it's the Bel cast now with d Bel let's
get ready to listen to your favorite artists outro cat thank you for taking the time
so many damn things I want to ask you because not only is there a new book but there's so many
darn Misfits things behind you yeah the last time I had the pleasure of speaking with you I learned
about your friendship with Jerry Only how much free Jerry swag versus you bought that stuff it's
almost all free Jerry swag I think there's maybe one thing in here that I've actually bought um of
course I was buying Misfits things before I met Jerry just when I was a fan right but all this
stuff in my office is all Jerry swag he sends to me very nice man very nice man but he fulfills
that kind of thing and this is going to tie around to your book but in real life Jerry Only could not
be sweeter but then you see him on stage with the devil lock and you hear the music glenard doing so
it's like real life uh nice person but wrestling bad guy persona that kind of dual thing and it
seems like a lot of your contemporaries in the political space are kind of like that that they're
playing the villain on camera and then real life they're picking up the check every time it is
interesting about Jerry because honestly my sister was never a misfitz fan and she only met Jerry
just as Jerry coming to you know my birthday party stuff like that and then she went to a concert and
was listening to the lyrics and she was shocked but I mean I also just think that there's so much
more to a person than just one facet of the person which is what this book is about yes I'm I myself
am the same person you know on TV is I am off I'm always the same and I always say what I really
believe but the way that things have gotten now is just so obsessed with grouping each other namely
into one of two groups are you conservative are you liberal are you democrat are you Republican
and I'm neither and people they have a hard time even perceiving that right it's like if you
say one bad thing about KLA Harris that means you're MAA if you say one bad thing about Trump
that means you're a communist and really people can't even perceive that maybe it just depends
what issue that I'm talking about or what comment the person made we're all so unique as
individuals and it's independent thinking would be but we gotten to the point where people can't
even perceive it as a possibility absolutely that is one of the talking points that I was going
to focus on about your book that people can Define other people based on just one individual trait
how do you as a person who also talks about mental health learn not to take that personally it's hard
I mean it's it's hard and sometimes I can admit that I can get frustrated with it I really can
um social media is just I talk about this a lot I don't understand who some of these people are uh
who are just there's there's people who will they go they don't they go on my profile every single
day and just leave horrible things about me and it's like I don't hate anybody that much I just
don't understand like who are you you know some who are your where are your grandkids they need
to take you out to lunch like you need you need to do something right but I honestly think that
my Approach is going back to what the cover of the book is it's it's you know with I'm naked
and covered in hate mail it's supposed to be vulnerability in the face of even overwhelming
hatred and what I've started doing not all the time but sometimes is if someone say something
really nasty to me I've several times now DMD that person and said that hurt my feelings and nine
times out of 10 people will say oh I'm so sorry and it's like well yeah like how did you think
that was going to make me feel right but one time out of 10 the person continues to be a jerk like
you know even more so like oh like you deal with with it maybe you should do it's like okay cool
I'm done but I really think that it's you know we have to will be willing to show each other
that we're human because all of us has our what things we struggle with right for sure well if we
can go towards a more positive angle related to the book two books in two years now two albums in
two years is the norm you should be able to do an album a year a book as a I think my manuscript I
turned it in 15 months later it came out in your case does that mean that you work really far ahead
or are you a person that's just writing every day then the timing lucked out with Publishers being
able to accommodate two books in a short period yeah so I'm writing all the time this book was
basically almost already written before I got the book deal because I I got the idea for this
book while I was out on tour for the first book because I was meeting all these different people
and a lot of people well Everyone's an individual right and I was hearing from a lot of people some
similar frustrations and just learning that we all really have more in common overall or even people
that I do have major differences with still would come to the shows in many cases and find things
to unite around because the first book was about you know humor and conversations and and using
humor to get through difficult things and it was about human stuff it wasn't really a political
book and there's a lot of room for connection there so I was writing this book as I was on
the tour uh the second book I was writing it the you know hotel rooms in the Delta Lounge
in uh The Green Room that kind of thing and because the more I delved into this issue the
more I research I found to back up everything that I thought was true I mean I I I approached it
trying to learn more and I was like wow we really are being manipulated by the people in power over
us to be more divided than we really need to be or in some cases than we even really are wow well
said that is the exact opposite of what I usually hear in a book tour the book tour is usually uh
celebrating using that as an excuse to eat and or drink more being exhausted so therefore you have
no creativity left in you but you did the exact opposite where you went I don't care that the book
is a new thing that most people haven't seen yet I'm doing the next one so does that pretty much
sum up your whole career that when you're not working you're working yes my husband says I'm a
border he calls me a border collie he says that they're I guess border they need to be on a farm
because if they're in your if not they'll just like tear up everything in your house if they're
not working so they need to have a job that's kind of how I am I will melt down if I don't have
enough stuff to do I love to be busy um so yeah I didn't really I that's the thing is I didn't drink
on the tour because I couldn't keep up with that schedule so with you know working five days a
week on the show two days on tour I so I just was working I was like what else am I going to do
after you know in between whatever this and that so I wrote this other book and then I plan to have
a fun summer off between tour and the next book but then I got pregnant so uh no partying for this
was supposed to be like a fun party summer for I mean I'm very excited don't get me wrong I'm so
excited to be having a baby but um it I was like well I guess literally found out I was pregnant in
May I'm like oh well that's cancelled yeah so when it comes to job titles when I was a a kid back in
the olden days like a comedian was just a comedian an author was just an author in your case you know
way back when with the bar stool stuff in other words journalist but you're on camera but you're
an author but then again you probably produce the stuff and that producer credits what are you is
there an easy way to describe you at this point in time no but I've always said I'm a writer first
because that is what I did first I got my job everything that I've gotten on TV is because of
my writing I think it's the thing I'm the best at um and everything else that I do has writing
involved in it the standup comedy that I do the live shows that I do I'm writing stuff for
that I'm writing for the shows that I'm on on TV so I think that I'm a writer first I'm also
a perform right I'm a comedian too yes um I had trouble calling myself that because I quit stand
up for a little bit but then it I always go back to it I can never quit it forever um so yeah I
think it's it's I do a lot of different things but I'd say I'm a writer first and foremost and
of course mother okay yes but I didn't want to change you with all that because that's the most
timec consuming profession of them all but was the long-term goal all along when you were just a
writer to have this multifaceted career including the on camera or is it all organic and accidental
I'd say it was on purpose but also I mean I I had been doing stand up too I while I was writing
I me I started doing standup a lot right after college and then I quit for a while I've quit
twice and now I'm back um so that's been going on pretty much the whole time um but I always did
want to do TV too I wanted to do radio actually initially more because I didn't want have to spend
so much time getting my hair and makeup done which were there mayy so I'm spending a lot of time
getting my hair and makeup done but it's a lot of fun I really enjoy the platform um i' I I've
always I was a theater kid so I've always loved been like one of those weirdos that loves being
in front of people and Performing so kind of kind of does make sense for me in terms of the standup
the first time I ever noticed this what I'm about to say is was Adam Corolla where his books were
essentially them just transcribing his podcast because they realized that his Rants and his
monologues could pass for standup could also pass for books in your case is anything that you
write in the book spoken first yes I do actually quote myself in the book sometimes where it is
definitely spoken first there's also times where I'll be out to dinner and my husband will say you
need to write that down like you need to what what you just said is something you need to explore
because I don't I think I'm a little weird but I make perfect sense to myself right so I don't when
I'm saying something I don't know like is this is that interesting to me that just makes sense so um
definitely in a lot of cases things maybe not even sometimes verbatim I'll I quote myself but it
could be something that started as a conversation and then I delve into deeper with my writing and
I do write the way that I speak also I mean I'm very it's very conversational my writing so um
it's it's easy to read I think I knew that you did standup but I've never seen your standup
I've never gone down the YouTube rabbit hole how does your standup compare to what we see on
Gutfeld or other programs and in the book is it one and the same or is it more on liners uh it's
a there's it depends there's some jokes there's some storytelling so the live show where I'm going
out on tour and the it's going to be similar to the last tour where there's a slideshow element
to it where I share photos um as well but the the photos have a punchline and stuff I've also
been doing some over the past couple months I've been doing some straight up standup as well
but the the live shows are going to have the slideshow element too because I think people like
to come and see you know pictures from my phone as I'm sometimes I'll be telling a joke and then I
have like the receipts of the photo and then that gets another laugh and and stuff like that but um
it's definitely a different side of me because I'm running the show I'm not the sidekick on the show
it's definitely a different side of me um for that reason and also it's it's completely mine right
it's it's uh it's a bit I I don't want to say raunchier but there's more swearing probably maybe
a little bit more I mean and it's not as political it's not there's no jokes about politics there are
some but um it's not as political as the show that I do on a news channel right so it sounds like you
figured out a way to turn your therapy sessions into a career there's there's part of that I have
had a lot of therapy as well yes well that wasn't a dig that was more like I would never take it
that way no when okay I grew up loving standup comedy and for example I loved Rodney Dangerfield
I don't think I got any of the jokes I think I just loved the Cadence of the whole thing
but there's nothing personable I shouldn't say personable personal about Rodney Dangerfield
standup because you learn over time he was buying the jokes from other Comics um he in this joke
he's married in this joke he's never gotten laid and this joke course so it's not really him so
it's not therapeutic except that he's getting the laughs he's getting the the interaction
the live energy in your case all of your art is personal deeply personal yes I'm constantly
exposing myself in the best of ways so uh rather than having to sit on that couch and get it
all out H you get to do that publicly and get compensated for that so I that a mark of Genius
well see I am still in therapy sometimes but part of it is also because boy let me just tell
you managing your emotions with ADHD when you're pregnant and unmedicated is not easy it's been a
wild ride for not just me but my husband as well but um yeah I I just I think it's I I think that
there's so much to personal experience I really do I draw so much from personal experience
where I've I've learned things from things that I've been through I I like to be open about
that stuff because I it I found that can connect with people who I've never even met the amount of
ostomy bags I mean this is the last book I wrote about my emergency ostomy and then the reversal
that I the amount of omey bags that I've signed at my live shows I mean like clean ones right
but like people don't talk about that and then I talked about it and then people talk to me about
it and I just think that there's so much that's what's missing I think I think it's a lot harder
to scream at people if we see them as people and a lot of times if you want someone to see as a
person you got to show them that you're a person and I it's it is people don't really realize this
about me because I don't really talk about it but I do get scared I I just because I'm constantly
sharing and some i' say oversharing you might think that certainly I'm comfortable with that
because it's what I'm doing all the time but the first time I share things I am nervous about it I
mean in this book I talk about some mental health stuff that I went through that was manifesting at
work and I was terrified I'm I'm I am terrified still about that being out there you know you
don't want to a lot there's a major school of thought that says don't admit weakness ever and I
constantly admit it I I constantly admit it but um I just do it anyway I just do it anyway and it's
worked out for me so there's that also there's that also so I was also curious if any of that
tied into being a Howard Stern fan fan or an Opie and Anthony fan or that more uh personal nature
towards broadcasting if that was an influence on you early on yes absolutely it definitely was
I mean whenever when I started doing standup I I talked about this in my first book when I started
doing it was when I was really going through a rough time I was barely 22 years old my I I was
a waitress in LA and I had you know was broke my College boyfriend who ID moved was living with
out there broke up with me I was like sleeping on a yoga mat whatever my life was a disaster you
could read about my first book but I found out that doing open mics just and talking about that
stuff on stage gave me power over that stuff and I got addicted to it basically so um I really think
and there's much more that you you know many much more trauma that I talk about in a humorous light
way in this second book as well and I just really find that creating from things that you thought
at one point or even still are feeling currently could have or might destroy you is gives you
so much power over that stuff so it sounds like what they say that comedy is tragedy plus time
in your case success equals tragedy plus time yeah I guess so yeah I I I I actually write in
the dedicate uh the acknowledgements to my in my new book I say you know something along lines of
thank you to everyone I dated in my 20s because I have no idea where I'd be without the content you
provided me and these relationships were horrible I mean just horrible traumatic and it's but I got
several chapters on of some of this stuff several damn chapters well couple of quick questions and
then I let you go the first one is beginning of the chat we talked about how great The Misfits
are but who's your next in line number two or number three punk rock band so it's tough because
I think I love the Ramones so much I really was raised on the Ramones I love the Ramones I
love The Clash um and then the Misfits now it's like also Jerry's a friend but also I would
say another band that I really was into starting at a very young age which I think has made me a
very weird first crator would be I would always listen to The Cramps with my dad I really love
the cramps um I feel like that's not a common child like a childhood F but it was for me well I
mean Wednesday kind of revitalized the cramps to a lot of people underground until Wednesday you
would argue that's true actually I saw a lot of people discovering that song at least definitely
with with that yeah a follow-up question to that is what's the last concert that you went to oh
this is embarrassing so the last concert I went to was Taking Back Sunday why is that embarrassing
oh because I'm it's not embarrassing but it's I'm an emo kid at heart always you know and you're
sitting there and like you're singing it and you're just like I mean it's so dramatic and
with my one last gasping breath I'll apologize for bleeding on your shirt and you're s and you
just remember singing that when you're like 15 and it's like it was gonna be okay kid like you're
G you're gonna get over this guy who doesn't like you it's gonna be okay two of them live in my
town you regularly see one of them out all the time I was at shows I have the demo CD but it is
your right looking back at it it was very dramatic but my thing related to Taking Back Sunday was you
talk to them and they would be the funniest guys into the raunchiest stuff and then they'd come
on stage and be all poets po yeah it's I'm not ashamed of being an emo kid and I love Taking Back
Sunday but the last concert before I that I went to is blink182 I love blink182 I know every word
to every album from their very first album from tresure cat all the way through I mean take off
your pants and jacket and then like some from the new one I don't really know any of the new stuff
but I mean I'm I'm an embarrassing person to be around at these concerts but more just thinking
about my ank my 15-year-old angst was just so extreme so extreme which paid dividends and we're
talking to still to this day because of your angst exactly yeah like I'm not angsty now like who am
I kidding and then the last question this could be a a this could be a FIV minute rant or this could
be a nope don't know that I'm curious in all your broadcasting experience and your subcultures and
all that if you've ever heard of this internet phenomenon called the dabble verse I have not
what is it long story short uh Stuttering John Melendez from Howard Stern and The Tonight Show
kind of got outed as having the worst podcast uh and a political podcast he did and as a result
of that these instead of working into the whole thing and like leaning into the joke he then took
on the podcasters that then said that and then it's been a back and forth for a couple years and
there was just weekend celebration in rockchester of people like Bob Levy and shulie AAR that
gather so it's a convention and subculture of back and forth I love that though that's great
well there you go well Kat looking forward to the third book whenever that is yeah looking forward
to the standup finally seeing that the regular broadcast keep up the great work and thank you
for giving a lot of people a voice who may not have felt like they had a voice thank you thank
you so much it was great talking to you outro