The Unofficial Street Signs of Silver Lake, Los Angeles

It's a town full of artists and telephone poles are their muse. Plus recs for Phillip Atiba Solomon on moonshots, Amy Poehler talking with Quinta Brunson, and Mandy Len Catron on unspoken conversation

Los Angeles is a city known for its artists and creativity. People move here because they want to put their mark on the world. But the entertainment industry is notoriously fickle and they aren’t creating new movie stars like they used to. So a lot of LA’s most creative people end up desperately needing other outlets for their creative juices. Enter: the public sidewalk.

I’m not talking about buskers playing guitar for spare change. I’m talking about the graffiti artists, poster renegades, and flyer stapling maniacs that live all around me. Every day, I leave my house and walk into an open air art museum.

Sometimes the messages are political satire:

Are you suffering from Tesla Regret Syndrome? Call now for treatment!

Other times, they’re a personal cry for help:

I don’t know how I could make this any clearer!!!

One comedian, a person I do not know and have never met, has made sure that there are flyers for his solo show on every single telephone pole on our block for more than a year. It’s a solo comedy experience about growing up in three cults, being kidnapped, and surviving a near death experience.

I haven’t seen the show but I absolutely know it exists! I see the signs every day. One time he even put up signs that said “You’ve seen the signs, now see the show!” which I thought was an excellent joke.

Side note: I just googled this guy to try to avoid inadvertently promoting some sort of predator or monster and I saw on his Instagram that he actually offers a paid service where he puts up flyers for people. You should take him up on this! I can’t speak to his comedy but he is AMAZINGLY THOROUGH at postering!!

As I was writing this email, I left my house to run an errand and saw a man surreptitiously wheatpasting up posters on the side of a construction side. When I looked more closely, I saw that what he was putting up was a portrait of a dog wearing a cowboy outfit. Then I looked down and saw that cowboy dog looking back up at me.

When I asked the guy if I could take a picture of the dog, he said, “Oh yeah, that’s Bao. He’s my muse.” Then he explained something about how it’s an Augmented Reality art project that I didn’t fully understand. And I don’t need to! All I need to know is that man has a muse named Bao who is a dog that he dresses like a cowboy.

I love L.A.

My projects and upcoming events:

LIVE IN LA: Wrong Answers Only - Dynasty Typewriter on Tuesday, May 20th at 7:30 p.m. There are so few opportunities to go to a comedy show that prominently features a parrot scientist. I am here to change that. Please join me and comedians Joanna Hausmann, Rob Haze, and Rekha Shankar as we learn the secrets of LA’s parrots. Get your tickets now (also available for livestream if you live outside LA and still want to join in the fun).

PODCAST: How to Be a Better Human (TED/PRX) - I’ve been a fan of the writer and photographer Craig Mod for years and it was so cool to get to interview him for the podcast. He has turned walking into an art form and his new book Things Become Other Things is a meditation on Japan, where he’s lived for more than twenty years, and the town in the U.S. where he grew up. It’s a beautiful look at individual transformations, what society could look like, and the power of getting out into the world and meeting people where they are. Craig really defies description so I encourage you to just listen here (or wherever you get podcasts).

This week’s list

GREAT:

Phillip Atiba Solomon is my favorite type of person: someone who is smart and trying to make the world a better place but also incredibly funny and fun. He’s a delight of a human being and the work he is doing to reimagine what public safety in the United States could look like is vitally important. TIME put out a special edition of the magazine in collaboration with Phillip and his organization, looking at the five year anniversary of George Floyd’s lynching. All of the articles are worth reading, but I think this essay by Phillip is a particularly compelling vision for the future: Building a Moonshot for Racial Justice

FUNNY:

Quinta Brunson is one of the funniest people alive. Amy Poehler is another one of the funniest people alive. Put two of the funniest people alive together in a room and get them talking? Turns out, it’s very funny! An easy, intuitive recipe for success. Quinta Brunson Joins Good Hang With Amy Poehler

INTERESTING:

We are living through a moment in politics and culture where every disagreement feels extreme and existential. I haven’t read many writers trying to sort through the nuance of what it means to talk to people or love people across the political divide. I certainly don’t have any answers myself, but I thought this essay by Mandy Len Catron, about her relationship with her mom and her two young children, was a beautiful example of how sometimes the best writing doesn’t have to land on a definitive answer to still help you better understand a confusing and frustrating world. Saying the unspoken thing (Or: what you can learn from three year olds about building a shared reality)

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That's it for this week. Thanks for reading! Please share Bright Spots with anyone you think might enjoy it.

STOP EMAILING MY WIFE,

Chris Duffy

This has been Bright Spots, a newsletter.

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…wait, who are you?

I'm Chris Duffy, a comedian, TV writer, podcast host, and both a former fifth grade teacher and a former fifth grade student. I’m currently writing a nonfiction book about humor for Doubleday.