We're Totally (not) Ok

Life is nuanced and contradictory, we make the rules up as we go. As actors, we collect tips, tricks and tools to help us slide in and out of the mindsets of different characters on a day-to-day basis, but there is no single method or format that works for all actors across the board. Becoming an actor means becoming a student of as many lifetimes as is possible in order to continually build up your mosaicked understanding of the human condition. We’ve learned just as much about ourselves as we have about our scene work from inside the classrooms of our long-time coach, mentor and friend, Lewis Baumander. Lewis is busier than anyone we know, so we’re especially thankful that he took the time to sit and chat with us about Story, where it comes from and how it differs from culture to culture. He’s the kind of person who knows how to remind you of your own innate abilities and leaves you wanting to drop all the bullshit in your life and pay more attention to the matters that matter. Surround yourself with the pe

In this episode, we learn (via sniffles) that T-Bitty is sick and that if Cales were to study a celebrity, she would place her in a test-tube and probably forget to feed her like the aloe plant sitting shrivelled on her window sill. Thankfully, Tanya and Caleigh got to sit down with Samita Nandy, who runs the Centre for Media and Celebrity studies, to chat about the study of celebrity cultures and how celebrities themselves can be understood as texts and systems of signs that carry meaning, shaped not only by their own actions but by the contributing contexts that media and audiences build around them. We stretch back to the Greek era to look at Fame’s origin story and unravel the semiotics between Canadian celebrity culture and Hollywood’s Wild West frontier. If you’ve ever wanted to pull apart the nuts and bolts of the “Dream Machine” that turns humans into immortals, this is the episode for you. P.S. we recorded our intro & outro in Tanya’s haunted apartment, so whoever guesses the exact point at wh

Let’s talk about heads, baby. Let’s talk about you and me. Let’s talk about how many times we’ve knocked our brains around. Real talk: today’s guest is seriously cool and she tells a serious story and we make fun of life and art and how she almost died. If you’re into dark humour, beautiful art, and people who’ve been through more incredible experiences than could ever fit into this podcast, you’re going to fall in love with Aphiraa. She’s a visual artist, a magnificent soul, and she’s saving the planet with her sustainable fashion line. Also, Filipe, I hope you’re OK! Aphiraa, Visual Artist www.aphiraa.com IG: sunshine.peppers Sustainable designers from Toronto: Omi woods - Ashley Alexis Peggy sue collection - Peggy sue Fashion takes action Air ink: Turning pollution into ink. http://www.graviky.com/air-inktrade.html Kalu yala: An institute that offfers sustainable community. https://kaluyala.com/ Burwigan: An art collective to protect indigenous islands from climate change. https://www.burwigan.com/

Fellow unicorn-writer-director, Angela Cavallin, joins us in the studio (shout out to those who saw her at our live show for The Sonar Network launch event at Bad Dog Theatre in Toronto). We chat about how her initial journey into the entertainment industry as an actor has come to shape her writing and directing skills and how she loves writing assholes and will probably be an asshole herself in her next table reading by forcing her actors to read to the tempo of a metronome. She also shares her joy for following in-the-moment urges and how this wonderfully selfish tool can be uber useful. What’s a line-read and how do actors feel about it? We talk about it. Also, she’s a WOMAN. We mention that. Is that a THING for you? Also, Caleigh’s phone dings a lot. Deal with it. AND AND AND, a newly pregnant Angie says the words, “eat a dick,” and we left it in because it, too, is important. (Tanya would also like to add: “Tiny is hungover and it hurts.” Because we already sounded too put together in this episode.) ht

There’s no better interview to kick the new year off than our conversation with Michelle Leduc Catlin, an artist who has reinvented her artistic style and skill set throughout her many becomings - as a broadcaster, a host, an actor, a filmmaker and an all-around beautiful human being. She shares how she strives to maintain integrity within her own moral values while necessarily finding her artistic niche. She created her own path by creating her own work, which led her to a much deeper, more personal transfiguration, working through the ego to be comfortable with the idea of simply being. Find more of Michelle’s work at http://www.aruninmystocking.com/ Notes: S.M.A.R.T. goals: Specific: Goals should be simplistically written and clearly define what you are going to do. Measurable: Goals should be measurable so that you have tangible evidence that you have accomplished the goal. Usually, the entire goal statement is a measure for the project, but there are usually several short-term or smaller measure

People learn through Story. In this episode, Caleigh swaps personal stories with Chelsea Ricchio, Communications Manager for Healthy Minds Canada. Chelsea was kind enough to also share her favourite online resources, from Youtubers recounting their own mental health journeys to her very own blogs, where oversharing flourished her career. Check out more resources here: Chelsea Ricchio: speakoutblog.ca chelsearicchio.com healthymindscanada.ca chelsearrr (on most social media platforms) Chelsea's recommended Youtubers: Zoella Philip DeFranco IISuperwomanII Kati Morton Chelsea's recommended Blogs, Speakers & Other Resources: jack.org thebloggess.com hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.ca --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/wtnok/message

In this episode, Caleigh and Tanya release an interview from their archives. Bruno Maruzzo sat down with Caleigh at the end of last year to speak about technology in-the-making - a machine learning based digital psychiatric expert system designed to offer clinicians a powerful new tool capable of assisting with the process of diagnosis and personalized treatment planning. From mental health issues like depression and PTSD to what this technology means for the ongoing conversation about mental health and even how men and women are neurologically wired in a different way, we bring you a discussion that bridges biology and technology. Also, Caleigh may or may not refer to the founder of Facebook as Mark Zuckerburger. But, hey, we’re sure her brain’s not the only one that stores his name near a fast food item. Digital Medical Experts www.digitalmdexperts.com Trans-cranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Therapy https://youtu.be/rfCt1NNQ7zQ EmojiHEALTH http://www.emojihealth.com --- Send in a voice message: h

Here's your sign to STOP TRYING and START FAILING. Take a risk. Do scary things. Be loud, proud and wrong. You'll gain experience from your adventures and grow from your undertakings. This is one of those episodes we listen to over and over again. We get to speak with Adam Weitner, newly entrepreneured with his studio launch in the East end of Toronto. Adam is ambitious, passionate, kind, and every bit business savvy as he is empathetically wise. He opens up about the mental exercises he challenges himself with to stay on his toes in his ever-busy lifestyle, deeply engrained in the entertainment industry and shares his philosophy on searching internally rather than externally for an understanding of identity. Holler at Adam if you're looking for studio space or production facilitation in anything digital. Reach him here: adam@astrolab.studio astrolab.studio Check out his one cool thing - one of his favourite podcasts: unthinkable.fm And our one cool thing here: www.thevenusproject.com Note: Apologies,

Times are tough, especially now. But that's not uncharacteristic of our world, so we're keeping our message general in this extra tidbit of a mini episode for you. Here's that speech Caleigh promised to deliver in audio version - an exit lecture form one of her favourite university professors, Sharon Sliwinski, nearing the end of her academic studies. It's an adaptation of a commencement address given by Mark Danner at Berkeley in 2005. Caleigh reads it when times are tough, or when life's confusing, or when she's feeling invigoratingly brainy. They're just words. But they're damn good ones. The kind you wanna, "take out back and make out with," as a friend once put it. Everyone should hear them. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/wtnok/message

One day we'll speak about our mental health with the same ease as our physical health. In fact, we'll realize its importance just might outweigh that of the latter. We hope. We dream. We make film festivals about it. Well... Geoff does. In this special #BellLetsTalk episode, Tanya & Cales speak with Geoff Pevere, one of the masterminds behind the Rendezvous With Madness Film Festival - a fest that focuses purely on movies that touch on aspects of mental health. Share your feelings with your friends. Listen to them when they do the same. It's healthy. It's healing. It's human. Now go call your mom. @GeoffPevere http://www.rendezvouswithmadness.ca Saje Pocket Farmacy http://www.saje.com/ca/pocket-farmacy-222512.html --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/wtnok/message

From a dog on Red Bull to a comedy school filled with screaming students to a stream of studio-hopping, Tanya & Cales battle the sound waves in an episode about cutting through the noise to find your voice and your sanity. Cales sits down to chat with Toronto comedian Kirsten Rasmussen about life behind the curtain of comedy, how it can be both an outlet and succubus, and how to balance your boundaries and shield yourself from the pitfalls of "ugly places". Tanya shares tells you about her "positivity chair" and the difference between "Hallmark" and "HBO" acting, and the girls call for a show of hands from our lady listeners to determine whether or not their next event should be a gal pal friend swap. Follow Kirsten Rasmussen on Twitter: https://twitter.com/kikirazzle?lang=en Insta: https://www.instagram.com/kikirazzle/ Tanya's "Positivity Chair": Dr. Henry Moller https://praxisholistic.ca Subscribe to us on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/were-totally-not-ok/id1177271351?mt=2 Follow us

In our second episode, we sit down with Healthy Minds Canada Executive Director, Katie Robinette, to chat about addiction, workplace depression, and how the art of film fits into the organization's advocacy for mental health awareness. We talk about the similarities between self-help books and acting resources and, if you listen closely enough, you can hear Tanya colouring in our adult colouring book that helps with stress reduction, as well as our dance moves near the end of our episode when we share the secrets behind "Hammer time" - little bits of magic that, left to the hands of professional editors, would have been cut out. You're welcome. Resources: Katie Robinette, Executive Director, Healthy Minds Canada healthymindscanada.ca Documentary: "The Stairs" by Hugh Gibson Book: "The Surrender Experiment: my journey into life's perfection" by Michael A. Singer Host's Instagrams: @calesleg @t_bitty --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/wtnok/message

In WT(N)OK'S very first episode, Caleigh and Tanya introduce themselves and share some of the reasons why they're joining the important conversation about mental health. WT(N)OK welcomes special guest and resident psychotherapist, Rosana Zammit, who draws on her backgrounds in law and entertainment to share her specialized insight into the intersection of mass media culture and mental health. Rosana Zammit Psychotherapist www.kind-mind.org rose@kind-mind.org 647 677 MIND --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/wtnok/message