This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:08] Grace Aki: Tell me a story. And one time. There's more to the story. The kind of story we need right now.

[0:38] Grace Aki: Hey guys, good day. I hope you're having a really lovely Sunday. I am, you know, finally getting to enjoy the city again. Um, I'm back in New York and getting to enjoy all of the people and things, and I just want to remind you, because I'm reminding myself, that you gotta slow down sometimes. I think, you know, I'm so excited, and so is everybody else to like reopen things and be conscientious because we've all worked so hard to you know take care of ourselves in this time, but at the same time, like I'm getting a little burnt out. I don't know about you. Um so yeah, I'm just I'm so happy. Thanks for listening to Tell Me on a Sunday. And I want to talk a little bit about our guests, but before we get into it, I wanna tell you that my friend Brendan has his latest season of Wait in the Wings.

It's on YouTube. Season three is out. I got to watch like a special screening of it. Basically, what happens is he gets to be a dramaturg, a documentary maker on all of your favorite musicals, and he started season three out with Hades Town, and it is one of the best things I've ever seen. Um, if you love movie musicals, or if you just love musicals and you love documentaries that are kind of like funny, but also like give you great insight into your favorite shows, you need to subscribe to Wait in the Wings. I just I want you to do that. Brendan is amazing. Um, I'm so proud of him. And we had a great little combo about the upcoming season, but he was so cryptic, and I was like, Well, you know what?

I'm just gonna have to subscribe. I'm just gonna have to do that. So I did. Anyways, um, please check it out if you're into that and let me know what you think. Let him know what you think. Let him know that you watched it. So today's guest is such a special lady. Uh, she's a comedian, she's a writer, she's a singer musician. Her name is Sarah Dooley. If you don't already know her, you're gonna know her after listening to this. I hope. Uh, her book, Are You My Uber is available anywhere that you get books. Highly recommend calling your local bookshop and having them special order it for you. Uh, if they don't already have it. You can listen to her music through any channel that you listen to music through.

However, you're listening to this podcast is probably how you can listen to her music. Uh, the album Stupid Things is already out. But most importantly and most notably her newest album is This Heartbreak, is what we're gonna talk about today. Instead of doing like a traditional show where I ask people to tell their stories about kind of their lives and careers and you know, all that fun dumb stuff. Today we're asking Sarah some questions about the album that she put out because I think it's really special. And there are some times when I know that there are stories behind music, and I'm so curious about them. I have a lot of singer songwriter friends, and I love learning about what made a thing a thing and why someone wrote something that they wrote. So without further ado, let's talk to Sarah Dooley.

[3:43] Grace Aki: Oh man. Uh Sarah, it was just your birthday. Happy birthday.

[3:49] Sarah Dooley: Thank you.

[3:50] Grace Aki: So I actually celebrated it ahead of time. It's tomorrow. But last weekend was like, I know, I know. Which is like a superstitious thing to do, or that's like an unlucky thing to do is celebrate your birthday before it's happened. But look, everyone was available. Everyone was vaccinated. Everyone. Everyone was here. And we just said. Yep. Yeah. So we did it. This last weekend. Real fun, but tomorrow is the day. Tomorrow's the big day.

[4:19] Grace Aki: Well, then I'm glad. I'm glad we're doing this before.

[4:22] Sarah Dooley: Yeah.

[4:25] Grace Aki: Yeah. This is the birthday eve version of me. This is very special. Is there like a lot of anticipation? Are you excited about like waking up to Santa? I don't even know. What do we do at this point in our lives of birthdays?

[4:38] Sarah Dooley: I have no idea. I have no idea. I think that what I did was I Googled where can I get free stuff on my birthday? So I'm going to sort of go on an adventure to like Buffalo Wild Wings. I'm going to eat a bunch of shit. And that's how I'm going to celebrate.

[4:57] Grace Aki: Or share it. Just get everybody's stuff.

[5:01] Sarah Dooley: Yeah. And then be like, oh, I'm going to split that way you get it all.

[5:05] Grace Aki: That's so smart.

[5:06] Sarah Dooley: And Sephora. You can cash in those points. You can get like the 500 point for all of our listeners that go to Sephora. A little life hack for you. Wait until the eve of your birthday and be like, I'm going to cash in and get some free samples. I'm just saying you're the smartest person I've ever met.

[5:27] Sarah Dooley: No, but literally, you know what? At the front of the line when you're there and you're like, I'm about to spend my rent on my face. Yeah. And then they're like, what if you could buy four tiny things for zero dollars, except for the fact that you've given us thousands of your dollars. And then you're like, oh, that's a great deal. I'll take that eye cream for 400 of my dollars. And it's like that small, it works for one eye.

[5:54] Grace Aki: Yeah, you, but you you like really you like use your pinky nail on it for months.

[5:59] Sarah Dooley: Oh, I make it last.

[6:01] Grace Aki: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a good system. We have it down. If you were ever poor in New York City, let me tell you, we've got some hacks. Um I have to say, because I've introduced you already, you don't have to like name all of your accolades. That's the fun part of this show, is that I've already talked about you and you don't get to hear it. Um I discovered you because of your book, Are You My Uber? And I was like, this is the funniest, silliest thing I've ever seen. And then I started stalking you, and I was like, oh, I really like her. Um, and so I'm just so happy to have found you in the comedy lady sphere, especially. I feel like there's so much um, I'm gonna say I don't like how there's like so much like negative competition with a lot of girls, especially in New York, LA or whatever.

You know what I'm saying? And every time I like gravitate towards a person, I'm like, oh, they seem like they seem like good people. I don't know what it is. I just like can like feel it in the air. Um, but I just I learned about you as a comedian, and then I and then you were like, I put out an album. And you'd already you had already put out albums before, but I you you'd put out this album, and I was just like, okay, cool, I'm gonna listen to it as anybody should just like put it on on Spotify, right? And track by track, I was like, am I crying? I thought I truly thought I was in for like a comedy music stylings album. And not to say you aren't funny because there's so much tongue in cheek in the album, which I think is really fantastic.

You're like an incredible songstress. And I was like, this is like if I had had this in high school, this would have replaced all my Regina Spektor shit. Like this was this is literally like, oh my god, it's so good and funny and sweet and warm. And there was a time when I was um hashtag alone last year. Um in an apartment uh in Brooklyn, staying at my friends, and I must have listened to that album so much that when they did like the Spotify rap thing that everybody did, it was like number one sir doing it.

[8:12] Sarah Dooley: Stop, really?

[8:12] Grace Aki: Yeah. Cause I every day I would be like, Well, this can get me through something. Like I had a set list of shit, right? Yeah, yeah. It was like um Roberta's pizza, your album, and then like my future by Billie Eilish. Like that was I'm honored.

[8:30] Sarah Dooley: Oh my god.

[8:31] Grace Aki: But it was just so wonderful. And so I just wanted to talk to you. Normally on this show, like I try to talk to people about like, you know, what's the story kind of your life? But this time I wanted to say, like, I want to know the stories behind these songs that I've fallen in love with and like you and all that great stuff. So if you don't mind, um, can you you're like my pleasure, let's get into it. Can you tell me a story of even when like all of this started for you? Like when you started to do singing, performing, clowning, bringing cupcakes to school. Like, what was it where you were like, this is I guess how I am built?

[9:09] Sarah Dooley: Yeah, yeah. I mean, the story is really that um I have always journaled. I've been a big journal head because I'm sexy. Um and I've just always but as a young person, just felt like I had so many emotions that were like spilling out of me, and how I navigated that was by journaling obsessively, and then I remember watching the music video to Fiona Apple's song Parting Gift, which is just her at a piano, sort of emoting, and I remember being mesmerized by just how like angry she was or sad and just expressive. And I was like, wait, that it felt like she was getting something out, and that's what I was like always trying to look for a way to do that, and so plus I'd been taking piano lessons, but mostly like playing Carol King songs that I really liked, and I was like, but what if I tried putting my journal onto the piano?

[10:12] Sarah Dooley: Hold on, I've got it. Oh my god, yeah, yeah.

[10:18] Sarah Dooley: Yeah, which some people can't, some people can't do that. I mean, it worked out that I um yeah, it just was it was like finding these two things that I loved and marrying them in a way that made sense for me, which was really it was so important for me. And I also look back on those songs and just crack up because I am so intense. Like in high school, do you remember just having like oh a crush that you treated like it was like the the hell there was nothing else in the entire world?

[10:50] Grace Aki: Yes, yes.

[10:51] Sarah Dooley: There was heavy emotionally of these songs about just like a guy on a cross-country team that I was like singing about it like I was a 45-year-old like widow, just like who had seen shit, and like I just it's so funny to me. So they were so intense. Um and like I was pretty secretive about them until this one boy who he he was kind of a manic pixie dream boy. He was like, Yeah, he had a Jeep and he was always driving me around places, and I'm just picturing Manic Pixie, and then the Jeep really clashed, really clash. But I was like, I know what frozen yogurt this boy likes. You know what I mean? Manic pixie jeep boy, actually, is what I'm calling him from now on.

[11:41] Grace Aki: Yeah, um, and he he was the type of person who was like, I have a favorite road in our little hometown. And I was like, Well, I want a favorite road. He's like, We'll find you one. And one night, this is actually one of my favorite stories ever. One night he was driving me home, and it was I had a strict curfew at midnight, and we were like barely gonna make it. We're driving home. We're listening to Radiohead, of course. And um, he like pulls over onto this country road, and I was like, What? This is not the way home. He's like, shut up. He was nice, he was nice. Um he was doing it in the romantic way, yeah.

[12:17] Grace Aki: Yeah, in the way Nancy Myers would write.

[12:19] Sarah Dooley: Thank you, thank you. It worked at the time. He was reading the room. Um, and he pulls over and it's like a foggy night, and he's like, get out of the car. And like the headlights are like spotlighting the fog, and we meet in front of the car. And like Radiohead fake plastic trees is blaring. And we just kiss. We kiss in the headlights. And that was my favorite road. So what I did was I went home and I wrote a song about that and about the road. And I was like, my plan is I'm gonna perform it for him at the local open mic, which was held at a cafe called Express Yourself.

[12:59] Grace Aki: Express yourself. Was it was it called the open mic, or was there a name for the open mic? Because ours was Coffee House.

[13:07] Sarah Dooley: I mean everything, don't you think that everything in the, like, uh, yeah, that time in the 2000s was all like Java themed? Like there was a lot of like coffee as adult, I guess. Be like a little bee caffeinated. I mean, that was the coolest thing I could ever think of, probably. Um, but I think it was just called the open mic, and everyone just knew like, oh, the open mic and express yourself is really good. And so I was like, I'm gonna play the song, and like that's how I'll communicate to this person, like how much he means to me. And like, and so we go to this open mic, he's sitting at the table, I play the song, and like really getting into it. And when I look up, he is like bent over a napkin writing out lyrics because he was gonna perform next, like totally not paying attention, not listening at all to my song.

He gets on next and plays Bright Eyes, and I was like, this sucks. So what I do is I go home and I write a song about that. Oh, my reaction to, uh, just in my own little dialogue. So that's kind of what my, how I've been treating songwriting my life. You're like, what if I gave you a gift and then you shat on that gift, and then I wrote you a song that's better than that shit that you did on that gift. That's exactly what you do. But that's what we do as artists all the time. We're just like, but I gave you something.

[14:28] Sarah Dooley: Yes. Exactly. It's like the hall of mirrors is like creativity and reflection and oh, it's very, do you remember the song? Either song title. Um, one was called 110 North, which I think was the name of this, the street. My favorite road. Yeah. And then the other one was called like, you just don't understand. I don't remember. It was such a dumb ploy. B O I featuring Rihanna. Yeah. Pete Rihanna. Oh my god. Well, that's no, that's really great. I, the way we're doing this particular episode today is that what we're gonna do is we're gonna play into your ears right now a song from this new album, and then Sarah and I are gonna chat about a story about said track because these are questions mainly for me. Okay, because I, but I don't really care because you guys are all on this journey with us, so I'm gonna go refer to that right now.

[14:30] Grace Aki: Yes.

[16:05] ♪ Musical number: "My Party" — performed by Sarah Dooley ♪

[19:37] Grace Aki: So what we're gonna start with is a song called My Party. It's the way, uh, we've just played it, it's just very specific. I feel like this party happened. I don't know. Can you tell me a story about either this party in your mind or this party that really happened?

[19:54] Sarah Dooley: Uh-huh. I love that. Um, yeah, so the story is I, I didn't have a party. This song is about several relationships that I found myself in that like weren't technically relationships, but they felt so real to me. And I was just plagued by this fear of like, am I allowed to feel so deeply about this person that we're not technically like on paper? If I listed out all the details of what this relationship was, like a judge would be like, it doesn't meet the requirements. You know what I mean? It doesn't check out, it doesn't hold up in court. Um, there's social security numbers. The most romantic thing I could think of. Yeah, exactly. Um, so I, and I studied playwriting in, in, uh, college, and I always love songs that kind of set a scene and give you just like an eyedropper of like, you know, action, you have to like sort of do it in your head.

And so that this song to me represented like that kind of confusing in-between relationship where like if I invited this person to a party, like do they stay? Do they go home? What is, where are we? Like, what do we do? And, um, I, I don't know. I wanted to like explore the, that like disconnect between these like big sweeping feelings. I feel like the, the actual music and arrangement is like that sort of epic romantic tone. And then all the lyrics are like, was I weird on the phone? Like did I, yeah, did I mess up when I kissed you? I think it's, it's funny because all of us, like especially with anxiety, and I'm not trying to like read you. I'm not saying that you have that.

[21:41] Grace Aki: Yeah.

[21:41] Sarah Dooley: But, um, totally we just like, we go, sorry, like the way you like touched me on my shoulder, like it kind of like stayed in my brain and I'm just like, I'm just like wondering, just gonna follow up circling back on that touch. I just want to, yeah, I just want to, I just want to like pick your brain on like what is, what that meant for you and they're like, I fucking grazed you and you're like, yeah, but it felt like not like more. And so whenever we have these like social interactions, especially when, I mean, the way you framed it is in this like party scenario, I just think about how there's two types of people. There's people enjoying the party, there's people watching the party, and like I'm always somebody's watching the party.

And I love that this was all told from this perspective of like when you're watching, it's in your own home and you're like, yes, right, um, the party for the express reason of this, but like you could care less about the other guests. You're like, shut up, yeah, go eat chips. I grew this party so that this person would come and then they leave early and that like encapsulates like how fraught this relationship is.

[22:45] Have you seen that one episode of How I Met Your Mother? Where it's okay.

[22:50] Sarah Dooley: No, no, it's okay. I just have to explain that like Ted does this one bit where he throws three parties for a girl to show up to, and she like doesn't come to like two out two of them. And then they're like, oh, actually the party's like tomorrow night. And then he has his friends like do another party. And then she like, she goes, oh my god, I'll have to come. And then she does it. And then the next night she's like, I'm so sorry, I missed your party. He's like, no, it's crazy. Like, we actually, it's tomorrow night. Because I think that half of the people that watch that episode are like, that's pathetic. And then I, oh, everybody else is like, no, I, I understand. Yeah, that's just good improv. That is just being flexible. You just gotta work on your feet and hope they should. I don't know. Yeah. I just always went, I just kept picturing you, uh, at this, like, I don't know, Brooklyn apartment or something, singing that to someone.

[23:42] Grace Aki: Okay, so this is probably my favorite song on the album, so sorry to go right into it. But what we're about to play for you guys is Only Child.

[23:53] ♪ Musical number: "Only Child" — performed by Sarah Dooley ♪

[26:13] Sarah Dooley: I'll call someone with brothers. And maybe a sister too. Cause I deserve someone who cares what the hell I'm up to that is a you who that is you know I know never fall for the only child never fall for the only child He doesn't care for the Boda So don't fall for the only child never fall for the only child never fall for the only child He doesn't care for the Boda So don't fall for the only child never fall for the only child Don't fall for the only child never fall for the only child.

[27:18] Sarah Dooley: Okay, so that song makes me cry on command because I had this talk with my girlfriends like so recently about like dating people based on like how many siblings or lack of siblings they had. Yeah, and it was such a fascinating conversation because we had never nobody's ever kind of like brought it up. I think we go like, oh, are you this moon sign? Are you this sad sign? But nobody's ever like order, right? Right. So can you tell me a story of like writing only child and or what that might be about? I don't know.

[27:54] Sarah Dooley: Yeah, oh yeah. I love the story. I um I was dating this guy, and not to brag, he was a vine star, and yes, I am dating myself now. Um tail end, the tail end of Eddie. Um, and he was um just simply not ready for a relationship, but like was the kind of person who maybe should not be dating then because he was we were doing all this romantic stuff, but like again, it was one of those confusing uh in-between things. And he was just the most independent person, like to a fault where he just could not let anyone in, did not need anyone, did not want to be needed by anyone. And we had a conversation once about how he was an only child, and he literally said the phrase to me, um, I don't know what being lonely feels like he's that's just how he's always been.

There was no never anyone around to like there's no it's like the opposite of codependency is literally just constantly fighting for himself. So it's like I don't understand the need for another. Never had to share his toys or his feelings. Uh-oh. Um, and I feel like that conversation like got stuck in my head and the like phrasing of um uh you can only be lonely if you know what lonely being lonely feels like. And I usually start with the music. I don't start with the lyric or anything, but that was one of the only times where I was like, I have to put that in something to figure it out almost to like explicate it. And um, and so I wrote a whole song about not dating an only child, and then what's so insane is looking back on all my most serious relationships, they've all been only children. Oh, and so what is that about me? You're like, I will be riding my therapist on a few questions. Taking notes. Uh really strange, really strange stuff.

[30:05] Sarah Dooley: How many how many siblings do you have? I only have one. And it's an interesting situation because she is nine years younger than I am. I was nine years. Yeah. I was an only child. Yeah, I was an only child for like seven. Yeah. Um, and so I have this like caretaking part of me for other people because of my younger sibling who will be listening to this. Um I have to, you know what I mean? And so it's funny, like you probably also grab I'm not trying to psychoanalyze you, I'm not a professional. Don't do it. Um, but like we we do that thing where we like, I mean, like, yeah, my last serious relationship and my last oh my last fo my last one, I guess um, have been only children too because yeah, it's like uh maybe it's uh a parenting part of us to where we we want so badly to be needed. Yeah, these people don't need us. Yeah, funny. Isn't that weird? We're doing it wrong. Funny. How is that? Cracking. How did we cries?

[31:12] Sarah Dooley: Um, all right, so we're gonna get we're gonna get into the next one. Oh, this is horrible. Um now this is is this heartbreak. The titular um title character of the album is just heartbreak.

[31:39] ♪ Musical number: "Is This Heartbreak" — performed by Sarah Dooley ♪

[35:12] Sarah Dooley: Um this one, I there's a part of the song, which now they've just heard that I particularly crank up. And I'm like, take me back. I'm doing the harmonies with you. Like screaming. That bridge Yeah, that bridge like gets me. Um tell me a story about you writing this song. Tell me all about um was it heartbreak? Yeah, spoiler alert. Spoiler. Big time, big time. Um, yeah, I mean this that song, it's so interesting that I never sit down to write an album. I never am like, okay, the next 10 songs are all gonna go together and be on one thing. I just write songs as things happen to me and then kind of look back and see what I have and put it all together. And so that song, I didn't realize that would become like truly the thesis of my album.

It is the the song that I think encapsulates the the like scariest part about what we do when we fall in love, which is we take the risk every single time of giving our heart to someone, not knowing how the story ends. It's like truly, it's like opening a book and wanting so badly to flip to the end to see like, does it turn out? But you can't wear that. You can't do that, and we're working on that. But um, I yeah, I wrote that song when I was just at the beginning of something with with a person and realized like crap, this is the point of no return. Like once I fall for this person, it's either gonna be the great love of my life or devastating heartbreak. And I I think what I like about that song is you can listen to it depending on where you're at. That song can be like very almost depressing, like a bittersweet kind of feeling, or it can be so weirdly hopeful that like as humans, we just keep doing this.

[37:07] Sarah Dooley: Well, yeah, the way no, I mean, I think that that's what's so great about the way it's written is that like it has all of these, yeah. I didn't find it like depressing, even though I was in the middle of like the the the end, like debris of a of a moment. I was also like really happily into like a new chapter of my life. So I found it like really beautiful and hopeful and exciting, and also like it's such an anthem. I don't know, I don't know if that's been a word that has been described for you for that song, but I'm like, this is like a everyone's shouting this from the rooftops, especially women of like something we I guess we need to all agree that this is a risk. I hadn't heard I hadn't thought about it like that.

So yeah, maybe I'm just so I'm just fucking optimistic every time that I don't even think about the fact that it might not work. That's not an option for me. I'm like, it's supposed to work well, right? I know. Of course, yeah. That's how it's supposed to go. It's a dishwasher. It's supposed to work. Let's go. Yeah. You just blindly kind of no, I love that. I think that's such that's what makes humans so beautiful and idiotic all at once, is that we're just like, I guess I'll try this again. Here we are, chapter one, idiot. Oh, but we're such we're beautiful idiots. I love us. I love us. The end. Close the show.

[38:35] Sarah Dooley: Yeah. Oh gosh. All right. Um, lastly, we're gonna talk now that we've talked all about is this heartbreak, which also like the cover. Can you tell me a story about that? Because it's like you and all these like gorgeous balloons and stuff. And I'm I'm always fascinated by the art direction behind, especially covers of albums, covers of books, like all that shit, especially because like you know, we operate in like comedian spheres of like what what were you thinking when you did that? Because that that's on you. Tell me.

[39:03] Sarah Dooley: Yeah, no, I I think you're right. And especially because I think we're we're writers and storytellers, so yeah, every part of this album is there's like a whole character behind it and a whole like backstory. And so I for each of my singles that I released before the album, I I made a short film that went with it that kind of was the backstory of of each song.

[39:26] Sarah Dooley: And so that um photo comes from the my party kind of set. So we filled my entire Brooklyn apartment with balloons and solo cups and like glitter and all this stuff, and just the image of someone being so sad amidst all of this like celebratory accoutrement, because like that is a heartbreak, like throwing a party and then being sad is like such a funny uh like arc to me of yes, exactly. The two paths that we could always take that um yeah, and I just uh I liked it. I thought visually it was really um cool.

[40:06] Grace Aki: It was.

[40:07] Sarah Dooley: It isn't look at it. But I love that even when you stream the album though, the little clips of those like videos that you shot play, which I was just like, oh, that's so cool. Cause there's like this one of you carrying this box with all the stuff falling out of it.

[40:20] Grace Aki: Yeah, oh yeah.

[40:21] Sarah Dooley: And I'm like the breakup box. I was like, oh god. Um, and then this final one that I want to talk about, uh, that we're gonna play now is we call it the Goonie song. Um, because this one cracks me up every time. This was not from this is not from this album, this is from oh, which one is it? Stupid things. Say that stupid things, which is from 2014.

[40:36] Grace Aki: Yeah.

[40:40] Sarah Dooley: You've been putting out stuff for a minute.

[40:44] Grace Aki: It's been a while.

[40:45] Sarah Dooley: Um, so now we're gonna play that.

[40:47] ♪ Musical number: "Goonie Song" — performed by Sarah Dooley ♪

[44:11] Grace Aki: You're like, I know the song. Tell me, tell me the whole story behind this guy. Cause it cracks me up. And I know it's not from the album we said we were gonna talk about, but I was like, ah, I wanna play this anyways.

[44:22] Sarah Dooley: Oh, tell me about the Goonie song. Yeah, I mean, so the album Stupid Things is much more about um like the weird in between of childhood and adulthood, and there are a lot of like kind of childlike songs on that album, and the story of this song is just a freaking snow day. Like, do you remember how amazing snow days were?

[44:49] Grace Aki: Oh, wait, you're from the south.

[44:51] Sarah Dooley: No, no, that's that should tell you how incredibly special snow days were in the south. Because it would be like once every two years. Oh, we would be like, what are we gonna do? Who's coming over? Who's watching Goonies at my house? Truly. Would be like, hey, um, uh, are we going to Polly Jean Tarantine's house? Because I heard that her parents have a jacuzzi. And like, maybe we can all like sit together and we can have, we would we would sit together, and then we would be like, who's gonna bring the blankets? Like that was a conversation.

[45:20] Grace Aki: Oh my god.

[45:21] Sarah Dooley: Who's bringing the blankets as if it were fucking cold? I mean, it's like 40 degrees. And we're like, I mean, I want to wear my like hot my UGA sweatshirt.

[45:31] Grace Aki: Yeah.

[45:32] Sarah Dooley: Like, yes. So, anyways, I feel you because it was so it was like, oh, it was like sucking the teeth of Christmas. It was just it was its own thing.

[45:42] Grace Aki: So tell me, tell me about the snow days.

[45:44] Sarah Dooley: It's gonna take me a second to sort of process what you just said. The sucking the teeth of Christmas.

[45:51] Grace Aki: Sorry.

[45:51] Sarah Dooley: That's so no, that that filled me with just a heartwarming feeling. Thank you. Um yeah, the the spirit of snow day is like the most magical. I wish I could bottle that up. But exactly when you're when you're young, a snow day represents like this is a break from real life. Like anything could happen, which for me meant logging on to Instagram. I mean, not Instagram, I didn't know. Aim, aim, instant messenger, and being like, God, I hope my crush signs in. When you hear that like door creaking open, that to this day is like I guess shivers. Um, and and then but then it's so funny because it's like, then what's your plan? It's like obviously I'm gonna invite Trey Smith over to watch a VHS tape, and hopefully we'll sort of like scooch next to each other, and maybe our arms will touch for a split second, and that's what sex is. I'm pretty sure.

[46:41] Grace Aki: I'm pretty sure.

[46:42] Sarah Dooley: It's still hey, can I just say that's it? Still is it still is uh at the end of the day, that's what sex is for me. Yeah, boys listening, hello, listening.

[46:54] Grace Aki: Yeah, yeah.

[46:55] Sarah Dooley: Oh, it's just yeah, I I loved capturing that kind of like excitement of the possibilities of this like tiny little romance. But that I think that joy carries into our like now relationships because those are the things that we cherish. We don't we it's not like the did he take you to the opera this month? Did you have a table at Nobu? It's really not that. It's like these tiny little like moments of like romance and silly and excitement and like Eva, this is so messed up, but like any natural disaster. Like this is awful. But like literally it was like raining the other day, like right like torrential downpour, and I got like worried. But then I was like, wouldn't it be fun if we all just stayed in? That's awful.

[47:44] Grace Aki: No, that's Mother Nature being like, do something crazy. Order three pizzas. Try something new. You're worth it.

[47:53] Sarah Dooley: You're right. It takes a natural. Time to indulge for us to treat ourselves. That's so funny. Yes. Disgusting. No, but that that song brings me so much joy. And like I was I was so glad that after I had like binged and I'm still binging, um, is this heartbreak? I was like, oh, these are so sweet. Like stupid things is really sweet. And like I just I don't know. I'm not pressuring you to work on a new thing. I just mean that like I'm just saying that now we can all look forward to it now that we're like so engrossed in your work, which I'm excited about. But yes. Um, but I wanted to take you to this part of the show that we call short story, which I you're like an improv person, so you're gonna be like good at this, which is Oh no, I'm not.

[48:35] Sarah Dooley: Oh no. Oh, I'm you know it's funny. I did UCB. Did you do all of UCB? Did you not do it? You just stand up lady, like whatever. I did UCB because I thought I had to, as part of like New York. Like paying your dues, kind of like, yeah. And I did all of it. And I don't think I was good or I liked it.

[48:58] Grace Aki: No, I mean it's like following.

[48:59] Sarah Dooley: No, you know, when you're like, I think I'm good at this, like, okay, I know it wasn't that. And so like it's just it makes me laugh because I go, I have it like on my stuff that I did that, but I don't think I I don't think you could pay me to do a group scene anymore.

[49:15] Grace Aki: Like I think I do.

[49:16] Sarah Dooley: I feel the same way, and I did improv in college, which I had so much fun at the rehearsals. As soon as we were performing in the shows, I was like, no, no, all the best parts of this have gone out the window. I don't feel comfortable, I don't feel safe, I can't play. And that's probably my shit, but it's just that I don't think it's for me.

[49:35] Grace Aki: Well, it's because I I what I found that I liked about it was that I was around people that liked dumb shit, which is I didn't go to like college properly. So I was like, oh, this is mu what college must have felt like. I don't really like the thing.

[49:47] Sarah Dooley: Yeah, it's like I don't really love the thing we're doing, but I kind of like the people a whole lot. So it kind of became that, but this is this is kind of derivative of something we did there. Uh, but basically it's called short story. And I give you a one-word suggestion, and then you tell me a two-minute story that can I could say alligator Loki, and then you could be like, I'm gonna tell a story. I've never seen a Marvel movie, you know what I'm saying? Like, you could tell me a story about something else, but it's just to set you off, and then you give me a word after you go. So is that is that cool for you?

[50:19] Sarah Dooley: Yeah, I love it.

[50:20] Grace Aki: Okay, oh god. Okay, um, so uh Sarah, yeah, it's about to be your two minute story. I'm gonna give you one word suggestion of disco ball, and your time starts now.

[50:36] Sarah Dooley: Oh okay, okay, yes. Oh, okay, yes. So here it is is that my family went on spring break to a resort in Mexico one time. One year, all my friends uh would always go, and it was like the cool thing to do, and I was like, please guys, please let me go. And they're like, sure, we'll we'll go this year for spring break. And so I was with my friends, and um one night they were like, Yeah, we're going to the teen discotheque. And I was like, come again. I was gonna read Matilda happily in my bed, but okay, I'll go with you guys. And they were like, Yeah, Sarah, it's really fun. We like go grind with boys, and I was like, Yeah, that sounds totally up my alley, and I love that so cool. And I put on what I thought was like my sexiest outfit, which was just like totally like a mock turtleneck, and actually it would look cute now, but at the time I was like Amish, like I was so covered up and just but I had this like long jean skirt, it was kind of orthodox vibes.

[51:33] Grace Aki: Um, and we limited to old navy, yeah.

[51:36] Sarah Dooley: Oh yeah, it was like Aero Pastel, I'm pretty sure. Um, and we get to the discotheque, which I think had a disco ball, but it was also called a discotheque, so whatever the story stands, and um we're in there, and I'm just like the shy girl who's bopping around. There's no alcohol or anything, it's like a teen club, which is so weird. And this guy comes up behind me, starts dancing with me, and my friends are like, and I'm like, I love this, but it's terrifying to me. And this man, he's not even a man, he was a child. This is gross. He was grinding on me so hard with such force, circular motion, that he he basically turned my jean skirt all the way around so that my skirt is on backwards now from the force of his crotch grinding on me.

[52:27] Sarah Dooley: And I look down, I'm like, ah I had to just like come up with the dance move that was me like moving it back to the front.

[52:35] Grace Aki: That's two minutes, and that's it, and that's it.

[52:40] Sarah Dooley: I it's when you don't have a belt on it.

[52:45] Grace Aki: Yeah.

[52:46] Sarah Dooley: It's not anchored because it's a good thing.

[52:47] Grace Aki: Because it's a skirt, especially a denim skirt.

[52:52] Sarah Dooley: Was it to the knee?

[52:53] Grace Aki: It was oh, it was probably past.

[52:56] Sarah Dooley: You know the one that was dusted the floor.

[53:00] Grace Aki: Oh my god.

[53:02] Sarah Dooley: That one.

[53:02] Grace Aki: I had a khaki one.

[53:04] Sarah Dooley: It's worse.

[53:05] Grace Aki: Yeah.

[53:06] Sarah Dooley: But the one I'm picturing you in is like that like mid mid-nee mid calf.

[53:12] Grace Aki: Like, oh yeah.

[53:14] Sarah Dooley: I thought it was so sensual.

[53:16] Grace Aki: Yeah.

[53:16] Sarah Dooley: I looked like um yeah, cowboy librarian.

[53:19] Grace Aki: I don't know what I was going for.

[53:21] Sarah Dooley: And it was a humiliating because my friends are like, what?

[53:25] Grace Aki: No, no.

[53:26] Sarah Dooley: No, this is bad.

[53:28] Grace Aki: Yeah.

[53:29] Sarah Dooley: Oh my god.

[53:31] Grace Aki: Well, that makes sense.

[53:32] Sarah Dooley: And I really love that story.

[53:34] Grace Aki: Thank you for sharing it.

[53:35] Sarah Dooley: Is it true? Is that a true story?

[53:36] Grace Aki: 100%.

[53:37] Sarah Dooley: Sometimes one time somebody was like, oh no, no, that whole story was fake. And I'm like, you're a genius.

[53:42] Grace Aki: Hey, you know what? You should call, you should call somebody.

[53:46] Sarah Dooley: You're a writer. You should call.

[53:48] Grace Aki: It's like so good.

[53:50] Sarah Dooley: Um penguin books.

[53:52] Grace Aki: You're a writer.

[53:53] Sarah Dooley: You're a writer. Do you know that you can anybody can publish on Amazon? Did you know that?

[53:56] Grace Aki: TikTok told me that.

[53:59] Sarah Dooley: Yeah. KDP.

[54:02] Grace Aki: Oh my god. Do you know how many TikToks I've watched?

[54:04] Sarah Dooley: Anyways.

[54:05] Grace Aki: Me too. We could tell we could spend hours talking about TikTok.

[54:08] Sarah Dooley: Do you do you post them or do you I do it all?

[54:08] Grace Aki: I do it.

[54:14] Sarah Dooley: You're funny.

[54:14] Grace Aki: I see. I I'm not, I don't feel I don't feel accepted yet to post TikToks.

[54:22] Sarah Dooley: I posted two last year that were very dance sexy, but with a political purpose.

[54:27] Grace Aki: Amazing.

[54:28] Sarah Dooley: And then for a silly's for the for the views. And now I'm like, if I return, like there's people waiting for my return or something.

[54:37] Grace Aki: Do you know what I'm saying? Like, no, nobody's sitting there being like, she's not posted an 83.

[54:42] Sarah Dooley: Right, we're if she.

[54:43] Grace Aki: Yeah.

[54:44] Sarah Dooley: Yeah. I did go bad viral on TikTok because I wasn't accepted. And I was like trying to make fun of this kind of trend.

[54:51] Grace Aki: But I you know how in New York, the like brand of comedy, especially among people our age, is like ridiculous. Like it's um, it's not genuine, really.

[55:03] Sarah Dooley: Like I like being absurd in my comedy. So I posted a video that was about me pooping in my underwear, which I assumed that they would not believe was true.

[55:13] Grace Aki: But all of the tweens on TikTok were like SMH, we can't believe you shared that. Like you're actually being way too vulnerable. This is disgusting. I can't believe you did that. I bet I got like 500,000 views, and I was like, I'll take it.

[55:26] Sarah Dooley: You're like, yeah, okay. If poop is what's getting me on the younger legacy radar.

[55:32] Grace Aki: Yeah, I'll take it. Call me Olivia Roger.

[55:36] Sarah Dooley: Baby. Poopy in my underwear, Roger. Fetch the bolt cutters sour, Sarah Dooley's shit TikTok.

[55:47] Grace Aki: TikTok. Oh my god. What a what a dream. I love it.

[55:50] Sarah Dooley: Oh my god. Um all right, we've we've reached that point.

[55:56] Grace Aki: Okay. I I cannot possibly top your denim skirt story.

[56:00] Sarah Dooley: It's actually impossible.

[56:01] Grace Aki: Physically, emotionally.

[56:03] Sarah Dooley: Elon Musk couldn't pay for me to top it.

[56:06] Grace Aki: But here we are gonna try.

[56:08] Sarah Dooley: And yet we persevere.

[56:10] Grace Aki: And yet we persevere. Women first.

[56:15] Sarah Dooley: Does everyone just look around and yes?

[56:18] Grace Aki: That's what everyone does. And then they end up saying something like pineapple. And I'm like, where did you get that?

[56:24] Sarah Dooley: Oh, weird. You're in your kitchen. Okay.

[56:28] Grace Aki: Um, no, I have one. I have one.

[56:29] Sarah Dooley: Okay. You ready? Your word is swan.

[56:34] Grace Aki: Oh, actually, okay, let's go. Um, I when this will date me in high school. Uh, we do this thing.

[56:40] Sarah Dooley: Oh my god, we're we're just telling a bunch of school stories, and I'm kind of for it.

[56:45] Grace Aki: Yeah. So we had this thing called like senior party. And at senior party at school, you would get out for like periods like five after lunch until like the end of the day, and then you would come back to school like for this senior party, and everybody at the senior party would dress up in a costume, and there was like a whole yeah, it had nothing to do with Halloween.

[57:05] Sarah Dooley: It was like when we were graduating, and they were like, whoever comes to the to school with like the best costume for senior party, like you win. And like there were like these like also my bonus dad is a is a DJ, like for dances and like weddings, and also like a radio disjackey for like ever.

[57:24] Grace Aki: And so he was always asked to be the senior party DJ.

[57:28] Sarah Dooley: Well, I like my dad, like my dad is the DJ. And so I was just like, this is kind of like I feel kind of lame, whatever. Because it's just like weird, it's just weird to see your dad at work.

[57:39] Grace Aki: Right. That's just what it is.

[57:40] Sarah Dooley: That's true. And um, I was like, I'm gonna, but like whatever, I'm gonna have like the coolest outfit. And that year was the year that Black Swan came out.

[57:49] Grace Aki: And I was like, what if I hired an incredible like makeup artist? And she, which she was a friend of mine, like locally, but like I had I got like a full black tutu. I my back had like the little talon marks of like where she's starting to bleed, and like it was kind of grotesque, and then like arms were whatever.

[58:12] Sarah Dooley: But I feel like the good part of the story is like you can picture me and all that stuff, right? My mom and I are on our way to the dance because she's like, she's gotta drive me, right? Because I'm in a tutu. And she was like to my high school senior party where my bonus dad is already there setting up his DJ equipment.

[58:30] Grace Aki: And he's my mom stops the car. She goes, Grace, get out of the car. And I was like, What? Okay, I've gone over two minutes, I don't care as my show. Um, she goes, Grace, get out of the car. And I was like, What? And she was like, There's a bunch of ice, as if I'm supposed to correlate what she's saying, and she goes, There's a bunch of ice over there, and I was like, Okay.

[58:51] Sarah Dooley: And she goes, get out of the car. We're gonna go take pictures of you in it. And there was like someone had dumped a crap ton of like ready ice for parties or whatever. Just like, don't I'm talking piles and piles of ready ice, and she's like, go get in it, it's gonna be amazing.

[59:09] Grace Aki: As if she is like, I love that taking control of this fashion moment.

[59:13] Sarah Dooley: Photo shoot, yeah. Photo shoot because my mom does this a lot, like she'll see a statue's like photo shoot, and I'm like, all right. It's super fun, it teaches me to say yes to everything. But literally, I got out and there's photos of me, and she's like, Like, do this, like you're flocking like a bird, like you're like jumping, and I'm doing like these ballet moves as if it's like the most intense most of it.

[59:32] Grace Aki: Yeah, I'm gonna have to share them now because it's just like but my other my one of my best friends, uh Tanner was also with me, and she was like, What if I was the white swan? And I was like, okay, yeah, like let's do that too. And so it's just us in the ice. And of course, I was named like most dedicated or most original costume.

[59:52] Sarah Dooley: All of my high school accolades were always like a little bit of like a you care too much. Like they were never like, she's super cool. It would always be like, she like gives too many fucks, and we don't know what to do with it.

[1:00:04] Grace Aki: Like trying really hard. I hated that like Lee was a part of my high school story because everyone was like, Oh, you're like the Leah Michelle. And I'm like, don't say that. Please don't say that.

[1:00:14] Sarah Dooley: Right.

[1:00:16] Grace Aki: But this is like that's a uh a compliment because she's very talented.

[1:00:20] Sarah Dooley: But you were like, I know what you I know what you mean.

[1:00:22] Grace Aki: I know what you mean.

[1:00:22] Sarah Dooley: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[1:00:25] Grace Aki: Oh my god. So I just have to see those.

[1:00:28] Sarah Dooley: I'm sorry, you said swan, and I've I don't think that I've ever shared that.

[1:00:34] Grace Aki: That's really good.

[1:00:35] Sarah Dooley: That's so good. Uh yeah, I'm gonna have to.

[1:00:39] Grace Aki: It's intense, it's really intense.

[1:00:41] Sarah Dooley: But you know what? Holds up.

[1:00:43] Grace Aki: Holds up.

[1:00:44] Sarah Dooley: People remember Black Swan.

[1:00:48] Grace Aki: I remember thinking, I saw, did you see it when it happened?

[1:00:52] Sarah Dooley: Recently.

[1:00:52] Grace Aki: No.

[1:00:53] Sarah Dooley: I don't know where I was.

[1:00:56] Grace Aki: Recently.

[1:00:57] Sarah Dooley: With my rented out.

[1:00:59] Grace Aki: Oh, you actually did?

[1:01:01] Sarah Dooley: Yeah, like an idiot.

[1:01:03] Grace Aki: That must have been fun.

[1:01:05] Sarah Dooley: I thought I was an absolute star comedian. I feel like I heard this on SNL and I repeated it, but I thought it was my joke, and I was like, she made a meal out of our Kunis. And then my mom was like, You've got to stop.

[1:01:20] Grace Aki: But I I'm pre-Twitter that was like, You're a fucking genius. Come on.

[1:01:24] Sarah Dooley: I'm like, I'm a star. Hello.

[1:01:27] Grace Aki: Jesus. You watched it recently?

[1:01:29] Sarah Dooley: Yeah, like within the last few years. I was like, what's this about?

[1:01:34] Grace Aki: I do that a lot. I feel like I I like giving things way too much time past their prime and then being like, have you guys seen Waxwatch?

[1:01:44] Sarah Dooley: 2020, but okay.

[1:01:46] Grace Aki: Yeah.

[1:01:47] Sarah Dooley: I have a fear of that now because because we live in such like a digital like everything's being spoiled all the time.

[1:01:53] Grace Aki: Oh, I know.

[1:01:54] Sarah Dooley: So I feel like addicted to watching things as they come out because I'm like, what are they gonna do?

[1:02:00] Grace Aki: Yeah. What what's a good life hack for that is to have a really bad memory.

[1:02:04] Sarah Dooley: Oh I'm reading spoilers every day, and then they go, and I'll watch a ride like for fresh, uh just like a from an infant's point of view.

[1:02:13] Grace Aki: I'm like, truly, I was like, what is Black Swan? I don't know anything about that's great though.

[1:02:19] Sarah Dooley: Yeah, then you come so fresh, but I feel like that would be such a good like comedy show of yours or something.

[1:02:26] Grace Aki: If you're like, hey, you guys heard of this jokes from two?

[1:02:34] Sarah Dooley: Yeah. Okay, um, there's a wedding, you will not believe what happens.

[1:02:39] Grace Aki: You know what somebody's so good. I did do a series on Instagram where I had never seen Game of Thrones, but I watched the whole last season with no context, and then I did little recaps, and it really was that it was like um it was like Ed Um John Snowden is one of my favorite characters. He's love he's a whitewasher, and like I just didn't know anything about and I did the whole I watched the whole season.

[1:03:04] Sarah Dooley: So did you like it?

[1:03:06] Grace Aki: No.

[1:03:07] Sarah Dooley: No, I didn't know what the fuck was going on.

[1:03:09] Grace Aki: I just know at the end the guy, the little boy with a strange neck got the throne.

[1:03:16] Sarah Dooley: That's as much as I know too.

[1:03:18] Grace Aki: Yeah.

[1:03:19] Sarah Dooley: Is he the one in the wheelchair?

[1:03:21] Grace Aki: No.

[1:03:21] Sarah Dooley: Yeah.

[1:03:22] Grace Aki: It was?

[1:03:22] Sarah Dooley: Oh cool. Yeah. He just chose to not emote so much.

[1:03:27] Grace Aki: Yeah. Well, I'm glad you watched it because I sure won't.

[1:03:31] Sarah Dooley: And on that though. Um, Sarah, this is really nice to have you on this whole thing.

[1:03:37] Grace Aki: And and now I hope that everyone listens to the rest of that album. It's so beautiful. It's gotten me through so much, and I can't wait to hear you do more of it and or more of your new stuff.

[1:03:47] Sarah Dooley: I don't really care. It's all great. Even if you stop, you could stop right now, change careers, and I'd be like, this was really great.

[1:03:54] Grace Aki: I'm an accountant now, but I gave you that.

[1:03:57] Sarah Dooley: You know that you know that on TikTok, if you're an accountant, you know what that means.

[1:04:01] Grace Aki: No.

[1:04:01] Sarah Dooley: Oh, that like you sell you sell your photos, like your nudes.

[1:04:06] Grace Aki: When you what?

[1:04:07] Sarah Dooley: When you say, Oh, I'm an accountant.

[1:04:09] Grace Aki: Oh, that's like a TikTok hack of saying like you do other things.

[1:04:13] Sarah Dooley: Euphemism for oh my god, I'm so glad you told me that.

[1:04:16] Grace Aki: If you want to be an accountant or an accountant, you cannot, you can do either.

[1:04:20] Sarah Dooley: Uh either way, I'm counting my money, you know what I mean?

[1:04:24] Grace Aki: And I do, and I do. Thank you for listening to Tell Me on a Sunday podcast.

[1:04:29] Sarah Dooley: This has been a That's Good A Media Production.

[1:04:31] Grace Aki: I want to give a special shout out to my Patreon subscribers. That's Triple Threats and Beyond. Daniel, Joe, Abigail, Matt, Caitlin, Carson and Marissa, Joe F, Priscilla, Rick and Margaret, Molly and Norman, Mackie, Violet, and Michael.

[1:04:44] Sarah Dooley: Merch is gonna be released through my Etsy shop. If you don't already follow that, that's at Grace Aki Made It on Instagram, but also you can find it on Etsy. Grace Aki made it. Uh, lots of podcast related merch, I guess.

[1:04:54] Grace Aki: And by lots, I mean probably one or two to start. And uh all of my other artwork is available in there too. I mean, as artists, we do a million things. We're multi hyphenates.

[1:05:03] Sarah Dooley: You can still listen to me weekly on Broadway radio. That's usually Tuesdays through Thursdays. You can get your Broadway news every single day. Presented by me, Matt, Ashley, sometimes James Marino. It's really good.

[1:05:17] Grace Aki: Highly recommend that you listen to it. Uh, thank you guys again for joining me on this journey of storytelling. I hope to see you next week. Otherwise, stay safe. Love you.