Griffin Newman with Co-Stars Depression, Anxiety, Comedy, Lousy Bikes, The Tick, Kevin Costner, and Woody Allen

Episode 21

9th August 2021

The comedian and actor charts the highs and lows of his career and how persistent mental health obstacles made them even more interesting

Episode notes

You’ll notice that this episode is longer than most of our episodes. That’s just the way it tends to go with Griffin Newman. Episodes of his own podcast, Blank Check, regularly clock in at more than two hours. He acts in films and those often top two hours as well. And although he’s only in his thirties, Griffin has had a long career, growing up in a showbiz-adjacent family and starting in standup while not yet out of middle school. We hear how he quit acting (several times) and always got pulled back in, sometimes for dream-come-true roles like Arthur in The Tick, sometimes for experiences that ended up being nightmares, like acting in and then deeply regretting acting in a Woody Allen movie. Griffin Newman examines the roles that depression and anxiety played in his life decisions and where one can see them poking out in his performances.

Listen to Blank Check with Griffin & David on the podcatcher of your choice. Watch The Tick on Amazon Prime and Masters of the Universe: Revelation on Netflix. Watch The George Lucas Talk Show live Sunday nights 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT on PlanetScum or on YouTube. Follow Griffin Newman on Twitter @grifflightning and on Instagram @GriffLightning.

Thank you to all our listeners who support the show as monthly members of Maximum Fun

Hey, remember, you’re part of Depresh Mode and we want to hear what you want to hear about. What guests and issues would you like to have covered in a future episode? Write us at depreshmode@maximumfun.org.

Help is available right away.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255, 1-800-273-TALK

Crisis Text Line: Text HOME to 741741.

International suicide hotline numbers available here: https://www.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines

The Depresh Mode newsletter is available twice a week. Subscribe for free and stay up to date on the show and mental health issues. https://johnmoe.substack.com/

John’s acclaimed memoir, The Hilarious World of Depression, is available here.

Find the show on Twitter @depreshpod and Instagram @depreshpod.

John is on Twitter @johnmoe.

In this episode...

Guests

  • Griffin Newman

About the show

Join host John Moe (The Hilarious World of Depression) for honest, relatable, and, yes, sometimes funny conversations about mental health. Hear from comedians, musicians, authors, actors, and other top names in entertainment and the arts about living with depression, anxiety, and many other common disorders. Find out what they’ve done to address it, what worked, and what didn’t. Depresh Mode with John Moe also features useful insights on mental health issues with experts in the field. It’s honest talk from people who have been there and know their stuff. No shame, no stigma, and maybe a few laughs.

Like this podcast? Then you’ll love John’s book, The Hilarious World of Depression.

Logo by Clarissa Hernandez.

Get in touch with the show

People

How to listen

Stream or download episodes directly from our website, or listen via your favorite podcatcher!

Share this show

New? Start here...