly routine.“Discipline and freedom seem like opposites. In reality, they are partners. Discipline is not a lack of freedom, it is a harmonious relationship with time.” – Rick Rubin, “The Creative Act: A Way of Being.”I had a very unproductive summer. But then, in September, I went to a writing workshop with the London Writers' Salon to mark the start of the “100-Days Challenge.” This workshop was an initiation. There were 100 days left in the year. F**k! I thought to myself. 2024 was almost over, and I had little to nothing to show for it. It felt like it was now or never.I sat down and started writing 3,000 words per day on my second novel. Surprisingly, I could hit my word count in 2-3 hours. Once I was in flow, I noticed that I felt energized; I found joy in writing the scenes and figuring out the plot points. Perhaps, like the birth of a second child, the book just slid right out of me. I finished the first draft just last week, about a month into the 100-Days Challenge.My original deadline for the first draft of the novel had been September 1st. That came and went. Then, I started working towards the 100-Days Challenge, and I blew it out of the water. In general, I hate being told what to do. But once I found a simple structure that I could stick to every day and tick off once I'd completed it, it was ironically freeing.So, to get your project done, set yourself a deadline. Yes, it will be totally arbitrary. If you pass that deadline for whatever reason, that's okay, just set another one. Once you've chosen that goal, try to work backward and set up a daily practice, so you make a bit of progress each day. As Rick Rubin says,“Find the sustainable rituals that best support your work. If you set a routine that is oppressive, you'll likely find excuses to not show up. It's in the interest of your art to create an easily achievable schedule to start with. If you commit to working for half a day, something good can happen that generates momentum."* Compete with yourself.“…the only person you're ever competing against is yourself. The rest is out of your control.” – Rick Rubin, quoting John Wooden in “The Creative Act: A Way of Being”To write my second book, I set myself a target of 3,000 words per day. Why 3,000 words per day? Because on my semi-productive days over the summer, I could comfortably write about 2,200 words per day. So, 3,000 was a tiny bit of a stretch for me. Could I write that much? The challenge seemed exciting but achievable. Plus, I had a funny feeling that once I sat down to tackle a scene, reaching a 3,000-word goal would be easy. I was right. Within a couple of weeks, I finished the first draft of my second book, about a year after I published my first.Once you start competing with yourself, you will enter a completely different league. That momentum will be insatiable. The psychologist Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson encourages us to ask ourselves: "Am I performing better than I did in the past? Am I learning? Am I getting better?" "Am I smarter than I was a week ago, a month ago, a year ago because I've been taking the time to learn?"So, if you challenge yourself to a duel, you'll soon be surprised at just how far you have come.* ⁠Enjoyment is everything.I love my mother, but she has a particularly draconian perspective on life. When she was working on her PhD thesis, I encouraged her to celebrate after she finished each chapter. Instead, she insisted that she could only celebrate once the whole thing was finished. Did she celebrate when she finally defended the thing? Nope. Not hardly at all.I believe that hard work matters, but I also believe that enjoying what you do and celebrating wins along the way are equally important. Enjoying your work is a good thing because it increases your chances of success. When you're happy, you're more likely to stay motivated, and you'll actually get better work done.In the few years that I've been building my writing career, I have wanted to fire myself as my marketer many times. But half of being bad at marketing means that I've also had to accept where I am on my journey. Accepting myself and finding ways to enjoy marketing my content has given me more stamina. If I'm too mean to myself, my self-criticism just weighs me down and stops me in my tracks. But when I can find a way to enjoy editing TikToks using iMovie on my computer because it's fun, then I get more TikToks edited and published out there in the world.In fact, Joe Hudson shares on Lenny's Podcast that enjoyment is about internal work, not external work. He suggests that we should ask ourselves:“How can I enjoy this 10% more right now? So, it's not about changing anything in the external world…Trying is not what creates more enjoyment. It's usually letting go of trying that creates more enjoyment.”So, pick any task that you hate doing, any meeting with your team that you find completely pointless, or any assignment you've been dreading and ask yourself: How can I enjoy this 10% more?* You will have to learn the simplest things last.“I have had to learn the simplest things / last. Which made for difficulties” – “Maximus, to himself" by Charles OlsenI did not reach my goal of selling 10,000 copies of my book in the first year. I tried Amazon ads and did not waste that much money, but I also got no sales. I am currently running the A/B test on potential book covers that I should have run almost a year ago. Thank God for print-on-demand! Lol. Hopefully, by the time you're reading this, I'll have a better cover for my book that fits my genre.The reality of building a creative career is that even more than 2 years in, I still have so much to learn and so much I am yet to master. I perpetually exist in this liminal state of half-baked imperfections. But then I remember the wisdom from the poem, “Maximus, to himself,”“We are all late / in a slow time.”“We grow up many / And the single / is not easily / known.”Growth doesn't happen overnight. You may feel like the same person you were when you woke up yesterday. But when you look back in a year or two, you will be amazed by how much you have changed! So please, don't kick yourself because you spent a year learning something that now takes you only an hour to complete. You are doing something right. It is better to learn late than never to have learned at all.* You must decide to go pro.“All you have to do [to turn pro] is change your mind.” – Steven Pressfield, “Turning Pro”A couple of months ago, I was somewhere between posting on TikTok, writing, and balancing client work when a sobering idea crept into my mind:If I want to be a professional writer, I need to write a lot more than I am currently writing.Anyone can write 50,000 words, 100,000 words, or even one book. But two books? Or even three books? If I wanted to accomplish that, I would need to reach a whole other level of dedication. It was a switch, a simple decision.Luckily, this realization coincided with the 100-Days Challenge. It was the same familiar world of writing characters, scenes, and plots, but it still felt like the land of the unknown. In my mind, the publication of my first book had been a lofty fluke. Yes, I now know how to self-publish a book. But here I was, crossing the chasm into second-book territory.In “Turning Pro,” Steven Pressfield describes this inflection point. He says,“The difference between an amateur and a professional is in their habits…A professional has professional habits…We plan our activities in order to accomplish an aim…This changes our days completely. It changes what time we get up and it changes what time we go to bed …When we were amateurs, our life was about drama, about denial, and about distraction…But we are not amateurs anymore. We are different, and everyone in our lives sees it.”Deciding to turn pro is second book energy, second film energy, and second creative costume project energy. One day, you're going to have to sit down and cross that chasm. And it's not something you just do once. As Pressfield says, turning pro is like “kicking a drug habit or stopping drinking. It's a decision, a decision to which we must re-commit every day.”* Combat your excuses one by one.“Friends sometimes ask, “Do you get lonely sitting by yourself all day?” At first, it seemed off to hear myself answer No. Then I realized I was not alone; I was in the book; I was with the characters. I was with my Self.” – Steven Pressfield, “The War of Art”This year, I spent many months flailing between projects and fluffing around. My narrative for my life went like this,I live alone. I write alone. I work alone. I'm single. It's too much alone time. I can't write unless I get a roommate or a cat.Right? Wrong! I was parroting a couple of the classic excuses that Rick Rubin mentions,“Thoughts and habits that are not conducive to work:”* “Thinking you can only do your best work in certain conditions.”* “Believing a certain mood or state is necessary to do your best work.”* Thinking anything that's out of your control is in your way.”But when I sat down to write for the 100-Days Challenge, something magical happened. I was so focused on the words and the story that I didn't feel alone anymore. I realized that while I'm writing, my mind is super stimulated. I'm so in flow that my need for other people doesn't seem as intense. I soon combined this with a daily gratitude practice recommended by Joe Hudson. For 7.5 minutes a day, I talk to myself out loud about all the things I'm grateful for, and I feel the gratitude in my body. I started to say out loud to myself:I am so lucky to have a small, beautiful, one-bedroom apartment that I love, where I can sit in my house all day and write if I want to.So, it's up to you to embrace your current living configuration. You can get a lot done the way your life is set out right now, trust me. Things could always be worse. You could have less help. You could be older and less capable for all kinds of reasons. So, focus more on what you do have. Define yourself as someone who has rather than someone who has not. And you'll be amazed at all the reasons you can come up with to create rather than all the excuses as to why you can't.Conclusion: Focus on the next step of your natural evolution.  “Start close in, don't take the second step or the third, start with the first thing close in” – David Whyte, “Start Close In”Writing my second book has taught me many things. But the most important thing I have learned is that believing we have to improve ourselves is heavy and draws us into a scarcity mindset. When I beat myself up for not doing what I "should" be doing, like posting on social media to share my work more, it reinforces the idea that I am lacking in my current state and that I have to gain or achieve something external in order to be acceptable, lovable and worthy. This way of seeing ourselves in the world is painful and fundamentally wrong. Instead, when we focus on what we want to do and move towards that, we move into the abundance of our existing energy, our skills, and the way we want to flow in the world. In the episode of Lenny's podcast, Joe Hudson shared the analogy of an oak tree. He says,“At what time in the journey of an oak tree is it perfect? When it's an acorn? When it's a sprout? When it's 20 years old, 40 years old, 150 years old? Two hundred years old, depending on the oak tree? Like, “Now, I'm perfect.” The idea is ridiculous. So it's a similar thing for us. So, the idea that I need to improve myself really disturbs the natural process that's at hand, which is that we evolve. We, as human beings, evolve.And if it's like, oh, I'm evolving, and I can enjoy it. And I'm acting from my authenticity. Then that has a lot of alacrity. That moves quick. If it's I need to improve, there's something wrong with me. I need to improve; I should do it. That all goes really f*****g slow. Right. Because there's a lot of emotional stagnation in that."So, I hope that you can take the next step, identify the next project you want to work on, and go for it. Not because getting that thing will make you richer or more successful and, therefore, more lovable. But because moving towards what you want is the natural next step in your evolution.Good luck! That's about it for now! I hope this resonated with you. I'll be back with more exciting updates soon, as I am working on a third book! Lol.Love,Tash

Heidi and Ellen are thrilled to be in conversation with Ann Randolph, the award-winning playwright, performer, and pioneer in interactive theater. What makes Ann's work so special is that it touches upon the dark, messy, uncomfortable aspects of what it means to be human. Audiences leave Ann's shows feeling cracked open and cathartically transformed, like it's finally OK to share feelings they never thought they could share.  Her latest show, "What's Your Story," invites audiences on an audacious journey of hilarity and heartbreak, encouraging them to explore their own life narratives within the theater. With previous productions like "LOVELAND," which won multiple awards in San Francisco, LA, and Washington DC, Ann's work delves into themes of grief, offering writing workshops for healing and reflection. She has also achieved success with solo shows such as "SQUEEZE BOX," produced by Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft, and has been recognized as a spoken word artist, with appearances on NPR and PBS. Her immensely popular "Write Your Life" workshops are held in cities throughout the U.S., with annual stops at renowned retreat centers like Kripalu, the Omega Institute, and Esalen. As part of her dedication, she offers a daily online writing program called "Your Story Matters: Unmute Yourself," providing individuals with a platform to unleash their voices and share their stories with the world. Ann's next workshop begins on June 19th.  You can sign up at annrandolph.com. 

Hello! I usually only write about my romantic life for my paid subscribers. Today, I'm offering a story for everyone, to give you a taste of what's behind the paywall. All my stories are true, as I remember them, but I have changed some details to protect people's privacy; as my writing teacher, Ann Randolph, tells me, “A story told twice is fiction”. So, consider subscribing to read more stories with all the juicy details. I'm also going to enable to chat feature in Substack so you can tell me about the times you've looked for a lover also…I lay on my couch last night. It was a Thursday, and my mood was sour. It had been a long week, almost a month since my breakup. I frowned in the low light of the early evening. I felt apathetic, yet restless. I wanted to dip into the distraction of my phone. It was like I was becoming a crotchety old lady. Like the one in London who used to shout down at us from her balcony when I was a kid, when we filled the bird bath with twigs and stones.I grumbled to myself. Why was my bed so empty? When was the last time someone had given me a hug? Images of couples walking down my street holding hands, or stealing a kiss, surfaced in my mind. I could have smelt the sickening sweetness rolling off their shoulders. How come they? Why not me? When will I?I hugged my navy blue couch cushion tighter. I nestled my nose against the warm skin of my own shoulder, imagining that it was someone's chest. Open. Warm. And that he was cradling me in his arms.I had spent most of that week hopping between galleries at Zonamaco, or Art Week in Mexico City. I had descended upon the stained-glass, art-deco facades of trendy, candlelit bars in Juarez and Roma Norte and Condesa. I had tried to admire some of the art, at least. But these events had been far more about the people than the paintings or the portraits; the city's hottest Bright Young Things were there, only a century after Evelyn Waugh.I had tried to flirt with a guy in a crisp, lime-green suit, wearing thick rectangular sunglasses indoors. I had tried to chat to a bearded man in all black, a turtleneck and a long, leather coat. Like he had been picked up from some underground rave in Bushwick and plonked into the middle of this cavernous room of bizarre, contorted statues and screens for the NFTs. I had tried to get the attention of a man with dark ginger hair, wearing a mosaic of necklaces and embroidered shirts. He had smelled like incense, and said he ran a boutique mushroom chocolate business. But as we had exchanged phone numbers, and I had glanced hopefully up into the warmth of his green eyes, I knew he would never silently shut the door of my apartment behind us. He would never lie down on my couch. He would never assume the exact position where I was at that moment, with my navy blue couch cushion and my own shoulder there, trying to comfort myself.As I rolled over and considered taking a nap, suddenly my phone screen flashed through the darkness. My friend had texted me. An invitation to a piano bar nearby. Suddenly I felt the deep silence of my apartment. The stillness was haunting me. I texted my friend to tell her I would be there. I waited to see if she would text back. As I lingered for a moment, I decided I couldn't sit in the emptiness anymore. I wanted something. I wanted somebody. I wanted someone to fill the silence.I got up off my couch. I did my makeup. I put on a tight, long, pleather brown dress with a white turtleneck underneath. I locked my front door and left the darkness of my apartment behind me. I ate duck tacos at a restaurant on my own, unable to fully appreciate the delicious plum sauce.As I paid the bill, my phone screen lit up again. My friend had cancelled on me. I would go to the piano bar alone. I walked down the street there alone also. At a crosswalk, I caught a glimpse of a man, one of the well-dressed bearded ones with nice cheekbones. But a car pulled up, and he got into it, and we drifted apart, like two suns spreading away in the vastness of an expanding universe.  I turned the corner and reached the piano bar. Just then, I saw a couple smoking cigarettes outside. I don't quite know how to tell you this. Maybe there's no other way to say it. But she stood out to me. She had short brown hair, and styled bangs. She was wearing a strapless, black top. Her cleavage was deep, and so were her curves. A tall man with glasses and long, blonde hair stood next to her. I remember she was smiling. I remember she was smiling at me.“Are you guys going to the piano bar too?” I found myself saying.“Wait, what?” she replied. She was American, undoubtedly. And then, as if we had known each other for ages, she said, “We're drinking with friends in the wine place downstairs. You can come sit down with us if you want.”“I don't want to interrupt,” I said, looking at the tall man then back to her again, “How do you guys know each other?”“We met on the internet,” she said.“The apps?”“Yeah.”“Cool,” I said, probing further. The tall man said nothing.Her name was Alessia, she told me, though she wasn't Italian. She was from D.C., but technically the Maryland part. She was half-American, half-Ecuadorian. And she was an artist. And she had a dog. I looked at the dark purple stone pendant hanging around her neck.“I've been wanting to get a giant lizard tattoo on my arm for like 10 years,” she told me, “I finally booked my session on Valentine's Day. I'm going to do it!”“That's awesome,” I said, noticing another long, rectangular tattoo with an inscription on her arm. I thought back to my ex, and the tattoos he had on his arm. And how much I loved them. And how colourful they were. And I thought about how edgy, and how sexy, she was going to look with her new tattoo.“I like your dress. And your haircut. You won't be single for long,” she said to me.I smirked, but I felt myself stiffening. I folded my arms. My insides squirmed. On Feeld, the mother of all quirky dating apps, I had put my sexuality as “heteroflexible”. Was that what this was about? Was this a moment of pure fun? Or a moment of shame and weakness? I suddenly resented Alessia for telling me all about the cool art parties she was hosting. I felt like we had clicked, and now I wanted to unclick from her. And ignore whatever had happened. And continue on to find some swanky man with glasses in a suit at the bar. But I couldn't bring myself to do it.A couple days earlier, I had texted my gay friend.“My great-grandmother's brother was gay,” I messaged him, “Do they know if sexuality is genetic?”“I think they discovered a ‘gay gene',” he messaged back, “But it was debunked. Anyway, I think it's socially constructed. Like no one can even grapple with just how thoroughly they've been taught to be straight.”His words now felt like a tap at my shoulder. And then a slightly bigger slap round the head. Alessia brought us inside, and we went through the motions. We had a glass of wine with her friends. We got the check. Her friends left, and we went up to the piano bar afterwards, the tall man following quietly behind us. But all the while, my thoughts and my feelings were nagging me. I had barely had any encounters with women. Yet in those few cases, I found myself mystified. I was so nervous even though I was trying to play it cool. I had been to pride parades. I remembered when the White House lit up with rainbow flags the day that gay marriage was legalized by the Supreme Court. I had plenty of friends that were gay.  “…no one can even grapple with just how thoroughly they've been taught to be straight…”We sat down in the corner behind the piano at the back of the bar. I wanted to sit next to her, but instead I sat next to her date (apparently I wasn't crashing whatever they were doing). I made small talk with him. It turned out he was cycling from Alaska to Argentina, or something as insane and adventurous as that.Alessia leant over him, towards me. She handed me her shot of mezcal. She wanted me to share it with her, she said. Was her hand lingering there a little longer, so I might hold it? I felt myself sinking down into my chair. I tried to laugh and sing along with the songs. Hey Jude. Love by Nat King Cole. Like a Virgin. I looked away from her, then I looked back at her, then I looked away again. I felt stupid. Like a tween going to their first bop. How do you flirt with a woman? And what if she wasn't into women? She thought I was cool enough already. Maybe if I let on, she wouldn't think I was cool anymore.I know what men do. I know what kind of men I like. I know how I like to be with men. But with a woman? What? I found myself, all of a sudden, wanting to be the man in the relationship. Wanting to take her out for dinner. Wanting to figure out what her love language was. Wanting to make her happy. She was an artist. She seemed cool. She seemed hip. Where was the line between a really good, deep female friendship, and something that crossed into other territory?In the blur of the singing and the clunking rhythm on the piano, I saw Alessia's phone lying face down on the table, between the shot glasses of mezcal. Some kind of black and white figures were painted on the case. I picked it up. I looked at it more closely. They were drawings of women. With simple, thick-lined curves of their bodies, and jagged black triangles of pubic hair under their armpits and between their legs. On a phone case. I mean, I consider myself a feminist, but ,naked women? I didn't have any of those tacked up on my walls.I raised an eyebrow as I glanced at her. Alessia caught my eye. She grinned, winking at me. I felt my tongue tie itself in my mouth. Was that a sign? Did she…was she…flirting with me? At least, I thought, I would give it a try. I had to.I hadn't considered the possibility that she might like me back. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit misseducated.substack.com/subscribe

An award-winning solo show artist and nationally recognized writing coach who is making a big impact everywhere from off-Broadway to The Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Ann's show Loveland, played for two years in San Francisco where it won the SF Weekly Award for Best Solo Show and garnered the SF Bay Critic's Award for Best Original Script. In LA it won the LA Weekly award for Best Solo Show. Her solo show, Squeeze Box, was produced by Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft and enjoyed a successful off-Broadway run before touring the US, where it received both the Los Angeles Ovation Award and the LA Weekly Award for Best Solo Show. Ann's other solo works include Down Home, Shelter and Miss America, for which she won the LA Weekly award for Best Solo Performer. Her current solo show, Inappropriate in All the Right Ways, has been described by The Huffington Post as “a show like no other.” A favorite spoken word artist, Ann is a Moth StorySLAM winner and has been a regular on LA's long running spoken word series including Tasty Words, SPARK and Gorgeous Stories. Her personal essays and interviews have been featured on NPR, PBS and the BBC. As a member of the WGA, she has written scripts for Gullane Pictures, Lifetime TV, Brooksfilms, PAX, and Klasky-Csupo. Her widely popular writing workshop Unmute Yourself is offered in cities across the US and now online. 

"If I were a man, I would..." This was a prompt given to me by my writing teacher, Ann Randolph. It sparked one of my most-read pieces on my blog, and helped me discover my narrative voice. Enjoy! Read along at tashdoherty.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/misseducated/support

Ann Randolph is an award-winning writer and performer. She has performed her solo shows in theaters across the U.S, garnering awards along the way including the Los Angeles Ovation Award for “Best Solo Show” and the San Francisco Bay Critic's award for “Best Solo Performer.” Mel Brooks produced her first big hit, Squeeze Box, Off-Broadway.She addresses the question of “What Could Possibly Go Right?” with thoughts including:That in these times, more people are feeling compelled to tell their stories and speak their truths That our stories of flaws and shame can give others permission to live authentically and to be fully themselvesThat healing, integration, and transformation can come from sharing storiesThat preaching rarely works when trying to change minds, but vulnerable story-telling will create impactThat finding commonality in our human experience allows for unity in conflictResourcesOnline non-religious church of sharing stories: www.happycockchurch.com Connect with Ann RandolphWebsite: www.annrandolph.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/annrandolph12 Facebook: www.facebook.com/ann.randolph.56 Follow WCPGR/Resilience.orgFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/buildresilience​Twitter: https://twitter.com/buildresilience​Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildresilienceLearn More: https://bit.ly/wcpgr-resSupport the show (https://www.resilience.org/what-could-possibly-go-right-podcast-vicki-robin/supportthepodcast/)

Finding Happiness During Unhappy TimesAired Friday, October 1, 2021, at 4:00 PM PST / 7:00 PM ESTWe welcome humor expert and professional standup comedian Alicia Dattner. She will share tips on making meaning during difficult times and on using humor and laughter to create a positive mindset and well-being, plus• Simple ways to exercise your laughter muscle,• How embodied writing can help get to the heart of the matter,• How to press pause on your inner critic,• Ways to cultivate compassion and kindness for yourself,And so much more…More about Alicia Dattner:Alicia learned early to find the humor in the dysfunction she saw all about her. She has turned that understanding into a fantastic career that has seen her perform with Maria Bamford, Ali Wong, Moshe Kasher, Arj Barker, Kate Willett, Ann Randolph, and many more luminaries. Alicia has been mentored by talented comedians over the years, including W. Kamau Bell (HBO, FX), Eugene Mirman (Flight of the Conchords), and Bill Santiago (Huffington Post, CNN, Comedy Central). And, she's been knocking the tube socks off audiences at clubs like The Improv and Gotham Comedy Club, playing in San Francisco, New York, London, Hollywood, Honolulu, Bali, and Bombay.Learn more at https://aliciadattner.com/ and https://soloshowdown.com/.The information provided on UnderstandingAutoimmune.com, Life Interrupted Radio.com, and The Autoimmune Hour is for educational purposes only. Visit the Autoimmune Hour show page https://omtimes.com/iom/shows/autoimmune-hour/ Connect with Sharon Sayler at http://lifeinterruptedradio.com/#AliciaDattner #Happiness #SharonSayler #AutoImmuneHour

We welcome humor expert and professional standup comedian Alicia Dattner. She will share tips on making meaning during difficult times and on using humor and laughter to create a positive mindset and well-being, plus• Simple ways to exercise your laughter muscle,• How embodied writing can help get to the heart of the matter,• How to press pause on your inner critic,• Ways to cultivate compassion and kindness for yourself,And so much more…More about Alicia Dattner: Alicia learned early to find the humor in the dysfunction she saw all about her. She has turned that understanding into a fantastic career that has seen her perform with Maria Bamford, Ali Wong, Moshe Kasher, Arj Barker, Kate Willett, Ann Randolph, and many more luminaries. Alicia has been mentored by talented comedians over the years, including W. Kamau Bell (HBO, FX), Eugene Mirman (Flight of the Conchords), and Bill Santiago (Huffington Post, CNN, Comedy Central). And, she's been knocking the tube socks off audiences at clubs like The Improv and Gotham Comedy Club, playing in San Francisco, New York, London, Hollywood, Honolulu, Bali, and Bombay. Learn more at www.AliciaDattner.com and www.SoloShowdown.comJoin Alicia and me as we share a laugh or two and share this link with your family and friends: www.UnderstandingAutoimmune.com/HappyTimesThe information provided on UnderstandingAutoimmune.com, Life Interrupted Radio.com, and The Autoimmune Hour is for educational purposes only.

Kate + Ann Randolph chat about the courage it takes to bring inspirations to life, how Ann went from comedy improv to fillining in for a minister and how her commitment to welcome the dawn and the stories that we all carry gave birth to www.happycockchurch.com *This episode contains adult language --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/kate-brenton/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/kate-brenton/support

The inimitable Ann Randolph joins Joshua and Adam to talk about starting Happy Cock Church, where love rules the roost! It's an amazing journey into what it means to have the courage to manifest your vision. Take the leap with Ann.   *Attend a Happy Cock Service * Learn more about Ann Randolph * Happy Cock on Facebook -------- * Joshua's Guided Meditation for Creativity * Rate us on iTunes!* * Find us on Instagram!* * Join our Facebook Group* * Email us at notesonyournotes@gmail.com*

Finding humor is more important than ever with the pandemic, so we are sharing an encore presentation of “When Finding Your Funny Bone Helps You Feel Better.” Enjoy!While most of living with a chronic condition isn't funny, sometimes I just have to laugh at the absurdity of it all — from the embarrassment of my a** hanging out the back of a hospital gown to my body sometimes having a mind of its own…Recently, I've been working on finding my funny bone and enjoying the well-being benefits of laughter with the award-winning stand-up comedian and comedy-coach Alicia Dattner. I like to say she has helped me maintain my ‘sanity through laughter' at times… In this week's episode, Alicia shares tips on using humor and laughter to create a positive mindset and well-being, plus• How humor and laughter are positive disruptions to the status quo,
• How fun can be part of your spiritual path,
• Overcoming the illusion of what is a reality,
• Simple ways to exercise your laughter muscle,
and so much more…More about Alicia Dattner: Like most of us, Alicia learned early to find the humor in the dysfunction she saw all about her. She has turned that learning into a fantastic career that has seen her perform with Maria Bamford, Ali Wong, Moshe Kasher, Arj Barker, Kate Willett, Ann Randolph, and many more luminaries. Alicia has been mentored by talented comedians over the years, including W. Kamau Bell (HBO, FX), Eugene Mirman (Flight of the Conchords), and Bill Santiago (Huffington Post, CNN, Comedy Central). And, she's been knocking the tube socks off audiences at clubs like The Improv and Gotham Comedy Club, playing in San Francisco, New York, London, Hollywood, Honolulu, Bali, and Bombay. Learn more at www.AliciaDattner.comThe information provided on UnderstandingAutoimmune.com, Life Interrupted Radio.com and The Autoimmune Hour is for educational purposes only.Share this link with family and friends: www.UnderstandingAutoimmune.com/Alicia

Alicia Dattner – When Finding Your Funny Bone Helps You Feel BetterAired Friday, November 1, 2019 at 4:00 PM PST / 7:00 PM ETWhile most of living with a chronic condition isn't funny, sometimes I just have to laugh at the absurdity of it all — from the embarrassment of my a** hanging out the back of a hospital gown to my body sometimes having a mind of its own…Recently, I've been working on finding my funny bone and enjoying the well-being benefits of laughter with the award-winning stand-up comedian and comedy-coach Alicia Dattner. I like to say she has helped me maintain my ‘sanity through laughter' at times… In this week's episode, Alicia shares tips on using humor and laughter to create a positive mindset and well-being, plus• How humor and laughter are positive disruptions to the status quo,• How fun can be part of your spiritual path,• Overcoming the illusion of what is a reality,• Simple ways to exercise your laughter muscle,and so much more…More about Alicia Dattner:Like most of us, Alicia learned early to find the humor in the dysfunction she saw all about her. She has turned that learning into a fantastic career that has seen her perform with Maria Bamford, Ali Wong, Moshe Kasher, Arj Barker, Kate Willett, Ann Randolph, and many more luminaries. Alicia has been mentored by talented comedians over the years, including W. Kamau Bell (HBO, FX), Eugene Mirman (Flight of the Conchords), and Bill Santiago (Huffington Post, CNN, Comedy Central). And, she's been knocking the tube socks off audiences at clubs like The Improv and Gotham Comedy Club, playing in San Francisco, New York, London, Hollywood, Honolulu, Bali, and Bombay. Learn more at: www.AliciaDattner.comAnd, join Alicia and I share a laugh or two Friday, November 1st, at 7PM ET — later in podcast and videocast.The information provided on UnderstandingAutoimmune.com, Life Interrupted Radio.com and The Autoimmune Hour is for educational purposes only.

While most of living with a chronic condition isn't funny, sometimes I just have to laugh at the absurdity of it all — from the embarrassment of my a** hanging out the back of a hospital gown to my body sometimes having a mind of its own... Recently, I've been working on finding my funny bone and enjoying the well-being benefits of laughter with the award-winning stand-up comedian and comedy-coach Alicia Dattner.  I like to say she has helped me maintain my ‘sanity through laughter' at times…  In this week's episode, Alicia shares tips on using humor and laughter to create a positive mindset and well-being, plus • How humor and laughter are positive disruptions to the status quo,• How fun can be part of your spiritual path,• Overcoming the illusion of what is a reality,• Simple ways to exercise your laughter muscle,and so much more...More about Alicia Dattner: Like most of us, Alicia learned early to find the humor in the dysfunction she saw all about her. She has turned that learning into a fantastic career that has seen her perform with Maria Bamford, Ali Wong, Moshe Kasher, Arj Barker, Kate Willett, Ann Randolph, and many more luminaries. Alicia has been mentored by talented comedians over the years, including W. Kamau Bell (HBO, FX), Eugene Mirman (Flight of the Conchords), and Bill Santiago (Huffington Post, CNN, Comedy Central). And, she's been knocking the tube socks off audiences at clubs like The Improv and Gotham Comedy Club, playing in San Francisco, New York, London, Hollywood, Honolulu, Bali, and Bombay.  Learn more at www.AliciaDattner.comAnd, join Alicia and I to share a laugh or two Friday, November 1st, at 7PM ET -- later in podcast and videocast.The information provided on UnderstandingAutoimmune.com, Life Interrupted Radio.com and The Autoimmune Hour is for educational purposes only.

She's an amazing story teller with a message to spread, but it may be a tad bit "inapprops" as the kids say.... Check out the uncensored bonus interview with Ann Randolph with Shaggy in this Extra Cast! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/q103bonuscast/support

It's been an amazing first year with Notes On Your Notes! We recap our ten favorite episodes, and discuss the most important topics of the last year. Click on the show notes below for links to our top 10 episodes! * Also don't forget to join us next Thursday, October 18th from 7pm to 9pm, at Au Lac in downtown LA for the Notes on Your Notes one year anniversary open mic and mixer! Connect with like minded creative writers, actors, directors and fans of the show who are interested in creative process! Email notesonyournotes@gmail.com if you want to sign up for the open mic to present 3-5 minutes of any material you wish, from scripts to poetry to personal stories! Au Lac 710 West 1st Street, LA, CA 90012 -------- The 10 Episodes from Today's Show * Putting Your Stuff Out There * In A World * Your Unique POV * 21 Day Instagram Challenge * The Value of Your Art * Character Transformation, Part 1 and Part 2 * Guided Meditation for Creativity * Discipline * Porn, Creativity and Youtube * Interview with Ann Randolph   * Get the 2018 NOYN Creative Workbook at www.notesonyournotes.com/2018 -------- *Rate us on iTunes!* *Leave a Voicemail for us: 415-735-6095* *Find us on Instagram!* *Join our Facebook Group* *Email us at notesonyournotes@gmail.com* *All Episodes at our website, www.notesonyournotes.com* *We have a Youtube Channel!*

Writing Class Radio goes live to the stage. This episode is part live show, part interview with star of our show, the award-winning, solo-performer, Ann Randolph. Allison Langer is our host. This episode is about the importance of telling stories--not fairy tales, but the real scary, true stories we like to hide. Allison got into writing after the death of her young daughter. Writing about the situation helped her deal with the pain and get back to the job of mothering her other children. Telling that story also helped her let go of the label she cast on herself as that woman who lost a child. Listen to how she learned to get personal with her writing. Andrea tells the story of being rejected by a man when she was 8 months pregnant after being inseminated with donor sperm. When a man offers to give Andrea a massage, she gets excited by the possibility of finally getting laid, even though she's a lesbian. Andrea describes the massage in very intimate detail. She also shares her shame from the ultimate rejection and how that shame disappeared when she told her story in her very first writing class. Ann Randolph was a student in that class. Andrea feels forever indebted to Ann for laughing at her pain. Ann tells the story of how she worked her way up to performing off-Broadway and then lost it all. Ann persists in telling her stories even after being called inappropriate or failing miserably and ending up broke. When Ann goes off mic, Allison asks Ann why she comes out on stage in costume as Shanti Lightgiver and then disrobes. Ann tells us what she goes through each time she walks into a new theater. She talks about the time she bombed and how she recovers from failure. She details her experience with producers Mel Brooks and Anne Bancroft and how her dream of being a successful performer almost came true. Ann then takes the audience through a writing exercise, where several of them step to the mic and tell their own stories. Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you'll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what's going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It's where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are.There's no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.Writing Class Radio is co-hosted by Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com). Writing Class Radio is produced by Diego Saldana-Rojas, Andrea Askowitz and Allison Langer. Visit our musicians page to learn about the talented and generous people who allowed us to use their songs.There's more writing class on our website(www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/) and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio).If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series. $20 for one part or $50 for the series. Click on Video Classes on our website.Writing Class Radio is now open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, please go to writingclassradio.com and hit the DONATE button.There's no better way to understand ourselves and each other, than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What's yours?

Ann Randolph is a solo performer, a playwright, a talented teacher, and a comedy genius. She stopped into Esalen this fall to co-teach a workshop with Alanis Morrisette. While she was here, I begged her to talk to me about her hilarious new autobiographical solo show, "Inappropriate In All The Right Ways." Our theme music come from Bensound.com. If you feel into it, please give us an honest iTunes review!

Interview with Ann Randolph, actress, improviser, solo performer and writing coach about her career, her performances, and how she supports writers who want to explore and express their stories.

Conversation with actress Ann Randolph about her career, her performances, and how she supports others to share their stories. 

Commentary on conversation with actress, solo-performer and educator Ann Randolph

When playwright and actor Ann Randolph faced difficulties and losses, she applied her art to them and created comedy. Being able to laugh at what we cry about is a soothing balm for our difficulties and griefs. Creating characters that touch everyone who meets them with their humanity and depth while bringing laughter is Ann's true gift. How do we take a humorous view of our life stories while taking them seriously? Ann has taught countless people across the U.S. and the world how to do just that. She inspires us to dive into our own losses because she is willing to dive into hers and come up laughing. Join us for a deep and funny hour.

When playwright and actor Ann Randolph faced difficulties and losses, she applied her art to them and created comedy. Being able to laugh at what we cry about is a soothing balm for our difficulties and griefs. Creating characters that touch everyone who meets them with their humanity and depth while bringing laughter is Ann's true gift. How do we take a humorous view of our life stories while taking them seriously? Ann has taught countless people across the U.S. and the world how to do just that. She inspires us to dive into our own losses because she is willing to dive into hers and come up laughing. Join us for a deep and funny hour.

Ann Randolph is a playwright, a teacher, and an award-winning solo artist. Ann won an Ovation Award for "Squeeze Box," originally produced by Mel Brooks and the late Anne Bancroft. Ann is an alum of The Groundlings, having worked with Will Ferrel, Sheri Otari, Molly Shannon, and others.

At the top of the hour Marie interviewed writer, performer and educator, Ann Randolph. For the second half of the show Marie continued her conversation from last week on fear. Ann Randolph is an Ovation Award® winning playwright and performer. Her multi-character solo show Squeeze Box was originally produced by Mel Brooks and the late Anne Bancroft and went on to become a critically acclaimed Off-Broadway hit. Her current solo show, LOVELAND, is currently playing every weekend in San Francisco where Randolph was recently awarded, “Best Solo Performer in San Francisco” by the San Francisco Examiner. In 2011, Randolph was awarded “Best Solo Performer” by the LA Weekly for LOVELAND. A resident of Los Angeles, Randolph's previous solo shows and plays have garnered many awards. She is a former member of the Groundlings and Unsafe Sketch receiving LA Weekly's, “Best Female Comedy Performer.” Her solo show, Miss America, was awarded “Best Solo Show,” by the LA Weekly and as an actress she has appeared in numerous plays, including the long running cult classic, Bob's Office Party, for which she created the roles of Brandy and Carol. An LA Times critic wrote of Randolph's performance, “In a pair of wickedly hysterical roles, Randolph steals the show.”