Now I Know How Jesus Felt (with Kevin Allison)

We are crazy about Kevin Allison, who you may know from The State , a cult classic show that aired on MTV from 1993-96. He is also the creator and host of the hit podcast, RISK!, where people tell true stories they never thought they’d dare to share. On this episode, Kevin tells us how his adult ADHD diagnosis might be the reason for many incidents throughout his life where he asked himself the question, "What the hell was I thinking?" You'll hear delicious details of a rusty nail, a shard of glass, and flushing pickles down the toilet, as well as Ellie's and Julia's experiences with bad blood draws, bloody noses, and a possible carbuncle. Not sure what a carbuncle is? Don't google, just listen.

LINKS AND SOCIALS
The State tour dates and info
Risk! podcast and live show
Risk! Insta
Kevin's Insta
The State Insta
Kevin's full story "The Pickles Pickle" on No, YOU Tell It!
Info about Kevin's upcoming horror film Alma and the Wolf

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Transcript

Ellie [00:00:07] Welcome to open up and say ha. Stories from underneath the paper gown. Julia. 

Julia [00:00:12] Yeah. 

Ellie [00:00:14] I learned about a gross thing. 

Julia [00:00:15] Of course you did. 

Ellie [00:00:16] Of course I did. 

Julia [00:00:18] Sure you're in that. You're in the right place to share. 

Ellie [00:00:20] Okay, so Julia is one of my dearest friends, so she knows this listeners. But I have been having, rough skin on my buttocks, and I have psoriasis. That's not what it is. It's. We're not. I haven't seen a derm yet, because long story short, it's. I mean. 

Julia [00:00:38] You know. 

Ellie [00:00:40] Here's here's honestly why, a while ago, there was a medical hack, remember? There was, like, some sort of hacking into the, medical billing records. And so, yes, I no, I don't think it was a records. It was, insurance or something. So I had an appointment with the derm, and then they called and said something about how, because of their hack, I was going to have to pay everything upfront, and I was like, let me just wait and reschedule until you've figured your shit out. Okay, so anyway. 

Julia [00:01:06] That's not what I expected, but all right. 

Ellie [00:01:08] No. So what Julia and I believe is that I either have KP, which is keratosis pilaris or folliculitis. So it's not like acne on my butt. It's not but me. But it's like rough skin. But I know it's not my psoriasis because it's not behaving the way my psoriasis behaves. Yeah. All of this to say I, I don't like it. I don't like the way it looks. I don't like the way it feels. I'm going to be taking a trip to a beach. I'm now like getting bathing suits that are low cut so that like my specialty, but doesn't stick out. But in the googling process of trying to figure out whether it was keratosis pilaris or folliculitis, God damn it everyone, I found not only some gross images, but something called a carbuncle. And I just it's what it is. And like if a follicle gets just and I don't have one, but if a follicle and if you do, that's fine. Yeah. Inspect all of your carbuncles listeners. Totally. If like a follicle or something gets just so like infected or clogged, clogged or whatever, that it's called a carbuncle. And I just like marveling at what people name these things. And how are we supposed to move through the world feeling any sort of confidence with these horrible names? They. Hi, I'm Ellie Dvorkin. Done. I've got psoriasis, keratosis pilaris, a carbuncle. Like what it. 

Julia [00:02:37] Sounds like, you know, it reminds me of barnacle on a, you know, on a boat. 

Ellie [00:02:42] Really? It's a fucking barnacle on your ass or anywhere on your body. 

Julia [00:02:45] I wonder, could it be related somehow? Carbuncle. Barnacle? I mean, they're not really the same word, but it's just like a little. 

Ellie [00:02:52] The pictures looked like it was a barnacle. Yeah. A barnacle on your body, I wonder. 

Julia [00:02:56] Yeah. 

Ellie [00:02:57] Your body's your car. It's a car, I don't know. 

Julia [00:03:00] Wow. You're really going for it? 

Ellie [00:03:02] Yeah. Any any. Did you learn about anything gross or weirder? Is anything happening to you? 

Julia [00:03:06] I didn't learn about anything gross or weird, but the weird, gross thing that's happening to right now, me right now, is that I'm getting. I'm getting nosebleeds. I've never had nosebleeds in my life. I, so I do get dry sinuses. Do you know what I mean? So sometimes I have a little bit of, like, bloody, like snot or whatever when I blow my nose. And I have always assumed it's just dry ness because, you know, it's from taking, like, allergy medication and like Flonase, these are all side effects that can occur, like when you are taking the things. But like this morning, I was sitting on the toilet and I felt something warm out of my nose and I was like, oh, like my nose is running. Yeah. I like want to just kind of stop it with my finger. And then I was going to go grab toilet paper because I'm on the toilet. But while I was doing that, this is a stupid thing, but, like, my sleeve was falling down, like, over my hand, and it was bothering me, so I was like, I'm just going to move that before I go and get the toilet paper. And I got blood all over my arm and was just like, what just happened? Like all over my. Sweatshirt sleeve. So then I just had blood on my face, blood on my sweatshirt, and then I was like, I had the nosebleed. And I was like, this is a new. That's a new thing. Normally, again, it's just like a little like bloody snot. And this was just like a nosebleed. And by the way, listeners, if you ever need to get blood out of something that you're wearing peroxide. Just so you know. 

Ellie [00:04:28] That's a great tip. Hot tip. Tip. Hot tip. I don't know what side I don't what you should do for a carbuncle, but peroxide is good for blood. Honestly. 

Julia [00:04:36] Yeah. And I put, like, a little tissue up my nose and just kind of walked around the house and, like, waited for it to stop. 

Ellie [00:04:41] How many times is this happened? 

Julia [00:04:43] This is the first time. I mean, I, you know, I probably have a brain tumor. 

Ellie [00:04:48] Definitely. 

Julia [00:04:49] Definitely a brain tumor. 

Ellie [00:04:50] Carbuncle in your. 

Julia [00:04:51] Brain. In my nose. 

Ellie [00:04:53] I don't know, that's strange. 

Julia [00:04:56] It's not. It's just. It's just dry. It's like the Google will look. The Google could tell you anything, doctor. Google could be like, you have a brain tumor, you're. 

Ellie [00:05:04] Dying. 

Julia [00:05:04] You have cancer or whatever. But the most obvious thing to me is just dry sinuses. Because like the salad you season, right? I mean literally. Yeah. Yeah, it makes sense to me. Ellie. 

Ellie [00:05:15] Yes. 

Julia [00:05:16] Who do we have on the pod today? 

Ellie [00:05:17] Today we have Kevin Allison. And I'm very excited because he is highly entertaining and I love him a lot. 

Julia [00:05:23] Yeah. Big fan, big fan. I'll try not to look like a dork. 

Ellie [00:05:26] I think you might recognize Kevin Allison from many different things. He is a founding member of the legendary sketch comedy group The State, whose cult classic show aired on MTV from 1993 to 96, and whose recent 30th anniversary comedy tour had people dip in balls everywhere. Kevin is also the creator and host of the hit podcast risk, where people tell true stories they never thought they'd dare to share. Since Kevin started the podcast as a DIY passion project from his bedroom in 2009, risk has grown to have millions of downloads per month and legions of ardent fans around the world. It has featured incredible true stories from famous folks like Jeanine Garofalo, Marc Maron, Aisha Tyler, Trevor Noah, Margaret Cho and more, as well as ordinary people like me. I was on a walking about how my now husband had to pull a contraceptive sponge out of my vagina, and that's how I knew he was the one. Kevin, welcome to our post. 

Julia [00:06:29] Welcome. 

Kevin Allison [00:06:31] Thank you so much. What a lovely introduction. 

Ellie [00:06:34] Well, we're very excited and happy to have you here. 

Julia [00:06:37] I often feel like we could have a whole separate episode about things getting stuck in our vagina, but that's another story. I'll just leave that to the audience to think about for a moment. Kevin, before we get into your story, please tell us when it comes to real life medical situations, what kind of patient are you? 

Kevin Allison [00:06:56] Nervous. I am very nervous. You know, the dentist. Oh, gosh, I get so. I'm so filled with anxiety that they'll they'll ask me over and over again if, if, if I'm okay or, you know, and it's usually just that I'm so tightly wound expecting pain that, that it causes more of it. The last time I had to like, draw blood for like, just a basic, like, HIV test. The the woman was like, are you okay? And I was like, clearly, I'm making it harder for all of us. 

Ellie [00:07:32] Are you like, are you physically? Is this the face you make? Yeah. 

Kevin Allison [00:07:36] Are you. Yes. Yes. I'm clenching so much that I'm afraid I'm, you know, might get a little herky jerky and mess things up. I once had to do a spinal tap. And you cannot move a muscle for those. 

Ellie [00:07:53] No, I had an epidural. It's the same thing, but. 

Kevin Allison [00:07:56] Yeah, and. But these that they should put you in bondage in in a situation like that. But they didn't, so they were like, don't move a muscle. We're just going to shove this thing into your spine. And I had to throw up. I had to have. That was a nightmare. I was up and somehow I guess I didn't get paralyzed, but oh, my. 

Ellie [00:08:18] God. 

Kevin Allison [00:08:19] I'm. I guess I'm just afraid I'm not going to do my part right. 

Julia [00:08:23] Oh. How funny. You're like. You're nervous about being a bad patient. Yeah. 

Ellie [00:08:29] It's okay. 

Julia [00:08:31] I, the dentist is the worst. Also, I always feel like when there's something coming at my face, I just. I'm always like, I make. I do a lot of flinch, I flinch. I'm a Flintshire. 

Kevin Allison [00:08:41] At the time, I. 

Julia [00:08:43] Anywhere. 

Kevin Allison [00:08:43] That's right. I always have to tell people when they're petting my cat. Like, I don't know why some people don't understand. You don't, like, force your hand right down towards its eyes. Like like, wait a minute. You're an animal too. Don't you realize you wouldn't want someone just putting their hand right down toward your eye? 

Ellie [00:09:03] That's a great point. All right, Kevin, let's get to your story, which is called what the hell was I thinking more? 

Kevin Allison [00:09:15] Oh my gosh. Well, you know, one of the most interesting things about having a storytelling podcast is that you get reactions sometimes from listeners that give you a whole new insight into your stories. You know, sometimes it's I'm like, oh gosh, now I'm seeing that whole story in a completely different way just because of what some listener said to me. So one day I was, you know, doing the office work, the administrative work of risk, just going through our emails. And I had previously on The week, the week previously, I had been sharing a story about this time when I was 18 years old, when I was working on an assignment for class at NYU, and at a particular point, it and I had to get rid of a giant jar of jumbo pickles, big whole pickles that were like cucumber sized. And I was so stressed out that I seemed to have a little bit of a brain. Fritz, while I was dealing with this little problem here, and for some reason, in the heat of the moment, I thought the best way to get rid of these pickles is to flush them down the toilet, because pickles are shaped like poop, right? 

Julia [00:10:35] Obviously. 

Kevin Allison [00:10:36] So that's just a moment of like the brain, just not quite, you know, for this long absence or not quite opening up in the right way. So it's too complicated to explain what the hell I was thinking in that instance. But that is a whole genre of story that I am so good at. The what the hell was I thinking kind of story or. And so I was very proud of how I explained all the complicated stuff that went into the stress that caused me to think, flushing toilets. Well, you. 

Julia [00:11:15] Can't eat them all. 

Kevin Allison [00:11:17] Well. 

Ellie [00:11:19] You you know what? And I will I will direct listeners to, partner friends storytelling podcast called no, You Tell It, in which I believe the pickle story, the full, fleshed out pickle story. 

Kevin Allison [00:11:32] Here it is. 

Ellie [00:11:34] Told by Kevin. It is told by Kevin's story swapping partner, because that's the. 

Julia [00:11:39] The prep. 

Ellie [00:11:40] Works. That's the premise. Thank you. I couldn't come up with that word. So. Yes. So I will link that in the show notes so that people can hear the full pickle story. 

Kevin Allison [00:11:48] Oh, that's so. 

Ellie [00:11:48] Because I know what you are thinking because I know the story and it's. But yeah, pickles don't know the consistency is poop. But please carry on. 

Kevin Allison [00:11:58] No, no, no, that's true. Just that's why I. 

Ellie [00:12:02] I want you to know. 

Kevin Allison [00:12:05] So there I was doing the administrative work at risk. You know, the next week after that story, I had first put that story on risk. And a fan, a risk listener wrote and, and let's just say his name was Stephen. I forget what his name was, but he said, Kevin, long time listener, first time E-mailer I was listening to that story you told about having a brain meltdown and flushing, pickles down the toilet. And it occurred to me to ask you, Kevin, do you not know that you have ADHD? And I laughed. I thought, oh my God, the presumptuous ness, the nerve of some risk listeners to say such a thing. I started laughing and then my phone pinged. So, I got distracted by that, and I looked down and it was my friend Steph, someone I've known for 30 years. We met in college and I said, oh, Smith, this is so funny. A risk listener just wrote to me and said, Kevin, don't you realize you have ADHD? And Smith texted back and said, Kevin, you don't know that yet. Oh. So now I was really distracted from my work and decided to go over to Google and hang up. Wait a minute, who are the good doctors in New York City to go to to find out more about this ADHD stuff? 

Julia [00:13:36] I can tell you, and none of them take insurance, by the way. None of them take insurance. You got to pay hundreds of dollars. 

Kevin Allison [00:13:43] Oh my gosh, it's so funny you say that because, because something about the way my brain works caused me to forget to ask about the insurance situation. And in the end, this guy was so sweet. And with the diagnosis he gave me, he would he had mercy on me. He he gave me a solid about it all. But anyway, I go to this doctor. His name is Doctor Adler. He has me fill out this long questionnaire about my history, my psychology, my family, all this stuff. And after finished filling it out, we sat down to talk and he said, oh, I see you have two brothers and two sisters. Did they have any nicknames for you when you were a kid? And I said, oh, yeah. Yeah. Space cadet and spaz. And he said, oh, well, there's your two archetypes. So we talked for a while, and he finally explained to me he was like, look. We diagnose ADHD as mild, moderate or severe, and some people have mostly the inattentive type. Some people have mostly the hyperactive type, but the folks who have it hardest are the folks who have the combined type, where the inattentiveness and the hyperactivity are both going at full tilt. And unfortunately, I have to tell you that I am diagnosing you as having severe ADHD of the combined type. 

Julia [00:15:25] Congrats. 

Kevin Allison [00:15:27] Yeah. Thank you. 

Ellie [00:15:31] You got a label? Another one, I don't know. We all have many. 

Julia [00:15:35] My just to your point. So my husband his nickname for me when we first met and I still married him anyway is Noodle Brain. And then when he met my mother, he said, oh, the noodle doesn't fall far from the bowl. 

Ellie [00:15:51] Oh my God. I mean. 

Kevin Allison [00:15:54] Oh. 

Ellie [00:15:56] Really? You never told me that. And I don't I've never thought of you as noodle brain until the past two years. And my idea. 

Julia [00:16:04] And then I got on the meds and now. 

Ellie [00:16:05] 100% noodle brain. And now I'm thinking about my childhood nickname, which was Jelly Belly. And, you know, my belly is also the. It's, it's it's a present. I it's the part of me that it's I just what if all childhood nicknames are deeply meaningful and come true? Like medically. 

Kevin Allison [00:16:25] I was right, right? 

Julia [00:16:27] Where do I even begin with that? 

Ellie [00:16:28] I don't know, but anyway. Okay, so you get this severe diagnosis and then. 

Kevin Allison [00:16:34] Well, I gotta tell you here, this whole thing is about trying not to get overwhelmed, right? In those five years since that diagnosis, I have gotten so many ADHD books and ADHD courses and ADHD coaches, and listening to so many ADHD podcasts, I have never been so overwhelmed by a subject. Then this one, which is supposed to be about helping you to not be overwhelmed. I mean, you know, I was listening to this course just today where it was like, oh my God, I feel like this, this doctor is telling me I have to learn how to eat different, sleep different, walk different. You know, like everything that I found that is truly like just okay, this totally works. Is the medication right? The stimulant medication? For those of us with ADHD brains, it's a little counterintuitive. The stimulant medications like Adderall, they actually don't stimulate us quite so much as other people as they do kind of help us get grounded and centered and focused. Right. But the tragedy is that they do stimulate neurotypical people who abuse them. So there's a constant shortage of them. 

Julia [00:17:57] Yes. 

Kevin Allison [00:17:57] For us, yes. But anyway, like I said, the diagnosis has helped me to understand some of my old stories better. And here's one that comes to mind. I was nine years old when I was in the garage talking to an imaginary friend, which was how I spent a tremendous deal of my time back then. Right? Well, and luckily, let's be honest. And today. 

Ellie [00:18:29] Did your imaginary friend have a name? 

Kevin Allison [00:18:32] Henry, at one point. And, for some reason, I had the impression that my imaginary friend Henry was going to teach me how to play the guitar. I don't remember why, but oddly enough, that didn't pan out. 

Julia [00:18:48] Wouldn't it be great if it did that? Would my mastery. 

Kevin Allison [00:18:51] Of that would be great. But anyway. So at that time in my life, I kept running into problems with not looking at where I was walking while I was talking to an imaginary friend. So at one point I stepped on a rig. Another day I walked off the six foot ledge of a patio. Oh, but on this day, in the garage. I stepped on a two by four board with a very long and very rusty nail. Oh, God. 

Ellie [00:19:28] I hate it. 

Kevin Allison [00:19:29] As. Yes, with, like, Chuck Taylor sort of sneakers that were very worn down, you know, like, like a kid would have. And unfortunately, I knew nothing about fight, flight or freeze at that moment and made the worst choice of the three and started fleeing. Right. Running up. 

Ellie [00:19:54] The. 

Kevin Allison [00:19:54] Driveway with a board stuck to my right hand. With every. With every step, pounding this nail down into my foot right? Until finally I got the better sense to freeze and just started yelling for mom, right? Yeah. Now, my mom was a nurse. She had first worked in a mental institution and then in an all girls Catholic high school. I don't know where she, you know, had to deal with more drama. 

Julia [00:20:25] Yeah, that's a tough one. Could go either way. 

Ellie [00:20:30] The high school. Go ahead. 

Kevin Allison [00:20:33] And she knew exactly where to take me. I don't remember if it was a doctor or a clinic or a hospital, but she took me to get this worked on, and she did not know the particular doctor that was going to see me that day. This guy just exuded pompous ness. This was one of those doctors who just thinks he's on another level, you know, and, you know, kind of a conservative seeming guy, too. And oh, my mom is a nurse. So she had some good observations to make and some good questions to ask. He whatever gave me a tetanus shot clean out the wound. And at the end of it she said, well, now, shouldn't Kevin also get a prescription for antibiotics? I mean look down his nose at her and just rolled his eyes and sighed and he said, I think I would know more. Oh. Walked out. 

Julia [00:21:37] Oh, I don't like this guy. 

Kevin Allison [00:21:39] Oh, no no no, no. That was a moment where I saw something I had never seen before. First my mom started crying. 

Ellie [00:21:51] Oh, no. 

Kevin Allison [00:21:52] But it was it was very. It was a very interesting sort of crying because I could see two things. I could see how hurt she was by how he had spoken to her, but also how outraged she was. Oh, yeah, she was crying, but it was but she was she was simultaneously like, had this sound in her voice and look in her face like, how dare you? And I was filled with guilt and shame, which is kind of a default emotion for, you know, people who grew up with ADHD. And I just started saying, oh my God, I'm so sorry, mom. I'm sorry this happened. And, you know, I know I've got to learn to look where I'm going. And she said something that is useful to me to this very day. She said, it's okay. We all make mistakes and we just have to forgive ourselves. And, you know, try to learn from our mistakes. But then she said something that I've never forgotten, she said. Like today, for example, you just learned what a sexist pig sounds like. Love it. 

Ellie [00:23:06] Yes, mom. 

Julia [00:23:07] That is good mothering. 

Ellie [00:23:09] Yes. 

Julia [00:23:10] That is excellent mothering. 

Kevin Allison [00:23:12] I never forget that it was a useful lesson to this very day, too. Yes. 

Ellie [00:23:18] Lutely. What an asshole. Did you get antibiotics? You didn't get them? That's what I'm stuck on. 

Julia [00:23:25] I know. 

Kevin Allison [00:23:26] Oh, I don't remember, I remember. 

Ellie [00:23:29] Well, I guess you didn't get gangrene. Yeah, you would like. You would know, I suppose, if your foot needed a foot. You have a foot. You have a foot. I've seen. 

Kevin Allison [00:23:36] You. I still have a. Oh, but when I started thinking about this story earlier today, I walked into the bathroom and I was like, oh my God, I'm feeling you know how that happens when you try to go back into the sense memory of a story? I was like, oh God, I can feel that rusty nail again. 

Ellie [00:23:50] Oh yeah. 

Kevin Allison [00:23:51] Yeah, yeah. 

Ellie [00:23:52] They say you forget pain, but I feel like you can kind of recall it in a way that gives you chills. 

Kevin Allison [00:23:57] Yeah. You know, here's a here's a part that I didn't include in this story because it doesn't, like, get toward any controlling idea of the story. I was also raised like, ultra Catholic, and I remember trying to get brownie points with mom on the way to the doctor's in the car by saying, now I know how Jesus felt. Oh. 

Julia [00:24:24] Nail in the foot, now I know. And now, now I know what it's like to die for all the sins. 

Ellie [00:24:30] Right? Oh my. 

Kevin Allison [00:24:31] God. 

Ellie [00:24:32] Brilliant. Yeah. That's brilliant. I mean, you did know you did, in a way. 

Kevin Allison [00:24:38] Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm no longer Catholic, but I still feel like apologizing to Jesus. 

Ellie [00:24:43] Sure, let's all do it. I'm Jewish, but, you know, I have every right. 

Julia [00:24:47] I mean, you're the one who should apologize. Elie, I killed him. 

Ellie [00:24:51] This is going really in a different direction than I anticipated. 

Julia [00:24:54] I know I am when I think about that. Kind of like, angry. Like, when was the last time you had, like, a, like a righteous, angry cry? Do you know what I'm saying? 

Ellie [00:25:03] Oh, yeah. 

Julia [00:25:04] But frickin like, where you're like, fuck you. And you're so angry that you're crying, and then you're, like, angry at yourself because you're crying. Because somebody made you cry. And it's like, that's the worst. 

Ellie [00:25:16] Yeah, yeah. 

Kevin Allison [00:25:17] But it's so powerful. Yeah. I don't know. I'm trying to remember when I might have, well, break up. Yeah. You know, the last, you know, really hard break up that that that can happen because the mix of emotions you can go through in a breakup can be a lot. 

Ellie [00:25:34] Mine was after a medical situation. Mine was. I mean, I'm not going to tell the whole story, but I had you're talking about a blood draw. I'm not a nervous patient with blood draws. I'm, like, perfectly relaxed and fine, but I. I'll truncate. But I had one recently where my blood wouldn't come out for the phlebotomist. I don't know why she she she started blaming me for fasting for too long and the whole thing, like where she ended up blaming me and shaming me. And it was awful. And it was like apologizing to her and trying to come to an understanding. And in short, when I finally left the office, I started sobbing. And I'm a grown ass woman and I started sobbing. But it's that exact cry. It was, I felt powerless, and I also felt enraged, like, how dare she make. 

Kevin Allison [00:26:19] Me feel. 

Ellie [00:26:20] Ad for my body not working the way she wanted it to work and like. 

Kevin Allison [00:26:25] By. 

Ellie [00:26:27] You know, like and also she, you know, I I'm making the story longer. But Julia knows this. At no point when my blood wouldn't come out of either arm or my hand. Was she like, wow, gosh, we should be concerned. Should we send you back to the doctor? Because maybe something is really wrong. This is this is worrisome. Instead, she was just, like, pissed off at me because she. 

Julia [00:26:47] Needed to get your fault. 

Ellie [00:26:48] And and just like the early doctors have said, like, are you okay? She. My blood wasn't coming out, and she was like, are you okay? As if I were willfully holding my blood from flowing. 

Julia [00:26:59] All my blood right back into my body to get out of it. 

Ellie [00:27:02] Like clenching my. 

Julia [00:27:03] Arm, clenching your butthole so hard I would crunch all of your blood in. 

Ellie [00:27:07] My veins. Yeah. Anyway, that was my. That was my last Reiji cry was like. So mad. 

Kevin Allison [00:27:14] Wow. Yeah, yeah. 

Ellie [00:27:17] So was the rusty Nail. Is that the fine? Is that the nail in the. What were you thinking or what the hell? 

Kevin Allison [00:27:23] Yeah, yeah, yeah. 

Ellie [00:27:25] That is that's. That's. I've never stepped on a rusty nail, but I hope I never do. I mean, is that like a stupid ass fucking given thing to say? I've. 

Julia [00:27:37] Had a fishing hook caught in my foot. Oh, shit. I stepped on it like a fishing hook. 

Kevin Allison [00:27:42] Oh, no. No, no. Was it okay? Yeah. You did? 

Julia [00:27:46] Yeah. My dad was like, let's pull it out. And I just pulled it out. 

Kevin Allison [00:27:49] Oh, okay. Okay. Oh, gosh. Just a. Couple of years ago, I stepped on a tiny shard of glass. You know, like, I don't know it. It was as big as, like, a little bit of a fingernail clipping or something like that, right? And unfortunately, it I stepped on it. I guess I had broken a glass and not swept up well enough. Yeah. And then, you know, several days later, just walking through the the apartment barefoot, I must have stepped on it. And, and at the time, it felt like a splinter sort of thing, but it must have just gotten sucked up into me because I looked and I couldn't see anything that could be pulled out or anything like that. And, I mean, this haunted me for like a couple of months until I was like almost unable to walk. And I go to the foot doctor. They do an X-ray and I'm like, Holy shit, there really is a little triangle of, of a shard of something in the middle of my foot. Wow. This woman, she was incredible. Like, she was really. She knew her stuff because I had already been to a couple of foot doctors, or we're like, I don't think it's anything. But. She knew her stuff, and unfortunately, she didn't want to give me any anesthetic. 

Ellie [00:29:17] Oh, no. 

Kevin Allison [00:29:19] And she was like, look, it would be easier if we just, you know, went for it and got this done as quickly as it can be. And she really dug into my god damn, but with some sort of like, scalpel, like, oh my god. And and yanked out. Yes. It was terrifying. It was terrifying. So it's funny, I wonder if that was the I think it was the same foot is has the rusty nail. Now that I'm thinking about it, I see what it feels like. There's something I don't know. There's some sort of. 

Julia [00:29:50] Drama. 

Kevin Allison [00:29:51] That I have to learn from my foot. From your. 

Julia [00:29:53] Foot. So as we discussed in the pre-interview, I am a huge fan and this has been, really incredible and kind of difficult to sit through and not have a freak out. But I think I've been very calm and I'm very proud of myself. Don't you think I can get there? But, as we come to a closer, please tell our listeners what you're working on, what you'd like to promote, where they can find you in all the places. Tell them now. 

Kevin Allison [00:30:17] Well, the state, my sketch comedy group, is doing a few more shows this year. We're doing one in Nashville, one in Austin, and maybe some more so everyone can find out more about us at the Dash stakes. We're really hoping to do another like project together for film or television, so we're trying to get that in the works. 

Julia [00:30:42] Don't tease me, don't tease me. 

Kevin Allison [00:30:45] And I am in a movie that one of the members of the state, Michael Patrick Jan, shot in January, I think that'll be coming up this fall. It's called alma and the Wolf. It's a horror movie. 

Julia [00:30:59] Oh, huzzah! 

Kevin Allison [00:31:01] Yes, yes yes, yes. And finally, anyone can find, my show risk, where people tell true stories they never thought they'd dare to share in public that Ellie has been on. 

Ellie [00:31:13] Right. 

Kevin Allison [00:31:14] You can find it wherever you get your audio podcasts or at risk cash show. 

Julia [00:31:19] Com super. And we will, of course, listeners, we will leave links. If you didn't write all that down, don't worry about it. We're going to leave links to all the things in the show notes. Definitely check out all of the things and all the. 

Ellie [00:31:33] Thank you Kevin. Thank you so much for. Hey.