MAA #009: With Jeff Hewitt

Interview with Perth Comedian Jeff Hewitt, who has had a comedy career (in balance with his law career) for 11 years, and also has a podcast called Once Were Zombies. We discuss: Jeff's breakdown in the final year of law school and his subsequent diagnosis of depression, rebelling and dropping out of law school and starting comedy, tattoos and green hair, insulting a room full of bikies, triggers for his breakdown (ie, law school pressure, competitive peers, and unrequited love), encouragement to seek help for depression, how Jeff got into comedy, the co-dependent relationship with a messy break up, rediscovering himself, comedy being the "go-to place" after trauma, law and comedy being opposite but balancing careers, the dark side of Family Law (domestic violence, child abuse, financial battles), comedy = connector of people, positive outlook after being fired in 2011, the burn out of family lawyers, the oxymoron of "corporate social responsibility", "Triangulating", Zen and meditating on a black cushion, book: Zen And The Art Of Stand Up Comedy by Jay Sankey, childhood amibitions, being poorer but happier, getting into Family Law by process of elimination, inspiration from Geraldine Hickey, Jeff's show about depression called Reach Arounds For The Soul (2009), meaningful vs whimsical comedy styles, helping people vs being a cog in the machine, Once Were Zombies, Infinite Jest - the book and the comedy room, podcasting to cope with traffic jams, importance of a good home life, the benefits of meditation and plugging in to the universe to recharge, reading recommendations, cutting down on social media, getting out of your own ego, no matter how bad something is you never know what's just around the corner, and don't give up on yourself or Jeff will personally come to you to kick your ass!