This Is Your Afterlife

A lot of people talk about wanting their funeral to be a celebration of life, but Sky Cubacub (Rebirth Garments) has thought concretely about what that looks like. Sky's experienced a lot of death recently, and rebirth is a foundational concept in their work. We talk about reimagining every facet of life and the struggles that came AFTER Sky's rebirthing ceremony. We also geek out over Dialectical...

Carmen Christopher (Shrill, Joe Pera Talks with You) is one of the funniest dudes around, and we bust balls while talking about visiting the Caribbean as a ghost, smoking cigarette butts off the ground as a 4th grader, and the elusive pursuit of go-chill balance. If you want more Carmen, check out his full episode at patreon.com/davemaher . It includes his "Funeral Planning" and "Kill 1 Thing" seg...

Al Church (incredible musician) talks about sharing not just a home city but a birthday with Prince, we parse out our relationships to astrology, and I ask him the most annoying question a musician can get: "What kind of music do you play?" We also talk about the ways in which life narratives aren't clean and how a single comment made to him as a kid serves as a touchstone for the kind of life he...

Untitled Queen (NightGowns on Quibi) creates mysterious, poetic, and beautiful drag performances that tell stories through mediums from visual art to spoken word. She's the kind of deep, sensitive, imaginative guest I love having on the show. Enjoy her gleeful relivings of breakups, baby stroller rides, and her earliest drag days. If you want more of Untitled Queen's charm, you must check out her...

Zack Seward (Managing Editor, CoinDesk) has been my best friend since we were college roommates. We veer away from his day job to talk about his relationship, family, and career transformations. Plus, he names the Band song he wrote in his will to be played at his funeral. Zack's full episode includes his "Kill 1 Thing" segment, in which the two of us bitch about journalistic tics that bug us. Get...

Vashon Jordan Jr. spent summer 2020 photographing the uprisings in Chicago's streets after the murder of George Floyd. His photo book, Chicago Protests: A Joyful Revolution , documents Black joy during demonstrations in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Vashon's work is bright and saturated with color. We talk about why he snaps pictures from within crowds rather than on the edges and the near-d...

Oui Ennui used his COVID diagnosis as an excuse to put out an album, Sirius Bismuth , in May. Then he kept going, releasing an album every month of 2020 on Bandcamp Fridays. Oui is the perfect guest for this show in this year haunted by death. Listen to him talk about why he doesn't buy into the afterlife, how physical fights are "fully avoidable," and the Sophie's choice between religion and whit...

Annie Russell ( Duct Tape & Paper Clips ) has experienced unexpected loss enough to have started a doc with plans for her death. She wants a well-produced funeral and an afterlife with infinite knowledge. She also keeps her own bowling gear in her car "just in case." Listen to the full episode at patreon.com/davemaher . It's got expanded versions of these segments, Annie's separate "Funeral Pl...

John Spillane (Edinburgh Fringe, Instagram, the country Ireland) wants cartoon heaven, a funeral that celebrates foolishness, and to buy the approval of his friends with surprise ice cream. Listen to the full episode at patreon.com/davemaher . It's got John's "Kill One Thing" segment, plus a long, playful intro chat and expanded versions of the segments here. Follow John on Instagram: @thejohnspil...

Odinaka Ezeokoli (Netflix's "Easy") got fired from his valet job, his best friend died, he was feeling stuck in standup, and it was his Saturn Return when he went through his first "coma." A comedian and an astrologer, Odinaka is especially prone to self-assessment, which makes him a perfect TIYA guest. We also make connections between giving up artificial comedy dreams and being present during se...

Eunji Kim (The Ajumma Show) will be fine with death if it comes as one big heroin-high of a moment of light. It makes sense, considering how highly she values "corporeal pleasure." She chooses to relive a memory that includes her eel-lady aunt and her first time at the sea as cures for terrible teenage depression (and content warning: there's some suicide and other mental illness talk in this epis...

Bill Stern has been one of the funniest comedians in Chicago at least since he and I were put on an improv team together in 2008. His sketch group Cigarette Sandwich is a powerhouse, constantly churning out new, original material. Bill's proximity to my coma gives him an intimate perspective for answering the "What's your coma?" question. We talk about some big losses in his life and whether he ac...

Mike Watt is my hero. He might be yours too. He's spent his life making inspired, inspiring, and boundary-pushing music in service of his own vision (solo and with the Minutemen, fIREHOSE, and the Missingmen) and the visions of others (the reunited Stooges, J Mascis), never compromising the independent-yet-interconnected spirit he got coming up in the '80s punk scene. Watt talks about wanting to b...

Annie Donley is Top 3 Funniest Living Comedians, period. If you don't know her, I'm excited for this to be your introduction. She gets chaotic talking about pulling her ass and tits out at comedy shows, and within 20 minutes she's describing the physical experience of motherly love. We also talk about the need to perform after becoming a mother and the possibility of her son listening to this epis...

Liberation Library co-founder Bettina Johnson's intelligence, humility, curiosity, and just straight-up care for people infuses this episode. Her thoughts about the afterlife steer clear of the fantastical/metaphysical to focus on how she's leaving the world for future generations. Bettina is cool as hell, and this episode is blunt and empowering. References: - Cruddy: An Illustrated Novel by Lynd...

Enjoy this bonus episode featuring Angel Bat Dawid's reading from the Wild Unknown Animal Spirit deck. Angel pulled the Panther and interpreted it herself before I even read from the guidebook! This is a segment I'll be releasing every week on Patreon at patreon.com/davemaher . Listeners and patrons make this show possible, thank you!!

Angel Bat Dawid ("2019's brightest new jazz star" – The Guardian ) is incredible: a clarinetist, composer, leader of multiple bands, spiritual space jazz conduit, and maker of Great Black Music. Hear her OWN St. Peter at the pearly gates and talk about the magical school concert at a zoo that foreshadowed the rest of her life, plus so-so-so-so much more. Angel's the first artist I've reached outsi...

Joz Norris (2019 Edinburgh Fringe Comedians' Choice Award, Best Show) dives into meaning-of-life talk right away in this episode. He also has detailed thoughts about friendship, ghosts, and courgettes (American zucchini). Joz is one of my new favorite comedians, and he's as silly, thoughtful, and sincere in this conversation as he is in his act. Download and watch the film of Joz's great new show:...

Kimberly Michelle Vaughn (Second City) goes HAM on me as St. Peter, multiple times, in this episode. She demands to be reincarnated as a Solange BUT NOT ANY KIND OF BIRD OR PLANE. And we bond over missing our toxic pasts spent high and listening to The Weeknd. Kimberly is wild and so fun throughout our conversation, even when it takes a turn for the vulnerable and dark (heads up, there's a story a...

Kyra Jones (The Right Swipe) wants strippers, or at least pole dancers, at her funeral! She talks about the artistic heroes she's met on earth (Donald Glover/Childish Gambino), the ones she'd want to meet in heaven (Prince, Hendrix), and we talk about the lessons of Chadwick Boseman's legacy. Follow Kyra on IG: @kyra.a.jones . Watch her series, The Right Swipe . And support the new film she's maki...

Max Thomas (stand-up, improv group PREACH!, organizer with BYP100) wants a full-on roast and an open casket at his funeral, and a sort of roast in a psych ward as a kid changed his life. Follow Max on IG: @searchingformax and Twitter: @VoodooChild9593 Follow BYP100! on Instagram and Twitter Follow me on IG , Twitter , and sign up for my newsletter, Hella Immaculate !

Jasmine Henri Jordan (Neo-Futurists) loves a party so much she wants to plan them in her afterlife, as long as she doesn't have to plan her own. She tells me about the Hobbit Day she would choose to relive over and over again, thinking she was grieving college when she just needed glasses, and poses the question, "If you hate astrology, do you also hate queer people?" Invite your enemies, just lik...

You gotta live your life to make sure you have enough pallbearers at your funeral. Gary Richardson (SNL, Shrill, High Maintenance) drops gems like this and hella jokes in this conversation. He talks about becoming a more authentic version of himself after moving to New York, how much he hates "shoes off" culture, and the ear-opening experience of hearing definitively white karaoke songs. Watch Gar...

Angela Oliver (actor, writer, teaching artist, Annoyance Theatre homie) DOES NOT want her ashes turned into a diamond, and she wants Kirk Franklin and God's Property to play her funeral. We talk about her museum vision of the afterlife, the scourge of grind culture, and I implore her to teach me "how to do the deserving thing." Follow Angela on Instagram ! Follow me on IG , Twitter , and sign up f...

Derry Queen (Derry Queen's Big Queer Variety Show, her devil video on TikTok) wants a panini bar and potatoes every way at her funeral reception. There was a single dude who made her realize she was gay in college. And the memory she'd choose to relive again and again involves a "Phantom of the Opera" lip sync. Follow Derry Queen on Twitter and Instagram ! Follow me on IG , Twitter , and sign up f...