Eye on the Triangle

Brian Jurado 0:00
The views and opinions expressed on Eye on the Triangle do not represent WKNC or NC State student media.

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Oh hello, this is Brian who rather the Public Affairs Director here at WKNC and host of Eye on the Triangle. For today's episode of Eye on the Triangle. We've got three interviews for y'all. Starting off an interview with Kennedy Phipps discussing a documentary screening of you belong here. A LGBTQ plus documentary filmed in Pitt County that will be presented at the Witherspoon building. Following that Eye on the Triangle reporter MaHA has an interview of sangha speaking of smoking alternatives, and to conclude Maha and Chang speak of touring comedian Eugene Mirman, so stay tuned.

Hello, everyone, this is Brian JuRado, the Public Affairs Director here at WKNC. And today I'm joined with Kennedy FIPS, a student here at NC State University studying social works Kennedy if you want to introduce yourself,

Kennedy Fipps 1:14
hello, everyone. My name is Kennedy Phipps.

Brian Jurado 1:16
Kennedy has partnered with the GLBT center on campus and Campus Health to host a screening of you belong here, a documentary focusing on LGBTQ ally ship experience in the rural south and just the LGBTQ youth experience in the rural south as well. The filming was done locally here in Pitt County, what overall brought you to bringing the screening to the NC State's campus.

Kennedy Fipps 1:41
You know, I I've had a very unique experience with my personal coming out. And I definitely noticed a need on NC State's campus for more involvement with the LGBTQ community and kind of combining the LGBTQ community with everyone else on campus to kind of just educate and create more awareness for coming out but also just the treatment of LGBTQ identifying individuals, because everybody's experience is so different, so unique, some have relatively good experiences, some have great and some have really difficult stories to share. So a lot of this just came from a personal passion to share these stories, and to hopefully, have a place where people can connect and relate to something that somebody in the documentary may have gone through.

Brian Jurado 2:39
And kind of like I said, the documentary was filmed here locally in Pitt County. How did you come across it? I mean, it's been very new. It's been fairly recent that kind of came out. So how did you find it?

Kennedy Fipps 2:49
Yeah, so I'm, I'm from Greenville, North Carolina, which is in Pitt County. And I knew someone that was in the documentary. We went to the same high school and we had a connection through our families. And that kind of is what sparked it is name is Zachary Pomeroy. He is an amazing human being. And he kind of saw this vision of creating this documentary and

worked with ECU health and they applied for some grants and they got it started. So I knew that the process was happening. And then finally it came out. And they started doing showings at ECU in Greenville. And then I really wanted to do a showing here in Raleigh. Greenville definitely took to it more because it was it was filmed there locally. And a lot of the rural areas surrounding like Griffin and Aiden, Bethel, things like that. But I really I wanted to bring it to Raleigh, because I know Raleigh is a little bit of a different area than Greenville. It's bigger, much more of a city vibe. But I know that there's so many college students and people that move to the triangle in general, from rural areas and have very similar experiences. So definitely wanted to bring that here. And given that you're friends with like the filmmakers, do you have any insights on like the process that it took for him to create this? I do have a little bit. Zachary definitely had a long process with this because he had to find the people that were going to be in this documentary. I do know that they actually interviewed I want to say 27 people to be in this documentary, and not all of them. Not all of their stories are highlighted, because there were just so many. But it started with ZACHARY And then a few of his friends knew of people and then a few of the other people that worked through ECU health knew some people. So it all kind of just started from word of mouth.

mouth. And then that turned into doing these one on one interviews with people, hearing their stories and then creating it into this beautiful documentary. I don't think it originally started in there in Zachary's mind and the people that helped him like the executive producers minds do and

I don't think it started out as this documentary. It definitely started out, okay, we're gonna hear people's stories and then we're gonna go from there. I think the vision definitely kind of progressed as they heard people's stories and figured out the needs of the community. I've been able to find a few brief descriptions online, just through ECU and as well as just like the showings that have happened in the past at ECU. But what would be your like, overall description of what documentary is my overall description of the documentary? That's a great question. I would, I wouldn't say that it is something that not only educates people about what LGBTQ plus identifying people go through, but it also

helps people that are a part of that community feel seen and loved and heard in a way that they haven't before.

A lot of the words, and the statements and the stories that are given in this documentary, it brings to light and almost puts words to what a lot of other people experienced daily that they don't know how to express, raising awareness about the treatment of the LGBTQ community, raising awareness of the mental health struggles that they face raising awareness about, maybe how their communities or their churches or their families have perceived they're coming out.

It's all there in this documentary. And it's very raw, and it's real.

Brian Jurado 6:59
And it just brings to light all of these things that our society strays away from talking about. Prior to this interview, there was a screening October 6, that went very well. Um, was there any like moments in the previous screening that you thought were very moving to you personally?

Kennedy Fipps 7:16
Yes, um, during the panel,

I was moderating and I had some prepared questions. And I, in the moment kind of just went off of them a little bit. And I was I was asking things about the process of the documentary and maybe how families and friends perceived people in the documentary, like after the fact, when it was shown and what the reactions were like. But at the very end, I asked the executive producers doing a pill green, I asked her this question, and I, she's a mother of two bisexual daughters. And

I asked her, if you could give one piece of advice to the or if you could give one loving statement to the college students in the room that may be queer or not, what would it be? And it was a very emotional moment for me and for her, but she just said, like you were you. And that is the most beautiful thing that you can be. And it was a really sweet moment, because a lot of students in college and youth in general, do not have the support of their families

when they are coming out or after they come out, or even before.

And she kind of just put this like blanket of love over over the room, and really summed up

what the documentary was all about was just like sharing that love. And she was able to give her perspective as a parent, and just letting them know even though I'm not your parent, I do love you for who you are. And that was just a beautiful thing to see. Following the film, there is like a panel discussion. Is there any speakers that were there, or at the last time that are gonna be present at this following screening? Yes, so Zachary Pomeroy will be there. He is one of the people who put the documentary together and was there from the very beginning of the process. And he's highlighted in the documentary documentary as well. Avi Washington will be there he is in the documentary. And then Suzanne pelgrane will be there again. She was an executive producer and also works for ECU health. So she was involved in a lot of the grant writing processes.

And looking at things from a like hospital perspective or medical perspective. And then

let's see Denise who is

I'm a licensed social worker, she will be there. So she gives a great mental health perspective. And then I know we will have a few new people, Breanna Kohler and Donald pelgrane, they will both be there as well to sit on the panel and Donald gives a fatherly perspective of what it's like to have bisexual children. Suanne and Donald are married. And then Brianna also worked very closely with ZACHARY And Suanne on the documentary and her story was highlighted in the documentary as well. Oh, what I thought was very like moving about the overall screening. Once I saw like the advertisement through the chests, email chain was just how there was a panel discussion following I feel like a lot of the time when you see these documentaries, or you see these films, it's a lot of conversations that need to be had. But there isn't like a room for that to happen. So I believe that the panel discussion is really great. And I hope that more events moving forward, offer that opportunity to like, be able to like, actually address these conversations and actually address these issues and not just let it like, sit on your mind and just like sit there. And I think that's very important. And I think that's really great that you guys are being able to promote this and have this. Yeah, it's really cool, because everyone sitting on the panel has had some sort of experience, working with the documentary and or being a part of the LGBTQ community or an ally. And someone else I didn't mention that will be on the panel, again, is Molly Sue Smith, she's actually an NC State student. She didn't have any involvement in the creation of the documentary, but we brought her in, because we really wanted to give that NC State student perspective and what it's like to be out and in college.

But the panel is different, because these people are all very honest and open about their stories. And

like Zachary identifies as a gay man, and he's able to speak on that experience. That's not something you see every day, there aren't always people out there that are comfortable enough to put themselves out on a platform, which can be really scary to present themselves to the world in that way, especially when society is not as accepting of them as and in North Carolina, where a lot of people are very religious or conservative and may not hold the same views. So it's a very open and honest conversation that I don't think this campus really has had. I don't know I I agree with you entirely. I feel like there is not many of these conversations being had, we've seen like a lot of protests on campus, we see a lot of pushback. And sometimes it doesn't feel like campus can be a very safe space. And I think it's incredibly important, especially as a student body and as well as faculty to actually address these issues and show that there is support as an ally, and there is safe spaces for these students to like be in and feel comfortable in. And I think this documentary is incredibly important to promote that message here on this campus. And I hope that it keeps continue being picked up on campuses following ours. As we saw it at ECU. I'm hoping like, there's more schools. I'm not too sure if you're familiar if there's any more schools that have been picking it up, or Yeah, I know, there's been a showing at Duke. And I think they actually want to do another showing. I'm hoping that I can get in contact with the School of Social Work at UNC to see if maybe they'd be interested in doing a showing or even just inviting them to this upcoming showing. And I know that there have been a few other schools around North Carolina that the team has been traveling to, to host the documentary and then have the panel.

Brian Jurado 13:40
That's really great. I'm really happy to hear that. I personally come from a very rural part of North Carolina. And there's a lot of hate being spread in my like my hometown, as well as the towns around me. And I think it's incredibly important that students that are traveling to Raleigh can feel safe, even if they come from bigger cities or rural towns because we are a very wide campus we're very wide demographic of students. So I'm just to help kind of like spread the word about this next event. Do you just want to kind of speak on like the day and how to access tickets?

Kennedy Fipps 14:11
Yeah, so the next showing for the you belong here documentary will be on Sunday, October 23 at 6pm. At Witherspoon campus cinema, it will be right here on campus so students are able to show up as well as community members parking is free after five and on weekends. So that should not be an issue. But we will have a playbills for you. We will have snacks and drinks. We just want you to come and feel welcome and to be a part of our community. The School of Social Work actually is partnering with us as well on this event, and we will have the social work student ambassadors there. I'm one of the co chairs of that, but we definitely want to highlight this social work perspective and the

inclusivity of the School of Social Work and we have like a code of ethics that we abide by, and inclusivity is one of them. So we definitely want to highlight that. And we're just so excited to be hosting this again. And we really hope that lots of people from the Raleigh community from the triangle and NC State are able to attend, it will definitely be a life changing experience for them.

Brian Jurado 15:23
I'm personally very excited to attend. I've already gotten my tickets. And I really recommend anyone that's in the area to really come out and check out this documentary. I think it's incredibly important to the triangle. I think it's very important to North Carolina. I really want to thank Kennedy for joining us today and helping spread the word about this beautiful documentary.

Kennedy Fipps 15:43
Thank you so much for having me for letting me share this has been amazing.

Brian Jurado 15:52
Up next Eye on the Triangle has an interview with Sunguh, and they're smoking alternatives.

Maha Syed 15:58
Hey, what's up, my name is Maha and you are listening to Eye on the Triangle airing every Sunday six to 7pm. I'm here with Sangha and we're here to talk about vaping Yes, vaping, sometimes referred to as an epidemic. Vaping contains traces of formaldehyde. Formaldehyde is found in laundry and dish detergents, soy bodywash, and manufactured wood furniture. It's also a frequent component of glues and adhesives. According to Brookdale addiction recovery. There are 41 million vapors worldwide, according to World Health Organization. But luckily, there are safer and natural alternatives. I'm here with Sunga, who is here to introduce us to a very safe and exciting alternative to vaping as Sangha, please introduce yourself, yo, what's good to all you beautiful listeners out there. My name is Sangha go by they them pronouns. And I'm here with the beautiful Maha to chat to y'all about

Sunguh 17:01
you know, saying.

Maha Syed 17:03
Awesome, awesome. So my first question for you is, where did the inspiration for this idea come from? And can you please introduce exactly what it is that you offer?

Sunguh 17:14
So what I do is called sunless smokes, it is an herbal joint thing it is not tobacco or weed is I like to say it's an alternative to these things. I found it. Obviously, herbs in this practice of smoke herbs existed 1000s of years ago, and all of our indigenous cultures, even in my own culture, coming from the kombucha, but Kenya, but last two years ago, I was like, you know, the pandemic has started. And I was, you know, puffing on other substances at the time. And

I was like, I don't have anything available to me. But then I found out some herbs from my garden. And I was like, Yo, wait, wait, wait, what is this weird purple little thingy that tastes like dirt and like, is like, using my cooking like, I could inhale this. And when I actually tried out smokers for the first time, I felt so lifted. Like I felt so I was so connected to my body. I was so grounded. I was like, Yeah, this is what I'm gonna be doing for the, for the rest of the time. So that's how I found it was just by actually looking for an alternative and I found it right from my garden. Now, can you talk about herbs and what they do for you? So yes, so actually, let me ask you a question Maha. Do you use herbs when you cook?

Maha Syed 18:37
I be whipping it up with the Thai chilies, rosemary, thyme. I like to cook with spices and flavor enhancing profiles, a little bit of powdered garlic as well.

Sunguh 18:52
So all those great things you just mentioned, they're not just for tastes. They're also medicine for your body, especially rosemary, word and one of the and one of the Sangha smokes. I originally created the blend using rosemary. And obviously it has a certain taste to it, it kind of has a bite to it and energy to it. But what actually does for your body is good for your lungs medicinally whether you smoke it when you take it in tea, tincture, whatever way you use it, it's good for your lungs. Certain herbs can also help with your nervous system. Like they make you more calm and they activate your parasympathetic that parasympathetic nervous system to make you chill and relax and not anxious. That's why I use a lot of herbs to for our mental illness issues I've had I've kind of used an in conjunction with things like therapy and all those other things that the medical system has to offer. But to add on top of that I was like I'm I'm actually heal my body with the power of these beautiful plants. Plants are definitely super healing. I love plants do you love plants grow? I'm sitting right next to plants right now. I love plants like they're everywhere I go and I feel like a seed in the

Maha Syed 19:59
back. There we go. Right The right. I'm gonna standing next to a wall of plants right now for the audience tuning in. Yes, that is very fitting.

Patients love that. Now Sunga What are your thoughts on vaping and cigarettes?

Sunguh 20:17
So my thoughts on that is, obviously I've done that in the past, being a young person growing up in America, is what we're kind of, you know, they say, Oh, they're don't do those things. But in reality, how the system is set up, it's kind of it kind of makes you, you know, come to those things for whether enjoyment or the taboo of it or simply just like needing some sort of respite or some sort of stress relief from this crazy world that we live in. And going through that period and phase of my life, using it very heavily. Yeah, it was like the thing I kind of held on to and always needed for that emotional security. But after like branching out, and like starting this, this herb business and finding and using that more daily in my life, I've cut down very heavily on my usage of these things. And I've been able to help my friends also cut down on their usage of nicotine and whatnot. And it's made me feel better, and I can sense like, my own vibe on energy has been like, more clear, my head has been clearer. I felt more like physical energy, I feel less stressed and less like, pent up.

And yeah, I just feel better overall, from switching from more nicotine products to herbs, because the air like how that actually affects you is like, it gives you that that sort of mental relief when you smoke, tobacco, nicotine, but then what actually does to your body, inhaling, you know, a massive amount of toxins, and

inhaling a massive amount of toxins, and you know, just making your like, making your body feel on edge, it actually is anti healing you it's doing you the opposite of what you actually want. So yeah, being able to switch from that herbs has helped me see. Help me see the truth.

Maha Syed 22:09
Yeah, I'm so glad you said that and brought up what it is that nicotine does to the body. Because when I found you at an art event, and you were selling these beautifully packaged joints in this beautiful yellow box, I was automatically interested, I automatically knew I had to discover more about exactly what you were selling and what you were doing. And it's true, exactly what you said about nicotine. And the way it's manufactured and promoted in our society is that it's kind of like something that we hold on to like even just the physical vape is something we hold on to, to give us a sense of like security, but we need that release, we need something that's actually healing for us. So when I found you and I smoked a botanical joint that you were selling, I found the release and emotional connection to just honestly I realized that I just need something in my mouth that lights up as soon as I see that I feel better right away. So it's like it's like a psychological thing honestly. And when I smoked the joints who were selling, it was amazing because I felt better after I had finished smoking as opposed to feeling more anxious or jittery like when I do when I smoke of eight.

Sunguh 23:33
So thank you for explaining your side of that. It relates to me very well and why I'm trying to promote and discover alternatives that are healthy and safe. So Sunga What's in your bag? What's in my bag? Yeah, oh my God, my personal I can't show the crowd. I can't show anybody cuz that stays locked on me. If you see me in person you got to know but what is in my bag? We have. We have my personal my personal favorite. We have amethyst, I keep the amethyst stone on me at all times. It has a protective energy to it.

Maha Syed 24:08
It helped me out through 2020 Up until now, I have Tiger's eye. I also have a tiger's eye amulet which is like very

Sunguh 24:17
correlates you know like lions allele the sun energy and it gives me like helps me out with my confidence and my like inner strength. I have that myself when I have these things on me I just feel like that extra extra boost.

Also have my favorite package my tummy soothers I have this little like case where I keep all of my herbs in so like when I go traveling right right now I got oversee Damiana and I think a little bit of rose petals on McCain with me too. So if I want to light up I got my herbs on me everywhere.

So I have that on me. Also got my headphones, my phone my wallet. Also my pick my afro pick because I know I gotta save

Fresh out here in the streets can be caught slipping.

I also have two dice, like a black dice and a white die. And it kind of correlates to like the duality of life and how I feel about it also a tattoo I have with dice.

I also have what else I've got in this bag. Yeah, I mean, that's that's pretty much all my essentials right there. Oh, and the speaker, because I don't care. I'm playing my music everywhere, you know, saying? No, would you say yes, yes. Sangha. If you woke up as a plant, what plant would you be? And why? You notice answer I'm gonna be a treat. Why? Because trees are wise, they're old, they have the potential to grow. And trees are actually like mothers of plants, like a big tree, on the side of the road, has probably spread their seeds and planted all the little trees around it. And that tree communicates with their own like, like neural pathways to the other trees. Big trees.

Yeah, through the mycelium network under the trees, so they can send nutrients and like, warnings or whatever, just so like, yeah, it just feels more so like what I do in life anyways.

Maha Syed 26:13
So I was like, if I had to be a plant on the tree, what about you?

Sunguh 26:18
Good question. I resonate most with blue lotus of the Nile.

It is an Egyptian originated plant. It represents femininity, wisdom, rebirth, death, and honestly, all of those themes I feel like I personally resonate with. Also it is incredibly rare and beautiful. And I definitely adopt that belief upon myself. So as you serve,

absolutely, I che, can you go into your morning and night routine. So this morning, actually, because I'm traveling right now, this morning routine has been thrown off. But one of the things I always do in the morning, I wake up, I go outside, I try to get some sunlight, if there's sunlight in my eye, just so my buddy knows it's time to be up. I also do push ups or any sort of exercise, but I like to do push ups mostly.

And I tried to like increase it like by a number every week. And I also meditate I pray, I give thanks to all the forces of life in the sun and the trees that give us life and my mom for birth to me, my ancestors, my chosen family and just life itself and being able to do what I get to do every day, which isn't what a lot of people do every day, or even what I imagined myself doing every day like when I was a kid. So yeah, just like getting my body up and awakened and just being grateful. And then yeah, I'm ready to start my day. What about you?

So I am gonna get into what I do. But one thing that I remember that you told me that I wanted you to reiterate for me and the audience is what tribes do you give thanks, and gratitude to that are native to the area specifically like Raleigh, North Carolina, that area so so yeah, so my homies are have native Indigenous ancestry here. So I like got to learn from them. But also like this can be found on the internet, you know, they got like all this information there too. I usually say thank you to the ancestors of the ino nation, the Lumbee nation, the Oakland which is a pony, and also Tuscarora. And I just say thank you for being stewards of the land, past, present, and future. And yeah, just being able to recognize that, you know, this is their land, and we're here. I just feel, I don't know, I just feel better. It just makes it just makes like me feel more aligned and tilling with the land that I'm on.

Maha Syed 28:59
That was one of the most beautiful things that you said to me that I took away from you when we met. And thank you so much for sharing. I'm for my morning routine. I first thing I do I wake up, okay. And as soon as I wake up, I'm a little shocked. I'm in a good way, but in a way that's like, okay, we're conscious now what are we doing? So after I get up from my bed, I look at my board, and my board has some activities on it. So what I do is I center myself, I think have an intention, something that I need for that day. And I do this for morning and night. And I try and just figure out what my body, my soul, my mind, my heart need at the time and my physical body as well. And I kind of incorporate a changing dynamic routine every day. So for example, sometimes I'll do shadow work. I will do

Sunguh 30:00
Whoo, crystal healing. I'll talk to my plants. I'll talk to my birds. I'll talk to my cats. I will look in the mirror and make faces. I will say thanks and gratitude. Those are two of my favorites and consistent. And honestly, I love botanicals just like you. So I also use essential oils and I just like to douse myself in them as much as possible. And I like to start with my wrists, put them up on my temples and above my eyebrow on my third eye. And they helped me to relax and kind of gather myself and what I need for the rest of the day. I do this in the morning and I do that at night is needed to.

Maha Syed 30:47
That's great. That's amazing. Thank you. Yeah, of course, your Sunguh. Thank you so much for speaking with me. It's been an honor and a pleasure. This is more home signing off

Hey, what's up everyone, this is my Maha with Eye on the Triangle on WKNC. Ada point one FM HD, one airing every Sunday six to 7pm. We are here with Eugene Mirman, who is on his comedy tour called I'm late for my meeting in the lake. Hey, Eugene, how's it going? And house tour live? Are you well adjusted? Did you drink enough water?

Eugene Mirman 31:25
Yes, I've stayed very hydrated. Yes, I think I'm pretty reasonably adjusted this. When I'm in Carrboro, it'll have it'll be the first day of the sort of second leg of my tour.

Maha Syed 31:40
Let's just hop into the question. So my first question for you is I have heard that Bob's Burgers was originally supposed to be about a family of cannibals. And I just want to know, how would you feel about that? And can you imagine your character now, as a cannibal?

Eugene Mirman 31:56
Look, anything can be imagined?

You know, I can imagine my character with a long long tail. Do I think it would be as good? Probably not?

I think yes. I think originally it was sort of conceived in that way. And then I think, Fox it's avoid as Lauren who created the show, like, do you really want to write about cannibals every week? And I think he was like, oh, not really.

So I think it would like limit it in a way that is totally unnecessary. Since a workplace and family comedy is perfectly enough.

Csenge 32:27
Awesome, interesting. Good to know. Thank you.

Maha Syed 32:27
Eugene, my question to you is, comedy has been explored as an art a passion and use this as an emotional coping mechanism for some. So what is the role of comedy in your life?

Eugene Mirman 32:27
I mean, I think it's, it's all those things, you know, comedy is both the way I sort of relate and connect with people, both in person and onstage. And it's definitely a way that I've coped through tragedies, as well as you know, sort of connected with people and

then also made fun of things that, like, bother me in life.

Csenge 33:05
I saw there's like a bunch of burgers, there's a recipe book. Have you tried any of the burgers from Bob's Burgers?

Eugene Mirman 33:11
You know, I have because I think at some point, we did a show. We've talked a little bit as the cast doing sort of some stand up and readings of scripts. And one of the cities were in possibly Philadelphia, I think they made a several of the burgers from the book. So they made like little sliders of those. So I think I got to try a bunch. And they were pretty good. Do you remember which one it was? That you really liked? I think it was like five to eight of them. So Oh, wow. You recommend them with like little sliders of different of different recipes. Okay. I'll have to try it out some time. Yeah.

Maha Syed 33:46
So you've graduated with a degree in comedy and completed a one hour standard routine for your thesis. So in light of this incredible achievement, congratulations. By the way. Can you tell me your favorite knock knock joke?

Eugene Mirman 33:59
I don't know. I think a long time ago, I had a knock knock joke. Which you would do it was something like Knock knock. Who's there? Doctor? Doctor Who? That's right.

Csenge 34:12
That's great. Because

Eugene Mirman 34:14
I can't believe I have an answer to that. But I'm very glad I do. I mean,

Maha Syed 34:19
it makes great content.

Eugene Mirman 34:20
Thank you. Yes, I agree.

Csenge 34:22
Something I've wondered Is your name is Eugene. And then your character's name is Jean. Was that like, a happy coincidence? Or

Eugene Mirman 34:31
it was intentional? It was Lauren who created the show. I think that like my character sort of looks like I might have as a child and the character is named after me. Do you have any childhood, all of us and then develop the show with us, you know, going into record lines as written and then improvised and sort of working together over two years, as we then made it into like an eight minute demo that eventually became a pilot like a family

Ah, yeah, like a family. I think that it was very important for Lauren to actually cast people who already had a camaraderie. And we record you know, even now, you know, with with what just one year of the pandemic aside, we actually record on a line altogether. So most cartoons you kind of do the voice alone or with like a director. But our show we actually record all together, hearing each other and playing off each other. And it makes it very fun. So you've starred in Bob's Burgers as well as it started as a joke, Apple and onion and featured in Star talk with Neil deGrasse Tyson just to name a few things that you've done. So my question to you is, when you leave a television show, does that character embed into your personality? Or do you detach from them after you finish filming?

I think it you know, detaches, I don't know that I that like my character from the located, who was a Russian stand up comedian slash mobster is like, part of my life or you know that I have any real landlord qualities

that I'd played with the Conchords? I mean, in a certain sense, the closest is kind of Jean, in sort of a silliness.

That might mimic how I would have been but wasn't exactly as a child.

But no, I'm not like, it's not like I am some sort of method actor

who, like on set will act like an 11 year old and then I can't break free.

Maha Syed 36:34
You know, so, okay, so it's, it's, it's like a coat almost like you put it on and you take it off?

Eugene Mirman 36:43
Sure. But I think that it would be unfair to describe myself as having even like, that level of

intensity is like in dinner in terms of acting. Oh, okay. Okay. Like, it's like a fall jacket. Okay, that you could even accidentally forget at a restaurant. Oh, that's very casual. I love that. I couldn't hang out with a jacket like that. But I but I think part of part of it is because I often play versions of just me, you know, like, I think it's you know, I'm a lot of the things I play are essentially titled Eugene, OR look like me and I think it's because there's like, it's like an aspect of my of my demeanor. So it is it's more that I'm like pretending different feelings.

And when I act more than like, you know, embodying a transformed like boxer or something like, Christian Bale. Okay, you said that gene looks like you when you were a kid. Is there anywhere I can find a childhood photo of you. I'm not that young. No gene sort of looks like what I might now as a kid, I understand, like, meaning I was actually very scrawny as a kid. And Gene is more like what I look like a little now. But imagine sort of as a child, I would say,

Maha Syed 38:05
what kinds of memes do you look at in your free time?

Eugene Mirman 38:08
I don't know. I think things that come across, but certainly there's a lot of international foods that come across by like Instagram feed. So I don't know how many like memes. Specifically, I look at as much as images of things being cooked in streets.

Csenge 38:26
Have you seen any memes about yourself?

Eugene Mirman 38:29
No, I don't. I don't think so. But I'm not saying there aren't any.

Csenge 38:32
I totally probably could find some I have a meme page.

Eugene Mirman 38:36
Yes, then I'm sure you could. I just I think it's just not something I'm as aware of though. There could easily be some sort of meme.

Maha Syed 38:46
Can you tell us more about the street food that you see on your pages?

Eugene Mirman 38:50
I don't know. I think it's just different things being cooked in a variety of ways that I'm like, Oh, what is this? So I see. I guess no

righties of meats and vegetables and whatnots and oils being poured? And who knows.

Maha Syed 39:08
Interesting, interesting. I was trying to see if you cook that was my intention of asking you the question, but I don't know if you do.

Eugene Mirman 39:14
Yes, I do. I do. Oh, do it in the street. Oh, great. Yes, my Instagram feed is full of things I've made along with the other random stuff.

Maha Syed 39:24
That's wonderful. That's great. I would love to check that out. So is there a side to your creative writing besides comedy? Like do you have other contents or mediums that you've experimented with?

Eugene Mirman 39:36
I think they're all comedy related meaning like I I'm now working on, you know, with friends because I don't really do any music myself when I'm working on songs, you know, the lyric side of songs,

Christmas songs with some friends and you know, so So I in my last album had a variety of different sort of like, comedy thing.

Listen, there's different writing, but it's not. Um, but it's still comedy. So I don't know, I don't have like a, you know, like, a dramatic play. I've written some, but I think I have like a variety of things I've written that are all comedy related.

Csenge 40:14
So you're a comedian. What makes you funny?

Eugene Mirman 40:17
I mean, I, I'm assuming the jokes and stories, I tell him the reaction from audiences to

something where like, like, my foot hurts. And that gives me something. I don't really know the answer, or like,

I'm not colorblind. But if I was, I don't know if that would make me so. So I think the answer is, I don't know

Maha Syed 40:41
. I like it. I think you're really casual and funny. Like five or 10. notches above. Dad humor.

Eugene Mirman 40:48
Thank you. Thank you. It's true. I guess I'm a dad now. Really? Wait, are you?

Maha Syed 40:54
I am I'm Oh, yeah. Yes. I have a son who's six years old. Did you start making those kinds of jokes when you had a son?

Eugene Mirman 41:01
I don't know what Well, I'm not sure. Well, I think you asked me what made me funny. Right. Is that the question? And I was like, I don't know. Oh, yeah.

Csenge 41:12
Yeah, we were trying to crack a formula more like

Eugene Mirman 41:14
I don't think it's a specific thing.

So it's more that I don't know. It's, I don't think there was enough of a joke. But is that what a dad joke is? Is a dad joke, like a vague answer to an unanswerable question.

Maha Syed 41:31
That's a good question. Csenge

. What's a really good example of a dad joke?

Csenge 41:36
Literally any joke my dad makes. He's like, not that funny. But it's like funny because he is a dad. So it's like you laugh along. Yeah. Yeah.

Eugene Mirman 41:45
I'm inherently a dad. So I guess anything I

say, baby makes it a dad joke. But But I don't know.

Csenge 41:54
Yeah. Well, I mean, that's good. I don't really associate you with that. Now. I just keep seeing you as a coat. Um, that's just because of like one of the previous questions I asked.

Eugene Mirman 42:04
Yes. And that's me describing an acting style. Yeah, I think that you were sort of like, can you not put down the persona as you adopt directing? Daniel Day Lewis, I'm like, That is kind of you to ask but inaccurate of my study. Yeah, it's worse. Like I just didn't go to Juilliard.

Csenge 42:23
Did you eat anything weird as a child?

Eugene Mirman 42:26
I'm not. I mean, to me No, like, I think like, tongue but I don't think that it was odd as to me as a child by so I think like the things that seem a potentially odd to other people don't to you, especially as a child, where you're like, all I have is my experience. I had Tang. It's pretty chilly. Sure, yeah. So it's like,

but so I wouldn't be able to answer it. Because I think specifically, if you're like nine, and you're only experiences this specific thing, then it's like, I don't know, this seems normal. And then when you leave your house, other people are like, Oh, I'm from a different culture. So that's not common for me.

Csenge 43:04
So you never ate like rocks or dirt or anything?

Eugene Mirman 43:07
Oh, no, but that's not food.

Csenge 43:11
Well, I was leaning towards because like, I also I'm from a different culture. Like I was born in I was born in Romania.

And really, well, I ate rocks. I gravel my pudding sometimes, but like, nobody told me that was wrong. And it's not a cultural thing. That was just me wanting something crunchy and my pudding. Yeah, yeah. Oh, you should have put in food.

I didn't know about that.

Eugene Mirman 43:36
Like, you can eat that. I mean, you can like I did. It was sure how long it's an acquired taste. I just used to eat pudding outside and Gravel was the closest thing to me. So like, I guess only a few times. I'm fine right now. Nothing bad happened. Do you like granola? And you're putting now? No, I just eat pudding plain. Now.

I imagined the crunch reminds you of gravel. So no, I didn't need anything. Yeah, that's really. It's funny because your question really makes sense from the point of view of you used to be gravel.

Csenge 44:09
Why you would ask that because you could be like, did you? You could have also said did you ever pea gravel and I would be like, No. Did you eat anything similar to gravel?

Eugene Mirman 44:19
No, I would say I never ate anything similar to gravel. Other than like, say like granola or something. Exactly. I never ate a thing that's like, not food.

Maha Syed 44:32
Interesting. not odd. Like

Eugene Mirman 44:38
yeah, I I love I do love the idea of a leading question the answer of which would be like dirt. The thing I did was dirt. Yeah.

Maha Syed 44:50
One Have you ever done a cartwheel? And two, what have you been thinking about before you did this interview?

Eugene Mirman 44:58
I have done a cartwheel

We'll probably not in a while, but but maybe like, seven to nine years ago. And before, and I don't know, I was thinking before, how was the cartwheel? How was it? How were you feeling was your heart racing? I think it was just more like, hey, I can still do a cartwheel. I forget my location. I'm just guessing. And I don't know I did another interview. Right before this. So I was thinking about a variety of questions.

Maha Syed 45:31
Thank you, Eugene, so much for doing this interview with us. We really appreciate you being on this is Csenge and Ma, signing off. Thanks, everyone. Tune in next week.

Eugene Mirman 45:41
Thank you so much. Thank you for having me.

This was really fun.

Csenge 45:44
Yeah, thank you. Great. Have a great day. Maybe you'll try some gravel sometime soon.

Eugene Mirman 45:50
I look forward to it.

Maha Syed 45:52
If you enjoy the comedy stylings of Eugene Mirman, you can find more information about his tour. I'm late for my meeting in the lake on cat's cradle.com/events/eugene Mirman, Eugene Mirman will be performing Wednesday, November 9 at cat's cradle. Thanks everyone. Have a good night.

Brian Jurado 46:17
Well, that is all for today's episode of Eye on the Triangle. I want to thank Eugene Mirman Sunguh and Kennedy Fipps for being on today's show and also want to thank csenge and Maha for their interviewing efforts. I hope everyone has a lovely rest of their week.

Music for today's episode has been to pillow Honey by Chris Hogan, licensed under the YouTube Audio Library

Transcribed by https://otter.ai