Laughter as Medicine: Adrian Doell's Journey from Addiction to Purpose; And his, "Life of Laughter."

What happens when a homeschooled naive kid with a strict religious upbringing spirals into addiction, then discovers his life's purpose through comedy?

 Adrian Doell's remarkable journey takes us from the depths of alcoholism to the healing power of laughter in recovery.

Adrian's story begins with generational trauma—a mother who lost both parents young and a father raised in an abusive orphanage. After being kicked out at 19, Adrian's life quickly unraveled. Within a year of trying alcohol, he was experimenting with meth and other substances. Even becoming an EMT and paramedic couldn't break his addiction's grip, leading to the terrifying reality of showing up intoxicated to life-or-death situations.

The turning point wasn't what you might expect. When Adrian lost his parents to murder-suicide in 2017, he initially spiraled and sank deeper into alcoholism. His marriage nearly collapsed, and his career hung by a thread. But a simple realization—"this isn't good for me anymore"—began his journey to sobriety. Finding faith provided the missing piece, walking into a church on the seven-year anniversary of his parents' deaths and feeling immediately at home. Realizing that he was, right where he was meant to be.

Adrian's most powerful transformation came through comedy. After discovering stand-up in 2022, he realized his calling: bringing laughter to people in recovery. "Who needs to laugh more than people in rehab?" he explains. Since April, he's performed seven shows at rehabilitation centers, combining comedy with his testimony to show that fun without substances isn't just possible—it's better.

Now working toward non-profit status, Adrian shares dreams of eventually opening a "comedy rehab" where recovery and creative expression work hand-in-hand. His message resonates with profound simplicity: "Everybody deserves a good life and it's very attainable. You just got to put in a little work."

Listen to this powerful conversation with Jo and Adrian, about finding purpose through pain, and discover how laughter might be the medicine we all need.

 Subscribe now and join us for more transformative stories on "Breakfast of Choices."

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Adrian Dole
• 4:22 Generational Trauma and Early Life
• 7:17 Descent into Addiction
• 16:04 Parents' Tragedy and Rock Bottom
• 19:56 Finding Faith and Recovery
• 24:05 Comedy as Healing and Purpose
• 31:08 Future Plans and Recovery Tour
• 36:57 Finding Joy in Sobriety
• 40:16 Closing Thoughts on Recovery

Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:12

Good afternoon and welcome to Breakfast of Choices Life Stories of Transformation From Rock Bottom to Rock Solid. I'm your host, Jo Summers, and I am here today with my guest, Adrienne Dole. I met Adrienne kind of an interesting way. Adrienne came out to the facility that I work for, South Coast Behavioral Health Treatment Center in Oklahoma City, and did a comedy show and I missed it and I was so upset that I wasn't there to see that, because I've heard great things about him. So I just kind of reached out to him and we started talking back and forth and he told me a little about himself and he has a great testimony, really interesting story and journey of life that he's going to share with us today and share with us what he's doing now and how it's all coming together and some things we're about to do together in the future. So, hi, Adrian.

Speaker 2: 2:00

Hi, great to be here.

Speaker 1: 2:01

Oh, so happy to have you. Thanks for popping on so quickly too, I appreciate you.

Speaker 2: 2:05

Absolutely Thanks for having me.

Speaker 1: 2:06

Yes, yes. So I am excited that you're here. I'm excited for you to tell your story. I'm excited for everything we have coming up together in the future. It's crazy, right. It's just a whirlwind of how life goes when you do the next right thing, right?

Speaker 2: 2:20

Absolutely.

Speaker 1: 2:21

Just kind of how it works, isn't it?

Speaker 2: 2:23

It is.

Speaker 1: 2:24

So you're going to share a little bit about yourself today.

Speaker 2: 2:26

Yes.

Speaker 1: 2:27

Yes, let's do it.

Speaker 2: 2:28

All right. So my story starts years before I was ever even here. There's kind of been a generational curse on my family. We've been attacked for generations and so I'll give you a little bit of background about my parents. My mom lost her mother when she was about two years old to cancer and her dad couldn't take it. So he ended his life a year later and she was raised by her abusive grandfather emotionally, I think, physically as in like, like physically abusive, hitting her and stuff like that. I don't think that there was any sexual abuse there, but he had a pretty dark past as well. I'm not gonna to go into that. That's a whole nother conversation for another time.

Speaker 2: 3:18

My father his dad was raised in a orphanage and abused by the staff there. So my father was physically abused as a child and you know that's kind of how they were raised. My dad the physical abuse ended with my dad, but he was still very abrasive and aggressive. He was older, he had me when he was about 53 years old. My family started in a untraditional way. He had an entire family, a wife and three kids, and didn't show up one day and he was gone for weeks or months and one day they followed him home from the hospital and when they knocked on the door, my mom answered. So that's how our whole family kind of came about. They were very religious in a legalistic manner, in a very non-biblical manner, very self-righteous. You know, I'd have friends come over and it's like hi, do you know Jesus? Well, you're going to hell. And that's not really how you approach people.

Speaker 1: 4:21

Yeah, yeah, just my way. That's it right, exactly.

Speaker 2: 4:25

That's just shut them down and drive them away. My mom was an alcoholic. One of my youngest memories was her throwing up in the bathroom at like 10 am when I was eight years old, and I was always taught to stay away from drugs and alcohol, but I was never really given a reason. You know, I think alcohol is so accepted in our society that people see it as not a drug and not a potentially extremely dangerous thing Absolutely, if you abuse it. Alcohol was my main destroyer of my life, I suppose. So when I got kicked out of my house when I was about 19 years old, I did all the things that I was told not to do Wow, look at all these amazing, cool, fun things that I can do. And I wound up homeless and jobless and was living on people's couches for a while and, you know, doing my whole party thing. I was having a great time. It took me one year from trying alcohol to smoking meth.

Speaker 1: 5:26

And.

Speaker 2: 5:27

I like to joke. You know I wasn't a drug addict. I only tried meth once. It was actually one single time Actually. I smoked meth that night, I didn't sleep obviously. Next morning I smoked some weed to get some sleep and I woke up and everybody was huffing computer duster and I thought that would be real fun. So I gave it a try and my finger got stuck on the trigger and I blacked out and stopped breathing and my friends had to turn me over and pull the vomit out of my mouth and give me mouth to mouth and so while I did huff duster again, I never touched meth after that. My problem is I was a young, naive, altered homeschool kid.

Speaker 2: 6:16

Okay, I was a young naive altered homeschool kid, okay, and was just looking to have a good time and didn't realize the potential danger of the things that I was doing. I remember one night I took a random pill that someone gave me it was Wellbutrin. Then I drank two bottles of Wellbutrin and alcohol don't mix. Being a paramedic now, I am very aware of that and then wound up at some other person's hotel room snorting Vicodin off of a dresser.

Speaker 1: 6:44

So growing up, though, you weren't partying at all.

Speaker 2: 6:47

Not at all. I never tried alcohol until I was about 18 years old.

Speaker 1: 6:51

Okay, and you said you got kicked out when you were 19.

Speaker 2: 6:54

Yes, so I tried alcohol when I was 18, got kicked out when you were 19. Yes, so I tried alcohol when I was 18. Got kicked out at 19. I'd rather party than show up to my job. So I lost my job and when I uh returned home, they were like hey, guess what? You don't live here anymore. Yeah, and that was a big culture shock, uh being so sheltered. You know, I was never oh my gosh the tools to survive.

Speaker 1: 7:18

Yeah, you got to go live in the big bad world.

Speaker 2: 7:21

Yeah, you got to go live in the big bad world and figure it out real quick.

Speaker 1: 7:25

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 7:26

That's scary, so I would do anything to get high. We used to steal cough medicine and take like 13, 16 times the recommended dose, which turns out that's very dangerous also. So I wound up on people's couches, wound up at a point where I didn't know where I was going to sleep or when I was going to eat. And so my brother invited me out to Kansas City and he's like you know, I'm not gonna hold your hand, you've gotta get it together, but you can come stay with me while we do that. My brother's an alcoholic, so we stayed up drinking all night long and partying, and you know the same cycle, and my brother's now sober as well. After I got sober he quit. He's about 15 years older than me, but yeah, just perpetuate the cycle. Stay up drinking till 5am, playing pool, watching intervention. You know I'm not nearly as bad as those people are.

Speaker 1: 8:29

Right, the comparison right. Oh my gosh, look at what they're doing, yeah.

Speaker 2: 8:35

Very easy to vilify yourself when you're watching stuff like that. So I got a couple jobs, was working in retail, and then my brother's like you should come work in the restaurant industry. I think that would be good for you. Well, the restaurant industry is full of drugs and alcohol. Yeah, absolutely. And if you don't know how to handle yourself, very toxic, and so I did that for years. I, yeah, absolutely. And on my 20th birthday I was drinking vodka, pineapples, watching Antiques Roadshow in my parents' living room and wound up at the hospital with a 380 blood alcohol. So I was sent to rehab and was there for three months and everybody there were meth and heroin addicts and they're like you just got caught. You're just a kid, you got caught on your birthday, you didn't do anything wrong, you don't need to be here. So that's the mentality I went through that rehab.

Speaker 1: 9:41

That's all we needed to hear, right.

Speaker 2: 9:42

Oh, that's all I needed to hear.

Speaker 1: 9:45

Thank you guys, I need it so much. That's so great. I'm not an alcoholic. Thank you Exactly.

Speaker 2: 9:49

I don't have a problem at all.

Speaker 1: 9:51

I'm doing normal kid stuff, they just helped you right out, didn't they?

Speaker 2: 9:55

They sure did. The night I got out of that rehab I got a bottle and a bottle of Robitussin and just started all over again. So anyway, fast forward about a year. That's when I wanted up to my brother's house. I did the restaurant thing, got a DUI, had to move from my brother's house so that I could keep my job and kept drinking. Man Just kept drinking. Luckily I didn't get in trouble while drinking again, wound up with a breathalyzer in my car for about a year and I lost my job that I had at the time.

Speaker 2: 10:32

I got real drunk and showed up to work and I was acting funny and they kind of were concerned. I said that I was having PTSD and stress because I found out my dad had some cancer and they found another reason to let go of me. So I found a new job working in a beer bar that served over 200 different kinds of beer and 40 on tap. Perfect, perfect for me. And so I just continued. I lived about a block and a half away from the bar and would stumble We'd close the bar at three o'clock and get lit and stumble home and lose my passport and not remember how I got home and it was cool. It was totally normal behavior, you know.

Speaker 1: 11:19

Yeah, no problem, whatsoever no problem whatsoever.

Speaker 2: 11:23

So I met my wife through a bar patron actually. I invited him to my 26th birthday and he showed up with her and she'd never been exposed to alcoholism or any sort of addiction like this and it was a pretty shocking thing for her. But she stuck with me and I decided. 10 months after we got together we found out we were having a kid. Well, that's going to screw up my party life.

Speaker 1: 11:53

That is going to put a dent in things.

Speaker 2: 11:55

That is going to mess my life up, so we got to get rid of it. He's sitting across from me in the room right now programming music. He's 13 years old Biggest blessing I've ever had in my life. Yeah, I get that and you'd think that would help me grow up a little bit. But I needed to work on me and I still wasn't willing to do that. So I was like, well, I got to get out of the restaurant business. This is no good for me. This is toxic environment. Maybe if I get a big boy job and I'm not saying to anybody that works in a restaurant that it's not a big boy job, but maybe if I become more responsible, that'll take care of my problems. So I went to school to be an EMT, got a job at a hospital, in the ER, and I was still drinking.

Speaker 1: 12:39

Well, I was going to say that's not really a job you want to show up inebriated for, is it?

Speaker 2: 12:51

No, and I wasn't showing up inebriated, but I would stop by got off at 7 am from the hospital, went to pick up some groceries you know big bottle of Kraken and some diapers and my card declined. So I put the diapers back and kept the bottle and that was. It was a very significant time in my addiction where I'm like wow, maybe I do have a problem.

Speaker 1: 13:14

So you noticed it, you caught that I caught it, but I still maintained the selfishness.

Speaker 2: 13:21

You know how we are.

Speaker 1: 13:22

Yeah, oh yeah, but it was there, like you did recognize. It was there in my head, yeah.

Speaker 2: 13:27

Yeah. So then I would argue with myself do I have a problem? No, I don't think so. I'm not as bad as these people that I see in the EO.

Speaker 1: 13:35

If you watch Intervention every day, you're fine right.

Speaker 2: 13:39

So I went to paramedic school, got my paramedic license and we moved out to Oklahoma City and I was working on the ambulance. You know, I ran a guy I'll never forget that was withdrawing and he had DTs and his skin was sloughing off of his body and I'm like, I'm not nearly as bad as people like this, like it's no big deal. I'm drinking with doctors, like we're cool, like these people know what they're doing, and so it just continued and perpetuated, and perpetuated. And I would argue with myself and every time I stopped at a gas station, I'd be thinking about it. I need to pick up a tall can on my way home of malt liquor to get a buzz before I get home so I can sleep.

Speaker 2: 14:26

And in 2017, I lost my parents to murder-suicide and nothing really evil or malevolent there. They were really old. My dad was 53 when he had me, so he was in his 80s, and they had always told us he was a physician and she was a nurse. They would always tell us that they would never end up in a nursing home, that it just wouldn't happen, that if they got to a point, they would take care of themselves, or if they got to a point there, they would take care of themselves, or they couldn't take care of themselves, they would take care of themselves, and that kind of threw me into an identity crisis.

Speaker 2: 15:04

Well, if that's okay, then nothing I've ever been taught or told is the truth. So who even am I as a person? And that's when my you know, my addiction was bad when I was younger because I was just eating pills and doing whatever I could to get high. But that's where I fell the deepest in my alcoholism. I was drinking a you know a half a box to a box of wine a day, picking up my kid, drunk from kindergarten, just completely absent. I showed up to work on the ambulance drunk a couple times. I even showed up to work in the ER drunk and I was just lost.

Speaker 1: 15:47

Yeah, how was your relationship at this time?

Speaker 2: 15:49

Pretty close to ending. She was really close. We had to have a very serious conversation and I was like, okay, okay, I need to tone it back a little bit, I can still control this.

Speaker 1: 16:03

Yeah, just reel it in a little. Reel it in a little.

Speaker 2: 16:06

Bring it in a little. You know I was still in the garage drinking you know eight, nine point beers when I let the dog out, just slamming him to catch a buzz, stupid stuff like that and I got to a point where I could have a beer or two beers and I would feel okay. But then I found comedy. Comedy is a great thing. Drugs and alcohol are huge in comedy, dude, it is like the music industry everywhere.

Speaker 2: 16:43

There were a couple times that I went home from open mic and if I would have gotten caught I would have lost my family, I would have lost my license to practice as a paramedic, I would have lost my entire life. And so one day I finally just looked at my beer and said this isn't good for me anymore and, you know, decided that I couldn't control it and that none was better for me I don't have a sobriety date because I didn't think that I would not ever drink again. I thought I was one of those people that I'd die with a beer in my hand, and so I know it's sometime in the middle of September, but I never picked it up again. And I don't have the desire to pick it up again because what I have found in my life is so much better without it. I was using medical cannabis when I got sober from alcohol, but I've been sober from that since February of this year.

Speaker 1: 17:33

So do you think that was? This is always a contention, right. Do you think that helped you to be able to taper yourself off of the alcohol?

Speaker 2: 17:46

Absolutely, and that wasn't the intention of it. The intention of it was PTSD from my parents, my siblings and I thought it would be beneficial for closure to see crime scene photos and honey. Let me tell you that was horrific. And so for a long time I couldn't close my eyes without seeing that stuff, and so, once I got sober, there's still something missing, still a piece of the puzzle that I couldn't quite place. And that was the third step, my friend.

Speaker 2: 18:18

We made a decision to give our will and our lives over to the power of God as we understand him. And on June 9th of last year I walked into Life Church, which happened to be, unknowingly, the seven-year anniversary of my parents' murder-suicide. Wow and burst into tears because I knew I was home.

Speaker 1: 18:44

Right when you needed to be right. That's how we know. That's how we know. Life tells us where we need to be if we listen.

Speaker 2: 18:52

Absolutely, and you know that was. It's kind of crazy. My kid was going into seventh grade so that day was the only day that he went to children's church and their lesson was on big emotions. And he lost his grandmother the next day. And yep, that's life. Telling you like this is where we need to be, so I've been looking to God ever since for all of my pain and all of my suffering, most of which I put myself through, and life has just become an amazing thing.

Speaker 1: 19:25

Agreed. But let me ask you this so you had some I don't want to say religious trauma, but some different.

Speaker 2: 19:32

I would definitely call it religious trauma. Okay.

Speaker 1: 19:35

I was trying not to say you know, but you had a different connotation on religion when you were younger. So when you went to church, did you have that in your head, were you like? I just need to try. Absolutely these people are going to judge me.

Speaker 2: 19:52

I'm going to have to do all these rules. It's not about that. For my parents, it was all about follow these rules. Jesus said come as you are and I'll take care of the rest. 100%. It doesn't say you know, get your addiction under control and then come as you are and the Holy Spirit will guide you where you need to be. And so, yeah, you know, it's not all about religion. It's about having a personal relationship with Christ, and it's about receiving unconditional love from our Creator and returning that unconditional love to other people and people like my parents is what most individuals come across, and so they're immediately turned off to even the idea of seeking the truth.

Speaker 1: 20:53

Yeah, all the checkboxes, right, you have to do this and this and this and this, and you have to be this and this and this and this, and you have to look like this and this and this and this and it's like where did that even come from? You know, that's not at all the case. Not at all.

Speaker 2: 21:10

No.

Speaker 1: 21:11

And so I don't know where that comes from, but it turns a lot of people off Well religion is man-made.

Speaker 2: 21:16

Yeah, true.

Speaker 1: 21:17

Very true.

Speaker 2: 21:17

Right. So I try to follow what Jesus said, and not what religion tells me what I need to be, or who I need to be, or what kind of music I need to listen to, or whether or not I should have tattoos. I'm full of tattoos.

Speaker 1: 21:33

Me too. I hope that's not a thing.

Speaker 2: 21:38

God knows our heart.

Speaker 1: 21:40

Absolutely, I 100% agree with that. Once upon a time, sister-in-law used to tell me before I went to church you know, church is really just a hospital for sick people.

Speaker 2: 21:50

Absolutely.

Speaker 1: 21:51

And I had a hard time digesting that statement. You know it's a hospital for sick people. What is she talking about? You know, I didn't really take it in at that time. Now, I didn't really. I didn't really take it in at that time. No, I had, I was, I'm very spiritual, I, I I don't really necessarily like to use the term religious- the same way.

Speaker 1: 22:13

I mean I, I believe there is religions and thing. Everybody can do their own thing. Right, there's, there's no judgment. Everybody do their own thing. I just I, just higher power for me is usually what I say Creator.

Speaker 2: 22:25

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 22:26

You know, that's, that's just me. Anybody else can do. You know, do you boo? That's how I feel about that, but it took me really trying to dive into that to understand what she was talking about. Yeah, because her family was extremely religious and they were the box checkers, mm-hmm, and I couldn't put that together. I just that was not going to be my jam ever. You know, Right.

Speaker 2: 22:49

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 22:50

I totally get it so. So what's happening with you now?

Speaker 2: 22:54

So comedy is kind of an addiction in itself. I was really into like I want to be on kill Tony. I want to be on kill Tony. It's going to change my life. Dude the same. I've been down there twice. I haven't got on yet for a purpose. All the same people are standing in the same line every week.

Speaker 1: 23:14

Okay.

Speaker 2: 23:14

You know it's it's kind of like a circus and it doesn't do as much as people think it does as much as people think it does. So I was looking to go down there, you know, a couple times a month, like every other week. And you know, I just recently sat for a certification for work. I'm a cardiovascular technologist, so I'm in the cath lab fixing heart attacks. So I sat for a registered cardiovascular invasive specialist test that wouldn't allow me to travel as an option and so I'm like we're gonna, I'm gonna retire you, we're gonna get a camper. I was looking at trailer parks in New Jersey. My wife's like pump the brakes, dude, that sounds fun, but that's not kind of the lifestyle that I'm trying to have right now. So I'm like, okay, I need to back up a little bit and think about things.

Speaker 2: 24:10

About January, I took off all of December and part of January and really started thinking about things and I'm like I don't want to give up on comedy because it's my passion, but I also want to be able to help other people and there's a non-for-profit called Heart Support and it's mental health support for the metal community and I was like that's really cool. I wonder if I could do something like that. So initially I was like I want to do addiction and mental health support for the comedy community, because everybody's in comedy is addicted to something. And then I was like, wait a minute. Who needs to laugh more than anybody else? People in rehab? Yes, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 24:56

So I formed this idea to go into rehabs and offer free comedy and give my testimony and give them hope for recovery. And we had our first show in April and we've been doing it ever since. I've had seven shows since April. I've got one in town, at Country Road in Tecumseh this next month, and then we're going to Knoxville. That's awesome. Yeah, I've got one for sure and two more lined up. And yeah, man, I'm just trying to spread the word and trying to give these people hope in their direst of scenarios.

Speaker 1: 25:38

And you know, in rehab, definitely one of the things you have done is forgotten how to laugh, right You've forgotten joy.

Speaker 2: 25:44

You've forgotten joy.

Speaker 1: 25:45

So have you always been into comedy, or was it something that you developed and were able to use as an outlet for yourself?

Speaker 2: 25:53

I've always loved comedy, but I started doing comedy in 2022. And then I had my first just doing open mics, started learning how it works. And then I had my first show in 2021. Sorry, timelines messed up 2023. Um, and then I've been. I've been hooked ever since.

Speaker 1: 26:17

Wow, that's, that's incredible. You said a while back when you were talking that you just hadn't worked on yourself. Have you used comedy as a way to work on yourself?

Speaker 2: 26:29

Absolutely yeah, it's a great outlet. It's like therapy.

Speaker 1: 26:32

Yeah, a hundred percent Great outlet.

Speaker 2: 26:34

And I can turn things like even my parents' murder-suicide, which was a horrific event in my life, into something that brings other people joy. I know that sounds messed up.

Speaker 1: 26:46

Oh, no I get it. But yeah, I've even got my closer' all the time and we have to find ways to get through it right. You got to find ways that aren't numbing and masking that aren't substances, exactly.

Speaker 2: 27:10

It's head on.

Speaker 1: 27:12

Yeah, god gave us laughter as a means to heal ourselves. He gave us breath as a way to heal ourselves. He gave us tears, and they're all things, especially in addiction, that we don't use.

Speaker 2: 27:23

Absolutely.

Speaker 1: 27:24

So I think it's fantastic that you were able to wrap that all together and come up with a way to not only help yourself but help others at the same time. I think it's just amazing that you were able to wrap that together.

Speaker 2: 27:41

Absolutely One. Before I was like why am I not doing shit? Why am I not on other people's shows? You know why am I, dude, I'm so busy doing these rehab shows?

Speaker 2: 27:53

Yeah that I I'm going to get to a point eventually where I'm going to have to quit my job because I've almost got one C3 status, and so we will be able to receive donations and fundraising, and so I mean, this is my long term goal is to be in rehabs, and that's what I tell them. I'm like you know, it took me 40 years to figure out my purpose. We all have a purpose, okay, we all have a purpose, and I found my purpose and it's in these rehabs, with these people telling them that you are going to be okay, you're going to have to work for it.

Speaker 1: 28:33

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 28:33

But you are going to be okay. You know, eventually I'd like to open a comedy rehab where spirituality and recovery is number one, but people will be required to write and perform comedy so they can direct their negative energy towards something other than drugs and alcohol.

Speaker 1: 28:54

You know, South Coast has been doing a talent show the last couple of months, yeah, and so everybody can kind of get up and ask for the clients and they can do whatever it is they do, and it has been so fun to see that and to watch that and for just you really get to see a piece of everyone a piece of everyone and they get to share a piece of themselves and realize that we're all in this together.

Speaker 1: 29:22

We're not alone and it's it's I I, the case managers put that together and it and it was really, really awesome to watch.

Speaker 2: 29:30

Well, maybe baby step would be to start a comedy workshop.

Speaker 1: 29:35

Maybe, maybe.

Speaker 2: 29:36

Before we can get into running our own facility. I don't know anything about it. I don't really know anything about any of this.

Speaker 1: 29:42

It's just happening, it's okay. It's okay, just go with it and see how it develops. Right, go with it Exactly. One day at a time. One day at a time.

Speaker 2: 29:54

And that's exactly what we've been doing. But yeah, I'd totally be into if that's something they'd be interested in doing a comedy workshop where people can learn how it works, because I mean there's a lot of study and structure that goes into it all, but it's so rewarding shows. No $25 paid gig could ever replace what I am receiving from doing comedy for people who need it 100%, 100% agree with that, 100%.

Speaker 1: 30:30

You know, I've been in recovery for a long time. I've done recovery coaching. I've taught you know codependency groups and different groups, sobriety coaching and all those things. For many years. I have codependency groups and different groups, sobriety coaching and all those things For many years.

Speaker 1: 30:40

I have a website, breakfast of Choices, and I don't know woke up and God was telling me that you need to go into a facility. This is what you have to do now. And I kept saying what, what, what are you talking about? Bought it for a little bit and then I was like you know what I'm going to do that. So I was group facilitating for about eight months and, oh my gosh, I did not know how much I needed that, how much I needed it, as much as they needed it, and it was such a big passion and purpose for me, working with the clients every day Just amazing. Just to see the light come on. You see the clarity and you see the light come on and you just see them working through and laughing and it's just, it's, it's truly amazing. It really is to be part of that.

Speaker 2: 31:33

Something very special happens when we do these events. South Coast was a very important facility to do in my journey because the feedback that I got was that they were so grateful that they were able to have fun sober, because most of them had never experienced that in their lives.

Speaker 1: 31:54

It's huge. That is one of the biggest things that I hear is what am I going to do? How am I going to have fun? And my thought process is that if it was that fun, you wouldn't be sitting here right now. It was fun a very long time ago, but there's a time when the fun stopped right. And you're never going to go back to the fun. It's never going to happen.

Speaker 2: 32:18

Well, that's because people like us can't just have one or two.

Speaker 1: 32:22

No right.

Speaker 2: 32:24

All in baby. It's all in One drop and I can't stop.

Speaker 1: 32:28

Yes. And so once that kind of sets in, it's like, oh, that's so true, you know what I mean. And then you start finding yourself and figuring out who you are and what you actually like to do oh yeah it's amazing, right, it's like what I forgot. I like to do that once upon a time.

Speaker 2: 32:44

I forgot that socially awkward when I got sober because I had to find out who I was as a person. I was, yeah.

Speaker 1: 32:52

I was 19, I was in prison, adrienne, and I was 19. And I was in prison, adrienne, and I was 19. And one of the empowerment specialist ladies said so what are your hobbies? I was like my. What it was like math, men, motorcycles, those are my hobbies. And that really, really hit me at that moment, really hit me that I have no idea who I am, what I like to do anything about myself and I'm in prison, like what is happening? What am I doing? And that was a huge reality check for me. So what you're doing and getting people to laugh again in that setting is a huge reality check.

Speaker 2: 33:35

Yeah, oh, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 33:37

Really is that we can have fun. We can have fun and it's okay. Yeah, oh, absolutely Really is that we can have fun. We can have fun and it's okay. It's okay to laugh, it's okay to have feelings, and we're going to have fun again, it's going to be all right.

Speaker 2: 33:46

Yeah, and that's what I tell him. I you know, that was my biggest fear I'm never going to be able to have fun again. How am I going to more fun than I ever did?

Speaker 1: 33:53

blacked out not knowing what I was doing yeah or someone has to tell you what you did. The next day.

Speaker 2: 34:06

That's exactly, yeah, super fun.

Speaker 1: 34:09

Absolutely so. So we together. So when I have that recovery tour coming up right With Skylar Ray and this is just kind of something that I don't know happened and one of those things you don't know what the heck you're doing, but it's happening right. And so the recovery tour with Skylar and Kayla, so they will come and do their music and do their testimony on September 27th, right. So it's going to be amazing. You are going to open.

Speaker 2: 34:34

Yeah, super excited about the opportunity.

Speaker 1: 34:37

Super exciting. Yes, because getting everybody there, the spirit that that will bring and the laughter and the joy to the beginning of this night, is just. I'm so excited about that.

Speaker 2: 34:50

Yeah, I'm really thrilled for the opportunity.

Speaker 1: 34:53

Yeah, I really like, I can feel it, like I can feel the whole thing. It's going to be an amazing, amazing energy in that night.

Speaker 2: 35:00

Oh yeah, it's gonna be awesome. You know, I think you and I have very similar goals where we want to cultivate a atmosphere where people can come and have fun and not worry about being pressured to drink.

Speaker 1: 35:13

Yes or judged. Or judged or anything like that.

Speaker 2: 35:17

And you know I've got a whole lot of crazy stuff in my mind like yes or judged comedy club, and it will be a completely dry event. I love that, so we're going to add through AA and offer just a place where people can come and have a good time and not even worry about alcohol, because it's not even going to be there.

Speaker 1: 35:49

Yes, and you know, alcohol is one of those things where people question why you're not having a drink right.

Speaker 2: 35:55

Absolutely.

Speaker 1: 35:56

It's like well, why are you not drinking? Well, am I asking you why you're not? You know shooting dope tonight Like it's the weirdest question to me. It's the weirdest thing to me that people worry about somebody else not drinking.

Speaker 2: 36:09

Yeah, yeah. Well, I'm straight up when people ask me that I've had my fill. I don't want to wake up in women's shoes. That happened. I went to a company picnic and woke up getting off of a bus with women's shoes on.

Speaker 1: 36:23

Yeah, I feel you. I want to know where my clothes are at. So I totally understand that. Well, that had to be an interesting morning, right?

Speaker 2: 36:29

Oh it's crazy, Crazy yeah.

Speaker 1: 36:31

Yeah, and then like what happened.

Speaker 2: 36:32

Interesting evening. The party started in the morning.

Speaker 1: 36:39

So we don't have to do that anymore. We don't have to do that. Oh, this is going to be amazing and, like you said, I think our purpose really is the same and it's really about happiness and joy and being able to live life to the fullest and not have to stuff and mask every single feeling that we feel, absolutely Everybody deserves a good life and it's very attainable.

Speaker 2: 36:57

we feel Absolutely. Everybody deserves a good life and it's very attainable. You just got to put in a little work.

Speaker 1: 37:02

You do got to put in the work, you have to put in the work, and you know something that is one of my favorite sayings and I know you've heard it a million times there comes a point when you have to stop being a product of your environment and start being a product of your choices.

Speaker 2: 37:15

Absolutely.

Speaker 1: 37:16

And we're the only ones that can do that right. We're the only ones that can say, all right, I'm done. People have been through some horrific things in their life, so I'm not trying to take that away from anyone. Ptsd is real, trauma is real, but dealing with it without substances will take you a whole lot further.

Speaker 2: 37:34

Absolutely.

Speaker 1: 37:35

Is it hard? Yep, it's hard. Can a whole lot further, absolutely. Is it hard? Yep, it's hard. Can you do it? Hell yeah, being an addict is hard.

Speaker 2: 37:42

So yeah, you can do it. Philippians 4.13 says I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. And you know I used to think that was like I can win this baseball game or I can do this. No, dude, paul wrote that in prison. You can get through any situation that you might be in. It usually takes the bottom of the barrel.

Speaker 1: 38:06

Bottom to rock solid right, exactly. And those are true words. Sometimes it takes that, Sometimes it doesn't for people, but sometimes it truly does. I believe that anyone can change their lives. I really truly believe anyone can change their lives if they want to and if they put in the work.

Speaker 2: 38:25

Absolutely.

Speaker 1: 38:26

It's not coming to your door. Nobody's coming to your door saying here's the magical fairy juice. You know, right, you've got to want it and you've got to take the steps to do it. But anybody can do it so well. I appreciate you so much for coming on tonight.

Speaker 2: 38:41

Absolutely. I appreciate you having me.

Speaker 1: 38:43

I am excited to hear your comedy show. I'm excited to just, you know, meet you in person and and do this together and have a great night and just make people laugh and and, um, you know just and just make people laugh. And you know just the purpose of life, yeah, just have some life together.

Speaker 2: 39:00

Absolutely.

Speaker 1: 39:01

It's going to be great, it's going to be a blast. I know Well. Thank you so much, adrian again, and we will talk soon.

Speaker 2: 39:08

Sounds good. No-transcript.