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SLAP the Power
SLAP the Power - a dynamic new show from SLAP the Network that aims to weave artistry into advocacy through the raw power of music, comedy, movies, visual arts, and beyond.
Hosted by world touring musicians Rick Barrio Dill (@rickbarriodill @vintagetrouble) and Aja Nikiya (@compassioncurator), join them as team with musicians, comedians, actors and artists of all angles and try to chop up some of todays most troubling topics, but with a fat side of chocolate cake and incredible silliness.
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SLAP the Power
Magic, Politics, and Peanut the Squirrel
Step right into the thrilling world of magic and drama! Join us as we get up close with the captivating Gabriella Lester, a magician and fire-eating stuntwoman whose daring acts will leave you on the edge of your seat. Inspired by legends like Houdini and David Blaine, Gabriella shares her electrifying journey from Vancouver to the iconic Magic Castle in Los Angeles. Discover how her teenage dream of performing from a crane became a reality and what it’s like to be part of the supportive and enchanting magic community.
As the eve of a pivotal election approaches, we share the collective anticipation and gratitude for the tireless volunteers, especially those supporting Kamala Harris. Reflect on the powerful impact of Michelle Obama’s recent speech, and explore the influence of Gen Z voters who are reshaping the political landscape with their resilience and determination. In these uncertain times, the importance of unity and community becomes ever more pressing, and we examine the broader themes that underscore our political discourse.
We then switch gears to our animal rescue segment with the touching tale of Peanut the squirrel and the advocacy for Peanuts Law, aimed at safeguarding sanctuary animals. Dive into quirky news with our "two scams and a slap" segment, where truth and fiction blend seamlessly in outrageous scenarios. From tales of rescued pups to bizarre headlines, this episode is a delightful mix of magic, politics, and compassion that inspires listeners to engage and take action in their communities.
AMAZON
Compassion Kind
PATREON
SLAP the Power is written and produced by Rick Barrio Dill (@rickbarriodill) and Aja Nikiya (@compassioncurator). Associate Producer Bri Coorey (@bri_beats). Audio and Video engineering and studio facilities provided by SLAP Studios LA (@SLAPStudiosLA) with distribution through our collective home for progress in art and media, SLAP the Network (@SLAPtheNetwork).
If you have ideas for a show you want to hear or see, or you would like to be a featured guest artist on our show, please email us at info@slapthepower.com
The crane was a wicked experience. It was part of my goal when I was 14, I think, and I had drawn sketches of wanting to do it from a crane and it was all liability. You're a minor. I wanted to set myself on fire, like you shouldn't do that. And then I got the opportunity from a small company. They had had some big exhibition on Vancouver Island, just a part of town where they could let things like this slide, and I was like perfect, I'll bring my my rigors, I'll make sure it's safe.
Speaker 4:Pray it's safe and we made it happen all right, the world may not need another podcast, but it can definitely use a slap. Welcome to Slap to Power, the show that crosses artists who use their powers for progress. I'm Rick Barriodil.
Speaker 3:And I'm Asia Nakia.
Speaker 4:On the show today. Artistry and magic are in the air here at Slap Studios as we hit the eve of the most important election of our lifetimes.
Speaker 3:And then we have our interview today with none other than Gabriella Lester. She is a magician, a fire-eating stuntwoman, modern-day Houdini.
Speaker 4:We hit our new animal rescue segment, pause for Progress, where we talk about the tragic loss of Peanut the squirrel and a new law in his honor to protect sanctuary animals. Peanut the squirrel and a new law in his honor to protect sanctuary animals Peanuts Law.
Speaker 4:Humane Animal Protection Act and then, after that, we have some adoptable pups from some of our latest rescues here in the Los Angeles area. And, a little later, two scams and a slap where we take three crazy batshit events, two of which are fake, but one is real, and one of the two of us learn in real time with you, the listener, which one is a true slap in the face of reality. All right, but first we're proud to report the Kamala Harris volunteer office here right next door Last Friday, the Friday before that, the Friday before that, and we are on the eve of the election here tonight, or election day here, but we're proud to report that they've done over a hundred thousand door knocks every weekend, and 30% of that is from California. So, uh, when everyone is hearing this episode, it'll be hopefully after the election on Wednesday. Uh, we're obviously hoping for good news, but we're also speaking to our future selves.
Speaker 4:So, uh, in that we say, uh, no matter what happens, uh, there's going to need to be some collective therapy. So love yourself and someone else, as we always say, and make sure to take care of each other. And, yes, stay safe out there. Okay, so it is the eve and how are you feeling? Asia, I mean the most important of our, the most important election of our lifetime. Right here is finally the night before. How are you feeling?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I mean, I don't even know how to describe how I feel right now. I'm nervous and I'm anxious. I'm excited. I'm working on my mass exodus from the United States, if I need to.
Speaker 4:There's just a lot going on in my head right now. Yeah, it's like on one level it is extreme for a lot of people that say, oh well, he was in office for four years and, you know, nothing bad happened except for trying to overthrow the government. No, I don't want to jinx anything, so I'm not, you know, I that that's where I'm prepared. I'm with you. I'm just preparing for the reality of. I think everybody's tired of the noise and I think it's kind of feeling like that level of noise has. I think the dam is broken. I feel like Michelle Obama's speech putting the human, female, woman everything American experience, woman, everything american experience on how take my body and you know, and seriously, and I feel like that resonated in a way that kamala unfortunately cannot do. She can't, she has to be, she has to be tough in a man's world prime, you know so, and a prosecutor, and no matter what they're gonna, they're gonna dinginger for a lot of things. But I think the human element kind of happened where it did break through, at least to me it felt like that. And the tony hinchcliffe sect, which again, even elongating that we talked about it on the last episode um, shout out to tony hinchcliffe. I'm a fan of roast comedy and we were like, you know, it was just juxtaposed over, I think, at a time you know where it was like he was just doing his set, right, you know, and to some degree Right, but it only it wasn't a set anymore. But I do think that had a profound effect on the dam breaking, just even on the eve before. So we'll see how it turns out. I also think, you know, we're gonna, we're gonna stay as sort of current and live as we can on the socials, on our social media channels and things like that, which is awesome, um, and it's you know, there's a good chance. We're not gonna know, you know, tomorrow night, so even on wednesday, when this comes out, uh, you may not know the listener, but again, um, you know, be be kind.
Speaker 4:I think one of the things that we've realized from this whole experience having the harris office next door we talked about this is is that, uh, no matter what happens, there's gonna, we're gonna need to come together and have you know and and there's a lot of kick-ass Republicans that have helped, will have helped put Kamala in office, and I think that that is awesome, like when she says I will give you a seat at the table, then that means, I think, everybody, there's some therapy that needs to go on, because there's a whole MAGA faction that has no concept that he could lose unless it was rigged. But there's a ton of sane Republicans that are tired of the noise and I'd love to be able to have a conversation with them, and so that's part of one of the other pods that we're working on secret classified project. But we're working on another one with a, with a, uh, massive, massive producer on just that side of things, on the on the we we dare walk, you know, on the republican side, because, it's funny, I got dinged over the weekend. I did, I did a post about this and, uh, I think the rap that I give is always towards republican lawmakers, republican voters, I think are, are there's a lot if we I think there's a lot of the ones that did vote for kamala are the ones that are like, no, I could.
Speaker 4:This is, you know, fascism is a bit too far, taking a woman's reproductive rights a bit too far, that I feel like there's a. There's this therapy that needs to happen after, no matter what happens with this election, and we, we've got a, you know, we got the holidays certifications, electoral certifications. You know, december 11th, I think, is one, and then, of course, january 6th, but January 3rd is the new Congress and let's again well, let's hope for uh hakeem jeffries as a speaker, so that we know, uh, we're going to certify the election, because that's the other thing. The plan is to not have it certified right right.
Speaker 4:And then yet gen z has showed up so many times there was a. There was I think it was a hashtag that was started. I saw it yesterday where it was this was awesome. I saw it yesterday where they were like Trump is losing in Pennsylvania and, uh, that the trend was. Or they were saying that there was election subversion, that's what it was. They were saying that there was election interference in Philadelphia real heavy, just I mean. Interference in philadelphia real heavy, just I mean and beaten on that. And the trend started that he must be losing hashtag. He must be losing, and I almost feel like I want to believe we live in a world where that is not a joke if hashtags were ever real.
Speaker 4:Yeah, this should be the one losing that's why they're claiming voter fraud, right, because, uh, although they claim voter fraud when they win too, which is really odd. But anyway, I, I do, um, you know, so I appreciate. I appreciate the opportunity that we've had, you know, to uh, be next to the energy and the stories and the reasons that people are taking their vote seriously, and so you know it's been a true privilege. No matter what happens, it's been really awesome having them next door.
Speaker 3:No, absolutely, and I mean either way. You know we need a way forward, which I think we're all going to have to support each other in one way or another, you know, no matter how this turns out. So I am very glad we got to meet and be around such positive energy, I mean such lights and you know that'll continue no matter what. You know, whatever happens, we all still have to stick together and move forward in some way.
Speaker 4:We're still here, Hallelujah, and you know, one of the things that helps with that is uh uh, dogs, or, yes, you know one might say, paws all over you. So uh yeah, it's a. You like that how you see it all right so I look forward to this in the show outlines.
Speaker 3:This week's a big one, so yeah, this one, this is a big one. So you know, recently, uh, we had a megaar animal on social media named Peanut. He was a squirrel in New York, had a very loving family living in a sanctuary with a buddy named Fred, a little raccoon friend, lovely couple that you know basically rescued these animals. That basically rescued these animals and unfortunately, the DEC of New York came in in a full raid as if they were doing a drug bust, spent who knows how many dollars of taxpayers' money to go and raid this home, confiscate the animals and during this confiscation process somebody gets bit by peanut the squirrel, which makes a lot of sense. I mean, I would have bit them too if I was peanut the squirrel, yeah, um, but while while this is, all happening yeah, I mean as a human being I probably would have bit them.
Speaker 3:um, so they took them and they euthanized both animals because of this bite, because they said that the only way that they could test for rabies was to euthanize the animals. Now, this is problematic in so many different ways. Number one we haven't had a squirrel with rabies since, I believe, 1971. Like, I mean, this is not a thing you know we have other, cruelty for cruelty, like I mean.
Speaker 4:This is not a thing.
Speaker 3:You know we have other cruelty, yeah, we. We have other animals that are, you know, um carrying rabies, but squirrels are not at the top of that list. I promise you that. So number one, that's problematic. Number two, I mean, even if the animal was rabid, we have a quarantine process in place. This is what we do at our local shelters. We do it in sanctuaries. All the time there's a holding period. Rabies symptoms are very obvious. You know when an animal is rabid, I mean it's not difficult. They could have handled this in a much different approach, where they actually held on to the animal to see if they were actually rabid. If they made it past their 10 to 14 day quarantine period no symptoms, they go back home to their sanctuary and live the rest of their lives. So this was just a devastating blow to anybody that was following Peanut the Squirrel. I mean hundreds of thousands of followers, I mean 700,000, I think.
Speaker 4:Yeah, because it's the system, you know, it's the system performing animal cruelty on itself, which is yeah.
Speaker 3:And by the department of environmental conservation. I mean, it's just, but these are the same things we run into every time and you know, and I think it had a lot to do with making an example out of these folks, and I think there's this deeply rooted animosity towards when we're showing a nuisance animal or we're publicizing or making these rodents or these animals that might not be at the top of our we love dogs chain. So I think it was just unbelievably cruel to do this.
Speaker 4:Squirrels got personality. I feel like Samuel Jackson laid down the law in Pulp Fiction on the rule Squirrels got personality, raccoons got personality.
Speaker 3:And you see it in their videos. A hundred percent.
Speaker 4:You showed it to me and I was like that is a, like you said, it's a sentient being and look, I get it. It's easy to be callous, you know, and it's all. What does it care about a squirrel? But this is why I think there's so much. I think this is why so many people are coming together is because, no, no, no, no, the humanity that's come on, that's a basic part of what it's know and our humanity on not being you know inhumane right to animals, yeah, and.
Speaker 3:And where do we stop, you know, like where? What gives us the right to take a life so easily without a proper protocol?
Speaker 4:they were raiding this house and they were just. They were just doing it because they were pissed off, and a lot of these people that are sort of over militarized and things like that are people that need a lot of therapy. You know themselves, yeah.
Speaker 3:And I mean. I always hate to use the Karen you know name and comment here, but I'm going to because it was a call in from a woman that has a literal Instagram handle that says I hate squirrels.
Speaker 2:That has a literal Instagram handle that says I hate squirrels. I mean in what psychotic world.
Speaker 3:Do you have time? To have a complete Instagram handle. Against hating an animal that does nothing but play in parks and plant seeds that help New York stay green and help you breathe fresh air. It's like I struggle with that.
Speaker 4:Now, this is the cool thing, too is this is why we wanted to put it in in the segment as well is people are doing something about this. Yes, they are doing something. They are moving the needle on this, and so tell our listeners what that is yeah.
Speaker 3:so you know as tragic as this is, and you know the world is devastated about Peanuts' loss, but the one piece of good news out of this is that they've enacted a new law called Peanuts' Law and it's basically a humane law to help protect these sanctuary animals and also to put more stipulations in place If there is some thought that there is a rabid animal or someone gets bit. They are saying to have a three-day waiting period before they euthanize. Three days is it the best? No, but it's something. It's moving the needle in a direction that's positive and also adding in extra layers of protection for sanctuary animals. So we've got Peanuts Law.
Speaker 4:And then was there a. Was there a? There was a fundraiser or trying to get to a, oh yeah.
Speaker 3:Huge, huge fundraiser going on now, which I'm assuming is going towards this new law and also towards the sanctuary. Um, I mean, people are people are really rallying for this. How can people find it? We'll have peanuts handle in here. If you are interested in helping with the fundraising and spreading the word, yeah, um, and it's not just about peanut, it's about how we respect and care for animals and how we decide when we can take a life.
Speaker 4:I mean, it's just all those people that have been getting involved and really almost have peanut. I think it's two-thirds of the way towards their fundraising goals. So, uh, yeah, you talk about artistry and magic. Um, that's it right there. So, and on artistry and magic, coming up after the break, a real live magician in slab studios, gabriella lester.
Speaker 2:We are so stoked to have her here coming up gambling is part of the culture of amer Since even before we were America. I'm Norman Chad. I know gambling. I've played blackjack and poker. I've bet sports and horse races. I've even hit the slot machines at a Pahrump, nevada 7-Eleven. You say gambling, I say Gambling Mad. So join me on Gambling Mad with Norman Chad. Wherever you find your podcasts. Follow us on socials at Gambling Mad Show or on Gambling Mad with Norman Chad wherever you find your podcasts. Follow us on socials, at Gambling Mad Show or at Gambling Mad Norman Chad at YouTube.
Speaker 4:All right joining us for the interview today. We are honored to have in the studio Gabriella Lester, magician.
Speaker 1:Yes, Hi, thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 4:Yes, yes, yes. Now, how long have you been in LA?
Speaker 1:A couple months.
Speaker 4:Fresh off the boat, fresh, fresh. First of all, I think magic keeps you at the root of what joy and young you know. I think in a lot of ways, but I've always been blown away by the sort of folklore and the legend of Houdini and David Blaine. You see them do these big things. But we have Magic Castle here. And when Asia was pitching the idea for you for the interview, I was like well, ask her if she has been to the Magic Castle and Asia was like oh yeah, she's done it three times and I was like oh shit all right, let's talk let's talk.
Speaker 1:Let's talk like because she is legit.
Speaker 4:Yeah, that's great yeah so, and to be fresh off the boat and to have done that, so tell, tell us about how your uh experience has been your and where you're from. You're from vancouver, but and you've been here three months it was it via Vancouver or were you somewhere before here?
Speaker 1:Yeah, that came directly from Vancouver. I was born in South Africa, but I spent the majority of my life in Vancouver, and now I'm here.
Speaker 4:Nice, nice, nice. And is it magic that specifically brought you here?
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, for the most part.
Speaker 4:Is it the magic castle? Is that one of the things I mean most part? Is it the magic castle? Is that one of the things I mean.
Speaker 1:It's got to be right for my little kid heart. I think the castle plays a big role in that. I mean right now I live across the street. I can see the castle. I did too for a while I live like right next door to the.
Speaker 4:We live next to the castle and just just walking by it on any night, you're like come on man coolest building yeah, now are there as many secret stuff like inside there, because I know as soon as you, in order to get in. For those that don't know, the Magic Castle, tell them. Tell them what the Magic Castle is. You're a magician.
Speaker 1:Tell them what the Magic Castle is, sure, yeah, selling pitch. The Magic Castle it's an old building. It was built in around the 1900s and it's been family-run, essentially, and it's an invite-only, exclusive club for the greatest magicians in the world and it is Disneyland for adults, basically.
Speaker 4:Yeah, when you walk in I don't want to do any kind of spoiler alerts or something, but the whole place feels like it's got hidden stuff. And then from the folklore, like reading about it on how there's stuff underneath, there's all these what do you call them? The blueprints of some of the greatest tricks and stuff like that. What is what was your? How did you get into there? Because you have to be invited, and were you pitching them? Or how did you? Yeah, how did that happen?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm really fortunate in that sense the castle was, as a kid, like a bucket list goal of oh, I want to visit this place. One day it's a dream.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it's amazing to just visit. Yeah.
Speaker 1:And fortunately for me, I performed there first before ever visiting.
Speaker 4:But I was what room.
Speaker 1:The palace, the main stage.
Speaker 4:Okay, what else?
Speaker 1:I was 17 the first time I performed there, and it's 21 and over, so I couldn't leave the backstage stage area. So my first couple of weeks at the castle was all backstage. I didn't see the building for like another year. So my only introduction to the castle was being backstage, being on stage, going backstage, being on stage and leaving, and then it took a few months or a couple of years before they're like, okay, just let her roam. So I did it all in reverse.
Speaker 4:That's amazing, though Now by letter Rome. Um, so I did it all in reverse. That's amazing, though now, by being backstage, did you and I?
Speaker 3:apologize, asia, I know how excited.
Speaker 4:You know he's very excited about the magic castle. Magic castle makes me happy, your best life yeah, no, it is, it is.
Speaker 4:It's amazing like, like, like you, everywhere you go in it, uh, you know you get a different room and you get. You just get different types of magic, magic slide of hand, like the full-on kind of thing. But did you, by being backstage and everything, were you sort of just absorbing by osmosis, or did you have specific goals? Or were they hiding, were they blocking stuff off? Like, are people very protective with their? I mean, I would imagine, with their tricks and stuff like that inside the industry we're pretty open, I think it's kind of the only way to learn, and the magic industry is very much one degree of separation.
Speaker 1:Everyone knows everyone and within that realm it's a, it's like in a huge extended family, so most people are collaborating and sharing and backstage at the castles, a group of the best magicians in the world all collaborating and talking and sharing, and most people have been very gracious and taking me under their wing or sharing things with me, and I've grown up in the industry, so it's like having a a bunch of dads that's amazing. That's so cool and a few weird uncles.
Speaker 4:But yeah, yeah, well, definitely, yeah, there's. There's the odd uncles out in the hallway doing the sleight of hand and telling you your birthday. Now, when you were a kid, did you always want to be a magician?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I decided probably at 10 or 11. I had a lot of passions and hobbies as a kid and I just knew early on that whatever I wanted to do, I wanted to do to the fullest extent. So when I found magic and it became something I couldn't let go, I just was like, well, this is my life now, and I haven't stopped since.
Speaker 3:What is your claim to fame? Current trick? Probably the upside down straitjacket escape.
Speaker 1:I was definitely going to ask about that. Yeah, so it's the Harry Houdini upside down suspended straitjacket escape. So essentially, I'm in a straitjacket, I get suspended upside down, and I've done it in theaters, and then I just recently did it from a crane at about 100 feet or so.
Speaker 4:Amazing. Do you have to get insurance for the crane or what is?
Speaker 1:I should have how does this go down?
Speaker 4:It's a different question how does this go down?
Speaker 1:Yeah, the crane was a wicked experience. It was part of my goal when I was. I did it first at 14, I think and I had drawn sketches of wanting to do it from a crane and it was all liability. You're a miner.
Speaker 1:I wanted to set myself on fire. You shouldn't do that. Maybe be an adult first. And then I got the opportunity from a small company that had some big exhibition on Vancouver Island and it was just a part of town where they could let things like this slide, and I was like perfect, I'll bring my riggers.
Speaker 4:I'll make sure it's safe. Pray, it's safe and we made it happen. Wow, that's cool. That's cool. Now I presume you're working on your next masterpiece or a group of masterpieces. Is there anything that you can kind of like? What's what gives you the most excitement now, off of, say, a project that you're creating or a new trick that you're creating or working on?
Speaker 1:yeah, I think I'm at an interesting point now where I've, you know, the straight jackets a harry houdini thing and some of the other effects I've done are, you know, were created by some of the greatest performers in the industry, and I'm at a point now where I'm trying to develop the things that are my gabriella lester, this or that. So, and the greatest thing with magic is, you can make anything possible. So now I'm just going what's the most impossible thing in the world that I can do and finding a way to make it possible.
Speaker 3:What is the most impossible thing in the world? Can we just?
Speaker 2:coin it.
Speaker 3:I'm just taking that that's your first. Maybe it's not your first best quote, but that one should be somewhere.
Speaker 2:It should be somewhere.
Speaker 3:I absolutely love that, and I'm just so fast. Okay, so I'm now, I'm gonna geek out, it's my turn. So I am just fascinated by you know, Houdini. And I mean, where? Let's backtrack to the inspiration on Houdini for a minute. What, what compelled you to want to sort of either follow in that footstep or become, you know, a female Houdini? I mean, what inspired you? How did you get there?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, one of my favorite things about magic is the history of magic and as a kid I was a total nerd for that and I knew, you know, to create this person that I wanted to be, to create this big character in the magic industry, I'd really have to study the history to see what worked, and Houdini was one of the best at doing that. He was a businessman and a performer and could strategize and everything about him was the total package and that's what led him to get to where he was. So I fell in love with Houdini at an early age and I just knew that I had to try and integrate what he did somehow and just take the job. You know, I was a kid doing car tricks, essentially before that, and I got asked around 13. My school was. What happened was my school was connected with a fundraiser and they're like hey, we're doing this fundraiser for children in developing countries with severe, acute malnutrition. We'd like, if you could perform and tell the story and maybe do a cute little car trick or a sponge ball routine or something, and we'd like to showcase you.
Speaker 1:And I went you know what, what if I did this thing? And I was sitting in the kitchen with my mom. As a 13-year-old, I'd be like Mom, I'm going to hang upside down in a straightjacket. And she's like, yeah, no, you're not, and it started from nothing. I went to the playground and hung upside down on monkey bars at first and then got into a circus gym and then just kept kind of building my way up until the performance day. But it really was something from nothing. And now we're here.
Speaker 3:There's just something like so poetic to me about getting yourself untangled and you know out of this situation in such a quick. There's something metaphoric about it.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing about life.
Speaker 3:It's like I think that's what, what, what gravitates me to it, because I'm absolutely horrified of heights. I have a very big fear of heights, which is crazy, because I do a lot of crazy things around the world that involve heights, um, but I'm just always fascinated by things like that. But the draw for me is like this just escape from whatever is holding you, you know, whatever is the barrier, whatever is holding you down, and being able to get free. There's something just so beautiful about that that I think leads into like you know what's your cause? Like, why are you doing this? So my next question is what is your cause? Why are you doing this? Why, why?
Speaker 4:are you doing this so? So my next question is what is your cause?
Speaker 1:why, are you?
Speaker 3:doing this? Why are you doing?
Speaker 1:this. Yeah, I think the most important thing for me is to become the role model that I wish I had when I was a kid.
Speaker 4:The magic industry is very so I was gonna ask yeah, yeah, do you have a female role model? You never did not necessarily.
Speaker 1:I've had plenty of people that I've looked up to growing up.
Speaker 4:But Magicians, yeah. People magicians yeah.
Speaker 1:Or men or anything. It's a really male-dominated industry. So for me when I was looking up, it was hard to know off the gate that this was something I could do, because there was no one that looked like me or was like me that had done it before. So it's really important for meians that happen to be women now and that number and that demographic is definitely growing, but there certainly hasn't been a female Houdini or a female Copperfield ever or in a long time, and it's just about finding ways to do that and doing it the right way.
Speaker 4:So is that your mission?
Speaker 1:I think so.
Speaker 4:Nice, if you were to look five years from now, what way do you see yourself? Do you see yourself levitating over the luxor?
Speaker 1:I mean with a few more tattoos maybe gotta work on your eight pack yeah, um, yeah, I I think a little bit of everything.
Speaker 1:I want to tour, I want to do tv, um, and I I'd like to just kind of build that. All you know, what I like to say is I want to get as high up the mountain as I can, but I'd like to build it too and go up there the right way, and I think it's kind of in building my brand and who I want to be is I've become really addicted to just having real conversations now and I think, back in the day, a hundred years ago, you know, you could say I'm not going to be helped by anything and I'm going to do all these impossible things and I'm going to walk through a wall and I'm going to set myself on fire.
Speaker 1:And nowadays I think we care less about that and probably more about just having a real conversations and being a real human being. So, I don't think I need to do all these deadly crazy things. I think I just need to be real and that's kind of more impossible nowadays than all this other crazy stuff.
Speaker 4:That's amazing. Have you studied on the technical side? Cause that's also something that blows me away is like the devotion, Like I've heard David Blaine talk about. You know a lot of the training and the technical side of things and the guys at the Magic Castle just, for example, just their sleight of hand and stuff that is done. It's just it's a lifetime of kind of like you know stuff, Do you? Is that something that you're working on as well? Is that? How does that come about? Because I understand being driven to be the magician, but then some of it you gotta, you gotta just grind and work it right to get the body to do the technical part yeah, so that's kind of where I started, I think with most magicians.
Speaker 1:They kind of start with cards and they either stay there or change. I fell in love with cards as a kid. It was my whole world.
Speaker 4:I love card tricks.
Speaker 1:I was always, I think, going to stay in that realm and be a card magician. And when I was around the same age, just before the straight jacket, I got a carpal tunnel diagnosis because I was practicing so much and for like six months I had to wear braces on both of my hands as a kid in school. They're like you can't write you, you are not allowed to do magic.
Speaker 4:You have to stop. I was doing it so much. It was a straight jacket. It was holding you back. It was holding you back.
Speaker 1:So I was like why don't I do escapes instead for a while while my hands heal, Cause that makes sense.
Speaker 4:Yeah, other than being driven, and this is probably an all-consuming occupation, I would imagine. But what else do you do?
Speaker 1:It's hard, it kind of takes over my whole life. But the benefit for me, I think, is I still have lots of passions and I love being a beginner and I love learning new things. So I can kind of let that fixation go at times and try other things and work towards other things. And I get so much of it because it's my whole life, it's my full-time job, so I'm performing all the time and working all the time, and then I can kind of put that in a little box and work on other things and spend hours on the floor just listening to vinyls and drinking tea.
Speaker 4:Oh nice, I like that. What's your favorite vinyls?
Speaker 1:Cold Spring Harbor by Billy Joel, his first vinyl. All right, okay.
Speaker 4:What's the next most immediate thing? If people want to get a hold of you or follow you, what do you have going on right now online where people can get involved and follow your work?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so through my social media, which is just my name at the Gabriella Lester, it's kind of where I post most of my shows. I'm performing all the time, so there's lots of places. You can see that. In terms of next big thing, that has a special place in my heart, I'm going to be doing a TEDx talk in January.
Speaker 3:Hey, no big deal.
Speaker 1:And that's just kind of a total left turn for me in what I've been doing. So that's going to be an interesting point in my career to shift a little bit. Is it different in what you're doing in public speaking or different in what you're doing in the subject matter? Subject matter, and it's tied into my career. I think my topic is you know why doing what you love matters, how it can change your life and stuff like that. So it's just integrating some personal stories with how a passion has got me through everything I've been through in life that's fantastic, that's killer and, as a newly birthed angeleno, uh, how do you like Los Angeles?
Speaker 1:It's interesting. I think that's the perfect word to sum it up. I spent a lot of time traveling back and forth here over the past couple of years before I just figured it was best to be here. And you know, I'm from a small suburb just out of Vancouver. That's kind of where I've grown up and it's always been. You know, big fish and very small pond. I've kind of been the only person really doing much Hanging upside down in a straight jacket?
Speaker 4:Yeah, I would imagine.
Speaker 1:And here people are like yeah, well, I do that most Wednesdays.
Speaker 3:They're like I just did that yesterday. What's next?
Speaker 4:So I'm very little fish again my delivery guys.
Speaker 3:Well, you won't hear that from me. I will not be hanging from a building, Unless I'm rescuing a dog.
Speaker 4:Then maybe which you would easily do, which maybe.
Speaker 1:I will have to you know at some point if there's a dog and I need someone to suspend from something I'm going to call you for that. Yeah, I'll do anything for a dog.
Speaker 4:I do like the sort of nature of the spectacle, because David Blaine in a lot of these you know encasing himself in a block of ice for I don't know two weeks or whatever it is that he fucking does. It would always be amazing to me because it was a spectacle. He put himself in the middle of Times Square, or that was, I think, the Criss Angel thing. It was like above the Lexor. Do you like Criss Angel? I do Okay. Cool Is his magic like super respected.
Speaker 1:He was always kind of the badass bad boy of magic so I think he's gone through phases.
Speaker 4:Yeah, Is he still? Has he got a residency?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think he's playing in Hollywood now. He's still on residency, oh cool Dope.
Speaker 4:I always loved it. The television show was really killer, and you're like how do you do that? How do you do that? How do you do that and how do you do that? How do you do that? How do you do that? And what part of LA are you in, though? Because that's the other thing I was going to ask you.
Speaker 4:I'm in Hollywood, Okay yeah, we're in Hollywood too. Hollywood's, you know. Love, love, love, love Los Angeles. I could go on all day about the love for Los Angeles, but it comes at a price. Yeah, you know it comes at a price. Yeah, you know it comes at a price. And managing that and I don't mean actually like a literal price, you know.
Speaker 2:I mean when you're.
Speaker 4:Everybody here is in the industry to some way, like we're talking about. You know, like the Uber driver's got a set at the Laugh. Factory you know, after he drops us off and he's crushing. You know, I love that though. I love that kind of delusional, like energy, where everybody's leaning forward and chasing something.
Speaker 4:Yeah, you know the chasing, the magic yeah, yeah, this town is magic so well, gabriella lester, thank you so much for coming by and uh, we would love to keep in touch with you and uh, if and if you're developing a trick I think in my head I see like a spectacle of it with we can draw some attention to some dogs when we solve the LA shelter crisis. Yeah, we got a shelter crisis in LA that we want to make poof disappear.
Speaker 4:We need to make it disappear. So I feel like we can do a crossing here that could be really, really badass, and see and uh see, if we can get some some insurance for that for that crane Right.
Speaker 1:Oh, we start with the real problems.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we start with the real problems and we create a spectacle of it. I mean it's such a beautiful, metaphoric, poetic way to to bring uh attention to a cause.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and entertain. Yeah, you know, while bringing yeah and be entertained. Well, thank you for coming on.
Speaker 1:Of course. Thank you, guys so much.
Speaker 4:Thank you Thanks.
Speaker 5:Hi, I'm Anjali Bhimani and I'm Julia Bianco and we are so excited to be bringing you our new creative baby, the Character Select Podcast.
Speaker 2:I've wanted to save the world since I was four. There has been no character like him up to that point, and there really hasn't been a character since.
Speaker 5:Every episode of Character Select, we're going to be taking fantastic video game performances and talking about what makes them tick, what makes them exciting as players, as performers, as sound designers, as casting directors.
Speaker 1:That was I feel like I've been ambushed. I don't even have a podcast to talk about a video game.
Speaker 5:So there's a big old love fest here. That's how we start this and you're just gonna have to deal with it. Recognized by the 2013 edition of the Guinness World Book of Records, gamers Edition, as the most prolific female video game voice actor in the world.
Speaker 2:You know it's a special project when you hold onto the people you created it with. Careers are born by being in the right place at the right time. Where you can't control the right time, but you can control the right place.
Speaker 4:How cool was that? Like my love, I mean. I know, sorry, I came in really hot. You know I came in hot. The Magic Castle is a special place obviously to, I think to all magicians.
Speaker 3:I just find it kind of ironic that you asked me maybe, like my first week here, had I been to the Magic Castle, and then, lo and behold, we have Gabriella here just kicking butt and being a magician. I mean amazing.
Speaker 4:That's what we do here. We can manifest and shit yo.
Speaker 3:Just artists of different kinds, and I mean magic.
Speaker 4:That's just up here. Literal and source magic is what we had, absolutely.
Speaker 3:And, just you know, women, empowerment and all the amazing things she's doing and giving a chance, and I think, like the one little note that I'll leave it on, is the thing that I love about magic is that it transcends everything. It transcends classes and languages and barriers. Like you know, music and dancing it doesn't matter where you are. Anybody can be watching magic and be in awe, and I think that's the beauty of magic. And so I just, I just loved the interview. She's just a rock star, 20 years old.
Speaker 4:I'm like what so I would give anything to be that confident at that age and just so comfortable in my own skin at that age.
Speaker 3:She was just born to be a magician. I mean, that's it, that's it. It's clear. How cool is that.
Speaker 4:Tell me about the pup situation.
Speaker 3:So our pup situation. So everyone knows I've been doing some rescues while I've been here in LA and my first two rescue babies, pluto and Tiny. Pluto is in foster care right now, but he is also up for adoption and we're going to show some beautiful clips of him. He is a five-month-old, beautiful beige, green-eyed baby boy looking for a home. And then our little baby, tiny, who was with him. She just went into her home trial. So she is in her adoptive home. If everything goes well and it's her favorite place to be, we will sign off and, you know, officially adopt her. We also have our three kittens, our fence kitties that we've talked about a few times. Our three fence kitties are also all in home trials, which leaves Pluto, cole and Gypsy available for adoption. So we're gonna. We're gonna try and find them some homes if anybody can share, if anyone's interested and how they find it.
Speaker 3:Please let us know you can find them on compassionkindorg, available for adoption, but we will also place a link in our episode and in our bio links on social media.
Speaker 4:Yes, I love that, alright. And before we go, two scams and our bio links on social media. Yes, I love that, all right. And before we go, two scams and a slap. I love it when I get to do this part. We take three batshit crazy events, two of which are fake, but one is real and only one of the two of us knows in real time. So you, the listener, are going to experience this at the same time with Miss Asia Nakia, and our producer, bree, has sent me things that I'm actually getting for the first time as I read them. So here we go. One of these things is a slap in the face, reality, asia Nakia. Number one California town bans selfies to preserve natural beauty. To preserve natural beauty. Number two NASA accidentally discovers ancient Martian civilization underneath Mars. And number three woman shares her home with 1,100 cats. That's a lot of cats, I mean. I bet you that home smells awesome.
Speaker 3:That's a lot of cats.
Speaker 4:That's a lot of cats, like a lot of just cats, just sitting there in the corner like filing their nails.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, creating an army yeah, uh, yeah.
Speaker 4:So what do you think? Number one california towns banning selfies. Number two nasa discovers ancient marchant civilization. And number three a woman shares her home with 1,100 cats.
Speaker 3:Oh man, you know, as an animal rescuer I've seen some crazy, crazy shit, so I am going to go with the cat lady.
Speaker 4:You are. I think you're 2-0. Now you beat me. Yes, you are correct. Indeed, 67-year-old Linnea Lattanzio. It's 1,100 cats. Now, this is a quote. I've taken in and lived with 28,000 cats. That's probably a record. Como, yeah, si, si, si. So apparently there's. The Cat House on the Kings is where the sanctuary is now that she has, and it's currently home to 800 adult cats and 300 kittens, which have all been taken either in as feral or abandoned animals based in california, of course, fucking liberals, lefties, crazies. Uh, the sanctuary allows its residents to roam freely around the 12 acre land, which is we got a shout out to california, see that was yeah yeah, shout out to california I?
Speaker 3:I mean, that's where you know. My, my rescue brain was like are all of these animals spayed and neutered? Are they okay?
Speaker 4:Do we?
Speaker 3:have ample food? Do we have enough sanctuary room? But 12 acres is a good amount of space, so they're probably okay. But now I feel like I have to go take a visit and investigate. I mean, she's in Cali.
Speaker 4:I might need to make a trip over there but I'm hoping she's doing good work.
Speaker 3:I'm hoping the cats are comfy and filing their nails and scratching whatever they want and living their best cat lives.
Speaker 4:I tell you what when I saw that the sanctuary was there, it made a lot more sense than trying to do that in a one bedroom in Reseda?
Speaker 3:yes, 1100 in a one bedroom apartment in LA would have really stopped me in my tracks yeah, absolutely all right.
Speaker 4:That's our show for this week. Check our show bio and all the show notes for all the links and stuff from this episode. Uh, we also even got a? Uh, some fun things that we're adding. They're new each week, so make sure to check it out. Hit the subscribe button all that shit that people say to do um and uh but, most importantly, uh, reach out, like we said, because it's uh, it's an important time and I think you got to take care of each other and we do have to uh, start start healing what's been going on for the last couple of years. So, love yourself and somebody else. We'll see you next week.
Speaker 4:Slap the power is a slap network. It's written and produced by Rick Barriodil and Asia Nakia. Our senior producer is Bree Corey, audio and video editing by Asher Freidberg and Bree Corey, and studio facilities provided by Slap Studios LA and 360Pod Studios. If you're into online power scrolling, like we are, don't forget to follow Slap the Power on twitter, tiktok, youtube and probably pinterest soon for access to full episodes, bonus content and more. And if you're as full of hot takes and crazy ideas as we are, please think about dropping us a review to help boost this episode and you can help blow up the group chat by sharing with friends, family or random shit posters on the internet. You want in on the conversation and if you're interested in being a guest on the show, please email info at slapthepowercom.
