Creativity in Captivity

A writer, actor, filmmaker, and activist all embodied in one talented muti-disciplinary artist. Candice is a soul-centered entrepreneur from Houston, Texas who believes in the transformative power of belief. She is the creator of Fatherland, WAIL and 30 Ways To Get Free. In Candice’s artistic productions she merges her academic background (B.A., Black Studies; Master of Public Administration) with a deep rooting in African spiritual traditions and the metaphysical world. She is currently commissioned to write a new play for Catastrophic Theatre, and is working on a new collection of poetry under the title INITIATION. She joins me to express her affection for the Oxford comma, to discuss her shows being created as a ceremony with a ritual attached and how along the way she learned to hold love & anger in the same hand. 

A New York City based director, choreographer and educator who recently directed the London premiere of On The Edge, a new musical from composer Sam Hall. On Broadway he served as the Associate Choreographer of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hit musical School of Rock, which he also had the privilege of staging in Sydney, Melbourne, and Seoul. He currently serves as the Associate Choreographer on the Broadway bound musical The Heart of Rock & Roll, celebrating the music of Huey Lewis, and on Ever After, a musical adaptation of the 1998 film. As a director, he staged readings of Nicolas Greco’s Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Marrying a Big-Breasted American Woman starring Anupam Kher and Grounded For Life at the York Theatre. He is currently choreographing Radio 930, a new musical centered around a group of young rebels in East Germany who used banned western rock music to bring about the fall of the Berlin Wall. As an Assistant Choreographer, he helped develop Barry Manilow’s Harmony for Center Theatre Group and The Alliance Theatre, The Nutty Professor with Jerry Lewis and Marvin Hamlisch, and the Broadway revival of On A Clear Day You Can See Forever starring Harry Connick, Jr.  Patrick has staged concerts for Tony Award winner Kelli O’Hara with the Boston Pops and for Mario Cantone on ABC’s “The View.” As a teacher, he has served on staff for Britney Spears’ and Usher’s performing arts intensives.

A master chocolatier who makes European-style chocolates and is recognized for igniting the artesian chocolate renaissance.  Fran’s smoked salted caramels are reported to be a favorite of President Obama who frequently shared them with visitors to the White House.  Fran’s passion for life underscores her appreciation of pure flavors paired with superb, fresh ingredients. Her joie d'vie and devotion to her art has been an inspiration for others. Her Gold Bars are considered the gold standard for sophisticated candy bars and are sold in specialty markets from coast to coast. She is the author of Pure Chocolate: Divine Desserts and Sweets from the Creator of Fran’s Chocolates and the owner of Fran’s Chocolates Ltd., located in Seattle and Bellevue, Washington.  

A visual artist and designer that plants his flag at the center of art, nature & science.  Christopher works with reclaimed organisms and natural elements to create breathtaking museum exhibits by transforming exotic insects and tropical sea creatures into astounding works of art.  Marley’s artwork has been exhibited in hundreds of galleries worldwide. His solo exhibitions have been featured at The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, The Beaty Biodiversity Museum in Vancouver B.C., The Houston Museum of Natural Science, The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, the Stamford Art Museum, Los Angeles Museum of Art, WMODA and the Queens Museum. Many of the world’s most exclusive retailers such as Bergdorf Goodman, Saks 5th Avenue (NYC), Gumps (San Francisco), Barney’s (NYC) and La Galerie du Bon Marche (Paris) have also hosted solo exhibitions. His first book Pheromone, The Insect Art of Christopher Marley (Pomegranate, 2008) was named one of the Best Books of 2008 by The Times (UK) and his second book, Biophilia (Abrams, 2015) is a New York Times Bestseller.  He maintains design studios in Willamette Valley, Oregon and in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. On this episode Christopher shares what it was like to grow up with his dad’s dead birds in the freezer next to the popsicles, what he now keeps in his many freezers around the world and how important lighting is to displaying elements of nature. 

A visual artist known for her hand-cut, wall-mounted paper forms and immersive, site-specific sculptures. Crystal’s colorful work exudes wonder and whimsy while being constructed from humble everyday materials like chicken wire and repurposed children’s birthday party tablecloths. Her sprawling installations can be seen bursting off of gallery walls and engulfing the outside of buildings from Lodz, Poland to Burlington, Vermont. She earned a BFA from the Atlanta College of Art in 2004 and received her MFA from the University of Tennessee in 2008. After a brief stint of teaching art at a college-level for five years, Crystal left academia to focus exclusively on her studio practice. She achieved her greatest notoriety for her immense, biomorphic site works that envelop the interiors and exteriors of buildings. These exuberant, boldly colored forms have a robust, eye-popping appeal. She is booked for installations in Miami, Arizona, Italy, Switzerland and France. On this episode, multi-dimensional wonder worker Crystal Wagner explains how she produced some of her most explosive works, tells us what it means to be an art generator and reveals that she has a tattoo of an exacto knife.

A Vice News Tonight correspondent covering stories at the intersection of politics and culture. Dexter is an Emmy-winning journalist plus two nominations and has contributed to Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage while working with the Los Angeles Times. He has a PhD in East Asian studies at Cornell University and is currently splitting his time between a pos-doctorate at Princeton and as documentary filmmaker. Dexter established the world’s largest public collection of Japanese hip-hop at UC Riverside and is writing a book on the topic. He began working in new media as a student director of programming at KUCR Radio, independently producing podcasts as well as music and news programs. He has written on topics as diverse as Internet and youth culture, social justice and video games. On this episode he shares how asking questions leads him to the stories he covers, the unfortunate number of times he has been confused for a protester while out with his camera crew and trying to get his father to crossover from Jazz to Rap. 

A musician and songwriter for over 40 years who rose to the top of the charts as a member of the iconic band The Go-Go’s. Kathy wrote or co-wrote some of the bands most renowned tunes, including the hits Vacation and Head Over Heels. Her journey went from opening for The Rolling Stones to the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine. She returned to Austin to pursue creative opportunities as a public speaker, spokesperson, producer and actor. Kathy is the author of a compelling memoir called All I Ever Wanted—a soundtrack of original music accompanies the book. Several of her songs are featured in the Broadway musical based on The Go-Go’s catalog Head over Heels, currently in regional productions across the country. She still finds time to play guitar in the all-female rock ‘n’ roll band she started called The Bluebonnets. On this episode we hear the story of John Belushi following her band to gigs around the country, how she finishes writing her songs incrementally and how being in a band was like being a member of a family that she really needed. 

Joe Rohde, Experience Architect for Virgin Galactic and veteran Imagineer at Disney, shares insights on immersive experiences, the power of details, and his global travels. Topics include creativity during slow periods, balancing work with personal exploration, dream travel destinations, collaborative creativity in Imagineering, evolving storytelling in theme park design, and embracing curiosity and collaboration in creativity.

A Grammy-nominated comedian and podcaster with 10 appearances on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and 4 appearances on Conan. His debut Comedy Central special, Full-Time Magic, and his debut album, Yelled At By a Clown, reached #1 on the iTunes Comedy Charts and remained on Billboard’s Top Ten Comedy Charts for weeks. Bargatze’s half-hour Netflix special on The Standups, premiered in 2017, and his first solo one-hour Netflix special, The Tennessee Kid, premiered globally to rave reviews in 2019. In 2021, he released his second Netflix special, The Greatest Average American, which received a Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Album. He regularly performs at Bonnaroo, SXSW, Oddball Comedy & Curiosity Festival, and Sasquatch! Music Festival, Clusterfest, and the JFL Montreal Comedy Festival. Nate was featured as one of Esquire's ‘Best New Comedians’ by Jim Gaffigan, one of Marc Maron's ‘Comedians to Watch’ in Rolling Stone, one of Variety’s ‘10 Comics to Watch’ for 2015, and as #1 on Vulture's ‘50 Comedians You Should Know’ in 2015. His weekly podcast, Nateland, tackles the meaningless issues that we face day to day. In this episode Nate shares what it is like to be from a funny family, he gives his picks for the Mount Rushmore of Comedy and we explore the notion of starting a sanctuary in Nate’s name to protect gummy bears.  

A visual designer born in Montreal, raised in Cincinnati, now living in Las Vegas where he serves as co-director with David Copperfield and as David’s design director. Homer is often multi-tasking between conceptual drawing and design, cinematography, theatrical lighting design, script development, illusion staging, and video/music editing and sound design. Homer's illusion designs and cinematography have been featured in David's live show since 1993, several Emmy-award-winning television specials on CBS, and with David's top-rated luxury private island - Musha Cay. Red Safe, David Copperfield's new movie production company, finds Homer collaborating on design, camera blocking, and original concepts for films such as Steve Carell's comedy, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone (hangman illusion), the hit Now You See Me and Paranormal Activity 4. Homer also designed the featured explosive escape in The Amazing Race season finale on CBS, as well as helped devise David Copperfield's vanish and reappearance with Robin Williams on The Crazy Ones. In this episode of the podcast, we discuss Homer’s design style and extraordinary attention to detail, and he shares stories of the responsibility of shooting all the photographs for the book David Copperfield’s History of Magic.