Podcasts about death is hilarious

On today's episode of IGYE I'm joined by comedian, voice-over-artist and podcaster extraordinaire, Tawny Platis.Tawny hosts the fantastic, Death is Hilarious podcast, which serves as a safe space for those going through grief or the morbidly curious to learn more about how grief can manifest in a person's life and how to navigate it. If that sounds 'a bit much' and quite heavy for a podcast, fear not, because if Tawny was to receive any criticism from her work around death it'd be more likely to be that she isn't taking it seriously enough. But that's the crux of her identity and why her podcast is so wildly popular - in approaching grief with complete honesty and sincerity, Tawny, learnt that humour was integral to her ability to process and manage the intense emotions that come with losing a loved one.We chat about the inception of her podcast, the story of love and loss which took her down this path and why, if you're suffering with grief, comedy could be an option, but maybe don't go straight into writing stand-up material about it!You can find Death is Hilarious on all podcasting platforms : https://open.spotify.com/show/7ujNspj87KLDkGSsNAWcbA-You can find Tawny on IG @tawnyplatis-You can find me on IG @johnliot and my personal website is JohnLiot.com-Music by 'Sizzlebird' Opening track - 'I'm Glad You Exist'Closing track - 'Lost Lands'Album: HorizonsBandcamp - https://sizzlebird1.bandcamp.com/album/horizons

Why laugh? Because it's messed up that your spouse is dead and sometimes humor can help you cope. Tawny Platis of Death Is Hilarious is our special guest on this week's episode of the Filled With Gold Widow Podcast.   Tawny is a comedian, actor, and the founder of the nonprofit organization Death is Hilarious Grief Relief Foundation which provides grief mentorships, virtual peer to peer support groups, education, and community resources.  Listen in to find out about: Tawny crushing on her future husband, George, in the 6th grade His resemblance to a famous actor! Knowing George would die young and her anticipatory grief How an impromptu stand-up routine for the EMT's who tried to revive George was key to Tawny's survival after his death Creating the non-profit organization, Death is Hilarious Grief Relief Foundation! Tawny's widow centric comedy special!! Website: DeathIsHilarious.com Twitter + Instagram: @thatdeathpod TikTok: @ tawnyplatis This episode is brought to you by: Filled With Gold, a monthly box of comfort to help widows through this difficult and overwhelming time. It's the gift of hope and healing every widow needs to arrive on her doorstep each month. Get 50% off your first box - use code PODCAST50 (shipping is included for all US orders). Visit our website filledwithgold.org to learn more about our monthly boxes for widows.

Today is or most uncomfortable and possibly offensive show ever. If you have kids around or are a kid, skip this episode. It's our Valentines Special! NEWS - We chat with - Fish Love Thanks to Olukai for sponsoring this episode www.OluKai.com/fishnerds “Tawny Platis is the founder of Tawny Voice, an audio production company. She was one half of The Dirty Bits Podcast with her late husband, George. https://www.tawnyvoice.com/.” Kate Wallinga is a forensic psychologist and crisis clinician turned podcaster. She is the host and producer of Ignorance Was Bliss, a podcast https://iwbpodcast.podbean.com/

Today my guest is K. Krombie, author of "Death in New York" which details the history and culture of burials, undertakers, and execution.For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/tawnyplatis, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.

Today my guest is K. Krombie, author of "Death in New York" which details the history and culture of burials, undertakers, and execution.For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/tawnyplatis, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.

Today my guest is Autumn Toelle-Jackson, the award winning author of Boldly into the Darkness: Living with Loss, Growing with Grief & Holding onto Happiness. She's also the founder of Growing with Grief, a website that provides those who are grieving with a place to find community, resources, and help.For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.

Today my guest is Bethany Harvey, author of Dipped in It, a book where she explores the unpredictable spiral of grief after unexpectedly losing her father and openly shares the heartbreaking, gritty and unexpectedly hilarious insights that surface.In this episode:How intending to write daily gratitude posts turned into being vulnerable, honest, and funny as opposed to relentlessly positiveGrief is not just being sad, we weave in and out of so many emotionsHow humor is a part of grief and how often those who haven't experienced loss can't quite wrap their heads around that (it has to do with absurdity and relief)Why we feel drawn to share on social mediaFeeling guilty about not being anything but positive and gratefulThinking about Coolio during the funeralFor more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.

Today my guest is Jennifer Lee Weaver, a Los Angeles based comic actress, producer, public speaker, and widow. After beating cancer, Jennifer's mother passed away at the end of 2017 and then her wife passed away from cancer. She's what I affectionately refer to as a “gold star widow.”In this episode:- How absurd grief and loss is, especially when so many losses hit you in a short amount of time- Jennifer didn't lean into comedy right away but has recently given herself permission to use humor to cope- Not being able to relate to the idea of what widowhood is supposed to look like- Being a multi-layered human, including when grieving- Missing the stupid stuff like fighting with your spouse- When people think grieving folks are “handling everything with grace”- Assigning yourself meaning and purpose in a life that's chaos- All relationships end in tragedy- and still choosing to love despite that- Not having just one person/soulmate/great love- Atoms, string theory, multiple realities, and matter changing form- Feeling like a badassFor more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.

Today my guest is Jenn Koiter- a storyteller with a background in education, nonprofit work, and technology who has taught at colleges and universities. Jenn is also the author of So Much of Everything, a book of poetry she created in order to process her complicated feelings of loss and grief that she experienced after her ex-boyfriend died from suicide. In this episode: - Jenn uses her dead ex-boyfriend's yoga mat- How grieving compares to dog obedience training - Needing to be ok with people not understanding the humor around death - Why people don't understand using humor to cope with death and grief - The complicated feelings around someone dying of suicide after breaking up with them- How using humor to cope is often initially a part of someone's personality and it's magnified during trauma - Having a religious funeral for someone who was an atheist - How humor brings us together as mourners and connects us as a part of our grief For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.

Today my guest is Nadine Menashe, the creator behind the Varsity Grief Squad, one of my favorite accounts on Instagram and also where Nadine makes memes and merch about her dead mom.We talked about:- Nadine's mom Svetlana was diagnosed with stage 4 breast, bone, and lung cancer in September 2019. That's when the grief process started. When she passed away in October 2020, the humor came naturally. It was the only way she was able to communicate what she was feeling- Processing grief and loss with funny memes- Humor wasn't always something Nadine used to cope with the hard stuff in life- The moment that Nadine started really leaning into humor was at her mom's funeral- A lot of rabbis seem to have a great sense of humor around death- The backlash that comes with using dark humor to cope- Appreciating the view of death in Judaism- Meeting a grieving person where they areFor more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com

Today my guest is Kathy Benjamin, author of the upcoming book, “It's Your Funeral,” which aims to help demystify death, decrease your anxiety, and put the fun back in funeral. Every stage of the legacy planning process is considered, from a burial outfit to a funeral theme. Kathy's writing has has received more than 100 million hits across some of the most popular humor and trivia websites in the world, including Mental Floss, Cracked, Grunge, The Smoking Jacket, and Uproxx. Kathy is also the author of Funerals to Die For.We talked about:- What how panic attacks led Kathy to start writing comically about death- Using humor and learning everything about death gave her the ability to demystify dying- Why death positivity eases anxiety around the topic and gives you more control- Why we're avoidant when it comes to death and dying- Getting kids comfortable with death and seeing bodies- How Victorians screwed us up when it comes to our relationship with death- The many different ways we grieve and mourn our loved onesFor more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.

Tawny Platis has been a podcaster and comedian since 2017. Her podcast, Death Is Hilarious, was #10 on Scary Mommy's 2021 list, “17 Of The Best Grief Podcasts To Help You ThroughThis Difficult Time.” Her comedy sketches have also been featured in publications like LADbible. She is a sponsored streamer on the app Pococha and hosts funny, death centric game nights Sunday-Thursday on the app. She also works as a voice actor and has provided services for Similac, Emmis Communications on WIBC Indiana, Sawyer, and USA Today bestselling authors Anna Applegate and Angela Sanders. Before creating Death Is Hilarious, she created the comedy and history podcast, The Dirty Bits, along with her late husband, George. She lives in San Diego with her longtime friend and dog, Barbara Streisand. In this interview Tawny shares about how she's been using humor as her tool to navigate her grief, after the sudden death of her husband George just 2 years ago. As an atheist, she has found comfort in metaphysics, and also in the idea of time not being linear and that she and George were, are and will always be connected. Connect with Tawny Platis https://www.instagram.com/thatdeathpod/ https://www.tawnyvoice.com/ Tik Tok and Pococha @tawnyplatis Contact Kendra Rinaldi to be a guest or for coaching: https://www.griefgratitudeandthegrayinbetween.com/

Today my guest is Mitzi Weiland, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and creator of the podcast Dead Funny Dead Serious.In this episode: - Mitzi was a bartender and artist before her mother was diagnosed with terminal stage 4 cancer (her father and grandfather also passed away when she was 7). Then she started looking into volunteering at hospices and senior centers (bingo is ruthless) and started to school to be a geriatric mental health specialist. - She then took a grief class and learned why she uses humor to deal with her grief (it was very eye opening). - Mitzi was raised by a grieving mother and it was never addressed. She was using humor to deflect.- Humor is absolutely a healthy coping mechanism- if it's ONE of your tools. - Every tool should be used in moderation. Netflix is great until you start watching it for 24 hours a day and stop going to work. Wine is a great tool until it's not. - Using humor to deflect vs to cope is a fine and personal line- Going to local comedy clubs and listening to comedians using the platform to process and cope with loss. - Why we have so much death anxiety in American culture (we're living longer so palliative and deathcare is actually a new concept)- The new movement surrounding death positivity and how that's not the space grieving people are in - Grievers are shunned for sharing their feelings- We hashtag and label everything so we put everything and everyone in a box. You can be happy, grieving, and angry all at the same time- Grief groups are often filled with laughter - Turning her mom's ashes into a lawn gnomeFor more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.

Welcome back to the True Crime Fan Club podcast. I'm your host, Tawny of the Death is Hilarious podcast. I'm filling in for Lanie, who is on maternity leave. Transgender violence is a growing epidemic, particularly against women of color. Murders of transgender women reached an all-time level in 2020, with 37 transgender deaths by […]

Today my guest is Leslie Gray Streeter, pop culture columnist, journalist, and author of Black Widow: A Sad-Funny Journey Through Grief for People Who Normally Avoid Books with Words Like "Journey" in the TitleWe talked about:- Leslie's book Black Widow: A Sad-Funny Journey Through Grief for People Who Normally Avoid Books with Words Like "Journey" in the Title- Making jokes about having to deal with the absurdities that come with your husband dying on your watch- The performative “sad-face-head-tilt-sigh” some people give widows- How some widows were able to take on 2020 in a very prepared way- isolation and having to do stuff we don't want to do? Oh we got this. We go with the flow and have a sense of humor about it.- Why we feel kind of smug as widows- Do we have gallows humor or a desperate coping mechanism?- Patton Oswalt's bit about the Polish Woman of Doom (he's a widower!)- What has happened to us is absurd and absurdism is the foundation of comedy- How widowers are often portrayed as hot and widows are portrayed as hags in media and other double standards (this is seen on the show The Bachelor)- How widows are often accused of killing their husbands- Being an authentic sarcastic and messy widow who eats french fries out of her purse.- People who are defensive of our husbands… who didn't know them- The pushback we receive when we don't react how people want us to react- Sex and dating after being widowed- People project their own fears of being forgotten onto widows who find love again- How having deep relationships with our husbands primes us for wanting a deep connection again. Just because we want to love again passionately doesn't mean we don't love our husbands.- Our husbands told us they wanted us to find love again if they passed away before we didFor more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.

Today my guest is Bryan Martin, aka Sea Lion Bryan, who is an animal care and training specialist, widower, and fantastic dancer who can be found on TikTok and Instagram @sealionbryanWe talked about:- Being with his partner Clayton for four years. After Bryan's dad passed away, four months later Clayton got a fungal infection and he had an adverse response to the medication that cause acute liver failure. He became Clayton's caregiver for the following 8 months until he passed away.- It wasn't until 2020 when Bryan noticed how many people were grieving that he felt it was time to share with more people online.- Clayton's wild sense of humor, how it still informs Bryan's own humor, and why dead husband jokes are funny- Why Deadpool is the patron saint of widows- Being ghosted on a date after being literally ghosted by your partner- Widows laugh because the world is ridiculous- The weird connotation widow/er has (it make it sound like we did it)- If you've used comedy to cope in other areas of your life, you'll probably use it to cope with grief too- Using reverse psychology on the universe to get what you want- The difference between positivity and toxic positivity (something Bryan has been accused of)- The beauty of authenticity- We don't talk about preparing for death enough because of shame and fearFor more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.

I am Marc Hershon, your every-other-weekly-host for Succotash, the Comedy Soundcast Soundcast, and this is Ep262. I'm calling it “Revisitin' 3 Old Faves Plus 2 New Faves, And A Sad Goodbye, Too.” Before we jump into the deep end, I want to remind you that, if you missed last week's Epi261 “Clippin' My Way Back To You”, with my illustrious co-host-at-a-distance Tyson Saner, in which he featured clips from Girls 1 Kitchen, Strange Times, and Round Springfield, you can still fill your ears with it up at Apple & Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, and pretty much everywhere else in the known soundcast universe. For this week's installment, I have a sack stuffed to the gills with not three, not four, but FIVE clips from – as the title intimates – 3 faves, which are namely Wheelbarrow Full Of Dicks, Story Worthy, and Monster Party. In addition, I have clips from two shows we've not featured before: 91 Donkey Lane, and Death is Hilarious. We're sponsored this time around by Henderson's Pants new Poncho Pantz, which would be welcome news for all of those folks suffering from unseasonal flooding going on around the world if these pants weren't fictional in nature. RIP MAT GEORGE Before we wade into this week's clippage, though, I wanted to take a few moments out to get to the “Sad Goodbye” part of this episode's title, and observe a sad milestone we passed this past week. Podcaster Mat George died this past Saturday morning in Los Angeles, the victim of a hit-and-run traffic accident. Mat was 26 years old, and the co-host of She Rates Dogs along with Michaela Okland. Known for his Twitter and Insta feeds under the handle @matchu-chutrain, the soundcast he did with Michaela brought the popular social media page SheRatesDogs to the soundcast world — and listeners' worst dating stories along with it. The milestone I mentioned is that fact that, in most of the accounts of Mat's death, he is being identified as a “podcaster”. Our podcast, or soundcast, medium has been around for almost 20 years now but it's only now being recognized as a profession and I think that, through his untimely passing, Mat is the first among us to have the status of “podcaster” dignified by the mainstream press. In honor of Mat George, we've got a short clip that includes his final sign-off from the last episode of She Rates Dogs to drop before his death. Gone too soon at the age of 26, rest in peace Mat George. He and Michaela's show is very entertaining, and I urge you to listen to She Rates Dogs from wherever you get your soundcasts. CLIPS WFODThe inspiration for playing the next clip came up on Twitter this past week, when I saw the the account for WFOD, or Wheelbarrow Full of Dicks, as it is actually called, had retweeted a tweet from Spreaker, which had asked them, “Has your podcast received any media coverage?” They answered, “We were featured on Succotash Show twice!” Which is true: First in Epi47 back in 2013, and again in Epi100 in 2014. (They were also mentioned in Epi141 for their wrong side of the argument position of Soundcast vs Podcast, when they said “soundcast” sounds “silly”.) Well, Mike and the gang, clearly your stance was wrong as the world has long since embraced “soundcast” BUT we're not sore winners at Succotash and we are pleased and proud have having run the soundcast gamut along with you lo these many years. So hoping that the third times the charm, here is a clip from the most recent episode of Wheelbarrow Full of Dicks, in which the crew reminisces back to the beginning of the pandemic and a little old felon named Joe Exotic. Story WorthySo one of the reasons I even saw the tweet from Wheelbarrow Full of Dicks was that it got re-tweeted by longtime soundcast friend Christine Blackburn. We have only ever crossed paths in real life at the old LA Podcast Festivals, but she's always been game to recommend soundcasts and help connect me to folks to interview for this show. And her show, the Story Worthy soundcast, is one of the longest running story-telling shows out there. And she's done a great job of gamifying the format over the years and in various kinds of judged settings, including Story Smash, which you can catch on YouTube. (See the blog entry for this episode at our homesite, SuccotashShow.com, for clickable links to the show I'm mentioning as well as the socials for the people themselves!) So, anyway, I figured it was high time to clip Christine's show. This snippet comes from recent Episode 684 featuring guest comedian and video director Gary Robinson. They're chatting about how some celebrities become so heavily identified for a defining role. Death Is HilariousNow I certainly don't mean this episode of Succotash to be a downer, what with the memorial notice about Mat George up top and all, but I had received a note this week from Rachel Diamond, a PR assistant for a soundcast called Death Is Hilarious, asking if I'd give it a listen and consider playing a clip. So I listened and I liked it and I clipped it and it's here. Hosted by Tawny Platis, a widowed comedian who lost her husband George just a couple of years ago, and helped by her friend Sam Peterson, she was determined to channel her grief in helping herself and others to heal, find relief, and the power to laugh again in the face of death and other trauma. This clip is from a recent installment where Tawny chats with alt New York comic Ben Wasserman about dealing with the passing of his father. Monster PartyGetting back into the swing with one more old fave this show, it's a clip from a recent episode of Monster Party. Hosted by a quartet of my old chums Matt Weinhold, Shawn Sheridan, Larry Strothe, and James Gonis, they usually sit around or, more recently because of the pandemic, Zoom around with a guest and go to town on horror, suspense, and sci-fi movies. They recently had a phenomenal “get” of a guest, actor Steve Railsback, and they talk extensively with Steve about his long career in movies and TV. A film that he became well-known for was 1980's The Stuntman, in which he starred with Peter O'Toole, and directed by Richard Rush. In this clip, the guys talk to Steve about that project and he gets into what it was like working with the likes of O'Toole and director Rush. (NOTE: If you download THIS week's episode, you'll hear yours truly – that's right: Me, – guesting on the show for a couple of hours or so yakking about movies in the theme of “Summer Scare-cation”. A ton of fun and you can grab it everywhere online.) 91 Donkey LaneRounding our our true handful of clips – that's 5: One for each finger – is 91 Donkey Lane, a very funny sketch-ish soundcast that feastures the misadventures of Robert Bacon and Nate Lopez who become roommates in an apartment at 91 Donkey Lane, a place described as “magical but very dangerous.” This clip is from the episode entitled “Total Recall”, and featured Robert trying desperately to get away on a “mind vacation” so he can relax. This requires the same technology seen in the movie Total Recall, and the doctor helping him sounds suspiciously like Arnold Schwarzenegger. And the first place he travels to is the version of Mars featured in the Total Recall movie. Too many clips for us to get to the Tweetsack this week — sorry Tweety — but we'll hit it next time. Remember to listen for me on this week's edition of the Monster Party soundcast. If you have seen any of friend-of-Succotash comedian Dana Carvey's Instagram postings lately, @TheDanaCarvey, and see him using these kind of flat photo puppets of Joe Biden, well, that's MY handiwork! For reals. We used to make these bizarre puppet videos years ago and he's started to do some new ones as part of his soundcast Fantastic! With Dana Carvey. So he called me up and asked me to make up some new ones. Up next week in this very same feed will be Tyson Saner with another sweaty clutch of soundcast clips for you so be sure to come back around. And don't be afraid to rate and review our show up on Apple or Google Podcasts, especially with some tasty 5-star reviews. Stay safe as the summer wears on and the Delta COVID variant spreads out. Mask up inside when you can, wash your hands in a thorough manner – you know that drill – and and if anyone should happen to tap you on the shoulder to ask if you've heard anything good lately, please be sure to pass the Succotash. — Marc Hershon

Today my guest is Mandy Benoualid, the co-founder and editor of the death positive media site and resource TalkDeath, and co-host of the #TalkDeath video series. She is also the founder and President of the online memorial platform and virtual funeral service provider, Keeper, and works with the US Department of Veterans Affairs on the Veterans Legacy Memorial project, memorializing nearly 4 Million American Veterans. Mandy's work has appeared in national and international publications, she has been a featured presenter at professional funeral and cemetery conferences and was recently featured as an industry innovator by American Funeral Director Magazine.We talked about:- Visiting grandma's grave, it occurred to her how every person has a story in a cemetery that can't be communicated on a headstone.- How modern deathcare is changing the discussion around death (death positive)- TalkDeath is a lot of 20-45 year olds who are gawky nerd girls who want to talk about death- Green burial and how the demand for it has been skyrocketing- Why sex and death are both taboo topics in western countries- A funny story about sitting shiva when Mandy's grandpa died- Impromptu dancing and roasting grandpa (not literally) during the shiva- The phrase “celebration of life” and why not everyone appreciates the phrase- Using humor to shine a light as opposed to deflect- How grieving becomes a part of your identity when you've experienced a traumatic lossFor more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.

Join us for this special episode as part of the recorded episode showcase for Storytelling Podcast Week. This episode is brought to you by Tawny Platis of the Death is Hilarious podcast. … I've been creating the podcast Death Is Hilarious for a year now. If you're new to the podcast, It's a show that explores how we as comedians and creatives use comedy and dark humor to cope with grief through storytelling and jokes. In some episodes, I interview other artists and entertainers - and in other episodes, my creative collaborator, Sam Peterson and I, read each other funny letters we've written about trauma and loss in what I call “comedy routines masquerading as correspondence.” All together, I've produced over 100 podcast episodes to date. So in honor of all of this and many other milestones I mention in the show, I'd like to share with you some of my favorite moments from the past 35 episodes that have given me hope, perspective, and laughter. This episode features Michael Drane (professor at Antioch University and host of Unpopular Culture Podcast), stand-up comedians Glen Tickle ("Good Grief") and Rich Kiamco (Bravo's "Queer Eye For The Straight Guy," Netflix/Buzzfeed's “Follow This,” and the Broadway Comedy Club), Actress and author Reagan J. Pasternak (HBO's “Sharp Objects”, Syfy's “Wynonna Earp,” Netflix/HULU/HBO's “Being Erica”, BET's “Ms. Pat," and "Griffin's Heart: Mourning Your Pet With No Apologies - A Memoir, Healing Journal, and Keepsake"), Shyni (Lipstick Laundry Podcast), and Lisa Keefauver (MSW and host of the podcast "Grief is a Sneaky B!tch"). For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media. ... Storytelling Podcast Week is brought to you by Podbean. We're a podcast hosting and monetizing platform and home to over 500,000 podcasts, and we also offer the ability to livestream directly from the app to your audience with Podbean Live, where podcasts come to life! You can also start your own live stream for free on Podbean and to get your first 30 days of hosting for free use the code “story”!

Today my guest is Ben Wasserman, an alternative standup comedian based in New York who has performed in the Brooklyn Comedy Festival, Laughing Devil Festival, and the New York, Philly, and Burlington Fringe Festivals. His work has also appeared in Vice and Vulture but you may recognize him best from when he painted with his butt on MTV.We chat about:Ben's dad passed away from stage 5 lung cancer about 12 hours before inauguration day in 2017- Hosting a comedy show weeks after losing his dad while wearing a shirt that said “My dad died the day T*ump took office"- How we can't help but incorporate our grief into our performance- Why loss is unfathomable until you experience it first hand- The tendency people have to compare losses (spoiler-they aren't comparable)- Using comedy to cope and how it shouldn't be a replacement for therapy- Using humor to deflect vs cope with your problems- Identifying the body (funny story)- Being surprised at having the capacity to incorporate grief into comedy- How h*rny grief makes peopleFor more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.

Today my guests are Maria and Ammo from the podcast Philotimo Life, a podcast that aims to open up the conversation around death in order better come to terms with our own mortality, help us support those grieving, and to live a happier life.In this episode we talk about:How we as grievers shelter other people from the reality of our feelingsPeople think grief is contagiousWhat it's like studying thanatologyAmmo gives insight into death in Punjabi cultureGenerational traumaMaria gives insight into her Greek-Canadian upbringing and how that influenced her views on deathNot being able to get life insurance as a terminally ill personBeing saddled with over $50k in debt as a widowWhy dark humor is so taboo in North AmericaToxic positivity doesn't allow us to feel anything but happinessThe monetization and exploitation of Pride MonthJust because something is “better” doesn't mean it's “good”More on Philotimo Life:Maria's mom died when she was two. From an early age, she realized that talking about death was a huge no-no because people got really weird about it. As a way to avoid uncomfortable situations, she hardly spoke about her mom– let alone the way the loss impacted her. As she got older, she began to ask herself, "Why aren't I talking about this? Why aren't we talking about it?" This is what led to Philotimo Life– a place that breathes life into the conversation around death.As she was explaining it to Ammo, his response was one of the firsts that wasn't "that's kind of morbid." This led to him joining the project. His approach to the conversation around death was refreshing and helped shape Philotimo into what it is today.Together, they want you to share your experiences around death with family, friends, coworkers, and even strangers, with the goal that we change our policies around bereavement, and how we educate people about life, death, dying, and grief. By opening up this dialogue, they help others embrace the reality that everybody dies, and that's ok!https://www.philotimolife.com/about@philotimolife on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok.For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.

Today my guest is Shohana Sharmin, a Bangladeshi-Canadian comedian, writer, theatre artist, and host of the podcast, “Finders Grievers.” Shohana is also the creator and a cast member of the critically acclaimed award-winning dark sketch comedy revue "Dead Parents Society."Shohana lost her mom four years ago when she was just in her 20s and stopped by to talk with me about -feeling like other comedians who had lost their parents in their 20s were the ones who understood her (as opposed to peers her own age)- toxic positivity and being conditioned to be only happy, accepting sadness in order to avoid isolation- how weird it is needing to go to the mall right after someone dies (can relate)- the process behind writing sketches about death and grieving- needing to be in an ok place so your audience isn't concerned for you- how comedy is not a replacement for therapy- how we laugh the hardest at things we relate to- how therapists always schedule sessions for Tuesday- why we're self-deprecating as comedians (it's not because we're confident)- recognizing being lucky on the spectrum of support during loss- and how universal death is (at some point, someone you love will die)For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.

In this episode, I spoke with Lori Zaspel, a licensed social worker and co-founder of the Philly Death Doula Collective, which provides emotional, spiritual, and physical support at the end of life. Lori also works as a geriatric social worker, is studying EMDR, and creates really funny videos surrounding grief on TikTok under the handle @phillydeathdoula.We talked about what drew Lori to taking an academic approach to grief, how she happily talks about the three societal taboos (death, sex, and money) with humor, why shaming and stigmatizing grievers is harmful, how grieving people are going to be shamed regardless of how they choose to cope and the only way to really win is to keep existing, how people judgements because of their own death anxiety, ghosting grievers, why we're told that it's culturally inappropriate to talk about death and grief (partially because of the lack of control we have as humans), terror management theory (the higher your death anxiety the more likely you are to be conservative), being able to mark one's grief process by the type of jokes one is making, funny grief stories about having a funeral for a kitten, and having the forethought to make a cast of your partner's member before they die.For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.

Tawny Platis's husband George had a very rare heart condition since birth and lost his life in November 2019.  Initially, Tawny found herself spiraling into depression, wanting to end her own life, but 2 things saved her: 1. making other people laugh! 2. Their precious puppy Babs! In this episode we chat about: ~how she started a podcast called Death Is Hilarious ~how she went through a "wid-hoe" phase ~using humor as a way of bringing control back to us ~how "widow brain" affects focus and memory ~how strangers can show up in our lives from out of nowhere, just when we need them the most ~how much her life has changed and improved just in the last year! Be sure to check out Tawny's podcast at https://deathishilarious.com Also check out this week's blog post on RADICAL ACCEPTANCE as a concept and coping mechanism for grief. You can read that at https://www.widow180.com/resources/radical Check out our new YouTube Channel! It's Widow 180: The Channel Here's the latest episode:  https://youtu.be/rAxtcni1Z4U Please leave a rating and review for the podcast!

In this episode, I sat down with comedian JC Coccoli, who you may recognize from shows like “A Comedian in Grief,” “Why” with Hannibal Buress, “Key and Peele,” “Chelsea Lately,” and “Last Comic Standing” to talk about- losing her sister to an accidental fentanyl overdose at 34 years old while she was on tour and how difficult it was to write jokes- how this was her first real brush with mortality and delving into meditation and sci-fi- suffering from poor health during grief and how much luck has to do with survival- what led her to create the special “A Comedian in Grief"- why the stigma around comedians being unwell isn't necessarily true and how comedians are philosophers in their own right- how comedy helps us process the pain and the anger that comes along with grief- taking opposite action- the abandonment and secondary losses we experience from those who can't handle our grief- loving addicts without judgement- driving around with Dan Levy (creator of Schitt's Creek), listening to Sia and how he was there for her- finding comfort in spirituality, living in the moment, and why we don't talk about loss and grief.JC will be performing at Kingfly in Pittsburgh PA at 8:00 pm June 11For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.

In this episode I talk with fellow grief podcaster Tawny Platis! Before Tawny's husband George passed away in their home in November 2019, the two had a popular podcast together. After his untimely death, Tawny coped with the trauma by turning the podcast into the show now known as Death Is Hilarious. Her show features conversations with other creative types who use dark humor and jokes to combat their grief. We talk about the difficulties of being widowed at 29, and finding ways to give ourselves permission to laugh at the absurdity of it all. Follow https://deathishilarious.com @ThatDeathPod Follow Tawny @TawnysVoice

This week, Shohana chats about toxic positivity, hyper-specific support groups, and the link between grief and comedy with Tawny Platis, host of the dark comedy podcast “Death is Hilarious.” Follow Finders Grievers on Instagram & Twitter @findersgrievers and write to us at findersgrievers@gmail.com About Tawny Platis: Tawny Platis is a voice actor, comedian, and influencer. She also created the Dirty Bits Podcast with her late husband, George. He passed away on November 8, 2019, in their home due to complications associated with a heart condition (hypoplastic right heart syndrome) and a respiratory disease (mycobacterium avium complex). Now Tawny chats with others about using dark humor to cope with grief on her podcast Death Is Hilarious. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/findersgrievers/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/findersgrievers Email: findersgrievers@gmail.com Hosted by: Shohana Sharmin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soleahm/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/soleahm Guest: Tawny Platis Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tawnyplatis_voicetalent/ https://www.instagram.com/thatdeathpod/ Brought to you By: The Sonar Network

First, Tawny drunk posts on her IG stories, why she has ten hoodies that say mutherfckr on them, wanking while depressed, what it means to be experienced “adjacent” when you marry a troublemaker, how widows are shamed regardless of what they do or don’t do, comedy is performative and hyperbolic, dating men who are way out of her league, figuring out that 30 is old, and why going through perimenopause so young is a good thing.After the commercial, we chat about this week’s Traumology forecast featuring Tammy the Taurus, the Virgo Mary, and Lauren the TaurusThen, Sam talks about meeting up with friends again, how they cracked the code to get their domestic chickens to be cuddly, pinata parties, acquaintance fairs, 6 post-isolation observations, what it’s like getting crushes at 30+, and why their dog says you can’t hang out with them. Sam is part of a virtual art show pop up event with a dj and cocktail and mocktail tutorials on June 6th. Tickets are just $10 and automatically enter you to win prizes like coffee, jewelry, Sam’s art, a psychic reading, and more! Find them on IG @pixelpopupFor more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. The best way you can support the podcast is by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media and by subscribing on your favorite app. And of course we’d also love it if you joined us at Patreon.com/deathishilarious.

Widowed at twenty-eight, Tawny Platis is the queen of dead husband jokes. Tawny is a comedian, voice actor, and host of the podcast Death Is Hilarious. Tawny’s podcast explores how comedians and creatives use comedy and dark humor to cope with grief and trauma through storytelling and jokes. In this episode, Tawny discusses her botched suicide plan.  Why laughter is like her heroin. PSDD--Post Spousal Death Disorder. Pennsylvania Serah (she’s a lifesaver). Covid isolation perils. Bumble and honest dating profile advice. Tawny thinks something is wrong with her because the same evening her husband George died, Tawny was—horny. You’ll hear what each therapist said when Tawny asked “what’s wrong with me?” And so much more in Tawny's hope and laughter-filled journey. Here are the Bullets! Once-Upon-A-Time Heart Palpitations Death Is Hilarious Sleeping With The Hottest Guy Twenty-Eight And Widowed Why The EMTs Laughed Laughter Is Heroin To Me Why I Need to Make People Laugh I Planned My Suicide Is Babs (our dog) Going to Die Too? Pennslyvania Serah My Husband Just Died. Why Am I So Horny? Dick-Dash and the Revolving Doors Tawny's Dating Profile Advice Nothing Replaces Physical Touch Hope-Filled Tawny Sticking Around to See How The Movie Ends Thanks for listening. Tawny's links are all below. Death Is Hilarious Podcast TikTok  Instagram Twitter https://www.tawnyvoice.com Facebook YouTube Because you shouldn't have to journey alone, join me in the My Spouse Died Too community email list for members-only benefits: Behind-the-scenes commentary gives you deeper insight--helps you heal. Episode alerts so you'll know when a new episode is ready. Updates on past podcast guests because their journeys continue too. Plus more thoughts, resources, and random widowed journey stuff I discover. And it's the best way to contact me. Because you shouldn't have to journey alone. Sign-up now at https://www.myspousediedtoo.com. Hope. Heal. Find love again. ~ Emeric My Spouse Died Too podcast, images, logos, artwork copyright © 2019-2021 by Emeric McCleary. Music and lyrics © 2019-2021 by Emeric McCleary and Elena McCleary

In this episode, I spoke with Gracelyn Bateman, one half of Luna Peak, a foundation focused on creating books and products that elevate the stories of survivors in the grief and cancer communities, celebrate life, and give back. Gracelyn can also be seen on the foundation’s Instagram account, Snapshots of Life After Loss, which showcases authentic and often humorous grief perspectives. We chatted about the 5 year anniversary of when Gracelyn suddenly lost her dad, how she’s using her masters degree in sociology from Columbia to study the grief process, her professional opinion on using dark humor to cope, Luna Peak’s “The Grief Workbook” (a silly way to unpack your grief, reflective prompts funeral week bingo, loss word puzzle, and word search for condolences), how nerve wracking it was to step into the grief space, what it was like posting funny memes about grief on Instagram, the importance of representation and multiculturalism in grieving spaces, why we need to share our grief to open the door to broader conversations about coping mechanisms, how often grievers are silenced for laughing, surrounding yourself with people who understand, and the awkwardness of telling the cashier at REI your dad is dead.For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.

*If you're new to the show, this is a great place to start! *I’ve been creating the podcast Death Is Hilarious for a year now. If you’re new to the podcast, It’s a show that explores how we as comedians and creatives use comedy and dark humor to cope with grief through storytelling and jokes. In some episodes, I interview other artists and entertainers - and in other episodes, my creative collaborator, Sam Peterson and I, read each other funny letters we’ve written about trauma and loss in what I call “comedy routines masquerading as correspondence.” All together, I’ve produced over 100 podcast episodes to date. So in honor of all of this and many other milestones I mention in the show, I’d like to share with you some of my favorite moments from the past 35 episodes that have given me hope, perspective, and laughter.This episode features Michael Drane (professor at Antioch University and host of Unpopular Culture Podcast), stand-up comedians Glen Tickle ("Good Grief") and Rich Kiamco (Bravo’s "Queer Eye For The Straight Guy," Netflix/Buzzfeed’s “Follow This,” and the Broadway Comedy Club), Actress and author Reagan J. Pasternak (HBO’s “Sharp Objects”, Syfy's “Wynonna Earp,” Netflix/HULU/HBO’s “Being Erica”, BET’s “Ms. Pat," and "Griffin's Heart: Mourning Your Pet With No Apologies - A Memoir, Healing Journal, and Keepsake"), Shyni (Lipstick Laundry Podcast), and Lisa Keefauver (MSW and host of the podcast "Grief is a Sneaky B!tch").For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.

In this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Jordon Ferber, stand-up comedian from New York who has performed at Carolines, the Gotham Comedy club, Madison Square Garden, and on NBC’s Last Comic Standing. He’s also the creator of the podcast “Where’s The Grief?” where he interviews other comedians and creatives about the tragic losses they’ve experienced. Jordon and I talked about how he coped as a comedian when his brother passed away in a car accident at the age of 21, his work facilitating a siblings group with the Manhattan chapter of Compassionate Friends, what kind of cake his brother would have wanted at his funeral, and the kind of people who make jokes when grieving. For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.

Today my guest is Chris Calogero, a standup comedian from New Jersey who lives in Brooklyn and has been featured in the “NY Times,” “Funny or Die,” “Paste Magazine,” and “Good Morning America Day.” Chris is also the host of the podcast “Mourning Coffee,” where he interviews other comedians about their experiences with grief—how it affects their personal lives as well as their comedy.We talk about Chris’ initial reaction of “I don’t know if I can ever do comedy again,” to doing a set with dark and heavy punchlines and discovering that stand-up just might be the way he is able to make his way through the grief, how comedians aren’t well, how the impulse to do comedy seems hard to break unless you decide to become embittered and entitled by it, needing the audience to know that you’re ok and won’t break down on stage, why we share about our grief publicly, how lonely grief makes you feel, toxic positivity, how getting laughs on stage is validating where relatability is concerned, then conversely when relatability doesn’t matter when it comes to quality, how we’re watching many of our fellow millennials turn into angry old boomers who hate the younger generation, how comedians dig in their heels when it comes to change, how 28 might as well be as old as 70, the intoxicating feeling of superiority, our favorite grief jokes, and how people think you aren’t allowed to experience joy while grieving.For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.

In this episode, I had the absolute privilege of speaking with Glen Tickle, standup comedian, writer, husband, father, and the creator of one of my favorite specials of all time, “Good Grief.” We talked about what it’s like being in comedy while faced with loss, writing jokes about grief because it’s the only thing you want to talk about, learning how to play to the audience, Buckaroo Banzai, how 100 people can be in a room and if 99 are having a good time but 1 person isn’t, that’s the person a performer will focus on, how being unable to stop making jokes about uncomfortable topics isn’t new, when making jokes about tragedies doesn't go over well (like Gilbert Gottfried), how comedians can make jokes about their personal tragedies but not other people’s tragedies (like Tig Notaro), the incredibly dumb things people say to those in grief, how you should only say “let me know if you need anything at all” if you really mean it, how your kids prepare you for hecklers, how surprised Glen was to find others who used humor to cope, and how therapy is just a place to have your material reviewed.For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.

*Note: We had a little trouble connecting midway through the episode so you’ll notice a slight change in the audio at about the 15-minute mark. That’s showbiz, baby! * In this episode, I (Tawny) chat with actress Reagan J. Pasternak (HBO’s “Sharp Objects”, Syfy's “Wynonna Earp,” Netflix/HULU/HBO’s “Being Erica”, BET’s “Ms. Pat”) and author of "Griffin's Heart: Mourning Your Pet With No Apologies - A Memoir, Healing Journal, and Keepsake." As a widow and someone who is also co-dependent with their fur baby, I really appreciate what Reagan has done with her book! Reagan and I chat about how animal grief is often trivialized (disenfranchised grief), the way love and loss is a mirror that reflects where you are, what inspired her to take this unique interactive approach to helping others memorialize and cope with the loss of their pet, how definitive death is, cognitive therapy and rewiring your thinking on grief, Reagan laughing uncontrollably at her mom’s funeral, controlling her potty mouth while writing her book, being a huge empath, the beautiful part of darkness, how trauma makes you funny, the shame associated with talking about grief and trauma, trying to balance authenticity and being an open book while taking others into consideration, being an entertainer and artist in grief, the tricky side of feeling exploitative, and we swap some of our funniest stories related to our traumas.For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.