Newsletter: Ailments! Bananamen! Doing nothing!
Me: Hello, it's me.
You: Todd Rundgren?
Me: No, it's Whitney! Dark hair, big dreams, bad dance moves ... ring a bell?
You: Perhaps. I think we shared a Slurpee once.
Me: Sounds about right. So hey, I've been up to some stuff this week.
You: And I have a feeling you're gonna tell me all about it.
Me: It's either that or I recite a scene from the "Uncle Ned" episode of FAMILY TIES.
You: Will this take long? Because I just stuck a Hot Pocket in the--
Me: I'll be done by the time it cools and you angrily throw it in the trash.
You: Great. OK. Let's do this, Todd.
Me: So I haven't seen too much TV aside from the SCHITT'S CREEK/CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM cocktail that has lulled me to sleep a couple nights this week.
You: Those are good shows.
Me: They are! And I've also been listening to some podcasts: Comedian/writer Sabrina Jalees has one called THE GOODIE GOODIE that just featured the wonderful Jeffery Self.
You: You fell for him years ago, when he was so young and did JEFFERY AND COLE CASSEROLE.
Me: It's almost as if I told you to say that, but yes. He and Cole Escola made me laugh so hard. They still do. And Jeffery was also on THROWING SHADE last week! That podcast has been consistently good for almost a decade.
You: Cool. What else? I need something to do while basking in the rays of my SAD lamp.
Me: It's that time of year, isn't it? In fact, that reminds me: Maria Bamford has a new show called WHAT'S YOUR AILMENT?! that deserves more attention. In each episode, she talks about mental health with a celebrity guest. The latest one features Jen Kirkman. You can see it on Amazon or Topic.
You: Right on. Anything else?
Me: I'm about halfway through HOW TO DO NOTHING, the best seller by Jenny Odell. It's all about the importance of enjoying our time and not succumbing to social media and other useless distractions that, frankly, will mean nothing when we die.
You: Uh, I'm not sure if that's SAD lamp material.
Me: But it is! Jenny is also a visual artist, and she incorporates some cool examples of art and historical figures that turn this book into something more than I expected it to be.
You: Can you suggest a couple things that'll make me laugh?
Me: Rob Delaney's new Amazon comedy special, JACKIE, is worth watching. There's a moment when he mentions a British documentary called HIDDEN KILLERS OF THE VICTORIAN HOME and, let me tell you, that sent me down a weird rabbit hole. Also, my friend Frank told me about a cartoon from the '80s called BANANAMAN, which is so terrible and strange that I can't believe I've never seen it.
You: I need these things in my life.
Me: Hey, good luck with the SAD lamp. I think it helps, but the things that help me most are sleep, food and walking outside, as simple as they sound.
You: Right on.
You: I heard a friend of yours launched a crowd-funding campaign.
Me: Yes! My dear friend Dean Haspiel--he makes comics like THE RED HOOK, which you can read for free online--wrote a wonderfully dark, surreal and heartfelt play called THE WAR OF WOO. It opens in March--I'll be at several performances, so please come say hi--and the director is raising money for the production on Indiegogo. Theater is crazy-expensive, but that world is full of passion.
You: Kinda like comics.
Me: Exactly. Their blood runs hot with creativity. Anyway, if you give to the campaign, there are all sorts of rewards you can get in return.
You: Speaking of struggling artists, how's your Patreon going?
Me: It's going well! This week I posted a little scene I wrote that I suppose you could act out if you wanted. It's called DINER SONG, and it's my attempt at writing a music-inspired love story.
You: How do I get it?
Me: If you support my work for $5 or more at patreon.com/whitneymatheson, you'll get that and a ton of other exclusive things I've written and drawn. As I've said before, this year I'm trying to produce more creative work, but it's very hard to do that for free.
You: So what about the next few days? Any cool stuff on the horizon?
Me: On TV, the final episodes of BOJACK HORSEMAN arrive on Netflix today, as does the Taylor Swift doc MISS AMERICANA. The Super Bowl is on Sunday, though don't ask me who's in it! CBS All Access premieres a new crime drama with Peter Sarsgaard called INTERROGATION (Feb. 6). And KATY KEENE finally arrives on the CW (Feb. 6).
You: And movies? Music?
Me: I've heard good things about THE ASSISTANT, which stars Julia Garner and Matthew Macfadyen (aka Tom from SUCCESSION). And this week we have new albums from Dan Deacon and the Jim Jarmusch/Carter Logan project SQURL, among others. And this isn't new, but I adore a Brooklyn band called Miranda and the Beat. They have a raw rock-'n'-soul sound, and I hope we'll be hearing more from them in the near future.
SQURL photo courtesy of Sara Driver
Me: I know you're hungry and stuff, but can I tell you one more thing before I go?
You: Of course.
Me: This week I also had the first reading of the play I wrote. It was wonderful, and the actors were all very talented and amazing.
You: That's great. So when do I get to see it?
Me: Soon, I hope. If you know any producers, tell 'em to drop me a line.
You: What if I don't know any producers?
Me: You can still drop me a line at whitmath@gmail.com or 929-515-1988. And you can always help me out by promoting this newsletter on Twitter/Instagram/what have you and encouraging people to subscribe.
You: Will do. So ... can I go eat now?
Me: Go for it. And hey, thanks for listening.
You: Bye, Whitney.
*click*