Laughter Through Tears Is Our Favorite Emotion: Recent Episodes
Laughter Through Tears is Our Favorite Emotion
Queer entertainers Jeff Hiller (HBO's Somebody Somewhere) and Mark Sam Rosenthal (YouTube's West 40s) wax hilarious about some decidedly un-funny life experiences – like the deaths of their parents, betrayal, addiction, and more! Together they prove that tragedy plus time really does equal comedy…and more than a few poignant moments. Life isn't a sitcom and life isn't a Greek tragedy, so Laughter through tears is our favorite emotion. Theme song by Corey TuT. Cover art by Leslie Jager.
Jeff doesn’t cry much, but maybe if he did he wouldn’t crap his pants anymore. The hosts discuss grief and the lessons they’ve taken away from their parents’ deaths – lessons which are VERY different for both of them.
Jeff ruminates on his mother’s old love letters and her non-mom past. Meanwhile Mark Sam would kill for some old love letters because they might provide some answers about his father’s secret life!
Jeff and Mark Sam describe their parents’ actual moments of death. They also discuss fried chicken, funerals, Diane from accounting, and how they each think they’ll die. Possibly from too much fried chicken?
Jeff and Mark Sam talk about their parents’ declines, a visit to an AIDS specialist in Birmingham, and the worst last-cruise-you’ll-ever-take – ever. Also, the worst thing you can say to a dying parent and why ‘90s country music is such a tender balm in trying times.
Jeff and Mark Sam discuss their parents’ taste, politics, and terminal diagnoses – and how both hosts hate the wishy-washy euphemism “passed away.” Can we not just say “died,” people?