This week, we're exploring the transformative power of the "yes, and..." principle, a cornerstone of improv performance. This simple yet effective phrase encourages performers to not only accept but also expand upon their partners' spontaneous ideas. How can this mindset apply to daily life for those of us with ADHD? Today, we’re navigating how to use comedy to handle unexpected situations with ease and resilience.

We dive into the concept of "yes, and..." as a tool for embracing and moving forward through challenging, unexpected, or complex moments. By replacing the instinctive "no, but..." response with a more adaptive and flexible attitude, it becomes easier to face adversity head-on and maintain momentum.

We discuss the rejection faced by performers, writers, and directors alike, their coping strategies, and how they manage not to take rejection personally. By drawing parallels with rejection sensitivity dysphoria (RSD), we uncover techniques to foster acceptance and perseverance.

Mandy Kaplan is an actress, vo artist, singer, writer, ninja and podcast host living in LA. Her voice can be heard in hundreds of commercials/video games/and SO many audiobooks. Onscreen, she can be seen starring in the feature film 30 Nights of Sex to Save Your Marriage available on Tubi TV for free right now, a film she also co-wrote and produced. Her cabaret Miscast: Right Singer, Wrong Song has been running in LA for over 12 years.

Mandy Fabian was the director and creator of Lifetime’s first digital series, The Young Hillary Diaries, and co-created and wrote the Amazon series Dropping the Soap, which won Jane Lynch an Emmy!  She’s a Sony Television Directing Program Fellow, was named “Best New Filmmaker of the Year” by NewFilmmakers LA, and her latest screenplay, Late Bloomer, was selected for the Meryl Streep/Oprah Winfrey Writers Lab. Most recently, she completed her feature directorial debut Jess Plus None, an awkward comedy that will be released in the fall of 2023.

Together, they co-host the Mandcave, a podcast about two best friends who have nothing in common except their names on TruStory FM. Our ultimate goal for this episode is to inspire listeners to find humor amidst life's challenges. By nurturing a comedic perspective and using it as a roadmap back to happiness, we hope to encourage a more profound reflection on the power of laughter in overcoming adversity.

Links & Notes

• Check out the Mandys in their podcast: Mandcave
• In LA? Get tix for Mandy Kaplan’s Cabaret, “Miscast LA: Right Singer, Wrong Song”
• Check out the trailer for Mandy Fabian’s film, “Jess Plus None”
• Watch Mandy Kaplan’s film, “30 Nights” free on Tubi right now

• (00:00) - Welcome to The ADHD Podcast
• (00:56) - Support the Show: Become an ADHD Patron at patreon.com/theadhdpodcast
• (02:18) - ADHD Book Club: Focus Forward by James Ochoa
• (03:57) - Introducing Mandy Kaplan and Mandy Fabian
• (05:18) - Welcome to Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast
• (05:50) - Friends of ADHD
• (08:09) - Tools to Build Funny as a Shield: Yes... And?
• (11:02) - Contexts, Surprise, and Shame
• (16:14) - Celebrating Trash on the way to Gold
• (18:27) - Listening
• (21:48) - Getting Uncomfortable at Being Uncomfortable
• (26:41) - Rejection
• (39:40) - Laughing Through Grief