April 11, 2025 • 44 mins
Mary & Kyle are joined by multi-multi-multi hyphenate John Mark (The Kelly Mantle Show, Drag House Rules, The Browns) to talk about his prolific media empire, being serenely gay in the valley, and why everyone across the board needs to step their games up in regard to weddings.
Socials:
@MaryIreneRyan
@KyleKasabian
FOLLOW @johnmarkcreative and watch The Kelly Mantle Show on YouTube & Drag House Rules on OUT TV!
Socials:
@MaryIreneRyan
@KyleKasabian
FOLLOW @johnmarkcreative and watch The Kelly Mantle Show on YouTube & Drag House Rules on OUT TV!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is like a self care podcast or something. What
is this?
Speaker 2 (00:04):
It's hi, welcome back to cancel your plans.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
My name's Kyle, my name's Mary, and we're back. We're
back for another episode. We have a beautiful, gorgeous time
planned for you.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Mary.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
How is your week? What's new? What's good?
Speaker 4 (00:29):
I had a good week.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Yeah, it was low drama, low drama.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
Which felt like because there was no drama, there was
nothing like out of the ordinary. It went by so slow.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
It feels very like Bravo and very Real Housewives to
be like, there was no drama. Thank god. I hate drama.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
As if, like my life has a ton of drama
normally doesn't also.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
About you crave it?
Speaker 4 (00:53):
And then I, oh, I almost I guess I need
it to pass the time.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Oh that's true. I have just yesterday I cornered someone
uh backstage at the theater and was like, what's the ghss.
Tell me some gsts? I need it? Yeah, so sorry.
So you had a low drama week.
Speaker 4 (01:09):
Yeah, but so it just went It made the week
go by pretty slow. Okay, it just kind of felt
really monotonous, like things just like I woke up, went
to work, left work, went to bed like that was
the week. Don't look like I need something Like I
mean by drama, like I could mean like a crazy
weather event.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
That is drama.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
That's drama.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
You see at toornado coming and you're like, drama.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
I hate that, a crazy weather event. I hate that.
Someone like quitting the job unexpectedly and I'm like, whoa,
you shouldn't have quit that job, or like even just
like someone's like calls me and they're like, hey, like
I have the flu, but like nothing like that happened.
Seek Like drama really encompasses a lot. Yeah, how was
your week?
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Week was good, kind of kind of went by quick.
The opposite opposite week. Opposite week, I had my solo show,
went up at UCB again. It was my third one
when I'm on Tuesday. Went well, which sort of brings
me to what I wanted to talk about what I
canceled on this week. Actually, I didn't cancel my show.
(02:09):
I did my show, but I canceled my plan that
I had to hate not only myself but also everything
that I make, and I said, not this week, not
this week, I'm going to cancel on that, and instead
I'm embarking on a journey of creative ambivalence. I'm trying
(02:30):
to be entirely ambivalent about everything that I that I
make and do and say, and just be sort of like,
because listen, would I love to be excited about everything
that I say, do and make sure that'd be great?
That would be nice? What a treatment a privilege? But
that can't. I just am incapable of doing that.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Lately.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Instead, I beat myself up all the time, which is
also untenable. So I'm just sort of like, well, maybe
I can just have no opinion about it. And I've
been sort of riding that wave and it's really it's
really getting me off. I'm loving just being like whatever,
brother whatever.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
An acting teacher once said to me, like, treat every
audition like it literally doesn't matter, Like nothing that you
do here can matter, because if it does matter and
you put too much emphasis on it, it's horrible. So
you have to treat everything like it doesn't matter. And
I do think there's something in that.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Yeah, it was nice, it's great. I feel like, as
someone who has spent a good chunk of my life
with like an unearned amount of confidence, it's to suddenly
not be able to tap into that level of delusion
anymore has been really jarring to me. So now I've
been like, well, how do I course correct? The answer
is to at least bare minimum not hate myself, right,
(03:52):
which I love.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
I love immediately your plan to cancel hating just be
I would rather.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
I would rather be bored with me than be upset
with me one percent. That's that's what I can.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
I have someone who's worked on creative things with you. You
do get excited for stuff you put out, sure, yeah,
and you do like, oh, like we'll say, oh this
this is actually funny, like this pilot is funny. Yeah,
like that sort of thing, Like I don't think you
need to lose that.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
If I can have that, I will hold on to it. Yeah.
All I'm saying is that those moments have become increasingly
fleeting where I get them, but then the high that
I get from it quickly dwindles, and then I go, actually,
I think I might be really bad at this, right
and I'm bored with this or it's like, eh, yeah,
(04:34):
that's what I cancel my plans on. What did you
canceer your plans on?
Speaker 2 (04:37):
This week?
Speaker 4 (04:37):
I love that, So mine is a little bit more
like actual canceling of an actual plan. I was supposed
to do something on Wednesday, and I work from nine
to seven in an office, so that's fifty hours a
week in person, which yeah, sure, ten years ago, if
I would have said that, it wouldn't garner any sort
(04:58):
of reaction. But nowadays everyone one works remote except me,
so I am exhausted. So to make plans on the weekday,
it's really hard for me, an otherwise tired person on
a good day to make plans after I work like
a ten hour shift. That's that's tough. So Wednesday, I
(05:19):
had this plan that I had made like two months
in advance, which is always really scary.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
But also exciting because it's like we got a big
build up here.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
There was a big build up because it was an
event we were going to. We were going to go
see the moth, which I've never been to a moth.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Oh the moth is fun.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
I really want to go to one. And I was like, oh,
this one seems fun. I like the sceme. I think
it was like on friendships whatever. It's like, oh, I
want to go to this moth. And so me and
this girl were like so excited. We were going to go.
And then on Monday I could tell she had forgotten.
I could tell she had forgotten, and then I was like, Okay,
what do I do with this? Like do I let
this pass and not say anything because I knew on
Monday I didn't want to go.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
By the way, if you don't know what the Moth is,
the Moth is like a storytelling show.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
And it's so fun. People stand up and tell stories.
I think they get like a ten or five minute
window and then people vote at the end to who
won the best story or whatever, and then they go
on to compete in like a bigger moth. And I
have a friend who's actually won Moth, so it's super cool.
I've never been. I've wanted to go, and me and
this girl like we're going and we and then I
(06:17):
could tell on Monday she forgot because she mentioned something
about like her Wednesday, and I was like, oh shit,
she forgot this plan.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
That's an electric feeling, isn't it When you're like I
don't want to go and I can tell that they forgot.
Speaker 4 (06:28):
This girl forgot. Yeah, So I kind of I kind
of said something. I think I like tested her again,
Like I think I said something like well, yeah, I
mean you could, you could catch up on the White
Lotos on Wednesday night. And then she'd like, oh, yeah,
I could. I could, and I could tell it. Okay,
she really doesn't know it's Wednesday. So then I had
the moral debate of like, am I gonna let this
(06:49):
pass or because that you take that risk by letting
it pass, Because on Wednesday afternoon, she go, oh my god, Mary,
I forgot we have the moth. I'm so excited. Some
people do.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
She might remember that she's excited.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
She might like all of a sudden go, oh my gosh,
the moth is tonight. I'm actually free. Let's go. I
hate that. Yeah, I don't. If you forgot, then I've
moved on because I don't forget because I love I
live by my little planner and my phone, and so
I put down stuff like months in advance in my
planner and I didn't forget. So if you forget, I
(07:24):
think you've forgotten and that you're gone. So if you're
gonna surprise me with a I remembered, oh, there's nothing worse.
So I thought, huh. So that now we're at Tuesday,
and I'm like, do I bring this up to her
like it's a moral debate. So then on Tuesday night,
I think, I say hey, I just I say hey,
(07:45):
I have in my calendar that we're supposed to go
to the Moth tomorrow night. I'm not gonna lie to
you like I'm having It's just like I'm tired, and
I think maybe we should hang out on Saturday instead.
So I offered her something else that took away something
which is now I think, the new way to do it.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Yes, as we've learned, as we learned from the.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
Pod, it's the classy way to do it. And she
responded right away, Oh my god, I totally forgot. I know,
and I totally forgot, and yes, let's hang Saturday. That's
a much better idea.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
That's great.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
I mean, it's yeah. It is a difficult high wire
act to be, like, Okay, if I depending on how
how I play this, either she'll forget and will be good,
or she'll remember the last minute and I'll have to
go to a thing that I don't want last.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
Minute too, which makes it all worse.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
If she at the last minute had said I actually
do you want to go, would you have felt like, well, yeah,
would you have felt like confident enough to say, you
know what, I don't want to.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
I think I could have played the card of oh
my god, I also forgotten I scheduled something else. That's
what I would have done.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Yeah, but you didn't.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
But I didn't know.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
See. See, my ego would have been like, I can't
possibly admit to have forgot. I've forgotten a play, double
booked a thing if I knew that I had set
it aside.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
Oh that's an interesting thing that your ego prevents you
from being like yeah, like you don't want any ang
on your face.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Well, no, because most importantly I have to feel good
about me sure, and I have to feel like I'm
doing a good job.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
This is different. We haven't hit this yet because I'm
so down to be like, whoa, that's.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
The way I should be. Ever forget, that's the way
to go. I'm I'm learning from you. Well, we have
a great show. John Mark is here. We're gonna chat
with him for a little bit and stay tuned.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
We love you.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Thanks for coming back.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Today.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
We are joined by an illustrious writer, director, and producer.
He's the writer and creator of drag House Rules, now
streaming on ut TV, and the director and producer of
The Kelly Mantle Show, The World's Most Important Podcast, Yes
He's the Man, By and the Curtain, The Angel in
the Outfield, and Third Compliment TBD John Mark, welcome to
(10:05):
cancel your plans.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Oh my god, what a pleasure.
Speaker 4 (10:08):
We're so honored to have you.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Thank you for having me, for being here.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
You have a cute sweater on. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
I was just trying to bring out the blue in
my eyes.
Speaker 4 (10:17):
Oh you have percing blue eyes. Yeah, they're stunning.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Do people ever stop you in the street and say
what's going on with you?
Speaker 1 (10:25):
No? Not as much, not as much these days.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
Are you're a redhead?
Speaker 3 (10:30):
Right?
Speaker 4 (10:31):
Or strawberry blonde?
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Interstine? I you know it vacillates. I get mostly light
brown is how. That's what it says on the driver's
license is strawberry blonde.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
Okay, you've got like yeah, light brown, that's no, that's
you know.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Sometimes I look at photos. I'm like, there's a little
red mistile.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
There got a red and with your eyes.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Too, it's like do you ever see Anna green Gables? Yes,
that's my favorite redhead.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
Oh wow, yeah, I think they're bringing They did Netflix
did and with a knee and with an E and
I think they're doing another Anna Green.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Gaila Christian programming. We got to get very very family
friendly that show.
Speaker 4 (11:08):
Kyle just told me that Gwen Stefani is super Catholic.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Now, oh she's been, but now she's like, fully, did
you see the ads.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
For Girl Wednesday?
Speaker 3 (11:16):
That's the swiftness which I recorded that and said it
to all my friends and I said, happy LANs, Just
how am I behind on this? Have you ever been saved?
Speaker 4 (11:26):
I mean, I famously come from a very Catholic family.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
That's where we connect.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
That's where we that's the only thing we really relate on.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
Yeah, that's we are.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
It's it's a little spooking. She's so pale, so you
have this harsh contrast between the ash on her forehead
and her white, pale skin. I live.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
And also when you think of it, though, it's kind
of like the next step in it makes sense because
she was just really soaking herself in so many other
so many caricatures of different cultures. So now she's like,
I'm gonna be a caricature of relig person, which is
being blown out on camera.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
She married a countryman.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
She had a bit of a twin in her voice
when she was doing to which is God.
Speaker 4 (12:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
What's her husband's name, Garth Brooks? No, I don't think
it's I don't know Chris Chris Game.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
It's something else because he left his white he was
with another country star. He left her to be it's
Blake Shelton.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Anyway, enough about we're talking about you.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Mark.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
We're thrilled to have you here.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
We're such fans of of everything that you that you do,
and we have a million questions you want to ask you.
But first, I guess what's on the doc is This
show is called Cancel Your Plans, So we're curious about
what your relationship to canceling plans is.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Well, I've designed a lifestyle where I sort of gently
nudged people towards the kind of plans that I won't cancel.
So if you would like to socialize with me, the
best way to do that is between the hours of
five and seven in the areas of North Hollywood Studio
(13:05):
City to Luca Lake or Burbank. Okay, So that as
I'm leaving my office, which I'm only at Monday through Wednesdays,
I'm down to pop in for a quick drink somewhere,
and I love a quick drink. I think the type
of plans that terrify me the most are when I
have to like actively sit somewhere like a movie, or
(13:26):
like going to your concert or your special event. Like
those are a little scarier for me. But I love
a quick drink because also depending on how I'm feeling,
it can be like a literal thirty minute like and
I'll give them my heads up if it's going to
be thirty minutes, Like I don't have a ton of time,
(13:46):
but I'd loved And I like a quick drink.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
Because that's on your way from work, stop have a drink,
and then get on the highway.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
To get on a highway, I still go home and
I hang out with like my dog and my hot
boyfriend in the evening.
Speaker 4 (14:00):
So honest, though, you're being so upfront. Also, no one
can't fault you for that.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
I love that. A quick drink though, is that sometimes
you're like, this is fun. Let's get an appetizer, let's
get nuts, let's get some calamari.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
Yeah, let's go to a second location.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Second location.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
Maybe aver do this, Okay, you'll go to a second location.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
I love food and beverage me too. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
I also if I have like a cute outfit on
that day, I'm like, yeah, people need to see this.
People need to see what I've got going on to
the people. I need to take my body to the people, because,
to be perfectly honest, it's it's kind of if I
find something that works, I'm going to wear it into
the ground and I'll do it often so I'll be
like I need people to see this because I this
(14:43):
is this is the best it's going to get.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
I love that you said food and beverage because that
really I think a lot of people's priorities are different things, right.
Some people like love to go to comedy shows, like
that's how they want to spend their time. I don't
subscribe to that. As a comedian, I don't like to
go see comedy shows when I when I'm off. But
food and beverage, that is a whole genre of like
(15:06):
oh a new restaurant just opened, Yeah, I'll go with you,
That'll be our plan, Or like oh there's this new
cocktail place I really want to like, I think I'm
into dirty martinis now. Like I had a girlfriend recently,
I was like I never thought I liked them, but
I love them. And now she's going crazy for dirty martine.
I love them too, and that's her new thing, is like,
let's go get a dirty martini because it's new to me,
(15:26):
and that, to me, is such a driving force. And
I respect the food and beverage force more than a
lot of other forces. Yeah, so I'm like, oh, no,
that makes sense that that's your breain.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
It's a value add y.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
Yeah, what's your go to if you're like meeting for
a quick drink and you're like, if I get this
at any at any place, it's not going to be oh,
a whole thing.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
I mean, tequila is the healthy liquor.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
It is the healthiest liquor. Yes, it's also an upper
less hangover. So I love tequila. I love red wine.
Speaker 4 (15:55):
That's a gnarly hangover though, red wine? Do you feel that?
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Yeah? It can be got to drink water with it.
I have noticed. And then I love a dirty martini too,
with like dirty dirty like olive Brian coursing through my yees, you.
Speaker 4 (16:08):
Know, like I like to say, like make it taste
like the ocean. Baby.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Yeah, there's a certain character that I slip into when
I'm it's like five thirty pm. I've just got a
martini in me. Yes, and I'm like, I think I'm
the most powerful I've ever been in my life.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
Well at five pm anything.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
Five yeah, at five thirty pm, five pm, I'm not
quite there. But at five thirty, oh, I've got a
light jacket on and it's probably new. I've probably got
a new jacket.
Speaker 4 (16:36):
We at your home? Are we out?
Speaker 3 (16:37):
No, we're out, Okay, we're out. We're in a leather booth,
and I've got a martine. I'm going I'm a grown man,
and I've got opinions on things, and I start spewing
them out to anyone who's willing to hear them.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
You can't walk with that glass though, that's the only yea.
You have to bring it to me at the table,
and then even just bringing it up to my mouth
the fur when it's full.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
I'm like I had a friend I was taking a
picture of her with her dirtyardini, and as the photo
was taking it was it was slowly pouring out on
the side because she was going like this, it was
like stops up in the photo. It's like the martini
is fully pouring out and she's just like as if
nothing's happening.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
It is very humble. So, John Mark, you you are
a prolific.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
Prolific the only way to describe the.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Creator of art and culture a lot. And I guess
so you appear to be incredibly busy when it comes
when you look at your schedule, do you ever feel
overwhelmed and be like I took on a lot or
do you have a like do you methodically check off?
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Yeah? I keep a Google calendar religiously and that's everything
social goes in there, everything like work related obviously, So
I'm a big stickler on the Google calendar. I look
at it before I go to bed every night. I
like being busy. Sometimes I push it. I had a
(17:59):
moment recently a few weeks ago where I was like,
I'm I'm going to burn out, and so I had
to cancel my plans Thursday to Friday to Saturday and
just like.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
Fully take a take along did you go away? Did
you go?
Speaker 1 (18:13):
I like put the phone on D and D and like, yeah,
I rested at home, and so you got to I
don't know. I try to listen to my body, but
I like, I like being busy, and I feel very
blessed to be busy, and it's I feel very like
energized and alive by the work that I get to make.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
So yeah, yeah, when you're at home and you have
that moment, that moment where you shut out the world, Yeah,
what what is it? What are your where do you
find respiteen?
Speaker 1 (18:43):
What do you usually like? I'll get in bed and
my my boyfriend's a gamer.
Speaker 4 (18:48):
So he does you have play switch? No?
Speaker 1 (18:52):
He just ps five.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
I love my Switch. I play that in bed.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
I always think if I was someone who was like
on the road or something, I would be a switch.
Speaker 4 (19:03):
Player for like a plane or yeah, if you're board
on a bus or something.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Yes, very that. I play phone games though, I play
games on my phone. Yeah. And then usually like it's
this like gross combination of screens where like my my
partner's playing video games on the flat screen, I have
a laptop in bed watching a show, I have a
drink on the nightstand, and then I'm like playing phone
games and I'll just like that.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
It's an impenetrable force field of media. It is, Yeah,
it is.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
It is dark and dystopian, but oh, I feel so good.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
It feels in the matrix. Yeah, put the brain and let.
Speaker 4 (19:42):
Me just like my ultimate disassociation is like playing Animal
Crossing on my switch with Bob's Burgers in the background,
and then even sometimes a podcast to playing like where
I'm not even I'm just having the images of Bob's Burgers.
I'm listening to the podcast and I'm playing the game.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Oh yeah, it's a symphony of everything, and then it's
and then it just it coalesces into I guess, like
Enya in your brain. It just sort of turns into like,
(20:29):
we have to talk to you about the Kelly Mantle Show.
We love it, it's big fans, I guess. I guess
we just want to know, like how does that come together?
Because and I have I have to ask you about
Kelly's monologues at the beginning. Are those are those free
style monologues?
Speaker 4 (20:49):
Great question?
Speaker 3 (20:51):
Does she have bullet points or does she just go
and then you just sort of narratively weave it in
the edit.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
She definitely prepares. She prepares for every episode, which is
wild to me because, as you know, doing a podcast
is a lot more work than you think it's gonna be.
Speaker 4 (21:08):
Yeah, and then how long she's like an hour? Eh?
Speaker 1 (21:13):
It vacillates, itvascinates between like thirty five minutes and fifty minutes.
It just kind of depends she we sit down and
we look at it and kind of pick the best moments.
She's very involved in the process. In terms of her
opening monologues, I would say that a lot of them
she'll come in with at least an idea. Sometimes she's
(21:34):
had more time to script it out and memorize it.
Other times she's just kind of going off the cough
And a lot of times I really don't know which
it is not it, but she'll do it. We'll do
a take and she's like, how is that? And sometimes
I'll have a couple ideas. Sometimes I won't and she's like, Okay,
let's do it one more time.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
Yeah, I'm a little jealous. I definitely was watching it,
like how does one get that confidence? And that like
that well that absolute like frothy tone and that like
it's just one of those things where you watching and
go watch She's incredibly perfect, and I don't want to
take anything away. I just want to be more like her.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Well she is. She's a legend.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
She's a legend. She's been in so many of your
things that I'm so excited that like that it's finally
just sort of centered around around her, and it's just
it's so cool. How did you first When did you
first start working with her?
Speaker 1 (22:29):
So I moved to la in twenty eighteen.
Speaker 4 (22:34):
And time of Dela, whoa, but you've accomplished like so much,
but we've been.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
I moved here in twenty eighteen. I didn't really have
any nepotism in regards to the industry, so I was like,
how am I gonna get I just need to like
make something.
Speaker 4 (22:50):
Well, we're Tom Cruise's twins, so NEPO baby is we're
both famously NEPO babies as well.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Be nice to us or we'll make you work on
the cruise.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
Tom Cruises twin twin daughters, twin daughters, not Surrey, Surrey.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
I don't know. Continue. So you got here in twenty eighteen.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
I did get here in twenty eighteen, and I was like,
I just want to make something I don't know, and
so I reached out to Timmy Brown, who had worked
on a music video with prior, and I was like,
do you just want to like come over to my
living room and we'll like shoot some weird sketches where
like you play my mom and.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
Like that's just how The Browns came about.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
Yeah, and I just I got my little brother to
hold the camera, and then I.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
Love the brown I almost like there was maybe a
year straight where we're a friend of mine and I
would just constantly quote the those aren't ice cream cones
and there I said, some sick fuck some clown killer.
Yes aren't.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
It's so good.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
It's so The Browns was just it just came up
from being like sending a met being like come over,
we'll figure something out.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
And we made it for no money. My little brother
shot it. Gabe Hosteler, He's incredible. And then I was
like Tammy, like we need like some more people to
play with, like invite a friend, and she called up
Kelly Mantle, and Kelly Mantle brought over like a wig
and a bottle of wine and we just kind of
(24:22):
made the thing. You know, they were to work at
that point, No, no, So then Peg reached out to
me after we had been doing those episodes for about
a year and a half and they were like, I
think this could be a TV show, And then that
kind of started my relationship without TV.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
Wow, that's incredible. Yeah, what is like, what was your
first I mean, you moved here in twenty eighteen. Where
were you before?
Speaker 1 (24:48):
I was in Minneapolis, okay?
Speaker 4 (24:51):
And were you creating content in Minneapolis?
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (24:53):
I was working in Minneapolis. I was mostly working as
a choreographer and a high school don't you do? Sure
lived a thousand lives because it's just like I look
at it as like an identity crisis. I feel like
it's been a journey of like career bingo.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
Yeah, but to be good at these to be good
at all this stuff is incredible.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
I was choreographing for recording artists out of Minneapolis. So
I choreographed Lizzo's first two national tours out of Minneapolis,
as well as some work for boney Vere and Target
and whatever, like dance making work I could get my
pause on. In Minneapolis, I was all about But the
(25:36):
gag is like I wasn't. I don't know. I don't
feel like it was a particularly incredible choreographer. I just
think that because it was a smaller market, I was
able to compete and and so I'm grateful. Sometimes I
wonder like, well, maybe I should have moved to LA
when I was when I was younger, because when I
moved here, I was almost thirty already. But I think
(25:58):
being in a smaller market was great because I was
able to work with so many cool artists that I
don't think I would have got the opportunity to work
with had I moved to a larger market.
Speaker 4 (26:07):
Yap, Yeah, what was your first experience with drag?
Speaker 1 (26:10):
Like what I had in my mind even in Minneapolis again,
like being like I don't have any connections in this industry,
Like how am I going to get people to look
at my work? And I'd been through the whole process
that a lot of early filmmakers go through where they
make something and put it on YouTube and no one
watches it. And they make something and put in a festival,
no one watches it. So I was like, Okay, maybe
if I get one of these drag race girls to
(26:32):
commit to making something with me, that'll help amplify my work.
And I also obviously wanted to work in the queer
community as well, so that was like a win win.
And so the first, I feel like the first like
big filmmaking project I did what wasn't big, it was small,
was something with Maximlanafi from season seven of Drag Race.
(26:55):
He was one of the only rude girls in Minneapolis
at the time, and we made this fun web series
called Agent Mac and that was really fun.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
In the natural progression of all this has led to
a relationship without TV, which has then led to you
had Offshoot come out earlier this year or it was
right before the New Year, correct, which was that was
like a like a thirty minute like scripted like show,
like a like a proper TV show that was not
(27:22):
really centered around a main drag character, right, It was
more mostly just kind of around your experiences, right, kind
of like being behind the camera a little bit.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Yeah, it was about like a photographer, And while my
journey hasn't been about photography, it was like a great
catalyst to talk a lot about balancing art and commerce
and like dealing with crazy clients. Yeah, like you know
a lot of the things we experiences as creators.
Speaker 4 (27:48):
Speaking of your photography, so many years ago, two years ago,
you photographed my friend Taylor Mishak, who was oh and
she posted those photos like and we all literally were
like nearly passed out when we saw them because they're
so stunning. To a point where my friend Lane made
it her background one of the images that you shot
(28:09):
of Taylor for two years. Almost Oh my god, I
thought Laney was like married to because why else would
you have to your friend as your background. We were
we almost wanted to like print out the photos and
all have them in our homes, like the images you
shot of Pasteelor is a very beautiful person, but the
way you captured her and how you dressed her, and
(28:29):
like the whole thing insane. So when I made that connection,
I was like, Oh, I was like, I cannot believe
I'm meeting the photographer who shot this photo.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Get out of here.
Speaker 3 (28:41):
You've been circling our lives like a shot like ships. Yes,
and I love.
Speaker 4 (28:47):
Christine Coees, another wonderful person that you photographed, and just
I just couldn't believe.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Well, I did costume. The first thing that gave me
stability in LA was I was a union costumer. So
I did costumes on Dave for three years.
Speaker 4 (29:01):
Okay, and the costuming on that show so good too.
Taylor used to like want all the stuff. Yeah, I
think I'm pretty sure she probably bothered you to take.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Home some of it. Well, the head designer was Rommy.
It'sigsen and she's incredible. She has like a beautiful point
of view. But yeah, I got really close with Taylor
and Christine at that time was shooting a show like that.
It's like it's like a thunderdome. Yeah, like eighty hour weeks.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
It was a lot.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
It was a lot.
Speaker 4 (29:24):
And Dave is great.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Oh Dave is so fun.
Speaker 4 (29:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
Yeah, he's a sweet guy.
Speaker 4 (29:27):
Okay, so let's just get this right. Photographer, costumer, choreographer, producer, writer, director,
murderer and murderer.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
You guys, it's a form of survival. You have to
be multi hyphen in this conte.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
It's so funny how they're like, people are like, I
don't understand what do you what do you do? Exactly
like when they get so pointed about that, well, like
what is the thing where it's like, well, ultimately, you've
created an ecosystem in which I have to do all
these things in order to survive. I have to become
somewhat fucking good at them, because otherwise we're not going
(30:04):
to eat. Babe.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
I always just like walk into whatever doors open, and
like I never endeavored to come to LA and be
in the Costumers Union, but that ended up being the
door that opened that provided me financial stability.
Speaker 4 (30:17):
And meeting other artists that you can work with.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
Yeah, and I was just happy. I knew when I
came here, I was like, I just need to get
on set, Like I just need to like get on
set any way I can. So I was like, yeah,
I'll do art department, I'll do costumes, Yeah, I'll choreograph, well,
movement coach well you know.
Speaker 4 (30:32):
But that to me is like a taste maker though,
like you're kind of like you're like, oh, this is
this is good as an art form, so I'm going
to keep doing it, and like that is a prolific
reach to have, so that in turn makes you a
taste maker.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
You've got tendrils. You got long tendrils.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
You guys.
Speaker 4 (30:49):
I know, we're really fowing you.
Speaker 3 (30:51):
I'm telling you.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
It's coming from like such an authentic place.
Speaker 3 (30:53):
And yeah, so in all of these these things that
you've sort of had your you've had your tendrils a
million things.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
You then now have you've established this.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
Relationship with our TV, you have those you have offshoot
out there, but then you just had Drag House Rules
come out, yes, which is like like a satirical, like
it's like a spin on reality TV like Big Brother.
And then also, I we were watching the episode of
Oh My God. It had jazz and Masters in a cameo,
(31:30):
which is really interesting running a room. But like you
have this sort of like revolving door of guest stars
and you have I assume that these are all people
that are on like the PG roster as well, or
is it TV?
Speaker 1 (31:41):
Not at all? I mean our TV. It's it's kind
of its own separate thing. Okay, sometimes we have PG
queens online, sometimes we don't. Got it?
Speaker 3 (31:47):
Okay, how did that show come about? What was like
the spark of that idea.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
I love the idea of like these queens who so
often have to to be in like a competition thunderdome
every time they get to be on TV, having the
chance to come together as an ensemble and like poke
fun at the shows that they've all done. And it's
funny because the show has been really polarizing. It was
(32:15):
marketed where people weren't really sure if it was a
real competition show or not, and a lot of people
were angry when it came out and they realized it
was scripted. But for me, I'm like, are these queens
not allowed to tell stories about their experiences and act
And the people who get the satire of it really
(32:35):
really love it. And it was like a lot of
the queens on the show you could just tell they're
having fun and it was such like a healing opportunity
for them to just like show up every day.
Speaker 4 (32:46):
There has to be some right, Oh.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
Yeah, I mean I love all of my shows. I
always encourage the actors to improvise, Like I'm not an
uncompromising vision type of follow the script director. I like
to flu to everyone and I'm like, just like, here's
the story, here are the beats we need to hit.
This is the most important elements of the beginning, middle,
and end of the scene, and like let's play.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
Yeah, it's such a fun cast. I'm so glad yet,
like Bitch Buttons in the mix, I love Bitch Questions Great,
She's so great, She's so funny. It's just yeah, it's
really it's so funny that people got mad that they
were like, yeah, I wanted to watch I wanted to
watch girls yell at each other again.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
You know, people like what they know?
Speaker 4 (33:27):
Yeah fair, but also she's just great.
Speaker 3 (33:32):
But also like let them be mad. Great, yeah, if
you feel something about it while yeah, they.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
Are watching, they are watching.
Speaker 3 (33:39):
Yea, So john Mark, we typically get some I say,
typically we do this every show.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
We get some.
Speaker 3 (33:50):
Submissions from listeners and they send in their stories about
cancelation and we weigh on on we we weigh in
on them, like your opinion on this. So here's some
viewer mail. I'm in a bit of a dilemma. I
have this friend who I've grown really close to over
the past couple of years. In fact, she is considered
(34:12):
one of my best friends. She got married two years
ago and she had a destination wedding in southern Europe.
There was a moment before her wedding where she was
complaining that so many people were bailing, but most had
legitimate reasons like pregnancy related, etc. She would make comments
like why would they get pregnant when they know I'm
getting married, and was a bridezilla to say the least,
(34:34):
and the world had to revolve around her during this time. Anyways,
at that time, I was struggling financially and I still
made it to her wedding, spent thousands on flights and accommodation,
and additionally gave a monetary wedding gift. Fast forward two years.
I'm getting married at the end of this year. My
wedding day happens to fall in the day of her
(34:55):
husband's birthday. She messaged me to say that her husband
doesn't want want to come, and she doesn't want to
come without him. Literally said, he doesn't want to come
and it's his birthday, so I should be there for him.
I want to cut her out after this. Am I
overreacting or would you feel the same?
Speaker 1 (35:11):
No, fuck this, bitch. I hate weddings. Straight people are wild.
I also just think like we have to stop doing
like expensive bridesmaid Like we told the the economy can't
handle it. The middle class is gone. We can't afford
to be bridesmaids anymore and buy an outfit and fly
(35:34):
somewhere and Paris. Must we build this thing up and
spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for this one special day.
Make every day special. You don't have to live like this.
Speaker 3 (35:45):
What's going on?
Speaker 1 (35:46):
This is ridiculous. I mean, I feel like weddings are
such a missed opportunity. You get to do whatever you want,
you get to bring all your friends and colleagues together
and they can't cancel, and you get to do whatever
the fuck you want. Something else that pisses me off
as gay people who have traditional weddings, or just the
fact that even like our woke friends, still abide by
(36:08):
these traditions like being given away by their father, having
a ring put on us possession, all these weird traditions
that we don't question. We can't imagine what's possible on
how to do our own fun, interesting spin on it.
We're just like, well, this is what grandma did, so
I don't get it. It's a missed opportunity.
Speaker 3 (36:26):
Also, just the idea. I love the audacity of someone
being like, I can't believe you got pregnant when I'm
about to.
Speaker 4 (36:35):
Get that and you can't travel to how dare you
get pregnant when you know I have a wedding coming up?
Speaker 1 (36:42):
Is so bundy. But this person might not have a
lot of hope because, to be honest, if they're even
questioning something that is so obviously a blatant lack of integrity,
this is just ridiculous. Where's my camera at this one? Yeah,
your wedding, do something creative. You can do whatever you want.
You could do pizza at a rock venue. You could
(37:04):
rent out a movie theater and watch Spirited Away. You
could go to the park and hire twelve strippers. It
is the one day where you can get all your
friends and family out to do whatever the fuck you want.
So please be inventive. Please imagine what is possible for
your special day, and.
Speaker 4 (37:23):
Don't worry about this one bitch attending.
Speaker 3 (37:27):
Invite your friend. Invite your friend to a location that
she believes to be a wedding, and then jump her. Yeah,
jump her. Have everyone dressed up informal wear, and then
during it's gonna be a grand ceremony, and then slowly
everyone everyone in the church, they turn and they focus
(37:48):
on her, and they say, Melissa, will you come up
here please? And they call it Melissa, and she goes, wow,
all eyes are on me. I'm the center of attention
yet again. And then you start kicking the shit out
of her. You beat her, you beat her up, and
then as she lay bloodied and bruised at your feet,
you say your vows.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
Also send this Send this video to your friend friend.
You need to get a divorce. What kind of grown
man even has a birthday party? Also also your your
husband is keeping you from going to your bestie's wedding
for his grown man birthday party. What's what's he doing?
Speaker 4 (38:30):
Yeah, there's a lot wrong here.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
There's a lot to un power.
Speaker 4 (38:33):
Are you canceling your plans your future plans to have
a wedding one day?
Speaker 1 (38:38):
No, I would love to get married, but I want
to do something non traditional. Like the concept I have
in my mind right now is like renting out like
a small dusty rock venue, and like putting together a
concert for my friends. Oh I love you know, with
some like indulgent like karaoke moments.
Speaker 4 (38:59):
Okay, don't know, and it ends with like you guys,
like walking down the aisle, or like would there be
any like kind of fun tradition in there or would.
Speaker 1 (39:06):
It just be I think I'll do a small ceremony.
I don't want people. It feels I also feel like
the like performative ceremony in front of two hundred people
is something that's not.
Speaker 4 (39:16):
For me to think about.
Speaker 3 (39:19):
If I can fly off in a in a convertible
like at the end of Greece, that feels funny up
into the sky at the end of Greece, when they
fly the air Yeah, like John Travolta and Olivia Newton.
John get in the car, they say like, oh goodbye, goodbye,
and then the car just flies off into the sky
(39:39):
and everyone they wave goodbye to everyone at the car
goes into the sky, goes off from the game and
then but I could do something like that where it's
like everyone look at me, go guy. I would do that,
But otherwise the idea of having the full thing feels
a little like I.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
Want to be Do you know what I want to
do with the money that I would spend on a wedding? Yeah,
get tits.
Speaker 3 (40:06):
Huge swollen.
Speaker 1 (40:11):
I want to make a short film where my partner
and I were secret agents and I want to hire
twelve stunt men in maga hats and we'll rehearse for
a week and then we'll do this short film where
we're fighting all the men in maga hats. Is like
(40:32):
a hot mister and mister Smith couple. And then I'm
going to send it to all the guests on a
USB drive and that will be.
Speaker 4 (40:42):
In an envelope.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
Yes, and that will be the invitation to the wedding.
And then we'll spend you know, five hundred bucks on the.
Speaker 5 (40:51):
Wedding, So the most of the money will go into
some money will go to the invitation that goes in
the USB drive, the guests of the wedding, and this
and this, this fight scene is is immaculately choreographed.
Speaker 3 (41:05):
Yes, there's there's effects. It's like practical effects though, so
like you're you're breaking arms yours.
Speaker 4 (41:11):
I'm imagining like the sound explosions.
Speaker 1 (41:13):
Yeah, Oh that's so cool. That's great. That's a great idea.
Speaker 4 (41:17):
Wow, I would love to see that footage, even if
I'm not invited to the wedding. Will that be Public's actually.
Speaker 1 (41:22):
Set after so I think you keep it exclusive where
people are like what Yeah, and then after the wedding
won't make it public. They'll do a write up about
it on Queer Tea. Yeah, that'll be like, you know,
a cute acute moment.
Speaker 4 (41:36):
JFK Junior and Carolyn Bassett got married by like like
sending a letter to their friends or calling their friends
and like meet at the dock at like seven pm.
So like twelve of their friends like met at this
dock like at night, and they all got on a boat.
They didn't know where the hell they were going, and
they like got on an island, and like JFK Junior
was on this island being like we're getting married, this
is our wedding. And it was like all done under
(41:59):
like the complete night, yeah, the cover of night, and
their guests didn't know where they were going. I think
some guests were even blindfolded on.
Speaker 3 (42:06):
The boat just keep in line with like the spy theme,
put bags over their heads and then and then bring
them to a location.
Speaker 1 (42:13):
If it was that casual them. Imagine you don't realize
it's a wedding. So you're like hanging out with some
like friend from work and you're.
Speaker 3 (42:19):
Like, yeah, you can knows. And then you're at Jfkjr's wedding.
Speaker 4 (42:23):
And you're wearing like like shorts.
Speaker 3 (42:26):
Oh yeah, because it is in fact nineteen ninety five.
This is the case right. Oh my gosh, he was
so hot. Well, John Mark, thank you so much for
coming and hanging out with us and not canceling your
plan to be here. Yeah, thank you for making the
junt all the way from two two five Gay Street.
Speaker 1 (42:47):
I'm gay and I live on Gay Street with the
male lover.
Speaker 3 (42:53):
We're such big fans something.
Speaker 4 (42:55):
Thank you, John, Thanks for coming.
Speaker 1 (42:56):
Thank you for your support, and please watch Drag House
Rules on out TV because if you don't watch it,
we don't get to do it again.
Speaker 4 (43:05):
Yes, and the Kelly Mantle Show.
Speaker 1 (43:08):
And watch the Kelly Mantle Show.
Speaker 4 (43:10):
What's the best way to watch the podcast? Is it YouTube?
Speaker 1 (43:14):
That's the best way. I mean the visual.
Speaker 4 (43:16):
You get the visual.
Speaker 1 (43:17):
It's the same with you guys. You get to look
and see these.
Speaker 3 (43:19):
Hot hot people hot gas.
Speaker 4 (43:23):
Yeah, okay, so watch it on YouTube. Yeah, you don't
want to miss the like what's happening? Even though I
have listened to it on Spotify in my car and
it is nice to have voices I drive.
Speaker 1 (43:32):
That's where a lot of people listen to podcasts in
the car.
Speaker 3 (43:34):
Right.
Speaker 4 (43:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (43:35):
But then if you watch it, you get the soothing,
gorgeous purple set, which, by the way, where did everything?
It's the most soothing shade of purple. Not to say
something gay again, but where'd you find the fabric?
Speaker 1 (43:51):
The internet? Yeah? The purple set is a very polar
another polarizing in my life, the purple set of the purple.
Speaker 4 (43:58):
What are people saying about it?
Speaker 1 (44:00):
Oh, it's too purple, like.
Speaker 4 (44:02):
The candle and the thing. It's all very purple.
Speaker 1 (44:05):
It's I find it a little garish personally. I think
it's but it's it's it's meant to be. It's very
killing mental it all. Yeah works, I love it. You
guys have a purple element in your branding as well,
a little bit.
Speaker 3 (44:17):
Yeah. It's like kind of like a like a hot
pink purple Barbie pink we did. We recently did a
light rebranding we're doing.
Speaker 4 (44:23):
Yeah, you can see it's like's.
Speaker 3 (44:28):
On Canva.
Speaker 1 (44:28):
This is like a self care podcast or something. What
is this?
Speaker 4 (44:32):
It's for you to ask that at the end of
the plot. Incredible
This is like a self care podcast or something. What
is this?
Speaker 2 (00:04):
It's hi, welcome back to cancel your plans.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
My name's Kyle, my name's Mary, and we're back. We're
back for another episode. We have a beautiful, gorgeous time
planned for you.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Mary.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
How is your week? What's new? What's good?
Speaker 4 (00:29):
I had a good week.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Yeah, it was low drama, low drama.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
Which felt like because there was no drama, there was
nothing like out of the ordinary. It went by so slow.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
It feels very like Bravo and very Real Housewives to
be like, there was no drama. Thank god. I hate drama.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
As if, like my life has a ton of drama
normally doesn't also.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
About you crave it?
Speaker 4 (00:53):
And then I, oh, I almost I guess I need
it to pass the time.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
Oh that's true. I have just yesterday I cornered someone
uh backstage at the theater and was like, what's the ghss.
Tell me some gsts? I need it? Yeah, so sorry.
So you had a low drama week.
Speaker 4 (01:09):
Yeah, but so it just went It made the week
go by pretty slow. Okay, it just kind of felt
really monotonous, like things just like I woke up, went
to work, left work, went to bed like that was
the week. Don't look like I need something Like I
mean by drama, like I could mean like a crazy
weather event.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
That is drama.
Speaker 4 (01:24):
That's drama.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
You see at toornado coming and you're like, drama.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
I hate that, a crazy weather event. I hate that.
Someone like quitting the job unexpectedly and I'm like, whoa,
you shouldn't have quit that job, or like even just
like someone's like calls me and they're like, hey, like
I have the flu, but like nothing like that happened.
Seek Like drama really encompasses a lot. Yeah, how was
your week?
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Week was good, kind of kind of went by quick.
The opposite opposite week. Opposite week, I had my solo show,
went up at UCB again. It was my third one
when I'm on Tuesday. Went well, which sort of brings
me to what I wanted to talk about what I
canceled on this week. Actually, I didn't cancel my show.
(02:09):
I did my show, but I canceled my plan that
I had to hate not only myself but also everything
that I make, and I said, not this week, not
this week, I'm going to cancel on that, and instead
I'm embarking on a journey of creative ambivalence. I'm trying
(02:30):
to be entirely ambivalent about everything that I that I
make and do and say, and just be sort of like,
because listen, would I love to be excited about everything
that I say, do and make sure that'd be great?
That would be nice? What a treatment a privilege? But
that can't. I just am incapable of doing that.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Lately.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Instead, I beat myself up all the time, which is
also untenable. So I'm just sort of like, well, maybe
I can just have no opinion about it. And I've
been sort of riding that wave and it's really it's
really getting me off. I'm loving just being like whatever,
brother whatever.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
An acting teacher once said to me, like, treat every
audition like it literally doesn't matter, Like nothing that you
do here can matter, because if it does matter and
you put too much emphasis on it, it's horrible. So
you have to treat everything like it doesn't matter. And
I do think there's something in that.
Speaker 3 (03:29):
Yeah, it was nice, it's great. I feel like, as
someone who has spent a good chunk of my life
with like an unearned amount of confidence, it's to suddenly
not be able to tap into that level of delusion
anymore has been really jarring to me. So now I've
been like, well, how do I course correct? The answer
is to at least bare minimum not hate myself, right,
(03:52):
which I love.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
I love immediately your plan to cancel hating just be
I would rather.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
I would rather be bored with me than be upset
with me one percent. That's that's what I can.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
I have someone who's worked on creative things with you. You
do get excited for stuff you put out, sure, yeah,
and you do like, oh, like we'll say, oh this
this is actually funny, like this pilot is funny. Yeah,
like that sort of thing, Like I don't think you
need to lose that.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
If I can have that, I will hold on to it. Yeah.
All I'm saying is that those moments have become increasingly
fleeting where I get them, but then the high that
I get from it quickly dwindles, and then I go, actually,
I think I might be really bad at this, right
and I'm bored with this or it's like, eh, yeah,
(04:34):
that's what I cancel my plans on. What did you
canceer your plans on?
Speaker 2 (04:37):
This week?
Speaker 4 (04:37):
I love that, So mine is a little bit more
like actual canceling of an actual plan. I was supposed
to do something on Wednesday, and I work from nine
to seven in an office, so that's fifty hours a
week in person, which yeah, sure, ten years ago, if
I would have said that, it wouldn't garner any sort
(04:58):
of reaction. But nowadays everyone one works remote except me,
so I am exhausted. So to make plans on the weekday,
it's really hard for me, an otherwise tired person on
a good day to make plans after I work like
a ten hour shift. That's that's tough. So Wednesday, I
(05:19):
had this plan that I had made like two months
in advance, which is always really scary.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
But also exciting because it's like we got a big
build up here.
Speaker 4 (05:25):
There was a big build up because it was an
event we were going to. We were going to go
see the moth, which I've never been to a moth.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Oh the moth is fun.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
I really want to go to one. And I was like, oh,
this one seems fun. I like the sceme. I think
it was like on friendships whatever. It's like, oh, I
want to go to this moth. And so me and
this girl were like so excited. We were going to go.
And then on Monday I could tell she had forgotten.
I could tell she had forgotten, and then I was like, Okay,
what do I do with this? Like do I let
this pass and not say anything because I knew on
Monday I didn't want to go.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
By the way, if you don't know what the Moth is,
the Moth is like a storytelling show.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
And it's so fun. People stand up and tell stories.
I think they get like a ten or five minute
window and then people vote at the end to who
won the best story or whatever, and then they go
on to compete in like a bigger moth. And I
have a friend who's actually won Moth, so it's super cool.
I've never been. I've wanted to go, and me and
this girl like we're going and we and then I
(06:17):
could tell on Monday she forgot because she mentioned something
about like her Wednesday, and I was like, oh shit,
she forgot this plan.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
That's an electric feeling, isn't it When you're like I
don't want to go and I can tell that they forgot.
Speaker 4 (06:28):
This girl forgot. Yeah, So I kind of I kind
of said something. I think I like tested her again,
Like I think I said something like well, yeah, I
mean you could, you could catch up on the White
Lotos on Wednesday night. And then she'd like, oh, yeah,
I could. I could, and I could tell it. Okay,
she really doesn't know it's Wednesday. So then I had
the moral debate of like, am I gonna let this
(06:49):
pass or because that you take that risk by letting
it pass, Because on Wednesday afternoon, she go, oh my god, Mary,
I forgot we have the moth. I'm so excited. Some
people do.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
She might remember that she's excited.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
She might like all of a sudden go, oh my gosh,
the moth is tonight. I'm actually free. Let's go. I
hate that. Yeah, I don't. If you forgot, then I've
moved on because I don't forget because I love I
live by my little planner and my phone, and so
I put down stuff like months in advance in my
planner and I didn't forget. So if you forget, I
(07:24):
think you've forgotten and that you're gone. So if you're
gonna surprise me with a I remembered, oh, there's nothing worse.
So I thought, huh. So that now we're at Tuesday,
and I'm like, do I bring this up to her
like it's a moral debate. So then on Tuesday night,
I think, I say hey, I just I say hey,
(07:45):
I have in my calendar that we're supposed to go
to the Moth tomorrow night. I'm not gonna lie to
you like I'm having It's just like I'm tired, and
I think maybe we should hang out on Saturday instead.
So I offered her something else that took away something
which is now I think, the new way to do it.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Yes, as we've learned, as we learned from the.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
Pod, it's the classy way to do it. And she
responded right away, Oh my god, I totally forgot. I know,
and I totally forgot, and yes, let's hang Saturday. That's
a much better idea.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
That's great.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
I mean, it's yeah. It is a difficult high wire
act to be, like, Okay, if I depending on how
how I play this, either she'll forget and will be good,
or she'll remember the last minute and I'll have to
go to a thing that I don't want last.
Speaker 4 (08:31):
Minute too, which makes it all worse.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
If she at the last minute had said I actually
do you want to go, would you have felt like, well, yeah,
would you have felt like confident enough to say, you
know what, I don't want to.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
I think I could have played the card of oh
my god, I also forgotten I scheduled something else. That's
what I would have done.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Yeah, but you didn't.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
But I didn't know.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
See. See, my ego would have been like, I can't
possibly admit to have forgot. I've forgotten a play, double
booked a thing if I knew that I had set
it aside.
Speaker 4 (09:05):
Oh that's an interesting thing that your ego prevents you
from being like yeah, like you don't want any ang
on your face.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
Well, no, because most importantly I have to feel good
about me sure, and I have to feel like I'm
doing a good job.
Speaker 4 (09:20):
This is different. We haven't hit this yet because I'm
so down to be like, whoa, that's.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
The way I should be. Ever forget, that's the way
to go. I'm I'm learning from you. Well, we have
a great show. John Mark is here. We're gonna chat
with him for a little bit and stay tuned.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
We love you.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
Thanks for coming back.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
Today.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
We are joined by an illustrious writer, director, and producer.
He's the writer and creator of drag House Rules, now
streaming on ut TV, and the director and producer of
The Kelly Mantle Show, The World's Most Important Podcast, Yes
He's the Man, By and the Curtain, The Angel in
the Outfield, and Third Compliment TBD John Mark, welcome to
(10:05):
cancel your plans.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Oh my god, what a pleasure.
Speaker 4 (10:08):
We're so honored to have you.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Thank you for having me, for being here.
Speaker 3 (10:12):
You have a cute sweater on. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
I was just trying to bring out the blue in
my eyes.
Speaker 4 (10:17):
Oh you have percing blue eyes. Yeah, they're stunning.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Do people ever stop you in the street and say
what's going on with you?
Speaker 1 (10:25):
No? Not as much, not as much these days.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
Are you're a redhead?
Speaker 3 (10:30):
Right?
Speaker 4 (10:31):
Or strawberry blonde?
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Interstine? I you know it vacillates. I get mostly light
brown is how. That's what it says on the driver's
license is strawberry blonde.
Speaker 4 (10:41):
Okay, you've got like yeah, light brown, that's no, that's
you know.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Sometimes I look at photos. I'm like, there's a little
red mistile.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
There got a red and with your eyes.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Too, it's like do you ever see Anna green Gables? Yes,
that's my favorite redhead.
Speaker 4 (10:55):
Oh wow, yeah, I think they're bringing They did Netflix
did and with a knee and with an E and
I think they're doing another Anna Green.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
Gaila Christian programming. We got to get very very family
friendly that show.
Speaker 4 (11:08):
Kyle just told me that Gwen Stefani is super Catholic.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Now, oh she's been, but now she's like, fully, did
you see the ads.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
For Girl Wednesday?
Speaker 3 (11:16):
That's the swiftness which I recorded that and said it
to all my friends and I said, happy LANs, Just
how am I behind on this? Have you ever been saved?
Speaker 4 (11:26):
I mean, I famously come from a very Catholic family.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
That's where we connect.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
That's where we that's the only thing we really relate on.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
Yeah, that's we are.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
It's it's a little spooking. She's so pale, so you
have this harsh contrast between the ash on her forehead
and her white, pale skin. I live.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
And also when you think of it, though, it's kind
of like the next step in it makes sense because
she was just really soaking herself in so many other
so many caricatures of different cultures. So now she's like,
I'm gonna be a caricature of relig person, which is
being blown out on camera.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
She married a countryman.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
She had a bit of a twin in her voice
when she was doing to which is God.
Speaker 4 (12:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
What's her husband's name, Garth Brooks? No, I don't think
it's I don't know Chris Chris Game.
Speaker 4 (12:16):
It's something else because he left his white he was
with another country star. He left her to be it's
Blake Shelton.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Anyway, enough about we're talking about you.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Mark.
Speaker 1 (12:29):
We're thrilled to have you here.
Speaker 3 (12:30):
We're such fans of of everything that you that you do,
and we have a million questions you want to ask you.
But first, I guess what's on the doc is This
show is called Cancel Your Plans, So we're curious about
what your relationship to canceling plans is.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
Well, I've designed a lifestyle where I sort of gently
nudged people towards the kind of plans that I won't cancel.
So if you would like to socialize with me, the
best way to do that is between the hours of
five and seven in the areas of North Hollywood Studio
(13:05):
City to Luca Lake or Burbank. Okay, So that as
I'm leaving my office, which I'm only at Monday through Wednesdays,
I'm down to pop in for a quick drink somewhere,
and I love a quick drink. I think the type
of plans that terrify me the most are when I
have to like actively sit somewhere like a movie, or
(13:26):
like going to your concert or your special event. Like
those are a little scarier for me. But I love
a quick drink because also depending on how I'm feeling,
it can be like a literal thirty minute like and
I'll give them my heads up if it's going to
be thirty minutes, Like I don't have a ton of time,
(13:46):
but I'd loved And I like a quick drink.
Speaker 4 (13:49):
Because that's on your way from work, stop have a drink,
and then get on the highway.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
To get on a highway, I still go home and
I hang out with like my dog and my hot
boyfriend in the evening.
Speaker 4 (14:00):
So honest, though, you're being so upfront. Also, no one
can't fault you for that.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
I love that. A quick drink though, is that sometimes
you're like, this is fun. Let's get an appetizer, let's
get nuts, let's get some calamari.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
Yeah, let's go to a second location.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Second location.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
Maybe aver do this, Okay, you'll go to a second location.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
I love food and beverage me too. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:22):
I also if I have like a cute outfit on
that day, I'm like, yeah, people need to see this.
People need to see what I've got going on to
the people. I need to take my body to the people, because,
to be perfectly honest, it's it's kind of if I
find something that works, I'm going to wear it into
the ground and I'll do it often so I'll be
like I need people to see this because I this
(14:43):
is this is the best it's going to get.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
I love that you said food and beverage because that
really I think a lot of people's priorities are different things, right.
Some people like love to go to comedy shows, like
that's how they want to spend their time. I don't
subscribe to that. As a comedian, I don't like to
go see comedy shows when I when I'm off. But
food and beverage, that is a whole genre of like
(15:06):
oh a new restaurant just opened, Yeah, I'll go with you,
That'll be our plan, Or like oh there's this new
cocktail place I really want to like, I think I'm
into dirty martinis now. Like I had a girlfriend recently,
I was like I never thought I liked them, but
I love them. And now she's going crazy for dirty martine.
I love them too, and that's her new thing, is like,
let's go get a dirty martini because it's new to me,
(15:26):
and that, to me, is such a driving force. And
I respect the food and beverage force more than a
lot of other forces. Yeah, so I'm like, oh, no,
that makes sense that that's your breain.
Speaker 1 (15:36):
It's a value add y.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
Yeah, what's your go to if you're like meeting for
a quick drink and you're like, if I get this
at any at any place, it's not going to be oh,
a whole thing.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
I mean, tequila is the healthy liquor.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
It is the healthiest liquor. Yes, it's also an upper
less hangover. So I love tequila. I love red wine.
Speaker 4 (15:55):
That's a gnarly hangover though, red wine? Do you feel that?
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Yeah? It can be got to drink water with it.
I have noticed. And then I love a dirty martini too,
with like dirty dirty like olive Brian coursing through my yees, you.
Speaker 4 (16:08):
Know, like I like to say, like make it taste
like the ocean. Baby.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Yeah, there's a certain character that I slip into when
I'm it's like five thirty pm. I've just got a
martini in me. Yes, and I'm like, I think I'm
the most powerful I've ever been in my life.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
Well at five pm anything.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
Five yeah, at five thirty pm, five pm, I'm not
quite there. But at five thirty, oh, I've got a
light jacket on and it's probably new. I've probably got
a new jacket.
Speaker 4 (16:36):
We at your home? Are we out?
Speaker 3 (16:37):
No, we're out, Okay, we're out. We're in a leather booth,
and I've got a martine. I'm going I'm a grown man,
and I've got opinions on things, and I start spewing
them out to anyone who's willing to hear them.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
You can't walk with that glass though, that's the only yea.
You have to bring it to me at the table,
and then even just bringing it up to my mouth
the fur when it's full.
Speaker 4 (16:56):
I'm like I had a friend I was taking a
picture of her with her dirtyardini, and as the photo
was taking it was it was slowly pouring out on
the side because she was going like this, it was
like stops up in the photo. It's like the martini
is fully pouring out and she's just like as if
nothing's happening.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
It is very humble. So, John Mark, you you are
a prolific.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
Prolific the only way to describe the.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Creator of art and culture a lot. And I guess
so you appear to be incredibly busy when it comes
when you look at your schedule, do you ever feel
overwhelmed and be like I took on a lot or
do you have a like do you methodically check off?
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Yeah? I keep a Google calendar religiously and that's everything
social goes in there, everything like work related obviously, So
I'm a big stickler on the Google calendar. I look
at it before I go to bed every night. I
like being busy. Sometimes I push it. I had a
(17:59):
moment recently a few weeks ago where I was like,
I'm I'm going to burn out, and so I had
to cancel my plans Thursday to Friday to Saturday and
just like.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
Fully take a take along did you go away? Did
you go?
Speaker 1 (18:13):
I like put the phone on D and D and like, yeah,
I rested at home, and so you got to I
don't know. I try to listen to my body, but
I like, I like being busy, and I feel very
blessed to be busy, and it's I feel very like
energized and alive by the work that I get to make.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
So yeah, yeah, when you're at home and you have
that moment, that moment where you shut out the world, Yeah,
what what is it? What are your where do you
find respiteen?
Speaker 1 (18:43):
What do you usually like? I'll get in bed and
my my boyfriend's a gamer.
Speaker 4 (18:48):
So he does you have play switch? No?
Speaker 1 (18:52):
He just ps five.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
I love my Switch. I play that in bed.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
I always think if I was someone who was like
on the road or something, I would be a switch.
Speaker 4 (19:03):
Player for like a plane or yeah, if you're board
on a bus or something.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Yes, very that. I play phone games though, I play
games on my phone. Yeah. And then usually like it's
this like gross combination of screens where like my my
partner's playing video games on the flat screen, I have
a laptop in bed watching a show, I have a
drink on the nightstand, and then I'm like playing phone
games and I'll just like that.
Speaker 3 (19:29):
It's an impenetrable force field of media. It is, Yeah,
it is.
Speaker 1 (19:33):
It is dark and dystopian, but oh, I feel so good.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
It feels in the matrix. Yeah, put the brain and let.
Speaker 4 (19:42):
Me just like my ultimate disassociation is like playing Animal
Crossing on my switch with Bob's Burgers in the background,
and then even sometimes a podcast to playing like where
I'm not even I'm just having the images of Bob's Burgers.
I'm listening to the podcast and I'm playing the game.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Oh yeah, it's a symphony of everything, and then it's
and then it just it coalesces into I guess, like
Enya in your brain. It just sort of turns into like,
(20:29):
we have to talk to you about the Kelly Mantle Show.
We love it, it's big fans, I guess. I guess
we just want to know, like how does that come together?
Because and I have I have to ask you about
Kelly's monologues at the beginning. Are those are those free
style monologues?
Speaker 4 (20:49):
Great question?
Speaker 3 (20:51):
Does she have bullet points or does she just go
and then you just sort of narratively weave it in
the edit.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
She definitely prepares. She prepares for every episode, which is
wild to me because, as you know, doing a podcast
is a lot more work than you think it's gonna be.
Speaker 4 (21:08):
Yeah, and then how long she's like an hour? Eh?
Speaker 1 (21:13):
It vacillates, itvascinates between like thirty five minutes and fifty minutes.
It just kind of depends she we sit down and
we look at it and kind of pick the best moments.
She's very involved in the process. In terms of her
opening monologues, I would say that a lot of them
she'll come in with at least an idea. Sometimes she's
(21:34):
had more time to script it out and memorize it.
Other times she's just kind of going off the cough
And a lot of times I really don't know which
it is not it, but she'll do it. We'll do
a take and she's like, how is that? And sometimes
I'll have a couple ideas. Sometimes I won't and she's like, Okay,
let's do it one more time.
Speaker 4 (21:52):
Yeah, I'm a little jealous. I definitely was watching it,
like how does one get that confidence? And that like
that well that absolute like frothy tone and that like
it's just one of those things where you watching and
go watch She's incredibly perfect, and I don't want to
take anything away. I just want to be more like her.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
Well she is. She's a legend.
Speaker 3 (22:15):
She's a legend. She's been in so many of your
things that I'm so excited that like that it's finally
just sort of centered around around her, and it's just
it's so cool. How did you first When did you
first start working with her?
Speaker 1 (22:29):
So I moved to la in twenty eighteen.
Speaker 4 (22:34):
And time of Dela, whoa, but you've accomplished like so much,
but we've been.
Speaker 1 (22:41):
I moved here in twenty eighteen. I didn't really have
any nepotism in regards to the industry, so I was like,
how am I gonna get I just need to like
make something.
Speaker 4 (22:50):
Well, we're Tom Cruise's twins, so NEPO baby is we're
both famously NEPO babies as well.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
Be nice to us or we'll make you work on
the cruise.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
Tom Cruises twin twin daughters, twin daughters, not Surrey, Surrey.
Speaker 3 (23:07):
I don't know. Continue. So you got here in twenty eighteen.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
I did get here in twenty eighteen, and I was like,
I just want to make something I don't know, and
so I reached out to Timmy Brown, who had worked
on a music video with prior, and I was like,
do you just want to like come over to my
living room and we'll like shoot some weird sketches where
like you play my mom and.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
Like that's just how The Browns came about.
Speaker 1 (23:30):
Yeah, and I just I got my little brother to
hold the camera, and then I.
Speaker 3 (23:35):
Love the brown I almost like there was maybe a
year straight where we're a friend of mine and I
would just constantly quote the those aren't ice cream cones
and there I said, some sick fuck some clown killer.
Yes aren't.
Speaker 1 (23:54):
It's so good.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
It's so The Browns was just it just came up
from being like sending a met being like come over,
we'll figure something out.
Speaker 1 (24:01):
And we made it for no money. My little brother
shot it. Gabe Hosteler, He's incredible. And then I was
like Tammy, like we need like some more people to
play with, like invite a friend, and she called up
Kelly Mantle, and Kelly Mantle brought over like a wig
and a bottle of wine and we just kind of
(24:22):
made the thing. You know, they were to work at
that point, No, no, So then Peg reached out to
me after we had been doing those episodes for about
a year and a half and they were like, I
think this could be a TV show, And then that
kind of started my relationship without TV.
Speaker 4 (24:39):
Wow, that's incredible. Yeah, what is like, what was your
first I mean, you moved here in twenty eighteen. Where
were you before?
Speaker 1 (24:48):
I was in Minneapolis, okay?
Speaker 4 (24:51):
And were you creating content in Minneapolis?
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (24:53):
I was working in Minneapolis. I was mostly working as
a choreographer and a high school don't you do? Sure
lived a thousand lives because it's just like I look
at it as like an identity crisis. I feel like
it's been a journey of like career bingo.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
Yeah, but to be good at these to be good
at all this stuff is incredible.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
I was choreographing for recording artists out of Minneapolis. So
I choreographed Lizzo's first two national tours out of Minneapolis,
as well as some work for boney Vere and Target
and whatever, like dance making work I could get my
pause on. In Minneapolis, I was all about But the
(25:36):
gag is like I wasn't. I don't know. I don't
feel like it was a particularly incredible choreographer. I just
think that because it was a smaller market, I was
able to compete and and so I'm grateful. Sometimes I
wonder like, well, maybe I should have moved to LA
when I was when I was younger, because when I
moved here, I was almost thirty already. But I think
(25:58):
being in a smaller market was great because I was
able to work with so many cool artists that I
don't think I would have got the opportunity to work
with had I moved to a larger market.
Speaker 4 (26:07):
Yap, Yeah, what was your first experience with drag?
Speaker 1 (26:10):
Like what I had in my mind even in Minneapolis again,
like being like I don't have any connections in this industry,
Like how am I going to get people to look
at my work? And I'd been through the whole process
that a lot of early filmmakers go through where they
make something and put it on YouTube and no one
watches it. And they make something and put in a festival,
no one watches it. So I was like, Okay, maybe
if I get one of these drag race girls to
(26:32):
commit to making something with me, that'll help amplify my work.
And I also obviously wanted to work in the queer
community as well, so that was like a win win.
And so the first, I feel like the first like
big filmmaking project I did what wasn't big, it was small,
was something with Maximlanafi from season seven of Drag Race.
(26:55):
He was one of the only rude girls in Minneapolis
at the time, and we made this fun web series
called Agent Mac and that was really fun.
Speaker 3 (27:02):
In the natural progression of all this has led to
a relationship without TV, which has then led to you
had Offshoot come out earlier this year or it was
right before the New Year, correct, which was that was
like a like a thirty minute like scripted like show,
like a like a proper TV show that was not
(27:22):
really centered around a main drag character, right, It was
more mostly just kind of around your experiences, right, kind
of like being behind the camera a little bit.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Yeah, it was about like a photographer, And while my
journey hasn't been about photography, it was like a great
catalyst to talk a lot about balancing art and commerce
and like dealing with crazy clients. Yeah, like you know
a lot of the things we experiences as creators.
Speaker 4 (27:48):
Speaking of your photography, so many years ago, two years ago,
you photographed my friend Taylor Mishak, who was oh and
she posted those photos like and we all literally were
like nearly passed out when we saw them because they're
so stunning. To a point where my friend Lane made
it her background one of the images that you shot
(28:09):
of Taylor for two years. Almost Oh my god, I
thought Laney was like married to because why else would
you have to your friend as your background. We were
we almost wanted to like print out the photos and
all have them in our homes, like the images you
shot of Pasteelor is a very beautiful person, but the
way you captured her and how you dressed her, and
(28:29):
like the whole thing insane. So when I made that connection,
I was like, Oh, I was like, I cannot believe
I'm meeting the photographer who shot this photo.
Speaker 1 (28:40):
Get out of here.
Speaker 3 (28:41):
You've been circling our lives like a shot like ships. Yes,
and I love.
Speaker 4 (28:47):
Christine Coees, another wonderful person that you photographed, and just
I just couldn't believe.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
Well, I did costume. The first thing that gave me
stability in LA was I was a union costumer. So
I did costumes on Dave for three years.
Speaker 4 (29:01):
Okay, and the costuming on that show so good too.
Taylor used to like want all the stuff. Yeah, I
think I'm pretty sure she probably bothered you to take.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Home some of it. Well, the head designer was Rommy.
It'sigsen and she's incredible. She has like a beautiful point
of view. But yeah, I got really close with Taylor
and Christine at that time was shooting a show like that.
It's like it's like a thunderdome. Yeah, like eighty hour weeks.
Speaker 4 (29:22):
It was a lot.
Speaker 1 (29:23):
It was a lot.
Speaker 4 (29:24):
And Dave is great.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Oh Dave is so fun.
Speaker 4 (29:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
Yeah, he's a sweet guy.
Speaker 4 (29:27):
Okay, so let's just get this right. Photographer, costumer, choreographer, producer, writer, director,
murderer and murderer.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
You guys, it's a form of survival. You have to
be multi hyphen in this conte.
Speaker 3 (29:44):
It's so funny how they're like, people are like, I
don't understand what do you what do you do? Exactly
like when they get so pointed about that, well, like
what is the thing where it's like, well, ultimately, you've
created an ecosystem in which I have to do all
these things in order to survive. I have to become
somewhat fucking good at them, because otherwise we're not going
(30:04):
to eat. Babe.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
I always just like walk into whatever doors open, and
like I never endeavored to come to LA and be
in the Costumers Union, but that ended up being the
door that opened that provided me financial stability.
Speaker 4 (30:17):
And meeting other artists that you can work with.
Speaker 1 (30:19):
Yeah, and I was just happy. I knew when I
came here, I was like, I just need to get
on set, Like I just need to like get on
set any way I can. So I was like, yeah,
I'll do art department, I'll do costumes, Yeah, I'll choreograph, well,
movement coach well you know.
Speaker 4 (30:32):
But that to me is like a taste maker though,
like you're kind of like you're like, oh, this is
this is good as an art form, so I'm going
to keep doing it, and like that is a prolific
reach to have, so that in turn makes you a
taste maker.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
You've got tendrils. You got long tendrils.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
You guys.
Speaker 4 (30:49):
I know, we're really fowing you.
Speaker 3 (30:51):
I'm telling you.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
It's coming from like such an authentic place.
Speaker 3 (30:53):
And yeah, so in all of these these things that
you've sort of had your you've had your tendrils a
million things.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
You then now have you've established this.
Speaker 3 (31:07):
Relationship with our TV, you have those you have offshoot
out there, but then you just had Drag House Rules
come out, yes, which is like like a satirical, like
it's like a spin on reality TV like Big Brother.
And then also, I we were watching the episode of
Oh My God. It had jazz and Masters in a cameo,
(31:30):
which is really interesting running a room. But like you
have this sort of like revolving door of guest stars
and you have I assume that these are all people
that are on like the PG roster as well, or
is it TV?
Speaker 1 (31:41):
Not at all? I mean our TV. It's it's kind
of its own separate thing. Okay, sometimes we have PG
queens online, sometimes we don't. Got it?
Speaker 3 (31:47):
Okay, how did that show come about? What was like
the spark of that idea.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
I love the idea of like these queens who so
often have to to be in like a competition thunderdome
every time they get to be on TV, having the
chance to come together as an ensemble and like poke
fun at the shows that they've all done. And it's
funny because the show has been really polarizing. It was
(32:15):
marketed where people weren't really sure if it was a
real competition show or not, and a lot of people
were angry when it came out and they realized it
was scripted. But for me, I'm like, are these queens
not allowed to tell stories about their experiences and act
And the people who get the satire of it really
(32:35):
really love it. And it was like a lot of
the queens on the show you could just tell they're
having fun and it was such like a healing opportunity
for them to just like show up every day.
Speaker 4 (32:46):
There has to be some right, Oh.
Speaker 1 (32:47):
Yeah, I mean I love all of my shows. I
always encourage the actors to improvise, Like I'm not an
uncompromising vision type of follow the script director. I like
to flu to everyone and I'm like, just like, here's
the story, here are the beats we need to hit.
This is the most important elements of the beginning, middle,
and end of the scene, and like let's play.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
Yeah, it's such a fun cast. I'm so glad yet,
like Bitch Buttons in the mix, I love Bitch Questions Great,
She's so great, She's so funny. It's just yeah, it's
really it's so funny that people got mad that they
were like, yeah, I wanted to watch I wanted to
watch girls yell at each other again.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
You know, people like what they know?
Speaker 4 (33:27):
Yeah fair, but also she's just great.
Speaker 3 (33:32):
But also like let them be mad. Great, yeah, if
you feel something about it while yeah, they.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
Are watching, they are watching.
Speaker 3 (33:39):
Yea, So john Mark, we typically get some I say,
typically we do this every show.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
We get some.
Speaker 3 (33:50):
Submissions from listeners and they send in their stories about
cancelation and we weigh on on we we weigh in
on them, like your opinion on this. So here's some
viewer mail. I'm in a bit of a dilemma. I
have this friend who I've grown really close to over
the past couple of years. In fact, she is considered
(34:12):
one of my best friends. She got married two years
ago and she had a destination wedding in southern Europe.
There was a moment before her wedding where she was
complaining that so many people were bailing, but most had
legitimate reasons like pregnancy related, etc. She would make comments
like why would they get pregnant when they know I'm
getting married, and was a bridezilla to say the least,
(34:34):
and the world had to revolve around her during this time. Anyways,
at that time, I was struggling financially and I still
made it to her wedding, spent thousands on flights and accommodation,
and additionally gave a monetary wedding gift. Fast forward two years.
I'm getting married at the end of this year. My
wedding day happens to fall in the day of her
(34:55):
husband's birthday. She messaged me to say that her husband
doesn't want want to come, and she doesn't want to
come without him. Literally said, he doesn't want to come
and it's his birthday, so I should be there for him.
I want to cut her out after this. Am I
overreacting or would you feel the same?
Speaker 1 (35:11):
No, fuck this, bitch. I hate weddings. Straight people are wild.
I also just think like we have to stop doing
like expensive bridesmaid Like we told the the economy can't
handle it. The middle class is gone. We can't afford
to be bridesmaids anymore and buy an outfit and fly
(35:34):
somewhere and Paris. Must we build this thing up and
spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for this one special day.
Make every day special. You don't have to live like this.
Speaker 3 (35:45):
What's going on?
Speaker 1 (35:46):
This is ridiculous. I mean, I feel like weddings are
such a missed opportunity. You get to do whatever you want,
you get to bring all your friends and colleagues together
and they can't cancel, and you get to do whatever
the fuck you want. Something else that pisses me off
as gay people who have traditional weddings, or just the
fact that even like our woke friends, still abide by
(36:08):
these traditions like being given away by their father, having
a ring put on us possession, all these weird traditions
that we don't question. We can't imagine what's possible on
how to do our own fun, interesting spin on it.
We're just like, well, this is what grandma did, so
I don't get it. It's a missed opportunity.
Speaker 3 (36:26):
Also, just the idea. I love the audacity of someone
being like, I can't believe you got pregnant when I'm
about to.
Speaker 4 (36:35):
Get that and you can't travel to how dare you
get pregnant when you know I have a wedding coming up?
Speaker 1 (36:42):
Is so bundy. But this person might not have a
lot of hope because, to be honest, if they're even
questioning something that is so obviously a blatant lack of integrity,
this is just ridiculous. Where's my camera at this one? Yeah,
your wedding, do something creative. You can do whatever you want.
You could do pizza at a rock venue. You could
(37:04):
rent out a movie theater and watch Spirited Away. You
could go to the park and hire twelve strippers. It
is the one day where you can get all your
friends and family out to do whatever the fuck you want.
So please be inventive. Please imagine what is possible for
your special day, and.
Speaker 4 (37:23):
Don't worry about this one bitch attending.
Speaker 3 (37:27):
Invite your friend. Invite your friend to a location that
she believes to be a wedding, and then jump her. Yeah,
jump her. Have everyone dressed up informal wear, and then
during it's gonna be a grand ceremony, and then slowly
everyone everyone in the church, they turn and they focus
(37:48):
on her, and they say, Melissa, will you come up
here please? And they call it Melissa, and she goes, wow,
all eyes are on me. I'm the center of attention
yet again. And then you start kicking the shit out
of her. You beat her, you beat her up, and
then as she lay bloodied and bruised at your feet,
you say your vows.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
Also send this Send this video to your friend friend.
You need to get a divorce. What kind of grown
man even has a birthday party? Also also your your
husband is keeping you from going to your bestie's wedding
for his grown man birthday party. What's what's he doing?
Speaker 4 (38:30):
Yeah, there's a lot wrong here.
Speaker 1 (38:32):
There's a lot to un power.
Speaker 4 (38:33):
Are you canceling your plans your future plans to have
a wedding one day?
Speaker 1 (38:38):
No, I would love to get married, but I want
to do something non traditional. Like the concept I have
in my mind right now is like renting out like
a small dusty rock venue, and like putting together a
concert for my friends. Oh I love you know, with
some like indulgent like karaoke moments.
Speaker 4 (38:59):
Okay, don't know, and it ends with like you guys,
like walking down the aisle, or like would there be
any like kind of fun tradition in there or would.
Speaker 1 (39:06):
It just be I think I'll do a small ceremony.
I don't want people. It feels I also feel like
the like performative ceremony in front of two hundred people
is something that's not.
Speaker 4 (39:16):
For me to think about.
Speaker 3 (39:19):
If I can fly off in a in a convertible
like at the end of Greece, that feels funny up
into the sky at the end of Greece, when they
fly the air Yeah, like John Travolta and Olivia Newton.
John get in the car, they say like, oh goodbye, goodbye,
and then the car just flies off into the sky
(39:39):
and everyone they wave goodbye to everyone at the car
goes into the sky, goes off from the game and
then but I could do something like that where it's
like everyone look at me, go guy. I would do that,
But otherwise the idea of having the full thing feels
a little like I.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
Want to be Do you know what I want to
do with the money that I would spend on a wedding? Yeah,
get tits.
Speaker 3 (40:06):
Huge swollen.
Speaker 1 (40:11):
I want to make a short film where my partner
and I were secret agents and I want to hire
twelve stunt men in maga hats and we'll rehearse for
a week and then we'll do this short film where
we're fighting all the men in maga hats. Is like
(40:32):
a hot mister and mister Smith couple. And then I'm
going to send it to all the guests on a
USB drive and that will be.
Speaker 4 (40:42):
In an envelope.
Speaker 1 (40:44):
Yes, and that will be the invitation to the wedding.
And then we'll spend you know, five hundred bucks on the.
Speaker 5 (40:51):
Wedding, So the most of the money will go into
some money will go to the invitation that goes in
the USB drive, the guests of the wedding, and this
and this, this fight scene is is immaculately choreographed.
Speaker 3 (41:05):
Yes, there's there's effects. It's like practical effects though, so
like you're you're breaking arms yours.
Speaker 4 (41:11):
I'm imagining like the sound explosions.
Speaker 1 (41:13):
Yeah, Oh that's so cool. That's great. That's a great idea.
Speaker 4 (41:17):
Wow, I would love to see that footage, even if
I'm not invited to the wedding. Will that be Public's actually.
Speaker 1 (41:22):
Set after so I think you keep it exclusive where
people are like what Yeah, and then after the wedding
won't make it public. They'll do a write up about
it on Queer Tea. Yeah, that'll be like, you know,
a cute acute moment.
Speaker 4 (41:36):
JFK Junior and Carolyn Bassett got married by like like
sending a letter to their friends or calling their friends
and like meet at the dock at like seven pm.
So like twelve of their friends like met at this
dock like at night, and they all got on a boat.
They didn't know where the hell they were going, and
they like got on an island, and like JFK Junior
was on this island being like we're getting married, this
is our wedding. And it was like all done under
(41:59):
like the complete night, yeah, the cover of night, and
their guests didn't know where they were going. I think
some guests were even blindfolded on.
Speaker 3 (42:06):
The boat just keep in line with like the spy theme,
put bags over their heads and then and then bring
them to a location.
Speaker 1 (42:13):
If it was that casual them. Imagine you don't realize
it's a wedding. So you're like hanging out with some
like friend from work and you're.
Speaker 3 (42:19):
Like, yeah, you can knows. And then you're at Jfkjr's wedding.
Speaker 4 (42:23):
And you're wearing like like shorts.
Speaker 3 (42:26):
Oh yeah, because it is in fact nineteen ninety five.
This is the case right. Oh my gosh, he was
so hot. Well, John Mark, thank you so much for
coming and hanging out with us and not canceling your
plan to be here. Yeah, thank you for making the
junt all the way from two two five Gay Street.
Speaker 1 (42:47):
I'm gay and I live on Gay Street with the
male lover.
Speaker 3 (42:53):
We're such big fans something.
Speaker 4 (42:55):
Thank you, John, Thanks for coming.
Speaker 1 (42:56):
Thank you for your support, and please watch Drag House
Rules on out TV because if you don't watch it,
we don't get to do it again.
Speaker 4 (43:05):
Yes, and the Kelly Mantle Show.
Speaker 1 (43:08):
And watch the Kelly Mantle Show.
Speaker 4 (43:10):
What's the best way to watch the podcast? Is it YouTube?
Speaker 1 (43:14):
That's the best way. I mean the visual.
Speaker 4 (43:16):
You get the visual.
Speaker 1 (43:17):
It's the same with you guys. You get to look
and see these.
Speaker 3 (43:19):
Hot hot people hot gas.
Speaker 4 (43:23):
Yeah, okay, so watch it on YouTube. Yeah, you don't
want to miss the like what's happening? Even though I
have listened to it on Spotify in my car and
it is nice to have voices I drive.
Speaker 1 (43:32):
That's where a lot of people listen to podcasts in
the car.
Speaker 3 (43:34):
Right.
Speaker 4 (43:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (43:35):
But then if you watch it, you get the soothing,
gorgeous purple set, which, by the way, where did everything?
It's the most soothing shade of purple. Not to say
something gay again, but where'd you find the fabric?
Speaker 1 (43:51):
The internet? Yeah? The purple set is a very polar
another polarizing in my life, the purple set of the purple.
Speaker 4 (43:58):
What are people saying about it?
Speaker 1 (44:00):
Oh, it's too purple, like.
Speaker 4 (44:02):
The candle and the thing. It's all very purple.
Speaker 1 (44:05):
It's I find it a little garish personally. I think
it's but it's it's it's meant to be. It's very
killing mental it all. Yeah works, I love it. You
guys have a purple element in your branding as well,
a little bit.
Speaker 3 (44:17):
Yeah. It's like kind of like a like a hot
pink purple Barbie pink we did. We recently did a
light rebranding we're doing.
Speaker 4 (44:23):
Yeah, you can see it's like's.
Speaker 3 (44:28):
On Canva.
Speaker 1 (44:28):
This is like a self care podcast or something. What
is this?
Speaker 4 (44:32):
It's for you to ask that at the end of
the plot. Incredible
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