YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

What a great episode. Laura was very funny. I like her candor and sense of humor.

Laura was fun to see live, at the Podfest! Super hilarious.

I loved her, too. She put things so eloquently it was like a light bulb for me.

One of my favorite guests ever. I also had a bitter granny that chain-smoked and hated everything.

I am not a fan of the live atmosphere for this kind of podcast. I love when they joke on the podcast but its more intimate, between friends. Maybe I would feel differently if I were actually there. But I felt like when the audience laughed at her words, Laura felt the need to ham it up a bit...and it just wasn't as intimate. I felt like a bit of a guard was up and there was a lack of the usual vulnerability because there was an audience to entertain. Just my opinion.

Omg I totally agree. Something felt really off and almost insincere (or not as intensely vulnerable as usual) and that was what it was! I did like her but there is a need to entertain with an audience... You are right. Have her back in a not live show sometime maybe?

I think it'd be great to have her back again. She is very funny. I want to get the book, "I, Fatty" and walk around with it. (I'm a fan of Fatty Arbuckle too, so yes, I would really read it.)

That low-key intimacy with comedy is what I love about this podcast. I love just having a cup of coffee or tea and listening to it with a blanket.

I am not going to lie, I often skip the surveys. Too dark and sad sometimes. But I love relating to the guests and their real-life struggles.

This episode was entertaining but also meaningful to me. I watched the live stream and it was great to see Laura's expressions & animated gestures. It was also great to be able to watch Paul do an interview.

I didn't feel disappointed by the tone but maybe that's because I'd listened to last year's podfest episode so was expecting something a little lighter and more humorous than a regular episode. It seems to fit more with the overall atmosphere at podfest. But I'd love to hear another episode with Laura.

I really enjoyed this episode and wish that I had been able to watch it. The live episodes are a nice break -- I like the "lightness" of them, and especially getting to hear what Paul was like in his previous incarnation (which I hadn't known about before MIHH). The suggestion about making a girdle out of an inner tube was horrifyingly familiar -- my mother used to say stuff like that to me too. I hope that she starts her own podcast.