Sean Ongley

Tag: Comedy

  • Can’t Stay Away with Christian Rickets

    Can’t Stay Away with Christian Rickets

    On this episode of the Not-a-Podcast Show is San Diego based comedian Christian Ricketts. He was on a roll in Portland, Oregon when I lived there and dabbled in comedy. I quit for good, but some years later he took a break. I have taken a break from music, but I had to come back to it. Comedy, not so much. For Christian, it’s in his gut. That is why he cannot stay away from it, nor myself music.

    We are the same age, haven’t started families, we are both inclined toward Buddhist thought and practice, and grapple with the idea of the ego of the artist, trying to focus on the creative process rather than the outcomes desired.

    There does come a time in which your calling is more than your desire. It can be very difficult to decipher between a clear signal to do a thing and the fantasy that ego builds up around it. Sometimes ego can build so much around it that the signal, or the creative process, is blocked. With great art, the heart and mind needs to be open to allow the process to unfold from the gut.

    This is Christian’s second appearance on the show. It was about a year ago and he was just reentering the comedy scene. Since then, he has featured numerous showcases and is back on a roll.

    Immediately following this interview, I had to take a break. I went back to visit Portland and came back needing to focus on money. I continue to question what I am truly called to do.

    Nobody rewards me for doing this show, and guests can be very annoying to deal with, especially when they turn scheduling into a game.

    However, I genuinely like people. I enjoy talking with and learning from people. I hope to demonstrate on this show what it looks like to listen to people and not be another echo chamber. It is kind of an echo chamber because my viewership is so low, not because I repeat empty ideas endlessly.

    Hopefully this show carries on, it’s something I actually enjoy doing, but nobody is banging down my door about it, and that is one measure as to the difference between ego and need. If I can’t stay away from it, then I’ll do it no matter what.

    I practice value for value in life and in digital content. Please consider offering a contribution relative to your means.

  • Ego and the Artist with Christian Ricketts

    Ego and the Artist with Christian Ricketts

    Talking with comedian and mystic of the world, Christian Ricketts.

    Blaze Trailing with Christian Ricketts

    In Portland around 2011, I looked up to Christian Ricketts. He was beloved by comedians and did well with random audiences. He knew how to run a straight comedy set to satisfy an industry room. He also knew how to surprise his own scene, his fellow comics, and give them something they wouldn’t forget.

    Like many talented and sensitive artists, he hasn’t taken well to that level of admiration. He needs to run off and discover himself outside the identity of comedian. He wants to be sure his ego cannot take control over his life, especially in the unfortunate event of critical acclaim and financial success as an entertainer.

    We have lived parallel lives, I suppose. Only he voluntarily curbed his ego, I’ve always had to let the universe kick the shit out of me.

    Nonetheless, we might be coming back to our senses and finding success in our own ways from here out. The ego work has been huge.

    That is what makes this a compelling conversation between myself and Christian Ricketts. Sometimes the trailblazer finds themselves behind the very blaze they lit.

    Enjoy our talk.

  • Self-Empowerment and Community with Nathan Brannon

    Self-Empowerment and Community with Nathan Brannon

    Video livestream with Nathan

    Yesterday, I sat down in the basement with Nathan Brannon in the yard. He won Portland’s Funniest Person contest a decade ago, subsequently debuting a comedy album to Kill Rock Stars. Today, he focuses on growing food and sharing his experience on social media.

    The conversation moved quickly from humorous to serious, digging in the weeds of communities challenged with healthy food scarcity, concepts surrounding systemic poverty and state intervention with food benefits that enable poor people to continue buying bad food.

    We agree that growing our own food and engaging with our own communities is the solution, while struggling with the problem of motivation and engagement.

    You can find Nathan at www.nathanbrannon.com.

  • In the Psych Ward with Joe Nami

    In the Psych Ward with Joe Nami

    Peering Into the Darkness with Joe Nami

    While the thousands of fans of Joe and myself waited patiently on Twitter for our long anticipated talk, the two of us were bemused with the lack of a microphone signal. But alas we got through it and still had another hour to talk, and the clamoring audience joined us.

    We start with his trip to the psych ward. We don’t linger there because I wanted to get to the root of his madness. We take all kinds of deviations into topics like JFK, the tragedy at Astro World, Dave Chappelle, Dune, and mushrooms. Of course we talk a lot about comedy.

    This was my third installment of the livestream series, setting the groundwork for a forthcoming podcast.