In this episode of The Antidote, Amy and Grace connect with comedian, writer, and actor Solomon Georgio about his favorite kind of gossip, the practice of being kind to yourself, and karaoke.

Amy and Grace share their bummer news of the week –  scam robotexts have surged in recent months, and the shift to remote work drove over 60% of the house-price surge. They also share their antidotes: change of season, and a new pair of glasses.

This week’s Creative Tap-In: 

“I feel like the youthful experience is what drives the creativity, and I feel like experience and maturity as an adult, experience as an elder statesman, THAT refines it.”

-Black Thought

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FULL TRANSCRIPT

Amy The world is a dumpster fire. I'm Amy.

Grace And I'm Grace.

Amy And we want to f---in help.

Grace We are comedy writers in Los Angeles, so we're taking those bad news lemons and making them into Lemonade. Beyonce reference here.

Amy We talk about cultural moments we love.

Grace Talk to people we adore.

Amy Crushes we have.

Grace And self-care we stan.

Amy During these trying times. We all need a show that focuses on joy.

Grace This is The Antidote. Hi, everyone. Welcome to another week of The Antidote. You are our constant antidote. So thank you for being here.

Amy Thank you, listeners. And also it's fall time, you know, and I'm not trying to be like a Trader Joe's ad or anything, but I know I said my antidote a few weeks back. My antidote was a Trader Joe's Overnight Oats, and I went to Trader Joe's yesterday and they had pumpkin flavored overnight oats. I had to get them. I had to snatch up.

Grace So you love the pumpkin. You like the pumpkin and the fall spices that are your jam?

Amy Well, I like a seasonal snack. I won't even say it's fall specific. I think there's something fun even outside of Trader Joe's when the seasons change and you get to have something that's just for that season. But I think I'll be honest, I think Trader Joe's kind of overdoes it with the pumpkin, like, you don't need pumpkin mochi and like pumpkin burritos and pumpkin eggrolls. Calm down. Yeah, they do too much.

Grace Calm down. You try- you have a pumpkin patch that's why you got so much pumpkin but do you like I did I like I do you know it's so interesting it's always the end of the year where we get, like special snacks or whatever, special foods. I'm more of a Christmas snack person because I love, like, like like a peppermint brownie or like, you know, like peppermint in. I guess I just like peppermint. So that's usually Christmas. So I do I do enjoy those. Or, you know, at Starbucks, they used to have this thing they probably still do. It's like a cranberry like cake thing. Oh, it's got like a little frosting and like, little dried cranberries.

Amy I remember this.

Grace Yeah, yeah. It's very yummy. So that is part of the reason my waistline is what it is. But I. I love a special. Yeah, I do like a special snack. I mean, you don't really see that as much in spring and summer. It's usually fall and winter. So we're getting into that season.

Amy I do want to shout out an Instagram account that our amazing producer just told us about called Black Girls in Trader Joe's. And I'm like, This account is my life because it's literally like, what Black people buy a Trader Joe's.

Grace Yeah, it is different. We like different things, you know, we like a little spice in our set. You know, I do really think there are Black snacks.

Amy There are Black snacks. She literally took a pecan pralines. That's a Black snack.

Grace That's a Black snack.

Amy Organic maple butter. That's a Black snack. I'm looking at things that she's posted recently. Banana pudding flavored ice cream. Come on, Black snack.

Grace That's the Blackest snack I've ever heard.

Amy Mama's biscuits. That's Black as hell.

Grace Trader Joe's. You appropriating our culture?

Amy Is. Is Mr. Joe actually, was he Black? Maybe he got some Black in him. Maybe he want some Black in him.

Grace Way back. You know, he did a he did a 23 and me and he's like 10% from the Nigeria.

Amy Aren't you all?

Grace Yeah. Well, you know, speaking of a snack, we have Solomon Georgio, my beautiful coworker, coming on very soon. So we had a really fun conversation, so we can't wait for you guys to hear that.

Amy He a tall glass of water. You can't see it on the podcast, so you're going to have to follow him on Instagram.

Grace Yep. So but Amy, Amy, we wouldn't need the antidote if we didn't have something to get an antidote from.

Amy Yeah, starting now up top with our bummer news of the week. I'm sure you've noticed this, ok. Scam robo-texts are increasingly skyrocketing. A new source let us know that the Federal Communications Commission issued an advisory last month about substantial increases in scam robo text complaints. The agency said this, along with reports by non-governmental robocall and robotics blocking services, has made it clear, quote, that text messages are increasingly being used by scammers to target American consumers. Yeah, I get texts all the time. The FCC has implemented several steps to stop unwanted robocalls in recent months, including a rule that phone carriers must implement caller ID authentication to help reduce scam calls in block by default, any illegal or unwanted calls based on, quote, reasonable call analytics. But I'll tell you, the caller I.D. thing doesn't really work. It does say scam likely but then also sometimes it's just somebody name and I'm just confused.

Grace Yeah. I mean, here's how I feel. I'll be. Now I have a little apple watch. So whenever I get a tech like this with my breasts or whatever, I'm just like, Oh, look at all these text again. I'm popular. And then some brand offering like 3% off some socks I bought like ten years ago. Like how you still got my number? Okay. You know, and then sometimes you do the little stop too quick thing and it does not work. They still they still be blowing my sh-- up.

Amy For anyone who's having trouble with robo-texts. One thing that I did was go into the settings on my phone and just go into text message, just scroll all the way down and say Filter unknown senders, and then at least you can keep them separate from your inbox in your texts. But that's not the only bit of bummer news today. The other thing is that I read in Bloomberg that remote work drove over 60% of the House price surge. The shift to working from home drove more than half of the increase in home and rent prices during the pandemic and will likely drive up costs and inflation going forward as the shift becomes permanent, according to research from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. In fact, Grace and I were actually reading on Yahoo! Finance exactly why this is happening. Basically, home sellers across the country have become discouraged by the slowing housing market as higher mortgage rates reduce house buying demand. But at the same time, the tight supply of homes for sale has caused more would be buyers to be locked into the rental space. So.

Grace Yeah, I mean, rents are getting higher.

Amy Yeah, rent is supposed to be a more economical alternative to buying and now renting sucks too.

Grace Yeah, I mean, this. It's just really hard that, you know, people need a place to live. People need a roof to have over their head. I mean, I'm exploring buying a home. I think I've talked about this before in the podcast and yeah, it's, it's disturbing. Like, what do I do? Like, part of me is just like, Oh, should I rent until the market cools down? But then also rent is higher now. So it's kind of like what is the better financial decision? And I was telling Amy recently, I was just like, Oh yeah, I feel like I need to like sit down with like a money person and have them explain everything to me because it's sort of like people are just like I've talked to real estate agents, of course, who are just like buy now, you should buy now because this is the time to buy. And then I've talked to other people who are just like buying is a scam. Like, you. Like maybe when people used to live in the same home for like ten, 20 years, it was good. But now like, you know, there can be an argument made for renting long term because it keeps more of your money liquid, you know. So it's it's interesting like these debates and I think that the conventional knowledge of buying a house is great for everyone. It needs to be sort of adjusted. You know, I think it's just not a one size fits all thing for anyone. I think that, you know, you should take an evaluation of like where you live, like how the housing market is like. Yeah, like what? What are the property taxes like? What are the mortgage rates? I think there's just a lot of factors, but I think that our parents generation for sure, we're told that like you must buy a house in order to be successful as a human being in America. But I think that we should just all be be investigating it more instead of making it sort of like a one size fits all, you know, situation.

Amy Yeah. Yeah. Especially as economic disparity increases. Wow.Like, yeah. How do you feel after discussing this, Grace.

Grace Not the best. I mean, I keep - we keep doing stories about the housing market. I'm just like, girl. What you finna do? It's like what you gonna do about this thing. I don't want to live in a I mean, I apartment building is lovely, but I've just outgrown it. I'm just too, like, crotchety and old now. To be living with these. Like, I live above a musician and next to a DJ, so you know what that's like. So I'm just like, you know what? This is a young woman's game. This, this sh--, this. This is a young woman's game. I can't be. I can't be out here like this, though. So I need to figure out what I'm going to do. Now.

Amy This is exactly why we need the antidote. We need a break from all this. So.

Grace Okay, let's get into it.

Amy This is the segment where we tell you about the culture we consumed and things we did this week that made us feel better about the bummer news. What was your antidote this week, Grace?

Grace Well, like I've mentioned before, I am in New York City for work. And so my antidote is very it's very basic. I guess it's just like the weather because, you know, I live in sunny California usually. And, you know, I've been there for about four years. And the one beautiful thing about L.A. that nobody can ever question is the weather. It's very consistent. It's usually between 70 and 80 every day, and that's in the winter. And in the summer, you might have some hotter days and a flu colder day. But typically during the day, during daylight hours, it's usually between 70 and 80. And it might drop down a little chillier at night. But for the most part, you can rely that's probably not going to rain. It's probably not going to be cold enough for you to have a real winter coat. And that's where I've been living for the past four years. And, you know, during the pandemic and illness especially, I really just stayed in L.A. for that time. So now I'm back in New York and it's fall and it's just every day is a new adventure. I love that. When I got here, it was still pretty warm. So I was wearing some of my L.A. clothes. I busted out my sandals. I had a little this cute little virus that actually I learned about it from Monroe Steele, my favorite influencer. She is like a little white crop top and a little like Mary white skirt. And, you know, I was wearing stuff like that the first week and then halfway through the first week it started to get a little chilly. I was like, okay, it's a little bit in the air somewhere, some jeans and a sweater and let me throw this little jacket on. And but this week, it's been a little rainy. So, you know, I busted out my umbrella. You know, that gets very little use in Los Angeles. So I have my little umbrella.

Amy Did you put on some boots?

Grace Yeah, some boots. I wore my UGG boots this morning, brought my little umbrella and I was like it was kind of sprinkling. And I just walking down the street in New York listening to Beyonce because when am I not listening to Beyonce? And it was just so nice. And I just love boots and coats and sweaters. And, you know, I have those things in L.A. and I wear them occasionally. But it feels necessary in New York, you know, to say sometimes I wear a sweatshirt, now I am just like, girl, it's fully 80 degrees outside. It's like why?Why do you have a sweatshirt on? But in out in New York, it's just like, oh, I have a sweatshirt on because it's actually cold.

Amy Yeah. I love this. I actually really you're you're making me realize like I really love fall fashion as well as for snacks and you saying this, I'm like, yeah, I, I love a jacket, I love a sweatshirt, I love a boot. And like L.A., you're right. It is like sometimes a little forced. It's like the weather drops to 68 degrees and everyone's like in a full parka outside, like, yeah, we get to dress like it's cold.

Grace No, no, me and the showrunner of the show that I'm on. Hi, Danielle. So we both talked about how like when we first got to L.A., she's she's been living there much longer than me, but like you, I would make fun of people. Like, I remember my first show in L.A. I was just like, it was like 60 degrees out and people were in full jackets. And I was just like, Yeah, guys of, like, little bitches. Like, What are you doing? I'm like, I, it's like it's literally not cold. And now I am that person. I am that girl.

Amy I saw one time in L.A., saw someone wearing a scarf with a short sleeved shirt. And I was like, Wow, you really trying to act like it's chilly.

Grace F---ing L.A. Yeah, I just, you know, I get so I'm really excited. And then also New York fashion in general. I mean, it's just different. It's different. It's like sleeker, it's black, it's like, you know, very sophisticated in in certain spaces. So I'm also excited to like shake up like I wear a lot of athleisure in L.A. because what everybody does. So I'm excited to just shake up pieces and like, go shopping for, like, new little things that I've probably just saved to wear. What next time I'm in New York again? So. So, yeah, I mean, it's it's been lovely not waking up in the morning and kind of not knowing fully what the weather is going to be like because it it just reminds me also of just growing up and being in New York. For all those years. It's just it's giving me like the warm fuzzies and I am excited to be like fully cozy.

Amy I'm with you. I completely agree. I love being cozy. Yeah. Nancy reference.

Grace That was that was my antidote. What was yours this week, Amy?

Amy My antidote was I got a new pair I'm getting. They haven't arrived yet. I'm getting a new pair of glasses.

Grace Oh. Let's discuss what it would - what are they like?

Amy Well, first of all, I you know, I had to go to the eye doctor, and they send me all these, like, alerts, like, it's time. It's time. Please come see us. Please. Your eyes need us. And I was, like, all panics. And I went and I was like, Oh, I took so long to come, didn't I? And they're like, No, you're almost a year to the day. I actually congratulated my eye doctor because I was like, Oh, you send those reminders at the right time because it took me like two months to pay attention. And they're like, Yeah, we, we does this. So but I was coming out and I really like my glasses during the pandemic. I switched to like these like thinner gold frames that are Ray-Bans and I really like them. But when I went to the eye doctor, I was going to just swap out the lenses and then I was kind of like, Let me try a new frame. And but someone recently told me that my gold frames, like they kind of when they think of me, they think of me with these gold frames. And I was like, I like that because I used to always wear, like, thick black, like, "I'm a writer" frames. Like I can't see, you know, I'm moody, I'm dark. And then like during the pandemic, I was just like, everything is so dark. I want to have brightness around me. And I started, like, getting my nails a little louder and getting gold frames because I was just like, I just want to look at myself on the zoom and be happy that I look animated or something.

Grace Yeah, they call that like us, like serotonin dressing or something.

Amy Oh, yeah. Oh, sh--.

Grace Yeah. There's like a actually a name for it. Like bright, bright colors. Oof! What is it called? Dopamine dressing. That's what it's called. Dopamine dressing.

Amy But I yeah, I was just like, oh, I'm tired, I'm sad, let me put some bright on my face. And so I went and I chose these new glasses that my eye doctor and I'm excited. They're the same gold, but they're going to be more square and. Okay. And the reason why I'm choosing this as my antidote is because I think glasses are very for me, I'm like super almost blind and I'm like, so they're very functional for me and being able to say, no, I want them to be part of my fashion and like have them be something that I like, look forward to putting on instead of just like I need to see is something that I've sort of been stepping into more because when I had to make the switch from context glasses, I was kind of sad. My eyes were and I quote, starved for oxygen. So my. My eye doctor said my.

Grace Are my eyes oxygenated? I don't know. You know, I haven't been to the eye doctor since I was a child.

Amy You should go, because it's not just about vision. Grace has perfect vision, but it's not just about vision. They can see if you're getting glaucoma, they can tell if you have high blood pressure

Grace Yeah, I have that in my family.

Amy Yeah, you should go. So, yeah, guys go to the eye doctor. Not even if you can see. But I used to be I was kind of sad when I first had to transition to glasses. And the more I started to embrace, no, it's a fashion statement, and it's you choosing how you present yourself. The more I've enjoyed wearing glasses, so I'm excited for them to arrive. It'll be like a gift to me, my own personal B and C box from my optometrist. So yeah. Yeah. I will say when it's rainy. Since your antidote was weather, when it's rainy, wearing glasses and riding my bike and there I walk inside they fog up. I'm like, Oh, I hate this, but.

Grace Yeah, I would think so. Yeah. I mean, I, I love that. I love that there's something that you're going to put on your body that makes you smile.

Amy Every single day. Every single day. And so, listeners, if there's something that you can do, go, go outside, bring some fresh air, enjoy the weather as your antidote, and then maybe choose something pretty that's just for you to put on.

Grace Yes. A little dopamine dressing by yourself, you know, whether it's glasses or just a new like on color sweatshirt or because most of the country is really going into the cooler weather right now, which is great.

Amy Yeah. If you guys tried any of our antidotes at home, share them with us using the hashtag. That's my antidote. Or leave us a voicemail at 83368436831 more time. That's 8336843683. We'll be back after the break. Welcome back to the antidote. We have a special guest today who is it Grace?

Grace Our guest today is a brilliant comedian, actor, writer and overall motherf---ing delight. He's written for shows like Shrill, High Fidelity and the upcoming Netflix show Survival of the Thickest with Me. And let me tell you, he fine, too, in and out of drag. Okay. You can see for yourself because he's appeared on shows like Drunk History, Two Dope Queens Crashing and Hacks. Please welcome the host of the Juice podcast and one of my favorite humans, Solomon Georgio.

Solomon Georgio It was too nice. That was too nice. Can you do it again and be mean.

Grace Be mean. Okay? What can I. say.

Amy He's so good looking. It makes me angry.

Grace He is a trash person. And he said some mean things every day.

Solomon Georgio Well, that's actually very true.

Grace And his wig wall is not that fabulous. That's a lie.

Amy That's a lie.

Oh, we can back up. We can back up.

Grace I'm lying. I'm just struggling to come up with negative things to say.

Amy Solomon is very impressive, but we are here to talk about your many, many, many accomplishments. Okay? We're here to get deep.

Grace So let us check in first. How are you feeling today? Like, for real, not small talk. You know. Real tea. 

Solomon Georgio You know what? Today was a very. It's it's been I've actually been very good at taking care of myself these past few weeks, so I'm feeling pretty relaxed. I'm at ease.

Grace Oh, yeah. Now, you just came back from Palm Springs, right?

Solomon Georgio Yes.

Amy Palm Springs will do that to you. M

Solomon Georgio Mm hmm. I was just by the pool drinking pina coladas. Yeah.

Amy I love that. I love that you're so relaxed. I love that Palm Springs vibe you out. So let's keep those good vibes going. We need that right now.

Grace This show is called The Antidote because life is hard and we all need different antidotes to deal with all the B.S.. So what is your antidote? In other words, what is something non-work-related that's bringing you joy this week or this month?

Solomon Georgio I'm very I'm very, very good at at being allow and being kind to myself. I'm very that's kind of a very integral thing that I always do. I tend to create a lot of self obstacles. And what I do is I'm now at the place where I give myself a lot of permission to do things. And that's kind of that's usually kind of my like my antidote is be like, be like, be mad, be annoyed, be frustrated and go out and do whatever you need to do. But mostly that involves just getting drunk and flirting with boys.

Amy Well, how did you get into the practice of being kinder to yourself? Like, how did you start to practice self-love in that way?

Solomon Georgio For me specifically, it was always just a need to be an overachiever. And and I think that's like it was also like part of like, hustle culture. Like, I think the millennial curse is hustle culture, grinding, working every so every single hour you can possibly work. And I'm not thinking like like that that toxic positivity is what it's called.

Grace Yeah.

Solomon Georgio And I essentially was like, I am working hard. I am doing too much. What am I? And so, yeah, you accomplish a lot out of it, but you don't appreciate those accomplishments. And then you try to focus on something even bigger and you're like, What am I? I'm not. I'm. I'm lost in the shuffle. I'm all I am is a list of accomplishments. And now I'm like, I'm just I'm just Solomon now I'm just like you. You're allowed to do whatever you want. You've done so much in your life that if you decide to retire this moment, you could.

Grace Yeah, you better do it. That's right.

Amy I have a lot.

Grace I mean, don't retire yet because we still need you.

Amy Look at her try to push you out of the industry. You better get gone.

Solomon Georgio It's just mostly it's. Mostly just not doing that thing where I'm like, I have 90 jobs at once. Yeah, it's just doing my I'm taking it because I just it's immigrant mindset. I'm like, I'm still going to work hard, but it's like just two jobs.

Amy Yeah, that's, that's a really good practice. I have to be honest. I have always been someone that the fewer things I have on my plate, nothing gets done. I kind of have to stack it. And but then there's like a tipping point, right? Where it's like, Oh, it has become over sex. And I'm like, and then suddenly everything's going to the wayside. But there is like this, like a window of like, okay, don't put too many things, but it comes from we're all immigrants on this little f---ing zoom. And like, that's that's where it comes from. Is that like we just got in this country? Don't f--- it up. Keep striving.

Grace My mom used to tell me that they could send me back. No, like my mom. Like she used to tell me and my brother, they could send me back. To make me good.

Amy Wait. That was a threat. She said, like, do the dishes or they'll send you back.

Grace No. It wasn't anything like that. She's just like, you know, you guys, you know, you have citizenship, but it's conditional. They can send you back. So she's like, they could send you back. Like, if you do anything to wrong.

Solomon Georgio And that condition is me.

Amy If I report you.

Grace If you like, commit a felony. I think she was trying to keep us out of jail.

Amy Oh, my God.

Solomon Georgio So great. That's effective.

Grace Yeah, it was effective. I was like, Oh, no, I don't even know. The people back there so I got to be good.

Amy That's hilarious. My mom did used to threaten CPS. She would be like, If you if you act up, I'll call CPS. And I'm like, What? But you would get in trouble, lady.

Grace Yeah, they would put you in jail. And then take me away.

Solomon Georgio Yeah, but I also it's it's an effective threat because, like. But then you'd be gone, so.

Amy Yeah, my biggest trouble would be out of this house.

Grace Jail sounds peaceful after taking care of these damn kids.

Amy But yes, that immigrant hustle mentality like quieting that voice, that's really telling.

Solomon Georgio My, my also, I think specifically just saying, no, I'm very good at that now. I used to not be. I used to be very much like. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Now I'm like, you know what? No. I ain't going to do that.

Grace You know what. Also. So, I mean, I feel like we've talked about this before, that we were in our thirties when we got our first big break as far as writing or whatever goes. And so I think that when you wait a little bit, then when your agents or your managers are coming to you like, how about this? You're just like, Oh, I have to take it like. Nobody would. Like I can't even get fired in this town? You know what I'm saying for so long? So I think that, you know, that, at least for me, contributes to it too, is just like, Oh, I feel blessed to have these opportunities because I had to really fight to get here. So it feels like weird sometimes to be turning down so much. But yeah, I've gotten good at it too because I like sleep.

Amy Oh, sleep is.

Solomon Georgio I bought my first brand new bed, like probably the first on my own like three years ago, three or four years ago. And I was like, from this point on, I'm going to spend as much time in this as possible.

Grace So tell me what's the mattress? What's the name of the mattress like? What you working with?

Solomon Georgio I got. It's I went I went for the Casper knockoff called Zionists. Starts with a Z. And it's, it's I feel like it's the same quality, but it's half the price.

Amy Yeah, okay.

Grace Zionist. That is a tip from Solomon Georgio. Friends, if you want a Casper mattress but you want to spend all that money, get a Zionist.

Amy Unless Casper becomes one of our sponsors in which I will renege that statement. Play your cards right, Casper.

Solomon Georgio And also if Casper becomes a sponsor for my podcast. I never mentioned that.

Amy Well, let's talk about your podcast just a little bit. You know, it's called The Juice, and I know it's based on gossip, but the episodes I've listened to are so, so funny. I want to hear about what's your favorite type of gossip?

Solomon Georgio I like I like workplace gossip. Like, it's just because I'm like as much as I love celebrity gossip, it's just I feel like there's an inundation that's been happening with it. So like anything like, like especially the deep, you can do this industry, the more like a, like you feel almost like separate from like regular culture. And then now like so every chance I get, like. It's just anyone who has a piece of information, whether it's true or not. I do not care about truth when it comes to gossip. At all. I don't.

Grace I mean, it's called gossip.

Solomon Georgio Exaggerate.

Grace It's not called the truth.

Amy I love that you love workplace gossip because my mom works at a hospital and she is always sharing gossip and I won't share the gossip or she'll be like, Why are you trying to get me fired? They can send me back. I'm not going to share the gossip. But she there are times where she'll just be like, Oh, the latest at the hospital is this. And I'm just like. I'm just eating it up because it's people I don't know. Their lives are in shambles. It's so beautiful to hear, like a story of someone else's drama and just being like, I wonder how it turns out. It's like your own TV show in your head.

Solomon Georgio Like my favorite feeling in the world is to watch somebody, like, sit down, but like, let me tell you something. And you're like, that is exactly the way you should start a sentence when you like. Like when people are like, try to do small talk and be like, how how's the weather? Like, f--- that. Just be like, you want to hear some sh--? I'm like, Yes, I do.

Amy Boom. And I'm like, Oh, we're in it.

Yeah. First of all, that's when, when a Black person says, boom, that's when, you know, that's about to be fine. You know what I'm saying? That's when it's going to be a very good story. So, Solomon.

Solomon Georgio Yes?

Grace What would you say is your proudest non-career accomplishment that you've had?

Solomon Georgio Oh, wow. You know what? I'm be honest with you. I do karaoke every once in a while, and, uh. And I'm a terrible singer. However, I learned to manipulate my voice in such a way throughout several songs where I only went out. And those are my monets.

Amy What are the songs? I love karaoke.

Solomon Georgio Uh, Harry Belafonte jumped the line at least one at every three times. The conga line starts because of me.

Grace Oh, my God.

Amy That's incredible. What's another one?

Solomon Georgio The. There's also. I do Lionel Richie all night long.

Amy Oh.

Grace Classic.

Solomon Georgio Loggins Footloose every once in a while. And I do a pitch perfect version of Under the Sea.

Grace Oh, my God.

Amy I love karaoke. And my opening song is Always Kissed by Prince. I won't even sing a song until I have sung Kissed by Prince.

Grace So I definitely miss singing a lot. So sometimes karaoke takes on too much significance in my life because I'm like, Oh my God, this is my moment that these bitches don't even know I can actually sing. And then I go and then yes, somebody will grab another mic. And I was like, No, no, no, no.

Amy What are they doing? I don't want to miss my moment.

Grace And it always like, upsets me. But you can't, like, be a poor sport. So you're just kind of like, Oh. I guess you're singing it with me now, Angela.

Solomon Georgio Oh, no. I say no.

Amy I always say, you need something. You need me. You need someone else to help you because I become a real ham. Like once I've been unleashed that karaoke, I can't sit down again because. I think it's the same thing. Grace Like I said, choir in high school, like I did reality theater sh--. And I took opera lessons as a kid. So it's like. As an adult, where are you singing for people? And something just, like, taps into me when at a karaoke booth, especially when it's a private room with your friends that I'm just like, You need me to sing on that, too? Oh, I know this one.

Grace You want to do backup. You need a backup dancers.

Amy I'll be happy I'm up there dancing.

Solomon Georgio My voice isn't prepped. 

Grace See I'm warmed up. My vocals are warmed. So whatever you need.

Amy I'm so sorry.

Grace Oh, I can rap the Jay-Z part in that Beyonce song. I could. I could go Hov.

Solomon Georgio Oh, there's harmony. There you go. There's there's a melody, too.

Amy It's really insufferable.

Solomon Georgio See, I'm not. I'm not that good. So.

Amy Oh, Solomon, the worst part is I'm not that good. I just love it that much. Like.

Solomon Georgio Oh, I. Don't like I will sing my f---. Like, if I'm. I will sing loudly from that point on. Like you, if you are near the stage, you'll be able to hear my voice in the crowd. I just won't grab a mic. 

Amy Respect.

Grace So, Solomon, actually, it's really funny. Our researcher found something that we actually talked about today at work, which is slugging.

Amy Oh my God.

Solomon Georgio Yeah.

Grace So what turned you have gotten into, you know, you you have beautiful skin and you're into skin care. Yeah. So explain to me what slugging is for our listeners.

Solomon Georgio It's pretty much just any petroleum based products. Uh, like, I like, like a, like a Vaseline or, or a, like I use a curvy healing ointment, which is also petroleum based, and you just put a thin layer of it on your face. And I don't know, like, it just kind of locks in moisture. It's it's a great, like, skin preserver somehow. I'm not I'm not too sure about the science behind it, but yeah, you do. I do. I do. Piercing myself like two, three times a week. And it it's been like the coolest thing for the texture on my face is been.

Amy Do you do  it in the morning at night, or.

Solomon Georgio I just do this, I do at night. I sleep with it on throw down my satin pillow case and.

Amy Slide around on that thing.

Solomon Georgio And clock out.

Grace Amy's, you're just so so sexual. So you can slide around on that thing.

Amy That's just-

Grace I think we're just talking about his face. I can't help it. It's just my voice.

Solomon Georgio It's just how I sound.

Amy But I still remember like, yes, when I was a child, my mom just like taking Vaseline and just like smearing it on my face. And I'm like, oh.

Solomon Georgio Yeah, my mom would cover up. My mom would cover us up in like mineral oil in the morning. It's essentially it is a black mom trick. Like this is not like they called it a new term, but it is an old trick from every black mother to book. Cover your children in Vaseline.

Grace Yeah, like coconut oil, shea butter and all these things that were, quote unquote discovered of recently. Black people have been doing it for literal centuries. Yeah. Yeah.

Amy But I do like the idea of even turning that moment into a self-care moment, because the fact that you do it a few times a week, it's like, oh, it's like an intentional choice to say, I'm. Takes care of my skin. I'm going to take care of me.

Solomon Georgio Yeah, well, I feel like there's, like, especially with modern day skincare, there's a lot of exfoliants and, like, cleaning out impurities, but it's like you're really doing a lot of damage to your skin. And I think I don't know what the process is called, but I learned it's so essentially what I do is I do retinol one night, then I do an exfoliant the next night, and then I do two days of recovery and then I do and that's the one I do the slugging. And then I go back and then I repeat the pattern after that.

Grace That I've never heard of, of that I am a random person, so I end up probably doing that anyway, just like doing my skincare a couple of nights in a row that I'll forget it like a couple of nights. So I probably end up doing that anyway. But there's no method to that. It's just some nights I just all I have the energy to do is like if I have makeup on that day, take it off. I that's one thing I'm pretty good with is.

Solomon Georgio I feel like it's some kind of important, like if there's so many aspects of skin care that I feel like stripping, stripping, stripping and like I think the kind of thing we do is like a moisturizer. I'm like, Yeah, sometimes you got to just be way nice.

Grace Yeah.

Amy So true. Well, speaking of being kind to your face, you also can do a serious beat like you are really great with makeup. That's how I discovered you. Actually, I was so confused when Grace said, Oh, Solomon's a writer in my room. And I was like The Drag Queen. And I was like that's so cool, I was like, That's incredible. And she was like, He's also a writer. And I was like.

Grace And a comedian.

Amy He's beautiful.

Grace He contains multitudes.

Amy And I watched a lot of your standup after that, but I knew you. I don't know how my Instagram only showed me you in drag, but I only knew you as a beautiful woman and it was delightful to know that you had so many talents.

Solomon Georgio I appreciate that. For me it's like I don't really because drag is like a whole performance thing. I just like I just used the time during the, the pandemic that we had to go crazy. I just was like, okay, I don't like, I don't I like I can meditate every once in a while, but it's just going to drive me crazy having my voice mad and like, like I was like, one thing I've always wanted to do was to get really good at makeup. And I just was like, You know what? Let's look up, let's bus editorial. So, like, I knew I had some idea, but this time I was like, I'm going and I'm going to know everything. Yeah.

Grace That's so cool. So did you specifically study like drag artists or were you just like in general, I want to learn about makeup.

Solomon Georgio It started with drag artists and then there's also like, I want to get good at doing like my own like face that night. Like, so, like, just doing it like a, like a, just a boy beat or whatever. That's what I call it. And I just wanted to. So, yeah, so she started there and then I started following a bunch of other makeup people and then now I'm just have my TikTok is just makeup tutorial.

Amy Yes, yes. Okay. Do you have any quick and dirty like makeup tip for us? Like, like don't contour so much or I don't know, like because I need to re learn because. I was like.

Grace We don't know, sh--, okay?

Amy I just think, like, I was the opposite of you, Solomon. During the pandemic, I quit wearing makeup entirely. So the first time I did my makeup to go out like post-pandemic, I looked atrocious because I had forgotten how to do everything. So.

Solomon Georgio I think there's I think there's just essentially this is learning to have a day and a night face. I think that's always important. Like something like contouring is I would do at night.

Amy Yeah.

Solomon Georgio But like during the day, bronzer is always the f---ing best. Um, and what I learned recently is how, like, I've been like, very focused on transfer proof makeup, especially since all my makeup is brown.

Amy Yeah.

Solomon Georgio And the setting spray that I realized that is that actually is the most effective. It smells terrible now, but it's the Ben Nye Final Seal.

Grace Oh, theater makeup. Yeah.

Solomon Georgio Yes, it is. It's like. And it is. It smells like it takes a second for the smell to go away. And then you. And then I bet it's shiny. So I blot it with the Fenty blotting powder afterwards. And it's nothing to put a tissue up my face like.

Amy Because I need to get better.

Solomon Georgio You can put it to, like, right up to my face and nothing comes off.

Grace Wow, that's so good.

Solomon Georgio It's like. It's like it's like you can wear a white shirt, a white dress with that. Like, as long as you do that and put the powder over it. Oh, you're good.

Grace Oh. That that is very useful because Amy and I did a show and I got a full beat, but like a dummy, I. You know why I thought I could just put on a turtleneck dress with this full makeup on. And, of course, I, like, ruined my thing. But I did learn a tip. Get your makeup off that you can use a Clorox white to get makeup off your clothing. That is something I did not know before.

Solomon Georgio And it comes off pretty easily. It's just very disheartening to see it.

Amy Yeah, yes.

Solomon Georgio Because it's like. Yeah. Because people look at you like, did you just eat chocolate?

Amy You poop on your shirt? No.

Solomon Georgio Did you sh-- on your neck?

Grace Oh, no, that's racist. Just chocolaty.

Amy Oh, wow. Solomon, we feel so much better now that we've talked to you today. This is so great.

Grace Yes, she's right. It's still 2022. But you know what? It's like the last because we talking to you.

Solomon Georgio Oh, you know what? That's all that matters.

Amy Really.

Solomon Georgio As long as I make you feel better.

Grace Yeah.

Amy Do you have anything coming up that you want to tell us about? Anything you'd like to pledge? You can even be something you love, not something you created.

Solomon Georgio Well, actually, the thing that I am excited for that I got to be working on is the most current projects that I'm doing with Grace, which is survival of the fittest that will be out next year at some point. And yeah, I've it's truly been like I feel like I've this is probably the funniest show I ever. I've worked on some funny shows and this is probably the funniest I've.

Amy Oh, I love that.

Grace Of course, your. Your amazing podcast, The Juice.

Solomon Georgio Yes, yes. Please listen to that. I forgot.

Amy That also.

Solomon Georgio  What else do I have going on, I don't know. I was being my wigs here.

Grace Okay, Solomon. And where can people find you on the Internet?

Solomon Georgio I'm Solomon. Georgio. All across the board. There's no other Solomon Georgio. And if there is one, you're now required to take them down.

Amy Yes, you're on notice. We're coming for your ass..

Solomon Georgio I will show nudes if you follow me. I won't. I'm sorry. I never said sent a nude in my life.

Amy I have yet to receive.

Solomon Georgio That's a full, full lie. I never sent a nude once. I've never even taken a nude. So I don't even know.

Grace I'm a liar.

Amy Best kind of gossip is a lie.

Solomon Georgio I will lie to you if you follow me. That's 100% true.

Amy Thank you so much for joining us.

Grace Thank you so much, Solomon.

Solomon Georgio Absolute pleasure. Bye.

Grace Ok. To close us out, we're doing our creative tap in, which is our segment about creativity. Amy, are you ready for this week's quote? Emmy Girl I feel like the youthful experience is what drives the creativity, and I feel like experience and maturity as an adult experience, as an elder statesman that refines it. And that is by Black Thought one more time. I feel like the youthful experience is what drives the creativity, and I feel like experience and maturity as an adult experience, as an elder statesman that refines it. And again, that's by Black thought.

Amy Ooh. I mean, Black Thought is allowed to say, as an elder statesman, I don't know if I would be whipping out words like that. I was like the elder statesman, but he truly is. But I think I agree. I think, though, what this quote makes me think is, yes, a play. You know, we've talked about Bernie Brown before and the ability to have that childlike sense of play and to return to play. That's what that is what drives creativity. That's what makes you creative. And even if you're not a creative as a job, being able to have that ability to have creative moments in your day and in your life like that, is that makes you better at your job no matter what you do and makes you better at living no matter what you do. And I do think that refining your creativity as you get older, like by taking classes, by like gaining new skills, by honing your voice like that does refine like those things do refine your creativity. So I agree with the quote and I think what it makes me think of, like not even relating it to our careers, I almost want to just relate it to growing up. I think one of the most beautiful moments, the most beautiful things about becoming an adult is remembering that sense of play and making sure, like, not to let it go and to find the times in your day and in your life when you can dig deeper into that childlike part of yourself so that your creativity can flow again. What does it make you think, Grace?

Grace I just that like youthful experience, I grew up a black immigrant going to a Republican leaning Catholic school. So you can you can imagine how that went, you know. So I realized that part of the reason why I am an artist is trauma. So those youth. Yeah, those youthful. Variances. Those are kind of what made me want to make art, because what happens a lot of times, you go through like a tough childhood, like when you go through like bullying at school and stuff like that, you're just like, I'll show you. I'm going to make it someday. And so as a result. Part of the reason I am an artist is because I kind of had a tough time growing up. But what a maturity and becoming a quote unquote elder statesman, which I am not yet. I think what it teaches you is to go back into those experiences that were so traumatizing and hurtful at the time and actually be able to use those. And as you get older and get further into your artistic journey, I feel like it becomes easier and quicker to do that. So like, I'm I'm at the point now where if some wild happens to me like this weekend or whatever on Monday when I get back into my writing room, I can actually process that and like put that in the script. Now you know what I'm saying? Like I, I what maturity and growing as an artist has done is been able to take Yeah. Those experiences from the past like the traumas of the path. High school Jesus Christ was very traumatic, you know, middle school traumatic that I'm able to like take those moments and like infuse not if not the actual experience, but the feeling of that experience into a character that is having a completely different experience than me. So I think you're just quicker at it and better at it the further and further you go along. So like those early moments can teach you a lot and can sort of make you a more three dimensional human being because you've been through sh--. But then the maturity allows you not only just the maturity as a human being, but the maturity as an artist allows you to be able to take those experience and actually spin them into something that can be used and in your art.

Amy Oh, my God, Grace. I'm so glad you said that. F--- what I said. I don't know what I said. It was a mess of words. It was a word. No, no. But I'll tell you what it was. It was wonderful. It was fine. But this was great because it reminded me I have a saying that I say to myself, whenever sh-- goes left in my life, I always say everything is story I any time I remember one time I was driving to a friend's house and I just took a turn real wonky, and I hit the curb and my tire exploded and I was like, What the f---? And I was like, I don't have the money to deal with this, that. And then I was like, everything. A story I never called triple AA. And now I'm going to do it and I'm going to know how to write this. Yeah. And I'm like, and I know the stress of this moment and how long I'll actually be late to the thing that I was going to because I have to deal with this. And I started kind of becoming like, no, I was still feeling stress, but I was like almost like an observer of my life moment instead of being immersed in it. Yeah. And so yeah, when things go left, I mean, I've been through breakups or I'm like, This will be a great pilot someday. And I'm just like. And you're just like, and I still am in it. But that ability to process it and not to deny the emotion, but to realize that the emotions are valid because they're going to give you fodder to heal. Because the writing I heal that that is so deep. And I love that connection to like not just acknowledging that you have trauma, but that trauma actually feeds into how you can be so good at writing character and excavating human emotion because you felt about them. That's why we do this thing.

Grace Thanks for listening to the antidote. We hope this injected a little bit of joy into your week. I know it did mine. How about you, Amy?

Amy I feel good, girl. We should do this again sometime. Oh, we'll be here next week.

Grace And in the meantime, if you'd like to follow us on social, follow me. Grace. At Gracyact. That's G-R-A-C-Y-A-C-T.

Amy And follow me, Amy at Amy Aniobi. That's A-M-Y-A-N-I-O-B-I and follow the show at theeantidotepod.

Grace That's thee with two E's.

Amy If you like feeling good about yourself, please subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts girl.

Grace Goodbye.

Amy And put some oil on your face. The antidote is hosted by us Amy Aniobi and Grace Edwards. The show's production team includes senior producer Se'era Spragley Ricks and Marcelle Malekebu.

Grace Our executive producer is Erica Kraus and our editor is Erika Janik. Sound Mixing by Alex Simpson.

Amy Digital Production by Mijoe Sahiouni. Talent Booking by Marianne Ways. Our theme music was composed and produced by TT the artist and Cosmo the truth.

Grace APM studio executives in charge are Chandra Kavati, Alex Schaffert and Joanne Griffith, concept created by Amy Aniobi and Grace Edwards.

Amy Send us your antidotes at antidoteshow.org And remember to follow us on social media at theeantidotepod. That's thee with two E's.

Grace The Antidote is a production of American Public Media.

Amy Yay! Yay!