Stay ConnectedDeath is Hilarious is a podcast that talks about grief in a humorous, realistic, and death positive way with comedians and professionals in the grief space.
Tawny Platis, founder of Death is Hilarious Grief Relief Foundation and comedy content creator, started the podcast after her husband, George, passed away in November of 2019. They had a comedy podcast together called The Dirty Bits, which can still be found on this feed.
Watch the show live on Instagram @thatdeathpod
Grief is a Sneaky Bitch podcast creator, host, and fellow widow Lisa Keefauver MSW (reimagininggrief.com) joins me to chat about what inspired the title of her show, what it means to “live from the neck up,” how the lonely and puritanical- Judeo-Christian-capitalist-suck it up-pull yourself up by your bootstraps way of grieving in the United States does everyone a severe disservice, way “good vibes only” is bs, welcoming in uncomfortable emotions, taking comedy seriously (we see the irony), creating tension by simply being the widow in the room, feeling pressured to not bring everyone down with your mood during grief, making sure you don’t stay locked into coping strategies, staying up all night watching comedy in order to deal with grief, our mutual love for John Stewart, the shitty things people say to try to “fix” your grief, getting hit on at my husband’s funeral, and “widow rules.” For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
Stormy Gail is an artist who creates big mood and dark humor pieces of art like comics and pins that focus on skeletons, death, depression, and trauma and is also a
member of the Dead Parent Club. Find her work at stormygailart.com
In this episode, Stormy and I talked about caring for her terminally ill mother, feeling pressured to make others comfortable with how we deal with grief, the graphic images burned into our brains from being with the bodies of our loved ones, the judgement we get for coping publically and online by others who have not experienced grief, trauma, or loss, how our experiences influence our art, how people don’t view comedy as a legitimate art form, how trauma makes you funny, how much we love comedian Mimi Hayes, our therapists using us for our comedy, how creating art while caring for her mother in the ICU changed Stormy’s life, sluttery being hereditary, and why she draws skeletons instead of bunny rabbits (hint: it’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas’” fault).
For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
My friend Michael from the Unpopular Culture Podcast joined me over the weekend to chat about why dark comedies don’t do well at the box office, why people are uncomfortable and judgemental when it comes to using dark humor to cope, the lack of empathy from others during grief, some of the worst things people say to grieving people (and what you should actually say), validation, the echo chambers of social media contributing to society’s lack of empathy, puritanical culture dictating the common response to grief in the United States, Dia de los Muertos, taboo expressions of grief, the origin of gallows humor, dialectical behavior therapy, and how Mad Max relates to grieving. Michael is a psychologist with a background in forensics and is currently a professor at Antioch University where he teaches classes such as Abnormal Psychology, Psycho-diagnostics & Treatment Planning, Psychopathology, Developmental Psychology, and Counseling Theory. For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
Shyni from the Lipstick Laundry podcast joins me in this episode to comedically share about how she isn’t super fond of the word “widow,” how losing her husband gave her the courage to be open on her podcast, living in toxic heaven as a Cancer sign with an Aries, how cursing is a form of coping, what it’s like finally finding the other dark humor widows, being judged for grieving (no matter how you do it), what it’s like being widowed right before the pandemic, how the “here’s what you were doing a year ago” photo feature sucks for widows, being receptive to husband ghost sex, Jamaican widow traditions and rituals, wearing your dead spouse’s clothes, how losing a spouse is unlike any other loss, and Shiny asks Tawny about being grateful for not having a child as a widow. For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com. You can support the podcast by subscribing, becoming a patron at patreon.com/deathishilarious, or by simply sharing the show with your friends and on social media.
I (Tawny) recently sat down to talk with Lisa & Lori, the creators of the Death Deck- which is a “lively” party game that lets you explore a topic we’re all obsessed with but often afraid to discuss.
In this lighter episode, we talk about how humor can help us deal with tough topics, Lori talks about how she found her sense of humor again after loss, and Lisa shares one of her favorite memories of her Grandma B (CW, I also briefly tell how I started using humor, which includes mentioning finding my husband's body and how that initially made me want to take my life).
Lori is a UCLA graduate who has not only worked in comedy but has held titles like director, producer, author... and widow. Lisa is a Hospice Social Worker who is passionate about helping people cope with illness, dying, and grief. The two met when Lori's husband Joe was taken to hospice after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. After initially doing some grief work together, the two went on to create The Death Deck together! Check out the game here: https://thedeathdeck.com/
And if you’d like your own Death Deck, we’ll be giving one away on Instagram this week! Simply follow us at @thatdeathpod and leave a comment on the picture of the deck for your chance to win.
For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com.
In this episode, Tawny chatted with Marla Polk, author of Grief Survivor: A Love Story. Marla talks about how her dry humor helped her cope, how she preserves her energy during grief, and how she "adopted" a cat with striking similarities to her late husband.
Marla is a communications coach specializing in helping those in broken relationships heal through communication tools she developed as a mediator. She’s also the Managing Partner for Resolution Solutions, a conflict resolution consulting company, and the President of the Board of Directors for the nonprofit Abilene Palm House, an organization that mentors at-risk individuals and works specifically with women who have been survivors of violent crimes.
In this episode, I sat down to talk with fellow San Diegan and kindred spirit Michelle Miller, author of “Boys, Booze, and Bathroom Floors: Forty-Six Tales about the Collision of Suicide Grief and Dating,” a memoir that shares how she used dating to cope with her 29-year-old husband’s infidelity and suicide, as well as the sequel, “Vodka Soup For The Widowed Soul: Stories of Grief, Alcohol, Infidelity, Cursing, and Hope.” Michelle is also the creator of my very favorite account on Instagram that shares the DARKEST memes about widowhood.
We chat about how Michelle's story convinced me not to commit suicide, how trauma makes you funny, diving headfirst into sluttery to cope, being blamed and shamed for your spouse's death, losing most of your friends, the weird way that Americans grieve, and other light-hearted, fluffy widow topics.
For more information about Death Is Hilarious, visit deathishilarious.com To get in touch, email deathishilarious@gmail.com.
In this episode, Tawny sits down with Katie “The Foul Mouthed Widow” Pettigrew to chat about old acquaintances milking your spouse's death, connecting with other people who understand your specific grief, the un-fluffy side of widowhood, the difference between dark humor and DARK humor, wearing your wedding dress to your husband’s funeral, being guilted for the way we grieve, and celebrating your wins while still grieving your spouse. Enjoy Katie’s work by visiting foulmouthedwidow.com and following her on Instagram @foulmouthedwidow. To learn more about Death Is Hilarious, visit DeathIsHilarious.com To get in touch email DeathIsHilarious@gmail.com
In this episode, Tawny sat down to chat with comedian Roscoe Burnems about his groundbreaking special "Traumedy," how he started using comedy to cope with trauma, his clingy two-year-old, mourning Chadwick Boseman, moving past unhealthy coping mechanisms, grieving as a guy, and much more. Learn more about Roscoe at roscoeb.webs.com. Learn more about Death Is Hilarious at DeathIsHilarious.com. Get in touch with Tawny and Sami by emailing DeathIsHilarious@gmail.com
In this episode, Tawny sat down to chat with Mimi Hayes. Mimi Hayes is the author of "I'll Be OK, It's Just a Hole in My Head (A Memoir On Heartbreak and Head Trauma)."
She’s also a comedian, podcaster, and brain hemorrhage survivor. Mimi talks about dumping her trauma on other humans during stand-up, a nurse with the most abrupt bedside manner in the world, having a field day with a bleeding brain, using humor to avoid reality, fighting for her life, and how friends and family change during trauma.
“I have grown up with a permanent smile on my face. And then I had a brain hemorrhage. And I smiled some more. I smiled more because smiling makes you laugh. And when you laugh, you forget for a second that your brain is actually bleeding which makes absolutely no sense. Humor has always been and will always be my defense mechanism. I don't claim to know much, but I do know this: If you can survive a brain surgery with your sense of humor intact, it's a job well done.” - Mimi Hayes
Learn more about Mimi by visiting MimiHayes.com
For more information about Death Is Hilarious checkout DeathIsHilarious.com.
To get in touch email deathishilarious@gmail.com
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