I met Iris Bahr at the 2024 Montreal Fringe Festival where she premiered her spectacular one-woman show, “Stories From the Brink.” I laughed endlessly! Afterwards, I was super smooth and awkwardly asked Iris if she would like to be the most famous person to ever appear on This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life. And Iris very generously said yes. What a thrill!Iris and I recorded outside on Avenue Duluth so you’ll get an authentic Montréal experience, complete with birds, tourists, and exciting cobblestone traffic. We talk about creative routines (or lack thereof), the pénurie de main d’oeuvre, the boundaries we didn’t inherit, the guilt we did inherit, our relationships with our mothers, that time when Iris saw her mother have a stroke over video chat, the years of caregiving that followed, Iris’s autistic brother who grew up in a group home, grief, art, humour, healing, the quandary of online dating, neurotic moments with the dust buster, plus the magical line, “I don’t have the bandwidth for that right now.”About Iris BahrIris Bahr is a multi-talented, multi-voiced writer, artist, and performer. Iris was on her way to becoming a neuroscientist when she changed her mind and decided to pursue a career in acting. This led to all kinds of dreamy creative projects. Iris took up stand-up comedy, she wrote a couple of memoirs, and she appeared on a whole bunch of TV shows, including Friends, The Drew Carey Show, and maybe you’ve heard of Curb Your Enthusiasm? The peeps over there concluded that Iris was so perfect for the role of Rachel Heineman, that they shut down the audition process.In 2010, Iris pitched, wrote, produced, and starred in her original TV series, Svetlana. Meanwhile, she has channeled her colourful childhood and sometimes devastating past into multiple, masterful, and very very very funny one-woman shows. Stay tuned for imminent runs of Stories From the Brink, a hilarious ride through a remarkable number of near-death experiences. The fabulous show won a Frankie at the 2024 Montreal Fringe Fest. (Congrats! So well deserved!) And coming up at the Toronto Fringe (July 3-14), Iris will be performing “See You Tomorrow,” a poignant and heartfelt comedy about parenting a parent with dementia. I highly recommend jumping at any opportunity to watch Iris do her magic on stage. Iris, it was a joy to have you on the pod! Thank you so much! Until we meet again, See you tomorrow!Links to Iris Bahr’s WorkIris Bahr’s Website at irisbahr.comInstagram @iris.bahrIris Bahr on FacebookIris Bahr’s Workshopsand CoachingTickets to “See You Tomorrow” at the Toronto Fringe (July 3-14)Resources and Recommended EpisodesBurned Haystack Dating Method™The Boy in the Moon by Ian BrownDiscovering Autism With Maha Abdelhak CavalcantiFat Liberation With Emma LanzaMore Episodes With Delightful Comedians:Just for Laughs With Andrew KhouryWhy We’re Still Single With Mariam KhanLaughs for All With Abby StonehouseDream Jobs With John CotrocoisFollow Erica on Facebook or Instagram or check out her website at ericajschmidt.com. You can also make her day by sending her a listener question to any of these places.Listener Question from “Caught Short of Words”Dear Erica and Iris Bahr,At a recent family gathering, my cousin and I were drinking it up andhaving fun dancing outside with some others. My cousin thinks it so funny to fart and watch peoples’ reactions, but this time when he pushed real hard, it was not a fart that came out. When he turned around, the back of his pants were coated, but he just kept dancing and laughing, not knowing the disaster he made in his downstairs department. I didn’t say anything, and others saw it eventually and he was mortified. He isn’t speaking to me anymore because he says I should have told him. Did I do something wrong?Love, Caught Short of WordsThank you so much for listening! To support this independent podcast, please consider purchasing a Lil and Bud dog greeting card at ericajschmidt.com/merch. You can also make a one-time donation here at The Donate Button.Feel free to get in touch for other sponsorship possibilities. My infinite thanks for all of this.More infinite thanks, as always, to Taes Leavitt (darling big sister, Big Heart Journey), Sherwin Tjia (technical and creative advisor, Sherwin’s Quirky Events,Episode 22) and my dearly departed aunt Eileen Gun, whose generous gift helped to fund my new podcast equipment.And infinite thanks to you, my dear listeners! Stay tuned for more episodes extra soon. Don’t forget to followThis Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life on your favourite podcast platform. And if you enjoyed this episode, I would be immensely grateful if you could share it with a friend and/or leave a kind and enthusiastic rating and review.
