Gabe Hudson interviews the writer about how he uses techniques from improv, stand-up comedy, and acting to write his humorous and vulnerable essays on Substack
This was a great interview! But full disclosure, I have some biases here. When I was on Twitter, I followed Gabe because he was one of the very best things about being on Twitter. Alex is a friend and a member of my writing group, and also the kind of writer who inspires me to push myself just a little harder. And also, Gabe asked BOTH (are true) of my questions! So yeah... BIASED.
BUT... I still think everyone who has a heart, or who wants to have a heart, and everyone who writes with heart, or who wants to write with more heart, and everyone who reads stuff because it has heart, should listen to this interview. Basically, IT'S FOR EVERYONE. You'll laugh, you'll learn, you'll feel. What's not to love? Give it a listen, people!
Omg ty so much, Michael, for all yr v. kind words (& for yr questions which gave the episode a whole other dimension) & I am thrilled to pieces that the episode resonated w you like that (I feel the same way, that it's for anyone w a heart). I also learned a ton in this interview & came away from it feeling v inspired by Alex D.
PS. I'd love to have you on pod as a guest. Would it be OK if I get yr email from Alex to send you invite?
Great podcast, Gabe. I was really intrigued by Alex's levels of honesty; the stuff he's comfortable with being honest about, the stuff he knows he's not comfortable being honest about and then the stuff he doesn't even know he is not being honest about. Lots to play with there.
Ty so much for listening, Jeffrey, & for super kind words. I loved that part too, when Alex said that abt the layers of honesty. It rang so true, for every human, but I had never heard anyone put it in exactly that way. The stuff one doesn't even know one isn't being honest abt. Whew. Alex is so funny but also so deep. My fav combo & really rare.
Thanks, Gabe. Somewhere (and I can't quite pin down where), the wonderful Jacqueline Rose asks two incredibly powerful questions: "What do we not want to know about the past? What do we not want to know about ourselves?" I am a long way from plumbing the full depths of those questions, let alone trawling up any answers, (I suspect I will return to them again and again), but I think they are relevant to the point you and Alex are making.
Gahhhh I love the standup parallel! Up way past my bedtime reading this but can’t wait to listen in the morning over coffee. Alex is the best. You, Gabe, are the best. Both are true.
Omg ty so much for listening, Alicia, & for super kind words! Also you are my hero for being up so late when I sent this out & I am beyond thrilled that you loved the parallel to stand-up comedy! When I interviewed Alex & he was dropping these insights I kept having all these lightbulb moments, like Wow. Also Alicia I wholeheartedly support Alex's comment that you are THE BEST
I was gonna start listening to this podcast but my bladder was full and my coffee cup empty and experience tells me it is not a good combination when pressing play on a substacking standup comedian so you can’t see me do this and time on the internet shifts all over the place, but right now at this moment I am typing this, it is now and now being defined as 2023-09-22 06:44:13 I am on my back deck in the dark... ok, now I’m gonna go empty one and refill the other, take a deep breath, maybe walk my dog, grab a thing of random carbs and sugar and ease into this thing....
Hope you got all this resolved, Gerard! You are clearly a person after my own heart & I make this podcast for ppl after our own heart. Also don't like to brag, but this podcast currently offers the best uncut unfiltered Dobrenko on the market!
Got both ends taken care of and walked my dog... then ... god help me ... I read a BAT after listening to the podcast ... Alex was quite engaging, uncut and unfiltered; or is it engaging and unfilteredly uncut? ... I dunno but improv and also repartee are two skills often overlooked in social media, for those of us who play characters on these here media and never break. I leave you to decide if I am a character of myself or what mask I wear if any, but it’s not about me, this is about Alex... though I am reading a book of essays where large topics like how large is the universe and whether we will all perish in a big bang, big freeze or a Big Crunch and how fast that will happen and nobody has yet asked whether the universe is large enough to contain Alex’s ego, so I don’t wish to add to that mass by injecting compliments into this mix. Better to be cautious and moderate...
But I did extend this conversation over there and books of essays (or as I publicist calls them, bathroom books) are all the rage ... maybe not, but they are a thing ... and here is my comment....
what a revealing entertaining collab! brings out the best in both of you (something not hard as it seems to be in abundance in both of your interests, introspection, humor and curiosity in general)
Alex garbles the name of his favorite Vonnegut book be curious to know what it is... if you agree with "by their friends you shall know them" the mentions of Anne Kadet, Michael Estrin, and Heather Havrilesky says it all and yeah Alex that piece you wrote about addiction was so raw but no doubt necessary and took courage also the fact you have been on strike for far longer than all those other "wannabees" haha
Oh gosh thanks so much for listening, Appleton, & for yr super kind words! And I like yr use of the word collab, which is precisely what this was. Or a duet, a song sung by 2 ppl who don't sing (tho maybe Alex sings, I should've asked him.) Anyway, Alex's fav book by Vonnegut is Slaughterhouse-Five (fwiw Alex pronounced it clearly in the recording, but I garbled it in the editing process, & taking my cue from Alex abt how "the mistake is part of story" I decided to leave the garble like that.) Cheers.
Sep 8, 2023·edited Sep 8, 2023Liked by Gabe Hudson
This was a fun conversation that left me wanting for me. Gabe moves things along effortlessly, and Alex's remarks on being true to yourself in your writing and how to bring elements of stand-up and improv to writing to create his style were very insightful. I'm not as free as Alex is in terms of letting go and putting myself out there in my writing, but it's certainly something to aspire to.
Oh gosh thanks so much for listening & for sharing, Walther! Thrilled you connected to Alex's episode like this & that it was inspiring (it was inspiring for me too).
Oh gosh thanks so much for listening, Anne, really means a lot. Sure hope you enjoy. After hearing Alex sing yr praises I instantly went & started reading yr Cafe Anne w huge delight (I LOVED that story abt the bolted down rocking chairs & how you investigated it from so many angles.)
Anyway, if you might be game, I'd love to interview for the podcast. Abt Cafe Anne & some of my fav posts on there. Would it be OK if I got yr email from Alex, to send you invite? Thanks so much for taking time to consider (pls say yes). Cheers
This was a great interview! But full disclosure, I have some biases here. When I was on Twitter, I followed Gabe because he was one of the very best things about being on Twitter. Alex is a friend and a member of my writing group, and also the kind of writer who inspires me to push myself just a little harder. And also, Gabe asked BOTH (are true) of my questions! So yeah... BIASED.
BUT... I still think everyone who has a heart, or who wants to have a heart, and everyone who writes with heart, or who wants to write with more heart, and everyone who reads stuff because it has heart, should listen to this interview. Basically, IT'S FOR EVERYONE. You'll laugh, you'll learn, you'll feel. What's not to love? Give it a listen, people!
Omg ty so much, Michael, for all yr v. kind words (& for yr questions which gave the episode a whole other dimension) & I am thrilled to pieces that the episode resonated w you like that (I feel the same way, that it's for anyone w a heart). I also learned a ton in this interview & came away from it feeling v inspired by Alex D.
PS. I'd love to have you on pod as a guest. Would it be OK if I get yr email from Alex to send you invite?
Great podcast, Gabe. I was really intrigued by Alex's levels of honesty; the stuff he's comfortable with being honest about, the stuff he knows he's not comfortable being honest about and then the stuff he doesn't even know he is not being honest about. Lots to play with there.
Ty so much for listening, Jeffrey, & for super kind words. I loved that part too, when Alex said that abt the layers of honesty. It rang so true, for every human, but I had never heard anyone put it in exactly that way. The stuff one doesn't even know one isn't being honest abt. Whew. Alex is so funny but also so deep. My fav combo & really rare.
Thanks, Gabe. Somewhere (and I can't quite pin down where), the wonderful Jacqueline Rose asks two incredibly powerful questions: "What do we not want to know about the past? What do we not want to know about ourselves?" I am a long way from plumbing the full depths of those questions, let alone trawling up any answers, (I suspect I will return to them again and again), but I think they are relevant to the point you and Alex are making.
Gahhhh I love the standup parallel! Up way past my bedtime reading this but can’t wait to listen in the morning over coffee. Alex is the best. You, Gabe, are the best. Both are true.
no alicia you are the best
Omg ty so much for listening, Alicia, & for super kind words! Also you are my hero for being up so late when I sent this out & I am beyond thrilled that you loved the parallel to stand-up comedy! When I interviewed Alex & he was dropping these insights I kept having all these lightbulb moments, like Wow. Also Alicia I wholeheartedly support Alex's comment that you are THE BEST
I was gonna start listening to this podcast but my bladder was full and my coffee cup empty and experience tells me it is not a good combination when pressing play on a substacking standup comedian so you can’t see me do this and time on the internet shifts all over the place, but right now at this moment I am typing this, it is now and now being defined as 2023-09-22 06:44:13 I am on my back deck in the dark... ok, now I’m gonna go empty one and refill the other, take a deep breath, maybe walk my dog, grab a thing of random carbs and sugar and ease into this thing....
Hope you got all this resolved, Gerard! You are clearly a person after my own heart & I make this podcast for ppl after our own heart. Also don't like to brag, but this podcast currently offers the best uncut unfiltered Dobrenko on the market!
GERARD PLEASE RESPOND AND LET US KNOW YOU ARE OK
Got both ends taken care of and walked my dog... then ... god help me ... I read a BAT after listening to the podcast ... Alex was quite engaging, uncut and unfiltered; or is it engaging and unfilteredly uncut? ... I dunno but improv and also repartee are two skills often overlooked in social media, for those of us who play characters on these here media and never break. I leave you to decide if I am a character of myself or what mask I wear if any, but it’s not about me, this is about Alex... though I am reading a book of essays where large topics like how large is the universe and whether we will all perish in a big bang, big freeze or a Big Crunch and how fast that will happen and nobody has yet asked whether the universe is large enough to contain Alex’s ego, so I don’t wish to add to that mass by injecting compliments into this mix. Better to be cautious and moderate...
But I did extend this conversation over there and books of essays (or as I publicist calls them, bathroom books) are all the rage ... maybe not, but they are a thing ... and here is my comment....
https://botharetrue.subs tack.com/p/what-if-we-didnt-need-the-answers/comment/40508738?r=uw76&utm_medium=ios
Sorta rambling and meandered all over this walk... 🤷♂️
what a revealing entertaining collab! brings out the best in both of you (something not hard as it seems to be in abundance in both of your interests, introspection, humor and curiosity in general)
Alex garbles the name of his favorite Vonnegut book be curious to know what it is... if you agree with "by their friends you shall know them" the mentions of Anne Kadet, Michael Estrin, and Heather Havrilesky says it all and yeah Alex that piece you wrote about addiction was so raw but no doubt necessary and took courage also the fact you have been on strike for far longer than all those other "wannabees" haha
Oh gosh thanks so much for listening, Appleton, & for yr super kind words! And I like yr use of the word collab, which is precisely what this was. Or a duet, a song sung by 2 ppl who don't sing (tho maybe Alex sings, I should've asked him.) Anyway, Alex's fav book by Vonnegut is Slaughterhouse-Five (fwiw Alex pronounced it clearly in the recording, but I garbled it in the editing process, & taking my cue from Alex abt how "the mistake is part of story" I decided to leave the garble like that.) Cheers.
This was a fun conversation that left me wanting for me. Gabe moves things along effortlessly, and Alex's remarks on being true to yourself in your writing and how to bring elements of stand-up and improv to writing to create his style were very insightful. I'm not as free as Alex is in terms of letting go and putting myself out there in my writing, but it's certainly something to aspire to.
Oh gosh thanks so much for listening & for sharing, Walther! Thrilled you connected to Alex's episode like this & that it was inspiring (it was inspiring for me too).
Alex is so great and I can't wait to listen the podcast. Thanks for the shoutout Alex!!!
Oh gosh thanks so much for listening, Anne, really means a lot. Sure hope you enjoy. After hearing Alex sing yr praises I instantly went & started reading yr Cafe Anne w huge delight (I LOVED that story abt the bolted down rocking chairs & how you investigated it from so many angles.)
Anyway, if you might be game, I'd love to interview for the podcast. Abt Cafe Anne & some of my fav posts on there. Would it be OK if I got yr email from Alex, to send you invite? Thanks so much for taking time to consider (pls say yes). Cheers
Oh boy yes this sounds like fun Gabe, thank you! Please email me!
How far