Tragicomedia with stand-up comedian Rev. Susan Sparks about Divorce, 9/11 & Breast Cancer
When there's a death but no body, is it ok for a 9/11 widow to crack up laughing about the pig-and-palm tree tie her husband wore that day? This and more…
For the sake of oral history, memory artist Nancy Gershman interviews darkly funny people about their experiences with loss and regrets, meaning-making and memory to prove – once again – that laughter reminds us to breathe.
Tragicomedia with Poor Widow Me’s Carol Scibelli
Widows who ask themselves "What would my dead husband do?"; play the widow card and look at funeral photo boards saying, "There won't even be many photographs when it's my…
Tragicomedia with comedian Sam Pancake about Repressed Feelings and Suicide
"Be happy, well-behaved and don’t make trouble for anybody" is a credo that's led to suicide in many a troubled Southern gentlemen - this and more as actor and improv comedian Sam…
Tragicomedia with humorist, Regi Carpenter about burials and morticians
How to teach your dead husband's first wife a lesson with your burial plot and epitaph; why morticians should be the only ones doling out locks of hair; and how…
Tragicomedia with stand-up Jay Nog about a friend’s suicide
Pranksters commit suicide too; eat/work-out/meditate before an emotional death anniversary; and why public Remembering should not be enforced: all in this week's Tragicomedia with Jay Nog, a stand-up comedian from…
Tragicomedia with Chicago playwright, Rebecca Langguth
Why special treatment from friends makes the bereaved act out; whether to carry on your dead mom's 5am birthday calls; and how to pull painful stories out of reluctant storytellers:…
Tragicomedia with sketch performer Beth Crosby on her BFF’s suicide
Hospital patients as life coaches; testing "What would Bette Midler do?" in the face of loss (and her mom's dementia). It's all in this week's Tragicomedia, as artist Nancy Gershman…
Tragicomedia with Don Hall, host of Chicago’s The Moth
Why you should live your dead guy's life for a day; the 3-day rule for wallowing; and how to "travel all over humanity" as a garage sale trumpet: Chicagoan Don…
Tragicomedia with NYC stand-up, Jordon Ferber
Schadenfreude on a bus, a missing watch and losing a leg are just a few of the stories in this week's Tragicomedia as artist Nancy Gershman interviews stand-up Jordon Ferber,…
Tragicomedia on grief with comedian David Himmel
Memory artist Nancy Gershman launches "Tragicomedia" - her new oral history series about loss and regrets, meaning-making and memory - by sitting down with David Himmel, Chicago-based comedian, author (of the book, A Camp…