Daniel Johnston & Kimya Dawson to perform at In This Together Festival at The Avalon Hollywood this November
A PODCAST, COMEDY, AND MUSIC EVENT FOR MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS
NOVEMBER 13 AT THE AVALON HOLLYWOOD
The In This Together Festival is a one-of-a-kind nonprofit mental health awareness event that features comedians, podcasters, and musicians who are known for their mental health advocacy, authenticity, and vulnerability. We respectfully celebrate those who have struggled with mental illness and adversity.
The podcast portion consists of Mortified & The Mental Illness Happy Hour with guest professional basketball player Royce White. Stand up comedy by Beth Stelling. Music by Deqn Sue, Kimya Dawson of The Moldy Peaches and Daniel Johnston.
More about our performers:
The Mental Illness Happy Hour is a weekly conversation between a guest and comedian/host Paul Gilmartin, focusing on the battles we have in our heads, from medically diagnosed conditions to everyday compulsive negative thinking. The NY Times has called it “A perversely safe place in which he and his guests talk about their fears, addictions and traumatic childhoods.” Guest Royce White has played in the NBA with the Houston Rockets and Sacramento Kings and talks openly about his anxiety disorder that disrupted his professional basketball career.
Beth Stelling is a stand-up comedian, writer and actress. She has appeared on Conan, @midnight, Chelsea Lately, and Jimmy Kimmel Live. Beth is currently a staff writer for Judd Apatow's new HBO series Crashing starring Pete Holmes. In December 2015, a post on Beth's Instagram went viral when she opened up about rape and abuse from her ex-boyfriend. Big ups to Beth for her bravery.
Mortified was hailed a “cultural phenomenon” by Newsweek and celebrated by This American Life, Entertainment Weekly, Time, Wired, The AV Club, The Today Show, and beyond. Witness adults sharing their most embarrassing childhood artifacts (journals, letters, poems, and lyrics) in order to reveal stories about their lives.
Kimya Dawson is a Grammy winning, platinum selling singer songwriter most widely known for her work on the JUNO soundtrack and her former band, The Moldy Peaches. She has released 6 solo albums, and has been featured in Rolling Stone, Spin, Entertainment Weekly, and the NY Times.
Daniel Johnston has spent the past three decades exposing his heartrending tales of unrequited love, cosmic mishaps, and existential torment to an ever-growing international cult audience. Johnston has had the support of many famous fans, from Matt Groening (creator of The Simpsons), Johnny Depp, to David Bowie and Kurt Cobain.
Daniel is diagnosed with schizophrenia. His experience with developing the disorder in his young adult years is chronicled in the documentary The Devil In Daniel Johnston, which won Best Director at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.
The Mission of In This Together is to create an environment where mental health is addressed in a safe, accepting, and entertaining way, without being too “touchy-feely” about it. While we take the issue of mental illness seriously, it’s just as important to acknowledge that it’s the spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down.
We are hosting a Support Group Room in the upstairs of The Avalon venue that is available to all festival goers and to the public. This is a safe place where anyone can go to find support and resources in a support group setting, with sessions being held throughout the duration of the festival.
Follow The In This Together Festival on Twitter: @ITTFest and Like on Facebook.
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