Latest / philly has heART / Single Woman: Work in Progress feat. Tess

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Single Woman: Work in Progress feat. Tess · philly has heART

0:14
Happy third anniversary, babe. Happy third anniversary.
0:19
I mean, can you imagine? Look, year one was like,
0:23
hey, we're going to try this out for six months
0:26
or like nine months. I guess. And if it didn't
0:29
work out, it doesn't work out. But we're going
0:30
to give birth in a baby. You know, you didn't
0:33
know what was going to happen at the end. But
0:35
here we are. We are wiser. We're funner. Our
0:41
grammar apparently sucks. No, I'm super excited.
0:46
We already have such an amazing month and a half
0:50
already recorded. Line up. Line up. Ready to
0:54
go. It's going to be amazing. We're following
0:57
an editorial calendar. Tell us about your summer.
1:01
I had a birthday. You did have a birthday, yes.
1:05
But I meant the trivia night you went to. How
1:08
was that? Oh, last week? sex in the city trivia
1:12
at the little gay pub and since it's the little
1:14
gay pub I did not fall into the faux pas of showing
1:19
up with a group of my six cisgender girlfriends
1:23
rather I asked sex in the city aficionados friends
1:29
of the pod past guests and our tech advisor Morgan
1:33
and Paige to come along with me I know that they've
1:36
been binging the series and I couldn't think
1:38
of anyone else who would be funner there we go
1:42
with the grammar again to take on some trivia
1:46
and you know what second place baby i have a
1:49
gift card to the little gay pub so let's go get
1:53
some little gay drinks yeah drinks on lou baby
1:56
drinks on lou Let's not forget to tell everybody
2:00
and thank them for those that showed up. We had
2:03
an amazing event at Pi Gallery this last Friday
2:06
where we had discussions with Originally Distinct.
2:09
And it was popping. It was popping. It was great
2:13
to hear from the artist who was at Pi Gallery
2:17
this last month. Share about where his art comes
2:21
from, where his... inspiration comes from, how
2:25
he creates this like artistic world, and how
2:29
it continues to expand. So more from Originally
2:32
Distinct in the future. And some of us really
2:37
raged that night. Yeah, what time you get home?
2:41
I don't know. I was in bed by midnight. Okay,
2:46
that's not too bad. But we started at five. I
2:50
was feeling it Saturday, and I don't think I
2:53
felt like a proper human until Sunday evening.
2:58
Yikes. You have some congratulations to hand
3:01
out? Congratulations are in order. We've got
3:06
three. Emma McHold -Burke, promoted to Director
3:10
of Operations at Bridget Mayer Gallery. Alex
3:14
Torch, call them Torch. joined the Philadelphia
3:17
Sketch Club as its first executive director.
3:21
And Jessica Aguilar, longtime Paradigm Gallery
3:25
and studio team member, is curating her first
3:28
show there. Congratulations. What? Dang. That
3:32
would be amazing. Let's get on to the conversation.
3:49
This is Robert Marsh, and you're listening to
3:50
Philly Has Heart Podcast. In this podcast, we
3:54
sit down with the artists, gallerists, educators,
3:56
curators, and other creatives who comprise the
3:58
Philadelphia art world to discuss upcoming performances,
4:02
exhibits, and other events and initiatives that
4:04
are not to be missed. The art scene of Philadelphia
4:07
is so rich that it can seem daunting. Consider
4:10
this your weekend cultural recommendation. With
4:13
me always is my producer, Lucinda Degler. Bonjour!
4:16
And today, we have Tess. Hi. Creator, performer,
4:20
single woman, work in progress. And we're so
4:24
happy to have you. Thank you so much for having
4:25
me. This is my first real podcast. Nice. Nice.
4:29
Well, welcome. Welcome. Pulled from an online
4:33
synopsis, quote, as long as she's been single,
4:37
Tess has felt that the best part of a date was
4:40
telling stories about it to her friends after.
4:44
Now she's ready to share them with everyone else.
4:47
Through her one -woman production, Tess weaves
4:50
personal storytelling with audience participation
4:53
about what it means to be 35, single, and ready
4:58
to mingle. Part personal storytelling show, part
5:02
singles event, all... Catharsis? Catharsis. Thank
5:07
you, Tess. I do have to already say that it is
5:12
a singles event, but it's only a singles event
5:14
for me. I love that. Originally, I was like,
5:17
oh, I'll combine it. It'll be theater. It'll
5:19
be a singles event for all the other singles.
5:21
It was too much to do all of that, so it's really
5:23
just a singles event for me, for audience members
5:26
who may be interested in dating me or people
5:28
that they know. Love it. It's like a picture
5:30
friend event, but I am the friend, and I am you.
5:32
Those are so popular right now. And I've gone
5:35
to a bunch of them, and it's gotten me maybe
5:38
one or two dates, so I thought I would amplify
5:40
it and make it just about me. But also bring
5:42
it to fringe and do this whole creative experience.
5:46
So that's what single woman work in progress
5:48
is. So let's rip the band -aid off. The question
5:52
every listener is probably wondering this moment.
5:56
Was there a terrible date in particular that
5:59
drove you to this artistic outcome? And you can
6:02
name and shame them right now if you want. I
6:05
wish it was as explosive as that, as like one
6:08
particular date where I left it. I was like,
6:10
I have to make a show about this. It was much
6:12
more mundane. It was more like years and years
6:14
of a steady drip of a bad date after a mediocre
6:17
date after another one. A slow burn, really,
6:20
towards this point, which I would rather have
6:22
a slow burn relationship. However, instead I
6:24
have a slow burn. one -woman show, and that's
6:26
good enough. But really it started because last
6:29
December I was on a long car ride, five hours,
6:32
with a new friend that I met, and I was telling
6:35
her about these general dating stories that I
6:38
have over the years. I've told these stories
6:40
many times. I know what the funny lines are.
6:42
I know what gets sympathy. And she is also a
6:46
longtime single person, and she heard this, and
6:48
she goes, These have to be on stage. Like, you
6:50
shouldn't just be telling them to random people
6:52
that you meet. And also, if you want to be noticed,
6:55
you have to do something noticeable. And that's
6:57
where the idea of making it a singles event for
6:59
me came from. And that line really stuck with
7:01
me. If you want to be noticed, you have to do
7:03
something noticeable. We were on our way to a
7:05
five -day silent meditation retreat. But she
7:07
gives me this idea. And then for five days, I'm
7:10
sitting in silence with this community of 60
7:12
other people. And I'm just thinking. You know,
7:14
thinking and feeling and sort of connecting with
7:16
the transcendent nature of... And then every
7:20
day at some point, I'm like, huh, maybe there's
7:22
something about the show that maybe there is
7:24
something here I should do something about. I
7:25
had a lot of time to think about it. I got home,
7:28
got to the computer, started writing pretty much
7:31
immediately. And it came out over like a week
7:34
or two, everything for this story. And I think
7:36
I looked at like when I started the Google Doc
7:39
to now, it is about nine months. So it is sort
7:41
of like a perfect little baby. Yeah. And I performed
7:45
it a little bit in the spring and the summer,
7:47
but it does feel like It's coming to terms. You're
7:50
about to give birth. Yes, I am. And I really
7:52
appreciate, like, that story because it's like,
7:54
oh, right, creative things come from these little
7:56
sparks that attach to things that have been milling
7:59
about for a long time. And if somebody needs
8:02
some creative space, I would suggest a silent
8:05
meditation retreat. That sounds amazing. You
8:07
said six days? Five days. Yeah, it was like,
8:10
and I'd never meditated before, and I was like,
8:12
I'm willing to try a lot of things. Right into
8:15
the deep end. Yes, if it gets me closer to, like,
8:18
the heart of life. It was like seven 45 -minute
8:21
sit sessions a day, chanting in the morning and
8:23
evening, really good food that I couldn't even
8:27
tell anybody about how much I loved it because
8:29
we were silent. The entire time. Yeah. 24 hours
8:32
by seven. We would do, you could ask questions
8:34
during like the Dharma talk part of it and like
8:37
one -on -one with the teachers, but it was silent.
8:39
And everyone I told that I was going to, they're
8:42
like, oh, you never showed up. How are you possibly
8:43
going to do it? It was fine. I don't have to
8:45
talk all the time, except right now when I'm
8:47
on this podcast and I have things to say. But
8:49
it was a really good flip from my typical very
8:51
verbal life. And were you allowed to have a notebook
8:54
to write stuff down in? You could, but they told
8:57
us in the beginning, don't. It interferes. Yes,
9:00
you're going to be so focused on remembering
9:02
everything that you're not going to be present
9:04
and experiencing. So I took that to heart and
9:05
I didn't write anything down. And all the lessons
9:08
I learned still do feel within me, so I didn't
9:11
have to write it down. And what's their Wi -Fi?
9:15
Probably, but I didn't use it. Because, again,
9:17
that interferes with the process. I'm sorry.
9:19
This is now a silent meditation podcast. Lucinda
9:23
is considering. Oh, my God. Being home with three
9:29
boys 24 hours a day. It's like, yes, please.
9:32
There was a lot of people because at the end
9:34
you could talk to people for like an hour at
9:36
the end. And a lot of people were like, oh, it
9:37
was just so great to be away from my kids. I
9:39
love my kids. I love my kids. I thought about
9:41
how much I love them. But really, the quiet was
9:43
great. It has not been quiet since 2020. All
9:49
right, let's move on back to single woman work
9:52
in progress. Let's back up. So what has been
9:55
your onstage experience? Did you ever study playwriting
10:00
or theater on any level? So the short answer
10:03
is yes. I have done improv for 10 years, over
10:06
10 years. But the longer answer is a better story.
10:09
I grew up in a very funny family. My mom is a
10:13
dancer and a choreographer, so I always saw her
10:15
on stage growing up. I was in some pieces with
10:17
her when I was a kid. In high school, I was a
10:19
rare combo of a nerd and a jock, not a performer.
10:23
And I'm sure you have a lot of former theater
10:24
kids. I was actually not. So many. Yeah. But
10:27
I was always comfortable with public speaking.
10:29
And this really started when I was at summer
10:31
camp. And when I was 16, I started performing.
10:35
a story at campfire that my mother had told my
10:38
whole life that's called prinderella and the
10:40
handsome synths i'll give you a moment there
10:43
prinderella yeah i follow i follow and so that
10:46
became like my thing at camp is every session
10:48
i would tell this story at campfire and it was
10:50
like oh my god tess is gonna tell prinderella
10:52
it's coming i was in some place i can't i'll
10:54
give you another line from prinderella because
10:56
it's so fun most stories start out once upon
10:59
a time this story starts out Tunts upon a wine,
11:02
there was a gritty little pearl named Prinderella.
11:06
And the faces that you guys have are always the
11:09
faces that are in the audience. What's happening?
11:12
And people like sort of. dissociate from the
11:14
English language to appreciate it so that was
11:17
like my sort of debut into regular performance
11:19
and that continued in other parts of camp when
11:22
I was in college I was a tour guide which is
11:24
a very theatrical job I worked at another camp
11:26
in California and I always loved being picked
11:29
to do improv and campfire sketches and so I was
11:32
all I just like always found ways to do performance
11:35
when I was 23 I moved to Durham North Carolina
11:37
to I don't know have an adult life or something
11:40
and I knew I would get a job I knew I needed
11:42
to find a place to live and that I wanted to
11:45
start improv. I knew that was going to be my
11:46
hobby and it was. I found a theater in Chapel
11:49
Hill and I was there five nights a week. I was
11:52
in classes, I was performing, I was doing storytelling.
11:54
I once brought a first date. to a storytelling
11:57
show that I knew I was going to be performing
11:59
at. And I didn't tell him. And I thought this
12:01
was like so cool and quirky. And the face that
12:04
Rob Byrne is giving me is very much like, wow,
12:06
that's some gumption that you have there. I'm
12:09
like, I love that idea. I don't remember anything
12:13
about the date, who he was. I think I met him
12:15
online. All I remember is that I got second place
12:17
and I really think I should have gotten first.
12:19
Anyway, so that was, I was doing a lot of performance
12:21
in. Durham area. And then when I came back to
12:25
Philly in 2016 for grad school, same thing. I
12:28
was like, I know I'm doing grad school. I found
12:30
a place to live. I need to join the Philly improv
12:32
scene. So I got on some house teams at Philly
12:34
Improv Theater. I've done some storytelling.
12:37
I did finally win a Story Slam a few years ago,
12:41
which was a thrill. But this show by far is like
12:43
the biggest production I've done. I'm really
12:45
excited. We understand that dating is trash these
12:48
days. I once saw a meme that said that finding
12:50
your mate before the advent of the apps was like
12:54
getting the last chopper out of Nam. We have
12:59
a four -part question for you now. Do you think
13:02
dating apps have contributed to dating just being
13:04
stunted? And assuming it's a yes, do you want
13:07
to expand on how in your perspective? Do you
13:10
think apps will meet their demise soon, as soon
13:13
as the success rate seems nil these days? And
13:16
to refer to my four favorite single ladies, can
13:20
you imagine the Sex and the City characters trying
13:22
to date in their 30s during the apps era? Great
13:25
questions. I, of course, have much to say about
13:28
the Sex and the City question, and we'll get
13:29
there. I think the question of how dating apps
13:32
have affected dating, I don't know if I have
13:34
anything really new to say about it. Everybody
13:36
has some take about it. My thought is... Technology
13:40
will always have a part to it that is trying
13:42
to exploit and commodify natural human emotions
13:46
like desire and loneliness and comparison and
13:48
things like that. And dating apps are a part
13:51
of that. For me, I noticed that when I use apps,
13:54
I'm quite disconnected from my body and therefore
13:56
disconnected from my desires. And so if I have
13:59
spent some time on apps, I will get to the end
14:01
of it knowing less about what I'm interested
14:03
in, which makes me feel sort of like a puddle.
14:06
with no feelers. I don't even know what it is
14:09
I'm looking for. And so I don't find other people
14:12
attractive on apps. I don't find myself attractive
14:14
when I'm using them. I did go back on apps recently,
14:18
and I was just banned. for the first time because
14:22
I was advertising this show. Oh, yes. So I made,
14:26
on Tinder and Field and maybe another one, I
14:29
put the flyer for this show as one of my photos
14:31
and I was like, this is great. I'm looking for
14:33
single guys that are going to be out there. Right.
14:35
Come to the show. Exactly. Like, there's my dating
14:38
pool and I don't know if I was reported or if
14:41
they found me automatically. What a narc. Yeah,
14:44
exactly. But also, if I saw somebody else who
14:46
was advertising their store or something, I'd
14:48
be like, ugh, I don't care about that. But for
14:49
me, I was like, I should be able to advertise
14:51
my show. Anyway, so I don't really use apps much
14:54
anymore. I've been on and off of them for, I
14:57
don't know, 13 years or something. And I've tried
14:59
lots of them. I've tried apps that were only
15:02
websites. They were so old fashioned, they didn't
15:04
even have an app. I haven't done any of the really
15:06
specialty ones, the like farmers or the Christians
15:08
or the fishermen or whatever. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
15:11
But go off, do your thing. But in general, I
15:15
find that when I'm using apps, we all just sort
15:18
of become SEOs of ourself. And it's just like,
15:20
there's no vibe there. There's no there there.
15:24
And so about two years ago, I really went off
15:27
them altogether. I said, I'll focus on dating
15:29
events. There's a whole lot of dating events
15:31
happening now as well. And they had a similar
15:33
feeling. You go in, you're following a script,
15:35
you're assessing, you're sort of in this judging
15:37
position. And it just never yielded much for
15:40
me except more stories, some of which ended up.
15:43
in the show. There was one dating event I went
15:47
to that was very conventional. Towards the end
15:49
of it, I was like, I can't ask again what people's
15:52
jobs are or what they do for fun. And so I was
15:55
coming up with big questions like, what's the
15:57
last lie you told? About halfway through, this
16:00
guy sits down. He's wearing a very tall steampunk
16:03
top hat. Of course he is. He's peacocking, right?
16:08
And I'm like, interesting. I said, how come you're
16:11
going to dating events now? He says, well, I
16:13
just became wealthy, and I want to find a wife.
16:17
I said, okay, how did you become wealthy? And
16:19
he says, actually, I won't say what he did, because
16:22
it probably could be found, but he ran a fruit
16:25
and nut company. Figure out, I don't know, if
16:27
you want to... Donuts? Yeah. His last name is
16:30
Dole. Here's my banana. And I was like, okay.
16:37
He was so focused on talking about how he used
16:40
to date this kind of girl when he was just promiscuous,
16:43
and now he's looking for this kind of woman now
16:45
that he's looking for a wife, and I found this
16:46
very unappealing. The next guy sits down, and
16:48
I'm like, okay, let me just go big with these
16:51
questions. What's the last lie you told? He goes,
16:53
well, I told that guy that I liked his top hat,
16:55
but I didn't like his top hat. I was like, great,
16:59
we're getting somewhere. I had one date from
17:01
that event. We had some mediocre phone call where
17:04
he said something so politically abhorrent to
17:06
me that I said, oh, that's a deal breaker for
17:09
me. He said, oh, I don't have any political deal
17:11
breakers. And I said, that's an additional deal
17:13
breaker. So I've stopped doing a lot of those
17:16
dating events as well. This is what I've been
17:19
putting all my dating energy into is this show.
17:21
Somehow it's more satisfying, even though it's
17:24
more work, to do this. than to do anything on
17:27
apps. And I've been kicked off the field, so
17:29
I can't even go back. So did I... Do you want
17:34
to address the SATC portion? Of course. Let me
17:38
pull up my spec script. I love Sex and the City.
17:41
I'm so glad that you asked about it. It was a...
17:43
big show for me when I was younger because it
17:45
came on censored versions on NBC after Saturday
17:49
Night Live when I was a kid. And so I'd watch
17:51
SNL, my brother, whoever would go to bed, I would
17:54
turn the volume down real low and I would watch
17:55
Sex and the City and this, of course, messed
17:57
up my sexpectations for my whole life. This idea
18:00
of like, there'd be so many attractive men all
18:02
around. And you could pick them up off the street.
18:04
Off the street while you're looking at books
18:06
like Miranda does. Yeah, I know which one. And
18:10
then he ended up like wanting to fuck in front
18:12
of people everywhere, including his parents.
18:16
Oh my God. And it was played by? Amy Poehler's
18:20
ex -husband, only to be known as Amy Poehler's
18:24
ex -husband. That's right. Will Arnett plays
18:26
an exhibitionist that Miranda is dating. Anyway,
18:30
so here's my idea. So alternate universe, the
18:33
four sex and city ladies are dating now, but
18:36
it's not. And just like that. They're still in
18:39
their 30s at the time. Okay. My plot line for
18:41
Samantha is that she's an early adopter to apps.
18:45
She's like, great. She's already basically swiping
18:47
men daily in life. And she's like, they'll all
18:49
be concentrated here. She views them like specialty
18:53
grocery stores. She's like, okay, I got a new
18:55
flogger. I need to use it on a busboy. I'm going
18:57
to go to field. She's like, I need to do some
18:59
professional networking. While I'm also dating,
19:01
I'll go on Raya. Right? She's using all these
19:03
things. She's like a super dater. She is still
19:06
asking people out in person, and she asks out
19:08
this guy in person, and he's like, I only date
19:11
women that I meet online because I want to vet
19:12
them first. She's so upset by this. She's like,
19:15
what happened to the chase? What happened to
19:17
discovering people? I want to find attraction
19:19
in the field that's not just based on statistics
19:22
and data. So she's like, where could I go that's
19:26
so different from the hyper -informative era
19:28
of these apps? And she goes to a silent meditation
19:30
retreat. You see where this is coming from? And
19:32
she's like, great, I'm going to become everybody's.
19:35
silent internal erotic fantasy during this retreat
19:38
however she goes too hard on this because she's
19:41
like she's like eye fucking while she's like
19:43
spooning out the oatmeal and she's like grunting
19:46
during the breathing sessions. And so she's kicked
19:49
out. And this meditation retreat. And she makes
19:52
a big stink about it. She's like, I can't believe
19:54
you guys are so sexless. What happened to Chase?
19:57
What happened to the discovery element? And she
19:59
recruits a bunch of people from this retreat
20:01
to go with her to a different retreat. She's
20:02
sort of starting a cult. But really it's about
20:06
her. And all these people are so enamored with
20:09
her. And then they're too... honest about everything
20:12
to her. There's still no chase because they come
20:14
up to her and they're like, well, I'm on my third
20:16
life and I'm figuring out my, I don't know, inner
20:18
chakra alignment and now she's still got too
20:21
much information. So whether she's using the
20:23
apps or not, it's not working for her. So that's
20:27
Samantha's plot line. I don't know if this is
20:30
a season arc or if this is a single episode.
20:33
Now we move to Charlotte. She also loves the
20:36
apps because she can be very picky, which she
20:38
already is in real life. She knows exactly who
20:41
she swipes left and right on. She does it for
20:44
15 minutes, three times a week after her Pilates
20:46
class when she's drinking her smoothie. However,
20:49
she gets kicked off of app after app because
20:52
all of her profile photos are too beautiful and
20:55
they think that she's AI. And so they kick her
20:57
off. And she's just, she's too gorgeous. She's
20:59
kicked off of Tinder. She's kicked off of Hinge.
21:02
She's even kicked off of Grindr, which she was
21:04
on thinking that she's like, I'll just play all
21:06
my cards. And just all these people keep reporting
21:12
her for catfishing, basically, even though she's
21:14
real. She's so fed up with this. She goes to
21:17
the match group headquarters who runs all these
21:19
apps, and she makes this big protest. She's like,
21:22
I'm human. I'm not AI. And she does something
21:24
very human and messy where she trips and spills,
21:28
and she flashes somebody accidentally. This gets
21:30
written up in the New York Star, which is Carrie's
21:32
paper, and it happens to catch the eye of somebody
21:36
she would have never found on an app. a blue
21:38
-collar building superintendent based in Queens
21:40
who has a dumb phone, but he's a secret romantic,
21:42
and he would have never found her on these apps
21:44
and vice versa because he wouldn't have met her
21:46
qualifications. And he reaches out to her, and
21:49
they have a lovely, I don't know, six -month,
21:51
half -a -season arc. So that's Charlotte. Are
21:54
you still in? I love that. Next up, we have Miranda.
21:58
She loves that she can be honest on apps, but
22:00
she finds that she keeps attracting the same
22:02
kind of honest man who is manosphere -adjacent.
22:05
And she's like... What? Dang. And so she's like,
22:10
I'm done with apps. And so she finally realizes,
22:12
okay, I pay for convenience in every part of
22:14
my life. She orders her groceries online. She
22:17
gets her dry cleaning picked up. Let me hire
22:19
a matchmaker. Somebody who can do this for me,
22:22
but she's kind of embarrassed. Until Magda, her
22:25
Eastern European house lady, who has all sorts
22:30
of judgmental things to say about Miranda's love
22:32
life. When Magda finds out about... her using
22:35
a matchmaker service she's like oh my god Miranda
22:37
this is great where I come from which is never
22:39
said I use matchmakers all the time I think this
22:41
is great and she feels that maternal affirmation
22:44
and validation from Magda and then she commits
22:46
more to the matchmaker however the first date
22:49
that she's set up on by the matchmaker is with
22:52
Mr. Big and she sees him at the at the restaurant
22:54
and she's like oh my god this is terrible I can't
22:57
find a man for myself. The matchmaker can't find
22:59
a man for me. She goes to the matchmaker, and
23:02
she has a screaming fight at this matchmaker,
23:04
who is, of course, a hot woman. And then they
23:07
have a thing. And so Miranda enters her queerness
23:09
earlier than... Thank God. I know. And so she
23:14
and the matchmaker start dating. So she finds
23:17
her person that way, similar to how Charlotte
23:19
actually finds her second husband, who was her
23:22
divorce lawyer. Anyway, Carrie... I find to be
23:26
the least interesting character. This was the
23:29
hardest for me to come up with. But she goes
23:31
on apps. She sees that Aiden is on there. And
23:33
he has written, I don't date writers anymore.
23:40
This really hurts her feelings. And she wants
23:42
to have a better relationship with apps because
23:44
so many of her readers and followers are interested
23:47
in them. So she pitches herself as a consultant
23:49
to the app companies. She's like, you know, I
23:52
know sex and dating in New York City. As a result,
23:54
she has to learn all of the new terms for genders
23:57
and sexualities that she doesn't know about.
23:59
And she makes up a new one, which is called sartoriosexual,
24:02
which is somebody who's attracted to somebody's
24:04
clothes but not the actual person. And as she
24:07
learns all of these terms and things, she couldn't
24:10
help but wonder, are all of these terms for differences
24:13
just getting in the way of finding what we have
24:15
in common? And she wistfully looks out the window
24:18
and shuts her laptop. End episode. End scene.
24:24
Love that. Love that. Yes, I am a fan of Sex
24:31
and the City and I have thought about them a
24:32
lot. But I also think that the show wouldn't
24:37
have worked in the app era at all. The whole
24:39
point is that there are these chance encounters
24:40
and that they're going back to their friends.
24:44
Who has time for four lunches with their friends?
24:47
Money -wise or timing -wise. And how are there
24:50
that many good restaurants? So it's good that
24:54
that show was right on time for itself. With
24:57
recent guests... Go on. Pivoting! With recent
25:03
guests, Jackie Soro, we... dived into Girl Dolls,
25:08
an American musical, and helped heal our childhood
25:13
trauma. We understand that single women, work
25:16
in progress, is doing the same for those who
25:18
had a rough go at their single era. And while
25:22
we have not seen the show yet, we cannot wait
25:25
to see it. What do you think it is about the
25:28
traumatic experiences that makes for compelling
25:31
art, specifically on stage? A great question.
25:36
First of all, I want to say that Girl Dolls,
25:39
an American musical, was one of the best things
25:40
I've seen this year. I really hope it goes beyond
25:44
Philadelphia. Soundtrack coming our way. Excellent.
25:46
And I hope that the show goes far, too. Yeah,
25:49
I loved it. I am still in my single girl era.
25:51
The title of the show... single woman work in
25:54
progress. It sounds like it is a work in progress
25:56
show. It is not. I am the single woman and I
25:59
am the work in progress. So it's still very much
26:00
happening. And I wish that I had some really
26:03
grand thing to say about my single girl era,
26:06
but I'm still in it. But I do have stuff to say,
26:08
I'm sure, about art and trauma. I do think that
26:11
when difficult experiences are thought about
26:16
and processed and chewed on and then displayed
26:20
on stage or in a book or something like that,
26:23
The creator is really comfortable with it, and
26:25
that is very attractive. Anybody who is comfortable
26:28
with the messiness of life is an attractive figure.
26:30
When we pay attention to something, it grows.
26:33
When I have paid attention to the difficult parts
26:35
of single life, those difficult parts grow. When
26:38
I have paid attention to accepting my single
26:41
life, that acceptance has grown. The more you
26:44
pay attention to something, the more words you
26:46
can add to it, and the more places there are
26:48
for somebody to connect to it. There have been
26:50
many times where I've been watching something.
26:52
that I felt like had nothing to do with me, and
26:54
then there's some language in it that really
26:58
resonates. This happened in Girl Doll. I never
27:00
had an American Girl Doll. I was not a girl who
27:02
played with dolls. But I very much know what
27:04
it's like to be afraid of growing up and to have
27:06
nostalgia about these sort of weird, slightly
27:08
problematic things of our youth. I was watching
27:10
some episode of Girls years ago and watching
27:13
Lena Dunham's character and all the other ones
27:16
go through these things that I had no connection
27:19
to. I never have dated in New York. I've barely
27:22
dated before. I didn't date in high school. I
27:25
barely dated in college. I've had one relationship,
27:27
basically. And some smaller things after that.
27:30
But there I was watching girls, sort of laughing
27:32
at them. And then Lena Dunham's character says
27:34
something so profound that's connected to trying
27:38
to be put together, but also trying to honor
27:41
one's messiness. I wish I could remember the
27:42
exact line, but she's sitting naked in a shower
27:44
at the time where she says it. And I was like,
27:47
oh my god, that's me. Who knew that I would feel
27:49
so connected to this really, really messy, mentally
27:51
ill character in this show? And I hope that there
27:55
are moments like that in my show. I have heard
27:57
from audience members that even if they've been
27:59
in a relationship for a long time, even if they're
28:02
not a straight woman, even if they're 40 years
28:05
older than me, they have found things to connect
28:07
to. And I am happy to be a part of that tradition.
28:10
I think so much of art is like... what people
28:15
post on Reddit. It is variations of your personal
28:17
story and then the question, am I okay? Is this
28:20
normal? Are other people like this? Am I the
28:23
asshole? Am I the asshole? Yeah. Which I feel
28:26
like when I look at some of those dates, like,
28:27
I don't know, when I took that date to my performance
28:29
without telling him, am I the asshole? I don't
28:32
know. And also the fact that a show, when it's
28:34
on stage, there is a buffer, the audience buffer.
28:37
They can experience what it is I'm talking about
28:39
without having to relate to me as a person. They
28:42
can just take it in, allow themselves to be moved.
28:44
And that is a wonderful way of experiencing art,
28:48
change, creativity. Somebody else's processing
28:51
to not also be doing something relational at
28:54
the same time is really nice. You've taken your
28:58
one -woman show, Single Woman, The Work in Progress,
29:00
from North Carolina, Maine, in addition to Philadelphia
29:04
for Theater Week this past spring. Has the show
29:08
over that time evolved? Yes, a lot. I started
29:14
writing back in January. I did a work -in -progress,
29:17
work -in -progress show in April at a small comedy
29:21
venue in West Philly above an Ethiopian restaurant.
29:24
It's called Upstairs at This, at Abyssinia Restaurant.
29:27
It's great. It's so small, and most of the audience
29:31
was people I knew. And it was like a half hour
29:33
longer than I ended up using, thanks to the welcome
29:37
feedback of my friends who were in the audience,
29:39
who were also performers. They were like, you
29:41
got to cut that part, change that part. The biggest
29:44
thing, two big things came out. One was I spent
29:47
10 minutes at one point reading a short story
29:49
that I didn't write based on a date that I went
29:53
on. Meaning I went on a date. It was terrible
29:56
in that there were so many gruesome details to
29:58
it. Gruesome in that he was a hoarder. And I
30:01
didn't know this until I got to his house. And
30:04
I was telling my cousin, who was a fiction writer,
30:07
about this. And she goes, oh, my God. please,
30:09
can I take these details to write a story for
30:12
her MFA program? And I was like, I would be honored.
30:16
So I gave her all of these details, one of which
30:19
is that he served, he said he was cooking me
30:23
chili. Oh, my God. Just beans. It was just beans
30:26
cooked in oil. And he was like, this is my famous
30:28
chili. And I was like, okay. That was just like
30:31
the mildest fact that came out of this. Chili
30:34
mild. Yeah. That was good. Nice, nice. Anyway,
30:38
so my cousin Alice wrote an entire story about
30:40
it. I didn't even tell her as many details as
30:43
I could have. And she still, because she's a
30:44
great writer, filled in an entire world that
30:47
was very representative of the night that I had.
30:50
And I just loved that story so much. And so I
30:52
read it on stage like, and here's an example
30:54
of a terrible date I went on. It was interesting,
30:56
it was gross, it was disgusting, but it wasn't
30:58
my voice, so I cut it out, and it will just be
31:01
for the workshop classmates in her program. The
31:04
other thing that I cut out that made the show
31:06
a lot shorter, it was originally over 90 minutes,
31:08
and now it's 70, 75, was the dating event part.
31:14
There were these parts where I was like, well,
31:16
I don't want it to just be a script that I'm
31:20
reading from. I want there to be some... some
31:22
spontaneity, just like a good date. A bad date
31:24
is when it's too planned. You're just sort of
31:26
giving your details and you're asking the same
31:28
questions. A good date is one where there's vulnerability
31:30
and spontaneity. And I thought I would manufacture
31:33
that in the show by inviting people up and asking
31:36
them questions. And that would be sort of like,
31:38
okay, let's profile these singles in the audience.
31:40
Tried it like two or three times. It didn't really
31:42
work because there were very few single people
31:44
in the audience or few single people who wanted
31:46
to come up. They were nervous. They weren't performers.
31:50
They didn't know that they were going to be called
31:51
up. There are pitch events where people choose
31:54
to be on stage. I've done some of them, but it
31:57
sort of deflated the flow of the show because
32:00
it'd be like some dead, nervous air. It wasn't
32:03
about me. It was somebody else. At one point,
32:05
I did a version where I asked people to write,
32:10
what do you wish you could ask on a first date
32:12
on slips of paper? And then I would call people
32:14
up from the audience and ask those. and one of
32:17
them was, how much debt do you have? And I didn't
32:19
have enough time to vet. I just pulled it out
32:25
and read it. And yep, these three people said
32:28
how much debt they have. We just sort of let
32:29
it sit there. We're like, okay, that's that.
32:32
We're millennials and we went to college. I am
32:37
interested. There is a fringe show called Account.
32:39
Have you guys heard of it? It's on my list. Somebody
32:42
who just reads through their bank statements
32:44
and then asks people what class we think they
32:46
are. I'm excited about that. I'm pitching somebody
32:49
else's show that I haven't even been to. But
32:51
yes, money and dating, it's like, you know, the
32:53
only topics people want to do shows about apparently.
32:55
So I took out the dating event, the spontaneous
32:58
dating event parts. That tightened up the show
33:01
altogether. I did go on tour with the show, as
33:04
you said, because I started in Philly at Philly
33:06
Theater Week in April. And then I had two family
33:08
vacations this summer, one in Maine and one in
33:10
North Carolina. And I was like, well, I'm in
33:12
town. So the main one. This tiny, tiny town.
33:17
And I pitched it to the library. And I was like,
33:19
hey, you've got a free date on your calendar.
33:22
I've got this show for free. Can I do it? And
33:24
they were like, sure, come on by. My aunt and
33:26
uncle are the ones who live there. They're both
33:28
in their 70s. And they invited mostly people
33:30
that they knew. So this was an audience of...
33:32
Grandmas. Of gray hairs, yep. Who have... Well,
33:35
no, a bunch of them are dating. But the hardest
33:37
part, it wasn't making jokes about... contemporary
33:40
dating, it was my Philadelphia specific jokes
33:42
didn't really land. I have a joke about SEPTA
33:44
that didn't really work. In the beginning of
33:46
the show, I ask, who here is single? People raise
33:51
their hands. Who here is in a relationship? And
33:53
when I asked who here is single, this older woman
33:56
turns to the man next to her and goes, am I single?
33:58
Are we together? And he goes, we're together.
34:00
So I facilitated a DTR in that. Yes! I was like,
34:07
wow. How exciting. I mean, success. Yeah. Them,
34:11
yeah. Not so much for me. Another single man
34:16
taken off the streets. Damn it. I said he was
34:19
80. That show, a lot of, a number of people can't,
34:22
because I like make myself available after. I
34:24
want people to ask me out. I want them to tell
34:27
me what they thought of the show. I want them
34:29
to say, oh, I've got this great guy that I think
34:32
you should date. That has happened twice so far.
34:34
But at this show. these older women came up and
34:37
they were like, let me give you some advice.
34:39
Oh my God. My life changed when I was 35 because
34:43
I went to a, I don't even remember what the name
34:45
of the, some sort of herbalist who looked at
34:47
my tongue and I had been so painfully shy before
34:50
I saw her and that she gave me these herbs and
34:52
it changed my life. And I was like, okay, so
34:54
did you meet your partner after that? She goes,
34:56
well, no, I had already met my partner before
34:58
that. I was like, well then. Oh my gosh. Also,
35:00
you're on stage. You don't. give painfully shy
35:04
Tess. Right, exactly. Yes, thank you. Right,
35:08
and then this older man comes up and he goes,
35:10
I'm a psychologist, and I was expecting him to
35:13
say something about how he was single, and he
35:14
was like, and my daughter is very similar to
35:16
you, same age, lifelong single person, and I
35:19
understand her a lot better now. Oh, that's nice
35:23
for her and for you, but once again, what about
35:26
me? What's in this for little old Tess? So, that
35:30
was a very, I have never really I wouldn't say
35:33
I bombed at that show at all, but there were
35:35
some crickets, some moments of silence, some
35:38
sounds of silence. But it was still very enjoyable.
35:40
And my family got to see it, which was really
35:42
fun because they wouldn't have seen it otherwise.
35:44
And then I did it in North Carolina at a comedy
35:47
theater called Meddlesome Theater in Durham where
35:49
I have a lot of friends. And that one was a much
35:51
younger crowd. quite fun. That is where I started
35:54
doing comedy many years ago in that area, not
35:56
that theater. So it was nice to, it felt very
35:59
full circle. Homecoming. Yes, exactly. And there
36:02
was somebody, somebody brought their brother
36:04
who was in town who was older, married, very
36:06
religious and conservative. And I didn't realize
36:09
this until later. And he came up to me and he
36:12
shook my hand. He was like, well, that wasn't
36:13
what I was expecting, but it was very good. I'm
36:18
so glad. So from those shows, I learned that
36:21
I am a Philadelphia, I prefer to tell jokes about
36:24
Philadelphia in Philadelphia itself. And that
36:28
the concept of dating and jokes about dating
36:30
is pretty universal. Everybody's got something.
36:33
It is so, so normal. to be simple and to be unhappy
36:37
about it to be happy about it like it's really
36:39
it's almost so banal it doesn't even deserve
36:42
a show which like came up a lot when I was making
36:46
the show I would have every week like on schedule
36:48
I was like why am I making this show isn't that
36:50
important and I would always with my friend Neil
36:52
who is the director Neil Bardhan I would come
36:54
back to this idea of It's worth telling because
36:57
I want to tell it. Right. It doesn't. And there
36:59
is something unique I have to say about it because
37:01
I haven't said it before. Correct. Oh, I love
37:04
that. Yeah. Love it. Well, lately, I've been
37:07
taking matters into my own hands with finding
37:10
potential dates for my single gal friends. Okay.
37:12
I've got, like, now I'm about to say roster,
37:16
but I've got a team of four. Of ladies? Yeah.
37:20
I pretty think of myself as a horse in a stable.
37:23
I've got a stable. of four women. That's great.
37:27
Yes. I could also be on a roster of horses. So
37:30
I have four go -to ideas to share that I've gleaned
37:33
from social media for single ladies and me, their
37:36
hype woman. Are you fed a lot of single content
37:39
online? I kind of really leaned into that algorithm.
37:44
Yeah? My algorithm has been really crazy lately.
37:47
Right now I'm getting a lot of... Bike talk,
37:50
biker talk, guys in helmets. I don't have to
37:53
listen or see their faces. Are they talking about
37:55
biking? No. They're not talking at all. They're
37:57
not talking at all, babe. Yeah. Yes. But never
38:00
their helmet. That could be like a local judge.
38:02
You have no idea who that is. Yeah. Correct.
38:05
That's some good anonymity. Yes. So I've gleaned
38:07
a lot of strategies for single ladies and their
38:11
hype women to get them out of their comfort zone.
38:13
Would you like to rate my ideas on a scale? Let's
38:17
go one to ten. One is trash. Ten is golden. Okay.
38:22
Giving out. beaded bracelets with phone numbers
38:25
and either text her or text me on them. Well,
38:28
that really worked for Travis Kelsey. So I wouldn't
38:33
give a friendship bracelet, but I have been known
38:34
to give out business cards that say, congratulations,
38:37
you just met Tess. How wonderful for both of
38:39
us. And it has my number on it, my email. That
38:43
was very useful when I was doing dating events
38:45
and I wanted to have a reason to say, hello,
38:48
I'm interested in you to a guy, give him something
38:50
and then leave. Even though what I should have
38:52
done was just stay and have a conversation. Maybe
38:54
a couple times it worked and they reached out
38:57
to me. You just triggered a memory. Oh? I did
39:01
that. Oh! I forgot I printed out business cards
39:04
with just Lou and my phone number on it. And
39:07
would you give them out? I totally gave them
39:09
out on dance floors all over D .C. in 2012. Do
39:12
you have that same number? Yeah, I've had the
39:14
same number since I was 16. Oh, here we go. I'm
39:18
imagining that card is still in somebody's cabinet.
39:21
It's in there for 60 years. Their descendant,
39:24
their grandchild finds it. Who is it? And there's,
39:27
like, some big mystery they're trying to solve.
39:28
They call you. They never met their mom. Oh,
39:31
my God. You can't never meet your mom. Unless
39:34
you have another mom. You've been mamma mia'd
39:37
somehow. So the bracelet is interesting. I don't
39:41
really want to make bracelets, though, which
39:42
is why I liked the... Yeah, there was a craft
39:45
night at my house. I got the business card idea
39:48
from Steve Martin, who apparently used to do
39:50
that. Not so much for dating, but after shows.
39:52
It was like, he'd have a conversation with somebody,
39:54
maybe at a party or whatever, and give them a
39:56
card that said, like, this card affirms that
39:57
you have met Steve Martin, and you have found
39:59
him charming, a great conversationalist, and
40:01
interesting to talk to. Yes! So I did that. And
40:05
I do one of my promotional materials for the
40:08
show is also a business card that has the logo
40:10
on the one side and then the details about the
40:12
show on the other. Okay, give the bracelet a
40:14
number. Oh, for me, I would say a six. Okay,
40:19
let's give the business cards a number because
40:21
I'm liking that too. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I
40:23
have done it. I'm going to, yeah, let's give
40:25
it a, I mean, I haven't heard the other things
40:27
you've said, but I'm going to give it a nine.
40:28
Dropping golf balls with phone numbers. And again,
40:31
text her or text me at the driving range or at
40:34
your gym's golf simulator. Wow. The YMCA does
40:37
not have a golf simulator. That is interesting.
40:41
So many of these. I do enjoy because there's
40:44
actual minimal contact. You don't have to be
40:46
in the awkwardness of the conversation. However,
40:48
I'm sure golf balls are kind of expensive long
40:51
term and getting them printed. You can just like
40:54
doodle with a Sharpie. Yeah. I've never thought
40:59
of golfers as a potential part of the dating
41:02
pool for me. I'm sorry I'm adding so many qualifiers
41:04
to this. Like when I think of guys that I like,
41:08
what sports are they doing? It's usually rock
41:10
climbing. By the time this comes out, I will
41:14
have put my flyer on a piece of paper with more
41:19
information and then given it to the community
41:22
boards at rock gyms in the area that says, like,
41:25
are you a rock climbing boy? I probably already
41:27
have a crush on you. Come to my show. I'm going
41:29
to test. Why don't you just join the rock gym
41:31
and meet these guys? I don't actually like rock
41:33
climbing that much. But I love belaying. So I'm
41:36
happy to help you at the rock gym. I just don't
41:39
want to be climbing myself. So let's say it was
41:42
putting little slips of paper into rock climbing
41:45
shoes at rock climbing gyms. I would put that
41:48
as a nine as well. Okay. Making yourself have
41:51
an extra social month with the goal of saying
41:53
hello, simply hello, to a different guy every
41:57
day of said month. That's really good. And I
42:00
can't believe I haven't thought of that before.
42:02
That's a ten. All right. I got one more. Okay.
42:05
saying, I like your dog, to every attractivish
42:09
man walking a dog on the street. I can't lie.
42:14
You don't like dogs? I don't like every dog.
42:17
Oh, okay. So this is another thing I've cut out
42:20
of my show, is that in the very first version,
42:22
I had a part where I asked the audience, what
42:25
else do you think I should try? And all of the
42:27
people who knew me didn't really offer any new
42:29
ideas, because they're like, eh, we know you're
42:31
doing your best, we know that you're great, and
42:33
somebody will come if they come. The people who
42:35
didn't know me were offering ideas like that,
42:37
to the point of, get a dog. They were like, just
42:39
get a dog. And I was like... That's an investment.
42:42
That's like time. And I am not that interested
42:45
in dogs or pets. Or children? No, I love children.
42:48
I want to have them. But I've heard this before
42:51
about like you go to the dog park and you talk
42:53
to them. You've got to play the opposite end
42:55
of that. You've got to play the flip side. Be
42:57
the dog? No. No. People are saying you get a
43:02
dog. You need to be the person who likes the
43:05
dog. The other guy's dog. I got him. But I don't
43:10
want to start off with a lie. And I know that
43:11
there's an element of fakeness in all parts of
43:15
initial dating. But you've got to go to a furry
43:19
convention. You've got to stop it, Robert. I
43:22
actually tried I like your dog. Like Samantha
43:25
says, it's all about how you say it. How would
43:28
you say it? I said. I really like your dog. Oh,
43:32
wow. And you're staring at various parts of him?
43:34
This was an experiment. Oh, okay. Because I'm
43:38
married. He was like, you can pet him if you
43:40
want. And then I pet the dog, and I was about
43:43
to have lunch. I felt myself, like, not being
43:46
able to, like. Go to lunch. No, I felt myself
43:49
wanting to. I felt myself wanting to. wash my
43:54
hands asap. Do you think that said something
43:57
about him as a dog owner? I think that says something
44:00
about my OCD tendencies. Are all dogs kind of
44:03
dirty? Yeah. Anyway, the point is that I appreciate
44:09
all of these ideas that are just like, go, do
44:12
it, say, just begin the conversation. That is
44:15
always the hardest part. As a person who's comfortable,
44:18
I'm a comfortable extrovert. Even at dating events,
44:20
it has been hard for me to just get over that
44:22
initial hump and say hello. Of the ones you mentioned,
44:26
I'm going to consider to just say hi to any new
44:29
man. What was it? You have to have yourself an
44:33
extra social month, and you have to say hello
44:35
to a different guy every day of the month, which
44:37
you can implement. I like your dog, too. I suppose
44:41
that could be part of my repertoire. And are
44:43
these eligible men? What if it's, like, the...
44:45
It doesn't matter. It just gets you in the headspace.
44:47
Okay. All right. Yeah. You don't know if anyone's
44:50
single, you know? That's true. And that's why,
44:52
like, the appeal of dating apps is you're like,
44:54
oh, at least you know all these people are single.
44:57
However, it... Yeah, it's still not working for
45:02
me. And also, like, everybody knows somebody
45:03
who's met. their partner on dating apps. And
45:06
that's like, okay, I guess we can't write them
45:08
all off because so many people have found success.
45:11
But there was previously a golden era. The era
45:14
we're at now is making a whole gosh darn show
45:16
about it. I was recently, when I was on an app
45:18
last week, advertising my show before I was kicked
45:21
off, I was talking with somebody and the topic
45:23
of dating apps came up and I was like, oh yeah,
45:25
what's... what's your experience of it? And he
45:27
wrote something like, oh, I hate how people,
45:30
women expect men to be available all the time
45:33
and they have to, they're supposed to text them
45:35
all the time and how there's no room for yearning.
45:38
It was clearly like a whole story that he had.
45:40
And I've heard this from other people too. And
45:42
I saw it and I could sense his loneliness and
45:44
his bitterness and his anger at it. And I was
45:46
like, make a show about it, dude. I don't care.
45:48
Like, it's not my responsibility to make you
45:50
feel better about women as a whole. And it did,
45:53
it affirmed the fact that like, I'm making something
45:56
creative out of this journey that I'm on. And
45:59
it's possible that the journey will never end.
46:01
Like, I don't know if I'm going to meet somebody.
46:02
It may come from this show. It may come from
46:04
this very podcast. You, listener, right now,
46:07
has a very good friend who is your co -worker
46:11
who's currently rock climbing. Yes. And afterwards,
46:15
he's going to do his shift at the soup kitchen.
46:18
Right. And he's so busy, and that's why he doesn't
46:20
go to any... And he's considering a dog, but
46:22
he didn't get the dog. That's right. He's...
46:24
He's pro -dog. He's being thoughtful about the
46:26
dog. That's right, yeah. I mean, if he had a
46:28
dog, he would clean the dog. Yes. So maybe that's
46:31
how I'm going to meet the love of my life. And
46:33
maybe it won't happen. Like, a big part of this
46:36
show is just really grappling with the unknown
46:38
of the future and getting very comfortable with
46:42
that. All right. Oh, my gosh. Three words to
46:45
describe single woman work in progress. Cathartic,
46:50
funny, and tomato. And you'll have to come to
46:54
the show to learn what that's referencing. We
46:56
love it. Tess, thank you so much. And everyone,
47:00
please check out Single Woman Work in Progress
47:04
coming to you. At French Fest, I'm linking everything
47:08
in the show notes, including Tess's Instagram
47:11
handle. Can people reach out to you that way?
47:14
Yes, they can. Single Woman Work in Progress.
47:16
The DMs are open. DMs are open. September 12th,
47:19
17th, and 23rd. Different times, including a
47:21
Saturday afternoon show. A very rare time. Absolutely
47:24
love it. And we'll be right back with rapid fire
47:26
questions. And we're back with rapid fire questions
47:31
with Tess. Tess, your dream venue for your performance
47:37
of Single Woman, work in progress. It is being
47:39
performed at the Yellow Bicycle Theater, 15th
47:41
and Arch. That's a dream in that I'm doing it
47:44
there. But a real dream would be something like
47:46
at the amphitheater at my childhood summer camp.
47:49
I love that. I love that. Overrated Philadelphia
47:52
restaurant for a date. Oh, any loud bar. Any
47:56
loud place. I do not understand why people go
47:58
to places that are loud. Are you a Carrie, Miranda,
48:01
Charlotte, or Samantha? I'm a Miranda rising
48:03
and a Ravenclaw sun. On the flip side, fuck,
48:07
marry, kill, Harry, Steve, or Big? And not just
48:10
based on what they do in the show. I would kill
48:13
Mr. Big because he's such a green capitalist.
48:16
I would fuck Steve because he seems like he's
48:19
good with his hands. And I would marry Harry
48:22
because... He's the gold standard for the SATC.
48:26
And I feel like he's just very fun to be around.
48:29
Yeah. We love it. We love it. Tess, where can
48:33
our audience find you online? On Instagram at
48:37
singlewomanworkinprogress. At my show, Single
48:40
Woman Work in Progress, September 12th, 17th,
48:42
and 23rd at the Yellow Bicycle Theater downtown.
48:45
And I will be hosting a special 30 -rock -themed
48:48
quizzo in October at the Pen and Pencil Club.
48:50
I don't know what day yet. And I'm in West Philly,
48:53
so you can find me there. Lovely, lovely. Jess,
48:56
thank you so much. Everyone, check out the show.
49:10
into this project and we are as deranged as ever,
49:14
Robert. It was such a good conversation. She
49:18
is so fun. And I love that she just allowed us
49:23
to fully go off the rails there. And I had a
49:26
lot to say as the married lady mom of two kids
49:31
living vicariously through my single girlfriends.
49:35
Just gotta see what works out there. Yeah, exactly.
49:38
See what sticks. Okay, this weekend, Cerulean
49:43
Arts 20th Anniversary Show actually opened yesterday,
49:47
September 1st. Paradigm Gallery and Studios,
49:51
Tending to Clouds, is opening September 4th.
49:55
Friend of the pod, Jessica, curated this show
49:58
the first time doing so, and we will be going
50:03
live on Instagram with her tomorrow to get the
50:07
walkthrough of it. Grief and Flourish is opening
50:11
at Arch Enemy Arts also on September 4th. Da
50:14
Vinci Art Alliance September Show Surrounds opens
50:18
this weekend on September 5th. Lou, what are
50:22
you getting into? I will be terrorizing Old City
50:25
on First Friday, definitely seeing Smoke Murmur
50:29
at Pie Gallery, and then going to Tomo, turning
50:32
it down in comparison to last week's post -party.
50:36
Yeah, turn it down this week, Lucinda. With that,
50:39
Philly has heart. And art! for tuning in to Philly
51:22
Has Heart, your weekly cultural update. Subscribe
51:25
and join us next time as we keep amplifying the
51:28
artist shaping Philadelphia culture.