Better off Read

Ep 124: Beyond a Joke 12 - Gabby Anderson talk with Pip Adam about Verb After-Hours

I was so grateful when Gabby Anderson agreed to be part of Verb After-Hours Beyond a Joke. 

In this episode, Gabby and I talk about her performance at that event. The episode starts with a recording of that night.

Gabby and Orine Ruaine-Prattley appear in Truth Be Told at Fringe in February.

The best way to keep up-to-date with Gabby’s events is at Gabby’s Instagram

 

During this chat I noticed I mention Janeane Garofalo a couple of times. Over summer I read this amazing essay about Garofalo by Jason Zinoman, called Janeane Garofalo Never Sold Out. What a Relief It was an incredible piece of writing about Garofalo for sure, but also so interesting to read about the concept of ‘selling out’ and defining your art on your own terms. It reminded me of this amazing Marc Maron quote that goes something like, ‘You can do comedy about whatever you want, but just remember your audience will be the people who think what you’re saying is funny.’ I’m sorry but I think it’s behind a paywall but it’s well worth hunting out.

This essay linked to a quite famous essay about Saturday Night Live which is fucking heartbreaking to read in the context of Garofalo’s career.

One thing that isn’t behind a paywall is this interview with Garofalo on Letterman which was meant to be a promotional outing for the film Reality Bites. All the Gen-Xers, stand up.

As well as Janeane Garofalo, I also make noises a couple of times about Kate Berlant’s Cinnamon in the Wind (which was directed by Bo Burnham). I think I rate Berlant as my favourite comedian at the moment. She’s a genius of the awkward and absurd and I love her. Her episode of The Characters is also worth seeking out.

Ep 123: A Talk about Janet Frame by Pip Adam

This is the final in this holiday series of ‘things I wrote in 2022’.

In this episode I’ve recorded a talk I have at the 2022 Brisbane Writers Festival. I’ve made the decision to record it as I presented it on the day (including quite a few stumbles). This means the talk will include some sight-specific and time-specific references.

I am sure I got things wrong, and I want to make sure people know that I am here to talk about what I did get wrong. There is also always room for right of reply on the podcast. 

Later in January, we’ll be back to Beyond a Joke with some chats with some awesome people about what makes them laugh.

Thanks again for listening and, like I say, please don’t hesitate to get in touch here or on Twitter or Instagram.

PipX

Ep 122: Appetites Talk about Reality TV by Pip Adam

Hi All,

This episode a short one, because I figure most of you will be well on your way to New Year’s plans.

I recorded this version of a talk I gave in November for a Brooklyn School fundraiser which is called Appetites. 

It was a fun night, Brannavan Gnanalingam, Emmily Writes, Jo Randerson and I shared a lift to the event which was really nice. Brannavan, Emily and Jo’s talks were awesome.

Brooklyn School is on Te Atiawa, Taranaki Whānui and Ngati Toa Rangatira land.

The topic of my talk was how much a love reality TV.

Thanks for listening

Pip

Ep 121: Please Unlock to Ride by Pip Adam

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to this episode of Better off Read.

First of all, apologies for no podcasts in November. Things got a bit on top of me and I wasn’t able to record an episode.

Beyond a Joke will be back in January, with more conversations with people about things that make us laugh. We’ll be starting the year talking to some of the amazing people who took part in the Verb After-Hours: Beyond a Joke event which was held in November.

In the meantime, over December I’ll be sharing a few recordings of work I’ve written this year.

In this episode, it’s a short story I wrote for the amazing journal HEAT.

The story is called Please Unlock to Drive and I wrote it after I read an article about e-ecooters being dumped Also in the mix of this story was my sadness and anger over the housing market and gig economy. I am often interested in work and it always finds it’s way into my work. Slight, life-meets-fiction fact, my father worked as an Uber driver until the pandemic got too much for him.

It was so great to work with Alexandra Christie on this story. HEAT is published by Giramondo who published my book Nothing to See. I’ve just finished working with Nick Tapper from Giramondo on my next novel Audition which comes out with Giramondo next year. I am so grateful to Giramondo. Nothing to See was scuppered, like so many things, by covid and I am so grateful that they are taking another chance on me with this new book. It is a dream to work with Giramondo.

Here’s a bit about HEAT from their website

HEAT is an Australian literary journal renowned for its dedication to literary quality, and its commitment to publishing innovative and imaginative poetry, fiction, essays, criticism and the hybrid forms.

The aim of the magazine has always been to publish innovative Australian and international writers of the highest standard. Fifteen issues were published in the first series, from 1996 to 2000, with internal design by Toni-Hope Caten and covers by Harry Williamson. It was followed by the new series of HEAT, designed by Harry Williamson, with twenty-four issues published between 2001 and 2011.

The third series of HEAT commenced publishing bimonthly in 2022, in a new design by Jenny Grigg. It is edited by Alexandra Christie, with the support of a distinguished editorial board.

There are two really exciting new podcasts that I wanted to say, Yay!! about.

Flying Fetu podcast of some of the sessions that took place at their recent talanoa. The best way to get information about this is by following Flying Fetu on Instagram

Rats in the Gutter is a new podcast by Sam Te Kani and Johanna Cosgrove. Rats in the Gutter also has an Instagram account you can follow

Ep 120: Beyond a Joke 11 - Anna Pendergrast & Kelly Pendergrast talk with Pip Adam about The Laughter Lift from Kermode & Mayo’s Take

Subscribe to Better off Read at https://betteroffread.substack.com

Anna and Kelly Pendergrast’s latest work is More Zeros and Ones a book they edited which is published by BWB. This book brings together essays from incredibly interesting thinkers and doers who write about environmental science, law and Te Tiriti o Waitangi and recent developments in technology. I just can’t recommend this book enough. I love this blurb from BWB:

Many of today’s digital technologies inadvertently amplify the power structures and prejudices of wider society. By examining the way digital tools and platforms are designed, built, and maintained, this BWB Text aims to identify how we can do better for everyone in Aotearoa.

Anna and Kelly are founders of Antistatic a research and communications consultancy like no other I’ve come across. I got to talk to Anna and Kelly, as Antistatic, last year about their part in the Flat Earthers exhibition/book/event. Still one of the best things I’ve ever done.

I was interested in talking to Anna and Kelly about humour and laughter for several reasons. Anna and Kelly’s work is often playful and because of this I think, is able to say some pretty profound things about some of the power structures that sit in technology. Also, Anna and Kelly do a lot of work in communications - taking very complex ideas and structuring them for different purposes. I was interested in how this deep knowledge of communication gives an insight into what makes us laugh.

Ann and Kelly brought the perfect ‘thing that made them laugh’ for this kind of conversation. The Laughter Lift is a segment on the Kermode & Mayo’s Take podcast. I loved the way this opened up a conversation about jokes and the social act of telling jokes. One of the things I loved talking about was that because we often share an idea of the structure of ‘the joke’ with the people are telling jokes to, even when the joke goes wrong it is still funny because it becomes a subversion of the form.

This gives me immense hope as I am practicing my ‘bit’ for the Verb After Hours - Beyond A Joke night Thursday 3 November, 8.30pm at Meow in Wellington. To which there are still tickets available. This is a shameless self-promotion but also, the folk who are appearing in this event are amazing!!

 

Ep 119: Beyond a Joke 10 - Marolyn Krasner talks with Pip Adam about Hudson Valley Ballers: Lovers

Marolyn has been on the podcast once before in an episode we recorded about the show From the 4410 to the 4412 which Marolyn made with Helen Lehndorf and Charlie Pearson last year. In this episode we touch briefly on that show.

I loved recording this conversation because it made me think a lot about the joy of process.

I also loved the web-series Marolyn brought as a subject for our chat. Hudson Valley Ballers: Lovers is very funny and you can watch the rest of the series on YouTube as well.

Marolyn is currently making an incredible podcast called cyanutopia which is a podcast about cyanotype. I am so interested in cyanotype as an form and I think even if you weren’t, Marolyn’s podcast is such an amazing opportunity to listen to artists talk about their process and work.

 

Ep 118: Beyond a Joke 9 - Rijula Das, author of Small Deaths, talks to Pip Adam about a New Yorker cartoon

CW: This podcast contains discussion of Gender-Based violence.

Rijula Das’ award-winning novel Small Deaths is an amazing book. Set in Shonagachhi and orbiting the violent murder of a sex worker it is one of the most compelling and felt reading experiences I have had this year. It is astounding.

 

I was so grateful that Rijula took time to talk to me. Rijula was kind enough to bring the following cartoon to our conversation.

 

We began our discussion talking about seagulls and monkeys and using the way this joke skews a well-known narrative we talked about ways to re-write or challenge the dominant stories in our cultures about sex work. Rijula also talks about the pragmatics of writing the book.

In this episode Rijula and I talk a couple of times about the 2016 Indian banknote demonetisation

The launch of Verb Readers & Writers Festival 2022 programme, and the release of Festival Programmer, Rijula Das’ debut novel Small Deaths takes place on Tuesday 13 September, 5:30pm for a 6pm. All warmly welcome. Please RSVP by Monday 12 September to info@verbwellington.nz 

Ep 117: Beyond a Joke 8 - Dominic Hoey tells Pip Adam a funny story and they talk about Poor People With Money

As this arrives in your email Dominic Hoey’s new novel Poor People With Money will have just been launched at Soap in Auckland.

 

A couple of weeks ago, Dominic and I got together over Zoom. Dominic told me a funny story. This story was a great prompt to talk about story structure, self-deprecating humour and even the economics of writing fiction. I’m really interested in money and art and it was great to talk to Dominic about how these work together.

 

One of the best places to stay up to date with Dominic’s readings, tours, books and courses is at his Instagram

Here’s an Instagram post of Dominic reading the first chapter of Poor People With Money

Thanks again for listening and subscribing.

You can support Better off Read financially at Buy Better off Read a Coffee

Ep 116: Beyond a Joke 7 - Sarah Jane Barnett talks with Pip Adam about Michael Schur’s The Good Place

 

As you will know, in this series I’m asking guests to identify ‘something that has made them laugh’. Sarah offered the TV series The Good Place created by Michael Schur. This is a show that has given both of us a lot of joy over the years and is a really great ‘way in’ to talking about Sarah’s new book Note on Womanhood which you can read more about at Otago University Press.

Sarah also has a great website where you can read about all her work

I was really keen to talk with Sarah about laughter in relation to her work. Sarah’s book is thoughtful and compelling - it’s a serious work. However, what I found interesting about it is that it still has something to say about laughter, the way we use it in communication and the ways it can be used to talk about womanhood. Sarah was really generous in this conversation and I enjoyed it a great deal.

I guess I am also interested in the extent to which some stand-up is life writing. I’m interested in what we can learn from stand-ups when we come to write memoir and essay.

With this in mind I just wanted to share an episode from Jesse David Fox’s amazing podcast Good One. I just cannot recommend this podcast enough. In this episode Fox talks to James Acaster about his latest stand-up special and in particular about how he wrote parts of it which include the experience of other people in his life. Here’s a link to the episode in Stitcher

While I have you, I also wanted to recommend an episode of Good One from May this year called ‘How the Right Make Comedy Work for Them’. The guests on this episode are Matt Sienkiewicz and Nick Marx, authors of the amazing, new book That's Not Funny: How The Right Makes Comedy Work For Them

In this podcast we talk about this clip from James Acaster

And I mention Michael Schur’s new book How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question

Thanks again to every one who has subscribed here and to those who help support the podcast financially.

Thanks for listening to this episode.

Pip

Ep 115: Beyond a Joke 6 - Brannavan Gnanalingam talks with Pip Adam about Kira Muratova’s film The Asthenic Syndrome

As you will know, in this series I’m asking guests to identify ‘something that has made them laugh’. Brannavan offered Kira Muratova's film The Asthenic Syndrome which, maybe, is not an immediately obvious choice. Well, it wasn’t to me. It is, of course the perfect starting point for a conversation about Bran’s compelling, disturbing, funny(?), romantic new novel Slow Down, You’re Here. Which you can buy from Lawrence and Gibson the publishing collective that has brought some of the best reads of the last 10 years.

 

Bran and I talk alot about tone and horror and humour. Bran has some really great things to say about pace and how to control tension. Slow Down, You’re Here is a book that just doesn’t let you go. I felt bodily anxious when I had to be away from it for any reason. In the end, I had to lock myself away and read most of it in one sitting.

What I’m thinking about most right now (having just finished editing this episode) is what Brannavan says about how this film never lets us be complacent. We are always implicated in the film.

I make a comment about Stuart Lee and the rythm of, ‘I am laughing at these areseholes. What about these arseholes. Wait … I am an arsehole’. It’s a structure I’ve always been a bit in awe of.

But I think The Asthenic Syndrome plays a slightly different game. The slam-changes in tone mean it is impossible to settle. What I experienced was this sense of relaxing into a laugh and then in that surrender being confronted with something shocking. Brannavan talks about there being nothing cathartic about the laughter of the film. And in this way the film made me think alot about ‘post-comedy’ - the way the release is never coming, the discomfort remains and there is nothing left to do but sit with ourselves and our discomfort. It’s an amazing experience and one that lends itself to making art about difficult poilitical questions.

You can watch all of The Asthenic Syndrome on YouTube - please be aware there is some pretty tough stuff in it - animals are not treated well, humans are not treated well and there is some explicit nudity in the film.

 

We mention ‘Murdoch’ - which is Murdon Stephens who also has an amazing new novel Down From Upland

Brannavan also mentions several other writers from New Zealand: Megan Dunn, Rebecca K Reilly, Chloe Lane

We talk about Stephen King’s novel Misery

There is a film of Stephen King’s Misery you can watch the trailer here

We talk about Kenneth Cook’s novel Wake in Fright

There is also a film of Wake in Fright you can watch the trailer here

Thanks again to everyone who has subscribed to the podcast here and thanks to the paid subscribers. I appreciate it a great deal.

I’m currently reading Middlemarch by George Elliot which I feel very odd about - very happy to talk about my discomfort about reading from the canon in comments. As I type this I’m listening to Jason by Perfume Genius (still feeling pretty lucky to have seen them last week - I won’t be the same again).