WEBVTT
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AM is from magical, it's incredible
and it's for magnificent. I is for
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something else. Glue. Put those
together. What does a spell? Today's
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guest is stroke survivor and comedian Mimi
Hayes. So we're talking about creativity after
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a brain injury. Am I not
that little beaker muppet that it has a
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little chef had on? Beaker,
you are a kind of beaker is,
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especially if you do this. Saker
says intro done, bigger does not say
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that. Beaker says hi. I'm
Joe and I'm Lauren and we are the
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nerow nerds. Yes, I feel
pretty good. I feel pretty good about
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that. Neuro nuds. Welcome to
the NEROW nerds. Hey, who's that
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tiny pasty stranger over there? Who
is that girl? WHO's that girl?
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It's me, it's me. Let's
go. He so co hosting with me
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today is my amazing, my sweet
Mimi Hayes, here live in studio.
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It's it's always a treat to have
like a live human being here, because
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having all these dead people around it. Oh No, no, no,
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no, that's really dark really quickly, but it's there's an energy about having
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like somebody here as opposed to just
doing this, like via skype or not.
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SKYPE squadcasts Skype, which is what
million years ago, isn't it?
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Oh, Joe, you just aged
yourself by saying skype and that zoom.
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Well, suck it, centennials,
you guys. So what when you talking
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about today? It's amazing, Mimi
Hayes, Oh, I know, we
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should be talking about creativity, post
bringergey, because you just so happened to
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be one of the most creative people
I have ever known. On top of
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that, you're doing something amazing.
You're on the verge of getting back somewhere
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where you were a year ago,
two years, I think it was three.
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Three was the pandemic man. Where
you were three years ago? You
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just so happened to be overseas doing
some amazing things at fringe. Yeah,
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what is fringe for the people that
don't know? Okay, so I learned
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this a few years ago. I
can't believe I did three years ago.
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And well, yes, actually,
but I was a theater person as a
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kid, but I didn't know about
this festival. It is the biggest.
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Were Your Theater Nerd? Oh,
totally know that. I know you were
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a hockey nerd. You nerd I
don't know your theater nerd. I was
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both. How I didn't. I
just asked my parents. I was going
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between rehearsals to hockey games. I
was a real champion. Anyway, Edinburgh
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fringe, so it is the biggest
theater festival in the world. It is
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turning seventy five years old this year, cheriatric fringe, and essentially it's like,
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I don't know, like you know
New York City and how it's like
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crazy. It's like that on steroids. During the year it's like a sleepy
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like old folkstown, which I love
that in general, but also in the
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month of August it becomes a theater
festival like nothing you've ever seen before.
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I'm talking comedy, I'm Talking Cabaret, I'm talking clowns, I'm talking pit
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shows, I'm talking drama, I'm
talking to me. It was like called
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La La la, la La la. I'm sorry, uh, it's every
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single place you walk into is a
venue. It's a Cornucopia of talent,
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copia. Love the word Cornucopia,
isn't it? Yeah, so it's like
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a Cornucopia of not even just theater, the arts, right, but like
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physical art, almost right. Yeah, yes, because there's even there's a
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friend of yours who is going to
be joining you this year. Oh,
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yeah, very attractive friend of yours. Yes, she's a Danser, she
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is, and she taps like a
motherfucker. We could leave friends, but
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no, no, but you're not
going to leave your friends behind. Your
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bringing your friend with you and they're
going to be doing the safety dance.
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Yes, by the way, if
you know that song, you should know
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that song. If you don't look
it up, there is a dance attached
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to that song. It's called the
safety dance. It's an actual dance and
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it's like you're kind of making s
is with your hands. That's it.
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That's the whole safety dance. I
think I'm gonna go to fringe Edinburgh and
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just do the safety dance for forty
minutes, for thirty straight days. Wait,
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it's thirty days. Oh, yes, it is, the entire month.
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Yeah, isn't it exhausting? Yeah, but it's in a it's a
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transformative, amazing experience. Correct,
absolutely, and it's it's it's very exciting.
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And we say this because what we
need to do is the Hashtag that
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I've started by now, which is
Hashtag. Get me me to fringe.
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So MEMI is running a campaign to
get Memi to fringe. She's doing a
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it's called she's doing a kickstarter to
help me get to fringe, and it
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is a tremendous idea because I've seen
some of the things that you did a
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fringe and it's spectacular. You know, it's for our community, which is,
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you know, I think I my
podcast is geared towards brain injury community
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or nerds out there or people who
just love idiots. Hence me. What
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you do for our community is just
beautiful. The awareness that you spread with
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your show, with actually being a
brain injury survivor, the book that you
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wrote, just spreading the word worldwide
is amazing. So if anybody out there
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wants to help support Mimi and do
so, you can by donating to her
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kickstarter. And she's a very appreciative, tiny, pasty white woman. Yes,
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that's that's how I describe you.
Mimi Hey, is tiny, appreciative,
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past white woman. Great, accurate. Yes, so, Um,
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I've done kickstarters before and so the
first time I did it was the first
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time I went to fringe and it
was great. You know, I was
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really surprised by the just amazing people
who supported me. I had people I
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didn't even know throw, you know, money at me, and all of
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that helps me go to this festival
and do basically what's impossible for someone like
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me, which is to perform for
an hour every single day for an entire
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month. And I'm not just talking
like let me just stand in one place
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and say a thing. I'm talking. I am an acrobat and I jump
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around stage and I have crazy characters
and nonsense, and I'm also in between.
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Anytime I'm not performing, I am
either going to support help somebody else
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or I'm jumping around saying hey,
everybody h you know, talking to the
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people shoving food in my face.
Yes, absolutely, but it's it's an
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extremely exhausting event for somebody like me, and so I'm actually very grateful that
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my friends are coming, because it'll
give me a nice like hey, I
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can look at you and be like
hey, I need a safe space right
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now, like or, you know, just not have to really explain myself
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and I can go and just take
a nap in public, and that is
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what I did. A lot of
Itout. Well, what's all, what's
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awesome is too, is that you're
gonna have your friend there to literally probably
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carry you. So, but to
six ft she's a tall glass of water
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and you are half a shot.
So that's how I described the hight differential,
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you know, because you're going to
be exhausted. I know. So,
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Mimi, you are a character,
you are energy. This is why
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you and I get along. Where
where it's a lot of energy, like
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it is, it is exactly how
I am here. Is it just how
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I am all the time? And
Mimi is basically the exact same. She
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isn't going to be sitting there on
a stool with a brick back own saying
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hey, you haven't notice how she's
not doing that stuff. She's actually putting
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on a tremendous show for an hour
for thirty straight days. It's going to
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be exhausting. It's going to be
a tremendous feat and Mimi has not tremendous
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feet. They're very small, but
her very small feet are gonna be performing
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a tremendous feats for herself as well
as the community. So definitely, if
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you can donate to her kickstarter and
contribute, it would be amazing. All
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the information and the links are gonna
be in the show notes. It's it's
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a great cause and again, it's
not just for an amazing person, amazing
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artist, but it's great what she's
doing for our community. So I'm I'm
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really just I'm always proud of you, Memi I really am. And one
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thing I wanted to talk about on
this show, side of the fact that
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we're trying to Hashtag get Mimi to
fringe, is talking about creativity after a
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brain injury. You are Weirdo.
We've established this several times over. You're
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a teacher for pre pre brain injury. Stranger, I didn't even know this
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person was an actual teacher. You
taught children that were taller than you,
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because she's a very small person.
Once after the brain injury're like, Oh
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yeah, this really isn't for me. So you decided to do something that
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any sane person would do. Right
when in the stand up comedy, which
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is very weird but also a very
creative thing. It's not like, Oh,
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I'm gonna do this thing that has
an outline and just fault, like
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you're kind of creating this path for
yourself. That's weird. Yeah, is
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that? Did that happen because of
the brain injury? Okay, here's here's
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the thing. Is that my mom
likes to say that I got more creative
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after my brain injury, right,
but I wasn't like creative lists, you
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know, I didn't have no creativity
or thank you to our amazing community on
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Patreon for supporting this podcast. You
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AT PATREON DOT COM. Slash the
neuro nerves. But I do think that
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I had something to say. What
was your outlet before the brain injury,
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before you said I don't want to
teach anymore, I want to do this.
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What was your outlet? Because there
had to be something, you had
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to vents this creativity somewhere. We
did Improv, IMP, so you had
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a little bit of practice. I
had, and that was before I ever
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did stand up. I did Improv
and that taught me the power in like
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putting your faith in the unknown.
And don't worry, maybe I got the
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time. I was just seeing if
it was recording. You nerd. They
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would have never have known that moment
I turned around to look at the computer.
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Spoiler alert. I was checking because
there's been a couple of times at
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law and I we've literally got off. was like it wasn't recording, so
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we had to worry. We could
read that dismagic baby and they say,
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okay, back to what I was
saying. Improv. So I found the
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beauty in like Improv is getting on
a stage with other people and you don't
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know what you're going to say until
you get on stage. And I've never
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done stand up before, but I
had always loved whose line is it anyway,
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and that was a big thing of
mine and I always done theater and
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kind of scripted things like that.
But I got into college and I was
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like, you know, this is
really cool and I learned that like you
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could be totally open and be like
I don't know what's going to happen,
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but I know that person next to
me is going to catch me and they're
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going to support the hell out of
me. So I love that and I
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made so many good friends because of
that. So that's why I did pre
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brain and then, for some reason
after the brain I was like I got
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some crazy stuff to say and I
don't need no one to catch me.
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I'm like catch myself, here we
go, and I would just talk about
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catheters and wheelchairs and because when I
think comedy, I think I think Catheter's
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and wheelchair like top of the lists. Grant had not that funny, not
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that great when I started out,
but it was. It was everybody starts
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somewhere that nobody else was talking about. You know, you you were at
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some point in time you were number
one in the world with Catheter and wheelchair
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humor. You were the standard,
you were the Eddie Murphy, you were
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the Richard Prior, you were the
George Carlin of Cather humor. I think
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that's brilliant, I really do.
You need no word. Thank you.
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It would just be like a catheter
on a wall. I don't even know
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if it'll be framed. I think
it would just be like stuck up there
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with tape. Oh my God.
So you did stand it, which is
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just bizarre. I still don't understand
the processing on how that happened. Have
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you done a lot of Improv after
yeah, so that was really like the
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love that I wanted to keep doing
it. And the thing is after college
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everyone grows up and moves away.
So you have to like find a team,
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right, or take a class.
You have to find more Robin Not
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Robin Hoods, damn it. You
have to find Jesus. You have to
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find more Peter Pants people who just
not that their children but they just haven't
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grown out of that. You know, yes, and you find that.
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And so I actually did seek out
an Improv class in New York City.
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Upright citizens. I Love The upright
citizens reate. UH, amy polar yeah,
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exactly, yes, amy polar.
Oh, we should get to hurt.
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Can you put a pin in that, can you? Can you think
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about Amy Poehler in about fifteen minutes? I think about Amy Poehler all of
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the time. When I mentioned Mimi
Hayes, immediately in the back of my
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mind I'm like, God, I
love Amy Poeler. You know, I
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wake up in the morning and I'm
like hey, police, God, I
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love Amy Poehler. That's just it's
it's a constant. We got that,
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okay, but I do have an
I do have. We have to talk
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about her later. So I do
you ever wish that she married somebody with
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the last name bear so she could
be amy polar bear? I've never thought
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about that before. You're welcome.
Sorry. So I took a UCB class
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in New York City the summer before
I became a high school teacher and I
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was like, I have a job, I have like a thing in Colorado,
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I have like a life that I'm
going to start because I'm not brain
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injured and I'm not whatever. This
is my past, but let me just
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let me you know. I don't
know why, I just needed to just
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try. Let me dip a toe. And I got back from New York
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and my mom was like how was
it? I was like, Oh my
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God, it was so fun,
and she's like well, and I was
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like yeah, no, I could
never live there, never live there.
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It's crazy like me to in comedy
and I don't have a brain injury,
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not at all. And then I
lived there for a while after. You
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had a brain injury. Me,
me, you Weirdo. It's not like
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you were just straight brained and you're
like I think I'm gonna make this giant
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leap in culture from Colorado to New
York. You had a brain injury,
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you continue to try to teach and
then you're like Nah, this isn't for
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me. Are you finding it hard
to recover at home after stroke? Find
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00:15:20.039 --> 00:15:24.200
out if Modus Nova can help you
by taking their free online assessment at Modus
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00:15:24.200 --> 00:15:28.159
Nova dot com. Slash the neuro
nerds. If you haven't heard of Modus
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00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:31.840
Nova, they make devices to help
folks with a brain injury like stroke regain
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00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:35.240
the use of their affected limbs.
For example, the modus hand is an
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00:15:35.320 --> 00:15:39.720
AI powered robotic exoskeleton that helps users
do exercises and play games. Similar to
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00:15:39.759 --> 00:15:45.000
the way an occupational or a physical
therapist might manipulate the limb. It helps
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00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:48.360
survivors get into thousands of repetitions they
need to form new neural pathways. It
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00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:54.000
can assist with hand movements or resist
them to provide a personalized exercise experience.
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00:15:54.440 --> 00:15:56.679
If this sounds like something you want
to try, visit Modus Nova Dot com
219
00:15:56.759 --> 00:16:00.759
slash the neuro nerds to learn more. Do Special Code the neural nerds when
220
00:16:00.759 --> 00:16:04.080
you sign up and get a month
three with the thirty day challenge. Just
221
00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:10.320
visit motus Nova Dot com slash the
neural nerds to get started. Let me
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00:16:10.360 --> 00:16:14.320
do something that kind of is along
the lines of Mimi two point. Oh
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00:16:14.519 --> 00:16:18.159
left Colorado for New York. With
a brain injury, you moved to the
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loudest city ever. But let me
tell you why? Because you're an insane
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person. Well, yes, but
also New York is a very creative place,
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very it's the Mecca, and I
knew that, even though that place
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scared me. I really wanted to
follow the fear. That's what we say.
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Did improv followed the fear. So
I wanted to follow that and I
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wanted to see what would happen if
I just indulged in that like fantasy,
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like could I be a comedian?
Could I do it in a big,
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crazy city like New York City?
I did, you did. I did
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it. Let me ask you a
question. Without the brain injury, would
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that have ever been on your radar? No, Oh, I think I
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would have just been a teacher.
I would have just I would just stayed
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in the status quo because I was
shaken from teaching against my will. I
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wanted to be a teacher for my
whole life. And then I did that
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and five days in my head exploded. Trying to tell me stop that and
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I could not listen, even though
it tried. My Body tried to tell
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me I didn't want to listen.
But eventually I found that because I had
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had this experience, I was more
creative than I was before. I had
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new interests, I had new friends, I had new things to say.
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If I couldn't do in the classroom, I had to do it on a
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stage and as far as I was
concerned, Denver wasn't going to be the
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the top a fountain for me.
I was like, if you're gonna be
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real about it, if you're gonna
get real, do it before you're it's
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too late, you know. And
I knew about mortality, you know.
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I was like, I could die
and I can't close. Don't want to
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keep on teaching these dumb ass kids. No, no, not dumb,
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they were just challenging. Okay,
challenging a K dumb ass kids. Sorry,
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dumb ask kids, you're dumbass adults
now and that's cool. No,
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no, just don't just stop.
Okay, but I think, I think
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a lot of people get to this
place where they when they start to pursue
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a creative life. Whether or not
you have a brain injury, right,
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but like you start to see things
that you can't unsee. I can't unsee
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how good it makes me feel to
be on a stage and make people laugh.
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And I'm like, well, I
felt that before a little bit in
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the classroom. You know why?
Because you're performing, because you're on a
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stage, and when you make a
laugh, when you like make a laugh,
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when you make a joke, she
was, she wasn't an English teacher.
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Oh, I would history teacher.
When you make a joke and your
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kids even like smile at you,
you get me. I get like a
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hit of like just wow, it's
great. And it's because I've always been
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a performer, I've always been creative. It's just that the brain injury made
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me more so. And now I
had this crazy story that when I would
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literally tell people just point blank,
my head exploded on a blind date and
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I thought that was funny, and
then I did sing and they're like excuse
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me, like they have to stop
and check and make sure that I'm not
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messing with that. And and the
power in that story, the way that
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people started talking to me and engaging
with me when I told that story,
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versus yeah, I'm a high school
teacher and I'm in Denver and I've always
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want people don't care about that.
I didn't even care about that at that
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point. You said it right now. I fell asleep twice, but I
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think that through my experience, I
just had all these things to say and
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I also didn't know what to do
with it. Like I was like I'm
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just gonna I needed to put it
somewhere, and that was also where I
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was writing and I was writing this
book and I was like, I don't
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even know who this before, I
don't know what I'm doing, but I
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need to put this experience somewhere because
it's trapped in my body and it's making
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me physically like uncomfortable. So if
you feel that way, you should probably
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do something about it. Yeah,
have a stroke and that. No,
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no, no, no, no, no, no, where. where.
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where? where? We don't want
to do that. I love that
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you had outlets and I love that
you're just it's growing. Oh Am I
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boring you? Mimi Hayes, are
we looking at our watch, because you're
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like, when is this going to
be over us on time, Joe,
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because I used to be a teacher
and you have to be timely. Hello,
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I was a shitty student. Obviously
I'm here to mess with you,
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so I know. I love how
you had this thing in you. You
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had to get it out right.
You got out, an Improv a little
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bit, you jumped on stage,
you got it out. You wrote an
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amazing book to get it out.
Now you've even expanded on that. You're
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doing a one woman show. Not
just that, you're traveling the earth,
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the Earth, the F at the
Earth. You travel on the earth sharing
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this show and you're gonna be doing
it for an hour a day for thirty
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straight days at fringe. That's why
we're trying to Hashtag and get me me
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00:21:10.119 --> 00:21:12.319
to fringe with your kickstarter. Donate
please if you can. If not,
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share it with all your friends,
family and coworkers, which I just think
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is beautiful. I just I love
it so much because I think we all
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kind of have that thing and I
think anybody out here listening to this you
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have that thing in you. We
kind of some of us go our entire
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lives and not know what that thing
is. There's like a bit of an
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emptiness, there's a bit of a
hurts almost, you know, like a
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sadness of like, I don't really
have that thing, like you work your
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nine to five and I well,
I've worked at this office for fifty years
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and I got my gold watch and
I'm going to retire. But like they're
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miserable, there's not happy. I'm
so happy you found something that made you
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happy, that brought you that joy, because I think we all need that
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outlet, whatever that is. This
has turned into my outlet. I didn't
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know I needed this. You know, I was asked for years for several
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of my would be like, oh, should a podcast a good I'm like,
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do whatever you mean. I I
didn't know. I didn't have the
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confidence in me and I didn't have
that thing before the brain, the brain
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injury. I just followed whatever.
Oh No, I'm supposed to be doing
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this and I should be doing this
and I'm not a creative so I don't
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think I can do that. It
shook this thing that I had in me
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and now I get it out by
being an idiot on my podcast weekly,
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which is cool, but it's it's
like, I think it's that sense of
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purpose behind that, because you and
I can both agree when you do the
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thing, when you do the thing, when you make the podcast, when
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you do the show, even if
one person comes up to you or message
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you and says that meant a lot
to me. I've never had someone say
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what I felt. It makes me
break every time. Oh my goodness.
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And can I just say last time
I did fringe I had several brain injury
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survivors and actually, probably some of
that was due to you, because you
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are a crazy person who knows everybody
in the world that has ever had anything
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happened to their head. Are you
a stroke or brain injury survivor looking for
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00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:08.079
a community and support? Well,
the neural nerds are here to help.
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00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:12.960
Join our Hashtag you so rock facebook
group at FACEBOOK DOT COM. Slash groups,
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00:23:14.079 --> 00:23:17.240
slash and you so rock to connect
with other survivors like you. Plus,
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read other inspirational brain injury survivor stories
on Joe's blog at Joe so rocks
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dot com. Slash you so rock
and submit your stories there as well.
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We want to hear them and remember
they actually this. This is my brain
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injury too. They had messaged me
and I had forgotten about it and they
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said they were coming to my show. I forgot, but they came to
335
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my show. They were a brain
injury survivor and one of them picked up
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another one of their brain injury survivor. Friends drove to Edinburgh from like Glasgow
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or something. They were in the
UK. They they made it was an
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event. Coming to my show was
an event and we like took this photo
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together and it was so beautiful and
I was crying and I was like wait,
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you what in the court they're like
we've been talking for weeks and I'm
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like Oh, I was so not
with it, but it was so special
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because it was like, you know, those conversations that you can have by
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being vulnerable and getting it out,
whatever medium that is. We know a
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lots of different kinds of artists in
this community, people who do painting and
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crafts and, you know, podcasts
and featerer and it's all kinds of fun
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stuff, but you have to be
like vulnerable enough to like put it out
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there and then once you do,
you're just met with like all this purpose
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and all of this vibes of other
people being like I've never had anyone say
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that before. Then I related to
that what you said. That's what it
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is. I I talked to a
lot of people. I talked to a
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lot of it's insane to me,
like it's it's I tell people if you
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look at my d mg, be
like God damn, your face would melt
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like at the end of Raiders of
the lost Ark, like the Ark of
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the Covenant opened up, like Oh, it's crazy, but so many people
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need this outlets and they depend on
you, and I this is why I'm
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so adamant. It's like, look, we have to kind of let this
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artist free because, just like so
many other things in the community, it's
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not just for us. Yes,
it's for you. I always say,
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look, it's for you. It
has to be. You have to make
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yourself the priority. You have to
be the one. You're doing these things
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because it makes you feel a certain
way. You're sharing this story because you
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have to get this out to the
people right you have to get it out
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of you and out into the ether. There are so many people that need
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that because they need to know that
they're not alone. They need to know
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that somebody that has something that they're
going through did this thing. You know,
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we're speaking for those who can't speak
for themselves, and that's why I
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share as much as I do on
the podcast and try to get as many
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different kind of I don't know,
thoughts and and and people and and stories
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out there because people need to hear
it, and I'm so thankful that you
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are doing it on so many different
levels. Me, me, you do
371
00:25:56.440 --> 00:26:00.359
it on stage when you're doing stand
up, because you're talking about catheters and
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wheelchairs. By the way, that's
exclusively what you talk about. You're you're
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you're doing your one woman show worldwide. You've written an incredible book. So,
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like you're just sharing this and it
just makes me so happy as your
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friend, obviously, because I love
everything that you do, but as just
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a pillar in this community, because
that's what you are. I'm so thankful
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that you do that because I know
the impact that it has on so many
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people. I'm so thankful for that
and that's why we need to Hashtag get
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Mebi to fringe. That's what we
need to do. We need to really
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like get this time and it's not
like, you know, we're gonna put
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you in a suitcase, we're just
gonna like get your out there. It's
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not. Fringe is its own weird
thing. It's indescribable what it is.
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It's it's a crazy, amazing event
and I'm so I'm so like, I
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don't even want to say surprise,
because I'm never surprised that anything to you
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do, because you're just amazing.
I'm just surprised anyone can get through fringe.
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00:27:02.319 --> 00:27:08.839
It seems like a fever dream.
Yeah, there, yeah, I
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would say stimulation wise. How does
that work out for you? I hate
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it. Let me just tell you
without my actually, oh no, I
389
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need to buy, I need to
get a new pair, oh my God,
390
00:27:25.279 --> 00:27:33.000
my headphones. I have always canceling
headphones. That saved my life.
391
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I need to wear those what I'm
out and moving about in the town,
392
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because it's very overstimulating to be in
a crazy, hectic town where everywhere you
393
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go there's a show and there's people, people, people, not just people.
394
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People are on, people are on
and so like. That definitely saved
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me. I had like a really
like chill like playlist. I had that
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now I can't find for the life
of me, obviously, but it was
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just like relaxing and I would play
it. That was how I got through,
398
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because a lot of the times I
couldn't just go home. I had
399
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to work for I was working for
somebody else the first time I did it,
400
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so I was like working and running
somebody else's show and then putting on
401
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mine and then like, Oh,
I gotta Feed Myself And oh, I
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00:28:15.119 --> 00:28:18.880
have to like Flyer and I have
to give people flyers and Oh, I
403
00:28:18.920 --> 00:28:22.799
want to go, I want to
do things. This isn't a vacation.
404
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That's one single day when I just
described, and you get home and you
405
00:28:26.759 --> 00:28:30.920
just start crying and then you wake
up and you're like I have to do
406
00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:34.240
that again. Oh my God,
you're painting the most beautiful picture of this
407
00:28:34.319 --> 00:28:37.160
experience, but this is the reality. So the thing is some people would
408
00:28:37.160 --> 00:28:40.680
be like, well, why am
I going to contribute this kick starry to
409
00:28:40.720 --> 00:28:45.759
get this chick to Scotland? Scotland, Ireland, Scotland, one of those
410
00:28:45.759 --> 00:28:49.440
where they drink a lot, where
they had hags. You know, it's
411
00:28:49.519 --> 00:28:53.960
it's not that this is not a
glorious vacation. This isn't this is an
412
00:28:53.960 --> 00:28:59.079
event. You're gonna be doing more
work in those thirty days. You'RE gonna
413
00:28:59.119 --> 00:29:02.799
be working harder then you have from
here until then. I'm gonna tell you're
414
00:29:02.799 --> 00:29:07.680
probably working harder then you have this
entire year. Well, that hurts my
415
00:29:07.759 --> 00:29:11.519
feelings, but you're right. I
know you've been slack him and and and
416
00:29:12.119 --> 00:29:17.079
it's okay. I mean you know
and we're gonna get you to Scotland.
417
00:29:17.599 --> 00:29:22.720
Yes, yeah, do you want
to know who's in Scotland? Jamie's that
418
00:29:22.759 --> 00:29:26.640
Hell's Jamie Fraser, my husband.
I don't know who that is. Is
419
00:29:26.680 --> 00:29:32.240
he the colonel? I hate him
and as we beat eyes and SMUG.
420
00:29:32.279 --> 00:29:37.319
Look, Oh, you buy my
chicken. Oh, favorite. I hope
421
00:29:37.319 --> 00:29:41.039
you guys got that reference. I
know Jamie Kennedy is definitely not that guy,
422
00:29:41.160 --> 00:29:45.480
but we are going to Hashtag get
me me to fringe. I was
423
00:29:45.480 --> 00:29:51.920
gonna say maybe Edinburgh. That doesn't
roll off the tongue as great we we
424
00:29:51.960 --> 00:29:53.839
are. We're gonna get me new
friends and I'm just so thankful for everything
425
00:29:53.839 --> 00:30:00.200
that you do. We we were
doing the socials. Yes, you can
426
00:30:00.240 --> 00:30:03.079
reach out to Mimi at Mimi and
the brain. Oh, I hardly checked
427
00:30:03.119 --> 00:30:07.880
that one, dear. No,
we're going to Mimi Hayes brain. That's
428
00:30:07.920 --> 00:30:11.440
what it is. You know,
you can attempt to reach out to my
429
00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:14.319
tiny as kicking co host, Lauren, at Lauren almonds on instagram. You
430
00:30:14.319 --> 00:30:15.480
can reach out to me at Joseph
Rox and all the socials. You can
431
00:30:15.480 --> 00:30:22.319
reach out to us at the neurrow
nerds everywhere. All right, that's good
432
00:30:22.440 --> 00:30:34.480
enough. For me. Dad.
How could you hate the colonel because he
433
00:30:34.519 --> 00:30:40.240
puts in a puts an addictive chemical
and chicken mixture. Cray for nightly smarts.
434
00:30:41.599 --> 00:30:47.480
So I married an axe murderer.
Episode has done Youtube, the trailer.
435
00:30:47.799 --> 00:30:51.079
Go outside. There's no more blockbusters, so just by the movie.
436
00:30:51.279 --> 00:30:53.119
I think it might be on Netflix. On one of those. It's a
437
00:30:53.240 --> 00:31:00.960
musty. Please also Hashtag get me
to Edinburgh. That's what we're doing.
438
00:31:00.400 --> 00:31:03.720
That's what we're doing here. It's
gonna Happen. I'm so thankful to me.
439
00:31:03.000 --> 00:31:08.480
I love you. You're absolutely incredible
and I'm that amazing Mike Myers impression
440
00:31:08.839 --> 00:31:18.640
from so I marinax murderer. This
neural nerd is out. It's Edinburgh.
441
00:31:18.720 --> 00:31:37.880
That's Spain. Put Up. I
don't know. NEURRO nerds. If you
442
00:31:37.960 --> 00:31:41.640
enjoy listening to this podcast, please
consider leaving us a five star review on
443
00:31:41.720 --> 00:31:45.839
the apple podcast APP. Your reviews
help us grow and reach more listeners like
444
00:31:45.960 --> 00:31:51.960
you. Find us by searching for
the neural nerds on the apple podcast APP today.
1
00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:06.000
AM is from magical, it's incredible
and it's for magnificent. I is for
2
00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:13.839
something else. Glue. Put those
together. What does a spell? Today's
3
00:00:13.880 --> 00:00:17.719
guest is stroke survivor and comedian Mimi
Hayes. So we're talking about creativity after
4
00:00:17.719 --> 00:00:21.000
a brain injury. Am I not
that little beaker muppet that it has a
5
00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:23.920
little chef had on? Beaker,
you are a kind of beaker is,
6
00:00:24.079 --> 00:00:29.800
especially if you do this. Saker
says intro done, bigger does not say
7
00:00:29.839 --> 00:00:36.359
that. Beaker says hi. I'm
Joe and I'm Lauren and we are the
8
00:00:36.479 --> 00:00:42.200
nerow nerds. Yes, I feel
pretty good. I feel pretty good about
9
00:00:42.200 --> 00:00:56.840
that. Neuro nuds. Welcome to
the NEROW nerds. Hey, who's that
10
00:00:56.920 --> 00:01:00.880
tiny pasty stranger over there? Who
is that girl? WHO's that girl?
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00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:08.000
It's me, it's me. Let's
go. He so co hosting with me
12
00:01:08.040 --> 00:01:15.079
today is my amazing, my sweet
Mimi Hayes, here live in studio.
13
00:01:15.640 --> 00:01:18.680
It's it's always a treat to have
like a live human being here, because
14
00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:19.879
having all these dead people around it. Oh No, no, no,
15
00:01:19.879 --> 00:01:26.879
no, that's really dark really quickly, but it's there's an energy about having
16
00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:30.799
like somebody here as opposed to just
doing this, like via skype or not.
17
00:01:30.920 --> 00:01:36.560
SKYPE squadcasts Skype, which is what
million years ago, isn't it?
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00:01:36.920 --> 00:01:40.319
Oh, Joe, you just aged
yourself by saying skype and that zoom.
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00:01:40.799 --> 00:01:47.359
Well, suck it, centennials,
you guys. So what when you talking
20
00:01:47.359 --> 00:01:49.280
about today? It's amazing, Mimi
Hayes, Oh, I know, we
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00:01:49.319 --> 00:01:53.959
should be talking about creativity, post
bringergey, because you just so happened to
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be one of the most creative people
I have ever known. On top of
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00:01:57.319 --> 00:02:04.879
that, you're doing something amazing.
You're on the verge of getting back somewhere
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00:02:04.879 --> 00:02:07.319
where you were a year ago,
two years, I think it was three.
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00:02:07.560 --> 00:02:12.080
Three was the pandemic man. Where
you were three years ago? You
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00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:17.479
just so happened to be overseas doing
some amazing things at fringe. Yeah,
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00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:22.759
what is fringe for the people that
don't know? Okay, so I learned
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00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:24.479
this a few years ago. I
can't believe I did three years ago.
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00:02:24.759 --> 00:02:29.360
And well, yes, actually,
but I was a theater person as a
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00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:30.919
kid, but I didn't know about
this festival. It is the biggest.
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Were Your Theater Nerd? Oh,
totally know that. I know you were
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00:02:36.280 --> 00:02:38.840
a hockey nerd. You nerd I
don't know your theater nerd. I was
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00:02:38.919 --> 00:02:43.280
both. How I didn't. I
just asked my parents. I was going
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00:02:43.360 --> 00:02:50.039
between rehearsals to hockey games. I
was a real champion. Anyway, Edinburgh
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fringe, so it is the biggest
theater festival in the world. It is
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00:02:53.719 --> 00:03:01.919
turning seventy five years old this year, cheriatric fringe, and essentially it's like,
37
00:03:02.599 --> 00:03:06.120
I don't know, like you know
New York City and how it's like
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00:03:06.199 --> 00:03:13.080
crazy. It's like that on steroids. During the year it's like a sleepy
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00:03:13.240 --> 00:03:17.719
like old folkstown, which I love
that in general, but also in the
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month of August it becomes a theater
festival like nothing you've ever seen before.
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00:03:25.240 --> 00:03:30.919
I'm talking comedy, I'm Talking Cabaret, I'm talking clowns, I'm talking pit
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00:03:31.039 --> 00:03:35.000
shows, I'm talking drama, I'm
talking to me. It was like called
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00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:39.680
La La la, la La la. I'm sorry, uh, it's every
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single place you walk into is a
venue. It's a Cornucopia of talent,
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00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:49.520
copia. Love the word Cornucopia,
isn't it? Yeah, so it's like
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a Cornucopia of not even just theater, the arts, right, but like
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physical art, almost right. Yeah, yes, because there's even there's a
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friend of yours who is going to
be joining you this year. Oh,
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yeah, very attractive friend of yours. Yes, she's a Danser, she
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00:04:04.840 --> 00:04:11.039
is, and she taps like a
motherfucker. We could leave friends, but
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00:04:11.120 --> 00:04:12.960
no, no, but you're not
going to leave your friends behind. Your
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00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:16.600
bringing your friend with you and they're
going to be doing the safety dance.
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Yes, by the way, if
you know that song, you should know
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00:04:21.800 --> 00:04:26.480
that song. If you don't look
it up, there is a dance attached
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00:04:26.839 --> 00:04:30.160
to that song. It's called the
safety dance. It's an actual dance and
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00:04:30.240 --> 00:04:33.720
it's like you're kind of making s
is with your hands. That's it.
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00:04:33.800 --> 00:04:39.160
That's the whole safety dance. I
think I'm gonna go to fringe Edinburgh and
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00:04:39.240 --> 00:04:43.439
just do the safety dance for forty
minutes, for thirty straight days. Wait,
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00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:46.120
it's thirty days. Oh, yes, it is, the entire month.
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00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:50.160
Yeah, isn't it exhausting? Yeah, but it's in a it's a
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transformative, amazing experience. Correct,
absolutely, and it's it's it's very exciting.
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00:04:56.519 --> 00:05:00.000
And we say this because what we
need to do is the Hashtag that
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I've started by now, which is
Hashtag. Get me me to fringe.
64
00:05:04.959 --> 00:05:10.160
So MEMI is running a campaign to
get Memi to fringe. She's doing a
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00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:15.399
it's called she's doing a kickstarter to
help me get to fringe, and it
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00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:18.519
is a tremendous idea because I've seen
some of the things that you did a
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00:05:18.600 --> 00:05:23.279
fringe and it's spectacular. You know, it's for our community, which is,
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00:05:23.319 --> 00:05:26.399
you know, I think I my
podcast is geared towards brain injury community
69
00:05:26.519 --> 00:05:32.519
or nerds out there or people who
just love idiots. Hence me. What
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00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:36.439
you do for our community is just
beautiful. The awareness that you spread with
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00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:41.720
your show, with actually being a
brain injury survivor, the book that you
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00:05:41.800 --> 00:05:46.560
wrote, just spreading the word worldwide
is amazing. So if anybody out there
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00:05:46.600 --> 00:05:49.360
wants to help support Mimi and do
so, you can by donating to her
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00:05:49.439 --> 00:05:55.319
kickstarter. And she's a very appreciative, tiny, pasty white woman. Yes,
75
00:05:55.519 --> 00:05:58.839
that's that's how I describe you.
Mimi Hey, is tiny, appreciative,
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00:05:58.839 --> 00:06:04.040
past white woman. Great, accurate. Yes, so, Um,
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00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:08.800
I've done kickstarters before and so the
first time I did it was the first
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00:06:08.839 --> 00:06:12.439
time I went to fringe and it
was great. You know, I was
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00:06:12.519 --> 00:06:16.240
really surprised by the just amazing people
who supported me. I had people I
80
00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:20.040
didn't even know throw, you know, money at me, and all of
81
00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:27.000
that helps me go to this festival
and do basically what's impossible for someone like
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00:06:27.120 --> 00:06:30.480
me, which is to perform for
an hour every single day for an entire
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00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:35.600
month. And I'm not just talking
like let me just stand in one place
84
00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:40.800
and say a thing. I'm talking. I am an acrobat and I jump
85
00:06:40.839 --> 00:06:46.199
around stage and I have crazy characters
and nonsense, and I'm also in between.
86
00:06:46.279 --> 00:06:50.600
Anytime I'm not performing, I am
either going to support help somebody else
87
00:06:51.120 --> 00:06:56.040
or I'm jumping around saying hey,
everybody h you know, talking to the
88
00:06:56.079 --> 00:07:00.360
people shoving food in my face.
Yes, absolutely, but it's it's an
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00:07:00.360 --> 00:07:03.920
extremely exhausting event for somebody like me, and so I'm actually very grateful that
90
00:07:03.959 --> 00:07:08.319
my friends are coming, because it'll
give me a nice like hey, I
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00:07:08.360 --> 00:07:10.839
can look at you and be like
hey, I need a safe space right
92
00:07:10.839 --> 00:07:14.800
now, like or, you know, just not have to really explain myself
93
00:07:14.839 --> 00:07:17.480
and I can go and just take
a nap in public, and that is
94
00:07:17.560 --> 00:07:20.160
what I did. A lot of
Itout. Well, what's all, what's
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00:07:20.160 --> 00:07:23.920
awesome is too, is that you're
gonna have your friend there to literally probably
96
00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:32.480
carry you. So, but to
six ft she's a tall glass of water
97
00:07:32.600 --> 00:07:36.560
and you are half a shot.
So that's how I described the hight differential,
98
00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:40.360
you know, because you're going to
be exhausted. I know. So,
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00:07:40.680 --> 00:07:45.319
Mimi, you are a character,
you are energy. This is why
100
00:07:45.319 --> 00:07:47.519
you and I get along. Where
where it's a lot of energy, like
101
00:07:47.560 --> 00:07:51.160
it is, it is exactly how
I am here. Is it just how
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00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:56.240
I am all the time? And
Mimi is basically the exact same. She
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00:07:56.560 --> 00:08:00.560
isn't going to be sitting there on
a stool with a brick back own saying
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00:08:00.680 --> 00:08:03.199
hey, you haven't notice how she's
not doing that stuff. She's actually putting
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00:08:03.240 --> 00:08:07.439
on a tremendous show for an hour
for thirty straight days. It's going to
106
00:08:07.480 --> 00:08:13.319
be exhausting. It's going to be
a tremendous feat and Mimi has not tremendous
107
00:08:13.319 --> 00:08:18.199
feet. They're very small, but
her very small feet are gonna be performing
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00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:22.360
a tremendous feats for herself as well
as the community. So definitely, if
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00:08:22.399 --> 00:08:26.560
you can donate to her kickstarter and
contribute, it would be amazing. All
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00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:28.439
the information and the links are gonna
be in the show notes. It's it's
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00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:31.399
a great cause and again, it's
not just for an amazing person, amazing
112
00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:35.799
artist, but it's great what she's
doing for our community. So I'm I'm
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00:08:35.799 --> 00:08:39.080
really just I'm always proud of you, Memi I really am. And one
114
00:08:39.080 --> 00:08:41.840
thing I wanted to talk about on
this show, side of the fact that
115
00:08:41.879 --> 00:08:46.519
we're trying to Hashtag get Mimi to
fringe, is talking about creativity after a
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00:08:46.600 --> 00:08:54.279
brain injury. You are Weirdo.
We've established this several times over. You're
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00:08:54.279 --> 00:08:58.559
a teacher for pre pre brain injury. Stranger, I didn't even know this
118
00:08:58.600 --> 00:09:01.519
person was an actual teacher. You
taught children that were taller than you,
119
00:09:03.559 --> 00:09:07.480
because she's a very small person.
Once after the brain injury're like, Oh
120
00:09:07.559 --> 00:09:11.840
yeah, this really isn't for me. So you decided to do something that
121
00:09:11.919 --> 00:09:16.360
any sane person would do. Right
when in the stand up comedy, which
122
00:09:16.480 --> 00:09:20.679
is very weird but also a very
creative thing. It's not like, Oh,
123
00:09:20.799 --> 00:09:24.279
I'm gonna do this thing that has
an outline and just fault, like
124
00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:33.279
you're kind of creating this path for
yourself. That's weird. Yeah, is
125
00:09:33.320 --> 00:09:39.000
that? Did that happen because of
the brain injury? Okay, here's here's
126
00:09:39.039 --> 00:09:43.639
the thing. Is that my mom
likes to say that I got more creative
127
00:09:43.799 --> 00:09:48.879
after my brain injury, right,
but I wasn't like creative lists, you
128
00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:52.960
know, I didn't have no creativity
or thank you to our amazing community on
129
00:09:52.039 --> 00:09:56.399
Patreon for supporting this podcast. You
can support us to and get different Kirk
130
00:09:56.519 --> 00:10:01.120
and gifts depending on which neuro Jedi
tire sign up. For example, if
131
00:10:01.159 --> 00:10:05.840
you're on our neuro Patawan five dollars
here, then you're probably listening to this
132
00:10:05.879 --> 00:10:09.960
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133
00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:13.440
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134
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135
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AT PATREON DOT COM. Slash the
neuro nerves. But I do think that
136
00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:26.559
I had something to say. What
was your outlet before the brain injury,
137
00:10:26.559 --> 00:10:28.559
before you said I don't want to
teach anymore, I want to do this.
138
00:10:28.919 --> 00:10:31.919
What was your outlet? Because there
had to be something, you had
139
00:10:31.960 --> 00:10:35.879
to vents this creativity somewhere. We
did Improv, IMP, so you had
140
00:10:35.879 --> 00:10:37.240
a little bit of practice. I
had, and that was before I ever
141
00:10:37.279 --> 00:10:41.720
did stand up. I did Improv
and that taught me the power in like
142
00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:48.000
putting your faith in the unknown.
And don't worry, maybe I got the
143
00:10:48.120 --> 00:10:50.120
time. I was just seeing if
it was recording. You nerd. They
144
00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:54.120
would have never have known that moment
I turned around to look at the computer.
145
00:10:56.200 --> 00:10:58.759
Spoiler alert. I was checking because
there's been a couple of times at
146
00:10:58.799 --> 00:11:05.240
law and I we've literally got off. was like it wasn't recording, so
147
00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:09.480
we had to worry. We could
read that dismagic baby and they say,
148
00:11:09.519 --> 00:11:15.399
okay, back to what I was
saying. Improv. So I found the
149
00:11:15.480 --> 00:11:18.799
beauty in like Improv is getting on
a stage with other people and you don't
150
00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:22.919
know what you're going to say until
you get on stage. And I've never
151
00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:26.120
done stand up before, but I
had always loved whose line is it anyway,
152
00:11:26.240 --> 00:11:28.720
and that was a big thing of
mine and I always done theater and
153
00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:31.639
kind of scripted things like that.
But I got into college and I was
154
00:11:31.679 --> 00:11:35.639
like, you know, this is
really cool and I learned that like you
155
00:11:35.679 --> 00:11:39.600
could be totally open and be like
I don't know what's going to happen,
156
00:11:39.639 --> 00:11:41.919
but I know that person next to
me is going to catch me and they're
157
00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:45.919
going to support the hell out of
me. So I love that and I
158
00:11:45.960 --> 00:11:48.159
made so many good friends because of
that. So that's why I did pre
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00:11:48.279 --> 00:11:54.399
brain and then, for some reason
after the brain I was like I got
160
00:11:54.440 --> 00:11:56.360
some crazy stuff to say and I
don't need no one to catch me.
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00:11:56.440 --> 00:12:01.720
I'm like catch myself, here we
go, and I would just talk about
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catheters and wheelchairs and because when I
think comedy, I think I think Catheter's
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and wheelchair like top of the lists. Grant had not that funny, not
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that great when I started out,
but it was. It was everybody starts
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somewhere that nobody else was talking about. You know, you you were at
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some point in time you were number
one in the world with Catheter and wheelchair
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humor. You were the standard,
you were the Eddie Murphy, you were
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the Richard Prior, you were the
George Carlin of Cather humor. I think
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that's brilliant, I really do.
You need no word. Thank you.
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It would just be like a catheter
on a wall. I don't even know
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if it'll be framed. I think
it would just be like stuck up there
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with tape. Oh my God.
So you did stand it, which is
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just bizarre. I still don't understand
the processing on how that happened. Have
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you done a lot of Improv after
yeah, so that was really like the
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love that I wanted to keep doing
it. And the thing is after college
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everyone grows up and moves away.
So you have to like find a team,
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right, or take a class.
You have to find more Robin Not
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Robin Hoods, damn it. You
have to find Jesus. You have to
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find more Peter Pants people who just
not that their children but they just haven't
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grown out of that. You know, yes, and you find that.
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And so I actually did seek out
an Improv class in New York City.
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Upright citizens. I Love The upright
citizens reate. UH, amy polar yeah,
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exactly, yes, amy polar.
Oh, we should get to hurt.
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Can you put a pin in that, can you? Can you think
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about Amy Poehler in about fifteen minutes? I think about Amy Poehler all of
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the time. When I mentioned Mimi
Hayes, immediately in the back of my
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mind I'm like, God, I
love Amy Poeler. You know, I
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wake up in the morning and I'm
like hey, police, God, I
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love Amy Poehler. That's just it's
it's a constant. We got that,
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okay, but I do have an
I do have. We have to talk
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about her later. So I do
you ever wish that she married somebody with
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the last name bear so she could
be amy polar bear? I've never thought
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about that before. You're welcome.
Sorry. So I took a UCB class
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in New York City the summer before
I became a high school teacher and I
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was like, I have a job, I have like a thing in Colorado,
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I have like a life that I'm
going to start because I'm not brain
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injured and I'm not whatever. This
is my past, but let me just
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let me you know. I don't
know why, I just needed to just
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try. Let me dip a toe. And I got back from New York
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and my mom was like how was
it? I was like, Oh my
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God, it was so fun,
and she's like well, and I was
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like yeah, no, I could
never live there, never live there.
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It's crazy like me to in comedy
and I don't have a brain injury,
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not at all. And then I
lived there for a while after. You
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had a brain injury. Me,
me, you Weirdo. It's not like
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you were just straight brained and you're
like I think I'm gonna make this giant
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leap in culture from Colorado to New
York. You had a brain injury,
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you continue to try to teach and
then you're like Nah, this isn't for
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me. Are you finding it hard
to recover at home after stroke? Find
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00:15:20.039 --> 00:15:24.200
out if Modus Nova can help you
by taking their free online assessment at Modus
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00:15:24.200 --> 00:15:28.159
Nova dot com. Slash the neuro
nerds. If you haven't heard of Modus
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00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:31.840
Nova, they make devices to help
folks with a brain injury like stroke regain
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00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:35.240
the use of their affected limbs.
For example, the modus hand is an
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00:15:35.320 --> 00:15:39.720
AI powered robotic exoskeleton that helps users
do exercises and play games. Similar to
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00:15:39.759 --> 00:15:45.000
the way an occupational or a physical
therapist might manipulate the limb. It helps
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00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:48.360
survivors get into thousands of repetitions they
need to form new neural pathways. It
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00:15:48.399 --> 00:15:54.000
can assist with hand movements or resist
them to provide a personalized exercise experience.
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00:15:54.440 --> 00:15:56.679
If this sounds like something you want
to try, visit Modus Nova Dot com
219
00:15:56.759 --> 00:16:00.759
slash the neuro nerds to learn more. Do Special Code the neural nerds when
220
00:16:00.759 --> 00:16:04.080
you sign up and get a month
three with the thirty day challenge. Just
221
00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:10.320
visit motus Nova Dot com slash the
neural nerds to get started. Let me
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00:16:10.360 --> 00:16:14.320
do something that kind of is along
the lines of Mimi two point. Oh
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00:16:14.519 --> 00:16:18.159
left Colorado for New York. With
a brain injury, you moved to the
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loudest city ever. But let me
tell you why? Because you're an insane
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person. Well, yes, but
also New York is a very creative place,
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very it's the Mecca, and I
knew that, even though that place
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scared me. I really wanted to
follow the fear. That's what we say.
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Did improv followed the fear. So
I wanted to follow that and I
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wanted to see what would happen if
I just indulged in that like fantasy,
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like could I be a comedian?
Could I do it in a big,
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crazy city like New York City?
I did, you did. I did
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it. Let me ask you a
question. Without the brain injury, would
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that have ever been on your radar? No, Oh, I think I
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would have just been a teacher.
I would have just I would just stayed
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in the status quo because I was
shaken from teaching against my will. I
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wanted to be a teacher for my
whole life. And then I did that
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and five days in my head exploded. Trying to tell me stop that and
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I could not listen, even though
it tried. My Body tried to tell
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me I didn't want to listen.
But eventually I found that because I had
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had this experience, I was more
creative than I was before. I had
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new interests, I had new friends, I had new things to say.
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If I couldn't do in the classroom, I had to do it on a
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stage and as far as I was
concerned, Denver wasn't going to be the
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the top a fountain for me.
I was like, if you're gonna be
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real about it, if you're gonna
get real, do it before you're it's
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too late, you know. And
I knew about mortality, you know.
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I was like, I could die
and I can't close. Don't want to
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keep on teaching these dumb ass kids. No, no, not dumb,
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they were just challenging. Okay,
challenging a K dumb ass kids. Sorry,
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dumb ask kids, you're dumbass adults
now and that's cool. No,
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no, just don't just stop.
Okay, but I think, I think
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a lot of people get to this
place where they when they start to pursue
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a creative life. Whether or not
you have a brain injury, right,
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but like you start to see things
that you can't unsee. I can't unsee
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how good it makes me feel to
be on a stage and make people laugh.
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And I'm like, well, I
felt that before a little bit in
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the classroom. You know why?
Because you're performing, because you're on a
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stage, and when you make a
laugh, when you like make a laugh,
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when you make a joke, she
was, she wasn't an English teacher.
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Oh, I would history teacher.
When you make a joke and your
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kids even like smile at you,
you get me. I get like a
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hit of like just wow, it's
great. And it's because I've always been
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a performer, I've always been creative. It's just that the brain injury made
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me more so. And now I
had this crazy story that when I would
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literally tell people just point blank,
my head exploded on a blind date and
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I thought that was funny, and
then I did sing and they're like excuse
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me, like they have to stop
and check and make sure that I'm not
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messing with that. And and the
power in that story, the way that
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people started talking to me and engaging
with me when I told that story,
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versus yeah, I'm a high school
teacher and I'm in Denver and I've always
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want people don't care about that.
I didn't even care about that at that
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point. You said it right now. I fell asleep twice, but I
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think that through my experience, I
just had all these things to say and
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I also didn't know what to do
with it. Like I was like I'm
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just gonna I needed to put it
somewhere, and that was also where I
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was writing and I was writing this
book and I was like, I don't
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even know who this before, I
don't know what I'm doing, but I
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need to put this experience somewhere because
it's trapped in my body and it's making
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me physically like uncomfortable. So if
you feel that way, you should probably
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do something about it. Yeah,
have a stroke and that. No,
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no, no, no, no, no, no, where. where.
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where? where? We don't want
to do that. I love that
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you had outlets and I love that
you're just it's growing. Oh Am I
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boring you? Mimi Hayes, are
we looking at our watch, because you're
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like, when is this going to
be over us on time, Joe,
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because I used to be a teacher
and you have to be timely. Hello,
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00:20:34.759 --> 00:20:37.400
I was a shitty student. Obviously
I'm here to mess with you,
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so I know. I love how
you had this thing in you. You
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had to get it out right.
You got out, an Improv a little
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bit, you jumped on stage,
you got it out. You wrote an
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amazing book to get it out.
Now you've even expanded on that. You're
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doing a one woman show. Not
just that, you're traveling the earth,
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the Earth, the F at the
Earth. You travel on the earth sharing
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this show and you're gonna be doing
it for an hour a day for thirty
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00:21:07.119 --> 00:21:10.000
straight days at fringe. That's why
we're trying to Hashtag and get me me
296
00:21:10.119 --> 00:21:12.319
to fringe with your kickstarter. Donate
please if you can. If not,
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share it with all your friends,
family and coworkers, which I just think
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is beautiful. I just I love
it so much because I think we all
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kind of have that thing and I
think anybody out here listening to this you
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have that thing in you. We
kind of some of us go our entire
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lives and not know what that thing
is. There's like a bit of an
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emptiness, there's a bit of a
hurts almost, you know, like a
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sadness of like, I don't really
have that thing, like you work your
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nine to five and I well,
I've worked at this office for fifty years
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and I got my gold watch and
I'm going to retire. But like they're
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miserable, there's not happy. I'm
so happy you found something that made you
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happy, that brought you that joy, because I think we all need that
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outlet, whatever that is. This
has turned into my outlet. I didn't
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know I needed this. You know, I was asked for years for several
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of my would be like, oh, should a podcast a good I'm like,
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do whatever you mean. I I
didn't know. I didn't have the
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confidence in me and I didn't have
that thing before the brain, the brain
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injury. I just followed whatever.
Oh No, I'm supposed to be doing
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this and I should be doing this
and I'm not a creative so I don't
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think I can do that. It
shook this thing that I had in me
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and now I get it out by
being an idiot on my podcast weekly,
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which is cool, but it's it's
like, I think it's that sense of
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purpose behind that, because you and
I can both agree when you do the
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00:22:30.200 --> 00:22:33.880
thing, when you do the thing, when you make the podcast, when
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you do the show, even if
one person comes up to you or message
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you and says that meant a lot
to me. I've never had someone say
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what I felt. It makes me
break every time. Oh my goodness.
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And can I just say last time
I did fringe I had several brain injury
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survivors and actually, probably some of
that was due to you, because you
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00:22:56.440 --> 00:23:02.559
are a crazy person who knows everybody
in the world that has ever had anything
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00:23:02.680 --> 00:23:04.960
happened to their head. Are you
a stroke or brain injury survivor looking for
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00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:08.079
a community and support? Well,
the neural nerds are here to help.
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00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:12.960
Join our Hashtag you so rock facebook
group at FACEBOOK DOT COM. Slash groups,
329
00:23:14.079 --> 00:23:17.240
slash and you so rock to connect
with other survivors like you. Plus,
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00:23:17.279 --> 00:23:21.640
read other inspirational brain injury survivor stories
on Joe's blog at Joe so rocks
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00:23:21.680 --> 00:23:25.400
dot com. Slash you so rock
and submit your stories there as well.
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We want to hear them and remember
they actually this. This is my brain
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injury too. They had messaged me
and I had forgotten about it and they
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said they were coming to my show. I forgot, but they came to
335
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my show. They were a brain
injury survivor and one of them picked up
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another one of their brain injury survivor. Friends drove to Edinburgh from like Glasgow
337
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or something. They were in the
UK. They they made it was an
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event. Coming to my show was
an event and we like took this photo
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together and it was so beautiful and
I was crying and I was like wait,
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you what in the court they're like
we've been talking for weeks and I'm
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like Oh, I was so not
with it, but it was so special
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because it was like, you know, those conversations that you can have by
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being vulnerable and getting it out,
whatever medium that is. We know a
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lots of different kinds of artists in
this community, people who do painting and
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crafts and, you know, podcasts
and featerer and it's all kinds of fun
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stuff, but you have to be
like vulnerable enough to like put it out
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there and then once you do,
you're just met with like all this purpose
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and all of this vibes of other
people being like I've never had anyone say
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that before. Then I related to
that what you said. That's what it
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is. I I talked to a
lot of people. I talked to a
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lot of it's insane to me,
like it's it's I tell people if you
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look at my d mg, be
like God damn, your face would melt
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like at the end of Raiders of
the lost Ark, like the Ark of
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the Covenant opened up, like Oh, it's crazy, but so many people
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need this outlets and they depend on
you, and I this is why I'm
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so adamant. It's like, look, we have to kind of let this
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artist free because, just like so
many other things in the community, it's
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not just for us. Yes,
it's for you. I always say,
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look, it's for you. It
has to be. You have to make
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yourself the priority. You have to
be the one. You're doing these things
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00:25:19.200 --> 00:25:22.599
because it makes you feel a certain
way. You're sharing this story because you
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have to get this out to the
people right you have to get it out
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of you and out into the ether. There are so many people that need
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that because they need to know that
they're not alone. They need to know
365
00:25:33.960 --> 00:25:37.880
that somebody that has something that they're
going through did this thing. You know,
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00:25:38.279 --> 00:25:42.079
we're speaking for those who can't speak
for themselves, and that's why I
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00:25:42.160 --> 00:25:45.079
share as much as I do on
the podcast and try to get as many
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00:25:45.240 --> 00:25:51.160
different kind of I don't know,
thoughts and and and people and and stories
369
00:25:51.200 --> 00:25:53.680
out there because people need to hear
it, and I'm so thankful that you
370
00:25:55.039 --> 00:25:56.440
are doing it on so many different
levels. Me, me, you do
371
00:25:56.440 --> 00:26:00.359
it on stage when you're doing stand
up, because you're talking about catheters and
372
00:26:00.359 --> 00:26:07.319
wheelchairs. By the way, that's
exclusively what you talk about. You're you're
373
00:26:07.359 --> 00:26:11.160
you're doing your one woman show worldwide. You've written an incredible book. So,
374
00:26:11.240 --> 00:26:15.920
like you're just sharing this and it
just makes me so happy as your
375
00:26:15.960 --> 00:26:19.039
friend, obviously, because I love
everything that you do, but as just
376
00:26:19.519 --> 00:26:22.960
a pillar in this community, because
that's what you are. I'm so thankful
377
00:26:23.000 --> 00:26:27.039
that you do that because I know
the impact that it has on so many
378
00:26:27.240 --> 00:26:30.599
people. I'm so thankful for that
and that's why we need to Hashtag get
379
00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:33.319
Mebi to fringe. That's what we
need to do. We need to really
380
00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:37.279
like get this time and it's not
like, you know, we're gonna put
381
00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:40.680
you in a suitcase, we're just
gonna like get your out there. It's
382
00:26:40.759 --> 00:26:48.240
not. Fringe is its own weird
thing. It's indescribable what it is.
383
00:26:48.440 --> 00:26:52.240
It's it's a crazy, amazing event
and I'm so I'm so like, I
384
00:26:52.240 --> 00:26:55.680
don't even want to say surprise,
because I'm never surprised that anything to you
385
00:26:55.720 --> 00:27:00.440
do, because you're just amazing.
I'm just surprised anyone can get through fringe.
386
00:27:02.319 --> 00:27:08.839
It seems like a fever dream.
Yeah, there, yeah, I
387
00:27:08.880 --> 00:27:15.000
would say stimulation wise. How does
that work out for you? I hate
388
00:27:15.039 --> 00:27:22.319
it. Let me just tell you
without my actually, oh no, I
389
00:27:22.359 --> 00:27:23.200
need to buy, I need to
get a new pair, oh my God,
390
00:27:25.279 --> 00:27:33.000
my headphones. I have always canceling
headphones. That saved my life.
391
00:27:33.240 --> 00:27:36.400
I need to wear those what I'm
out and moving about in the town,
392
00:27:36.880 --> 00:27:41.200
because it's very overstimulating to be in
a crazy, hectic town where everywhere you
393
00:27:41.279 --> 00:27:45.839
go there's a show and there's people, people, people, not just people.
394
00:27:45.880 --> 00:27:49.039
People are on, people are on
and so like. That definitely saved
395
00:27:49.079 --> 00:27:53.880
me. I had like a really
like chill like playlist. I had that
396
00:27:53.920 --> 00:27:57.559
now I can't find for the life
of me, obviously, but it was
397
00:27:57.640 --> 00:28:02.200
just like relaxing and I would play
it. That was how I got through,
398
00:28:02.359 --> 00:28:04.519
because a lot of the times I
couldn't just go home. I had
399
00:28:04.559 --> 00:28:07.279
to work for I was working for
somebody else the first time I did it,
400
00:28:07.680 --> 00:28:11.680
so I was like working and running
somebody else's show and then putting on
401
00:28:11.720 --> 00:28:15.079
mine and then like, Oh,
I gotta Feed Myself And oh, I
402
00:28:15.119 --> 00:28:18.880
have to like Flyer and I have
to give people flyers and Oh, I
403
00:28:18.920 --> 00:28:22.799
want to go, I want to
do things. This isn't a vacation.
404
00:28:22.839 --> 00:28:26.720
That's one single day when I just
described, and you get home and you
405
00:28:26.759 --> 00:28:30.920
just start crying and then you wake
up and you're like I have to do
406
00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:34.240
that again. Oh my God,
you're painting the most beautiful picture of this
407
00:28:34.319 --> 00:28:37.160
experience, but this is the reality. So the thing is some people would
408
00:28:37.160 --> 00:28:40.680
be like, well, why am
I going to contribute this kick starry to
409
00:28:40.720 --> 00:28:45.759
get this chick to Scotland? Scotland, Ireland, Scotland, one of those
410
00:28:45.759 --> 00:28:49.440
where they drink a lot, where
they had hags. You know, it's
411
00:28:49.519 --> 00:28:53.960
it's not that this is not a
glorious vacation. This isn't this is an
412
00:28:53.960 --> 00:28:59.079
event. You're gonna be doing more
work in those thirty days. You'RE gonna
413
00:28:59.119 --> 00:29:02.799
be working harder then you have from
here until then. I'm gonna tell you're
414
00:29:02.799 --> 00:29:07.680
probably working harder then you have this
entire year. Well, that hurts my
415
00:29:07.759 --> 00:29:11.519
feelings, but you're right. I
know you've been slack him and and and
416
00:29:12.119 --> 00:29:17.079
it's okay. I mean you know
and we're gonna get you to Scotland.
417
00:29:17.599 --> 00:29:22.720
Yes, yeah, do you want
to know who's in Scotland? Jamie's that
418
00:29:22.759 --> 00:29:26.640
Hell's Jamie Fraser, my husband.
I don't know who that is. Is
419
00:29:26.680 --> 00:29:32.240
he the colonel? I hate him
and as we beat eyes and SMUG.
420
00:29:32.279 --> 00:29:37.319
Look, Oh, you buy my
chicken. Oh, favorite. I hope
421
00:29:37.319 --> 00:29:41.039
you guys got that reference. I
know Jamie Kennedy is definitely not that guy,
422
00:29:41.160 --> 00:29:45.480
but we are going to Hashtag get
me me to fringe. I was
423
00:29:45.480 --> 00:29:51.920
gonna say maybe Edinburgh. That doesn't
roll off the tongue as great we we
424
00:29:51.960 --> 00:29:53.839
are. We're gonna get me new
friends and I'm just so thankful for everything
425
00:29:53.839 --> 00:30:00.200
that you do. We we were
doing the socials. Yes, you can
426
00:30:00.240 --> 00:30:03.079
reach out to Mimi at Mimi and
the brain. Oh, I hardly checked
427
00:30:03.119 --> 00:30:07.880
that one, dear. No,
we're going to Mimi Hayes brain. That's
428
00:30:07.920 --> 00:30:11.440
what it is. You know,
you can attempt to reach out to my
429
00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:14.319
tiny as kicking co host, Lauren, at Lauren almonds on instagram. You
430
00:30:14.319 --> 00:30:15.480
can reach out to me at Joseph
Rox and all the socials. You can
431
00:30:15.480 --> 00:30:22.319
reach out to us at the neurrow
nerds everywhere. All right, that's good
432
00:30:22.440 --> 00:30:34.480
enough. For me. Dad.
How could you hate the colonel because he
433
00:30:34.519 --> 00:30:40.240
puts in a puts an addictive chemical
and chicken mixture. Cray for nightly smarts.
434
00:30:41.599 --> 00:30:47.480
So I married an axe murderer.
Episode has done Youtube, the trailer.
435
00:30:47.799 --> 00:30:51.079
Go outside. There's no more blockbusters, so just by the movie.
436
00:30:51.279 --> 00:30:53.119
I think it might be on Netflix. On one of those. It's a
437
00:30:53.240 --> 00:31:00.960
musty. Please also Hashtag get me
to Edinburgh. That's what we're doing.
438
00:31:00.400 --> 00:31:03.720
That's what we're doing here. It's
gonna Happen. I'm so thankful to me.
439
00:31:03.000 --> 00:31:08.480
I love you. You're absolutely incredible
and I'm that amazing Mike Myers impression
440
00:31:08.839 --> 00:31:18.640
from so I marinax murderer. This
neural nerd is out. It's Edinburgh.
441
00:31:18.720 --> 00:31:37.880
That's Spain. Put Up. I
don't know. NEURRO nerds. If you
442
00:31:37.960 --> 00:31:41.640
enjoy listening to this podcast, please
consider leaving us a five star review on
443
00:31:41.720 --> 00:31:45.839
the apple podcast APP. Your reviews
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444
00:31:45.960 --> 00:31:51.960
you. Find us by searching for
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