The Key to a Dope Ass Life: Know Your Gifts
Whatever your dream is, you need to get real about your gifts. To make it happen, it’s time to hone your skills. That’s the advice of our guest this week on the Dope Ass Podcast. Comedian Beth Lapides talks about her approach to comedy and writing and shares how to get real with yourself so you can make your dreams happen. Tune in!
Whether it’s comedy, writing, acting, or being a boss lady, you have unique gifts that are just waiting to be cultivated. To really go for your dreams, it’s not enough just to want it, you also have to hone your skill set. In this episode of Dope Ass Podcast, Beth Lapides talks to Andrea about her unique approach to writing and comedy as well as how to get honest with yourself about your own personal gifts.
Beth is a creative force and legend in comedy so if that’s something you want to try in earnest, take Beth’s advice. There’s nothing doper than listening to two hilarious comedians bouncing around ideas so tune in!
[00:22] - Divine timing
[05:10] - Can comedy be spiritual?
[08:15] - Teaching in earnest
[11:11] - Can anybody be funny?
[15:25] - Coffee and Coke
[18:18] - Life is worth dressing up for
[22:24] - Privacy & censorship
[25:27] - Pain + time = comedy
[29:43] - Starting Uncabaret
[36:55] - Comedic innovation
Beth Lapides is the creator, producer, and host of the legendary UnCabaret comedy show, which recently reached its 25th anniversary. In celebration, she wrote a cover story about it for the LA Weekly; having already written pieces for O Magazine, Time, The Los Angeles Times, Elle Decor and others. With one critically-acclaimed book entitled Did I Wake You? Haiku For Modern Living under her belt, Beth is currently writing her second book, based on her latest one woman show “100% Happy 88% of the Time”. She’s also working on setting up her female-centric TV shows and a feature-length film. Beth is also a creativity coach both privately and in classes. Her Infinite Writing workshops are a hot house incubator for writers, performers and other creative humans.
SPIRITUAL COMEDY AND COMEDIC SPIRITUALITY
On this week’s episode of the Dope Ass Podcast, writer, performer, comedian, producer and creativity coach (yes, she does all THAT) Beth Lapides and I got into the spiritual side of comedy and the comedic side of spirituality.
Confused? Don’t be. How we met will answer any questions you might have.
When I was working on my Masters in Spiritual Psychology, my second year project was centered on comedy. I needed a mentor and a quick Google search put me in touch with Beth. And she must have thought I was funny, because she agreed to coach me!
Backstory aside, on this dope ass episode, Beth and I really got into her career, and what comedy means to her. The first thing you need to know is that Beth is a natural born teacher. Yes, she played with Barbies and absolutely lived to dress up, but what Beth truly loved to do as a young child, was play school.
And she brings that same energy as a mentor and coach because she truly believes that anyone can be funny. You may never be the funniest person on earth, but as Beth explains it, if you have a taste or appreciation for something, you at least have a little talent for it, and she’ll help you put that sh*t on lockdown.
But more than a teacher, Beth is a true creative, and it’s her approach to comedy that makes her so spectacular. Because, let’s be honest (just like Beth and I are known to do) the comedy space can be fueled by some low-brow content, but that’s not where the good stuff lies. In answering my initial question, Beth explained that all comedy comes from pain. Whether it’s from a time where you felt awkward and out of place, or making light of a difficult situation, comedy is a form of light and healing. So yeah, when you put it that way, stand up might just be a spiritual experience. Whether or not spiritual leaders can be comedians is still up for debate…
All that aside, Beth has truly used this perspective to inform her career trajectory, mainly through launching UnCabaret, a comedy platform dedicated to being unproblematic, but more specifically unhomophobic, unxenophobic, unmisogynistic, unhacky and still really fucking hilarious. And she’s been going strong for 25 years. But for Beth it’s not about the numbers. It’s about innovation, and she’s got some pretty cool projects in the works. And while she can’t give out all the deets quite yet, you can find her on Instagram at @beth_lapides and Twitter at @bethlapides to stay updated.
So yeah, Beth is an incredible person/genius who both teaches and excels in making people laugh. And I’m someone who’s lucky enough to call her a friend. And to leave you with a couple final thoughts, I am someone who is trying not to care that my parents are listening to my often not PG podcast, I once sat next to Colin Farrel on a flight, and extreme diets are the only ones I can follow (until of course I break them with some Diet Coke and fried chicken). So you tell me who you think is living a Doper life, and if you’re having a hard time deciding, tune into this week’s podcast for the full download.
On the Dope Ass Podcast, Andrea Levoff and her roster of hilarious, inspirational, and always-opinionated guests are tackling everything from motherhood to fashion to travel and spirituality---with a seriously dope ass lens. But don’t take our word for it. Learn more about your dope ass host and her mission to make everyone see the world through hot pink-colored glasses at https://www.andrealevoff.com/.
This podcast episode was produced by Dante32.