Songs for the Struggling Artist
Songs for the StrugglingArtist
I blogcast about Artist stuff. And Arts Related stuff. Also feminism.
- 14 minutes 48 secondsPreparing for Editing
What’s funny is, I like editing. I’m not sure why I was dragging my feet around editing our book. I’d already made some major changes. The big re-structure had already happened. But somehow I couldn’t bring myself to sit down and fix up some details.
I finally decided I needed to buckle down, though, and instead of getting into the document, I watched a movie made in the year our book was set. It was a great movie and I thought it would get me inspired.
To keep reading Preparing for Editing visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.
This is Episode 489
Song: Ready to Go
Image by Jainath Ponnala via Unsplash
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Listen to The Dragoning here and The Defense here.
10 March 2026, 2:01 am - 19 minutes 25 secondsA Clown Teacher Exits
If you felt a bit of a tremor in the fabric of the universe last week, you’re probably a clown. One of the most influential clown teachers made his exit and more people than I would have expected felt the impact of his loss.
I never studied with Philippe Gaulier but I studied with several teachers who did. I guess I’m a second generation Gaulier clown. I think there are a lot of benefits to being the second-generation student.
To keep reading A Clown Teacher Exits visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.
This is Episode 488
Song: Clown Strike
Image via Wikipedia
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Listen to The Dragoning here and The Defense here.
Explicit due to clowns getting in the sh*t
3 March 2026, 2:20 am - 14 minutes 1 secondDealing with Egotistical Narcissistic A**holes
Back in college, I took a class in producing, as I thought it might come in handy in my future theatre career. The class involved running the student run space with four other students. One of them was an egotistical narcissistic asshole so I quit the job and the class after the first semester of it.
I’d forgotten most of this drama until I saw a friend who also considered walking away. She wonders if she should have quit and I wonder if I should have stayed.
To keep reading Dealing with Egotistical Narcissistic Assholes visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.
This is Episode 487
Song: Should I Stay or Should I Go
Image via Unsplash
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Listen to The Dragoning here and The Defense here.
24 February 2026, 3:07 am - 18 minutes 46 secondsTheatre, Epstein and Me, Two Degrees Away
When I went to go see my friend in a show at Jeffrey Horowitz’s theatre, TFANA, I had a wild experience with a velvet rope they’d set up after the performance. I wrote about it. But I didn’t name the theatre but now that I’ve read those emails from Horowitz to Epstein, I feel like the two things are connected. Because that velvet rope they set up was to cater to people like Jeffrey Epstein, if not exactly him, and to keep out people like me.
Then I saw the news that Lauren Gunderson was in the Epstein files.
To keep reading Theatre, Epstein and Me visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.
This is Episode 486
Song: Richard Cory
Image of Access Grove by Gabriela Salazar
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Listen to The Dragoning here and The Defense here.
17 February 2026, 2:50 am - 14 minutes 48 secondsNetworking Tips
My college has an alumni holiday party every year and it’s a fun opportunity to meet people both younger and older than me. At this last one, I met two groups of recent grads and I was struck by the difference in their approaches to the prospect of networking. It seemed to me that one group had a lot they could teach the other.
They were all very nice – but the first students I talked to – let’s call them the freshest grads – were clearly there for some help with their careers.
To keep reading Networking Tips visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.
This is Episode 485
Song: Talk to Me
Image by Jon Tyson via Unsplash
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Listen to The Dragoning here and The Defense here.
10 February 2026, 2:53 am - 19 minutes 28 secondsA Book Called Theatre (With Very Little Theatre)
His “About the Author” said he’d been a successful playwright so I couldn’t figure out why his novel about an actress should be so utterly devoid of any verisimilitude about life in the theatre. There’s not a single writer character in it until the very end and the actress is never in rehearsal, never onstage and we never see much interest in her work. We just hear about what an amazing actress she is and then watch her get massages and entertain people in her dressing room.
To keep reading A Book Called Theatre visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.
This is Episode 484
Song:Paper Doll
Image of W Somerset Maugham
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3 February 2026, 2:57 am - 21 minutes 16 secondsComments on The Heroine's Journey
Back in 2008, I wrote a review of The Heroine’s Journey on Goodreads. At the time, I was developing Mythellaneous, which was a clown hero’s journey, so I was very excited to read this book, which was meant to be a women’s version of the famous hero’s journey as described by Joseph Campebll. Unfortunately, The Heroine’s Journey was disappointing and generally kind of facile and old fashioned. It did not help me in the creation of that show.
Over the years, I have noticed likes coming through for this review, more than any other book on my list.
To keep reading Comments on The Heroine's Journey visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.
This is Episode 483
Song: I'm No Heroine
Image of some of my myth books
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Explicit due to one f**k
27 January 2026, 12:52 am - 16 minutes 41 secondsHealth Care Every Year
A few weeks ago, I started receiving alarming emails about renewing my health insurance. “Renew now,” they said, “Or you risk losing your health insurance!”
I can’t risk losing health insurance so I got right on it and logged into my NY State of Health account to take care of it. When I got into the system, it told me I could not renew for another two weeks. Several more panic inducing emails arrived and there was literally nothing to do about it yet.
This made me think about how absolutely bonkers our health care system is.
To keep reading Health Care Every Year visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.
This is Episode 482
Song: Unwell
Image by Tim Mossholder via Unsplash
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Listen to The Dragoning here and The Defense here.
20 January 2026, 2:18 am - 13 minutes 53 secondsGiving Tuesday
I didn’t want to be a Giving Tuesday party pooper so I waited to post this until after giving season. I hope all my non-profit friends got lots of donations this year! But I did write this on actual Giving Tuesday. Am I a spoilsport? Maybe.
Because I run a non-profit, I feel like I ought to make a pitch for us every year around this time. It feels like an exercise in futility but a lot of things feel that way, so maybe I should do it anyway? I didn’t do it this year but maybe I should have?
To keep reading Giving Tuesday visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.
This is Episode 481
Song: Giving Tuesday
Image via Wikicommons
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Listen to The Dragoning here and The Defense here.
13 January 2026, 12:21 am - 20 minutes 42 secondsThis Show Needed Gertrude Stein
I saw an adaptation of a Thornton Wilder play at The Public and it made me real mad. My only comfort is that apparently Thornton Wilder used to get real mad at everything he saw as well, so I guess I’m in good company.
The show was an adaptation of The Skin of Our Teeth, which, for the most part, just involved throwing some songs into it. It was mostly harmless, I suppose. I’d never seen The Skin of Our Teeth and this production made me go straight home to read it so I guess it did me the service of catching me up on an American classic.
To keep reading This Show Needed Gertrude Stein visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.
This is Episode 480
Song: Gertrude & Stein
Image by CHUTTERSNAP via Unsplash
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Listen to The Dragoning here and The Defense here.
6 January 2026, 2:40 am - 16 minutes 50 secondsFurther Thoughts on Type
Occasionally, I’ll get responses to these blogs that suggest some further clarification is necessary. I wouldn’t have thought my piece about types would have been one of them. But it has become clear that the concept of types is not immediately obvious to those who don’t work in show business. I’m oddly touched by this. I love the notion of being free of the idea entirely. Types, for actors, are useful but sometimes oppressive categories.
To keep reading Further Thoughts on Type visit the Songs for the Struggling Artist blog.
This is Episode 479
Song: Been It
Image of Peter Falk via Wikipedia
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Listen to The Dragoning here and The Defense here.
30 December 2025, 2:09 am - More Episodes? Get the App
