Hey, I’m Tim Barnes, you are the genre, and in this episode I’m chatting with playwright, actor, and JUDGE TRAVIS staff writer Ben Holbrook. We met years ago at a standup show that I was on and he was attending and it kicked off a unique friendship where every now and then we’ll just have a real, solid chat that ranges from sci-fi to a psychological analysis of intergenerational trauma—which, I suppose, can be another form of sci-fi. It was a pleasure to bring him aboard the writing team for JUDGE TRAVIS and before we dive into the nuances of his creative career in this episode, we discuss his process for writing episode 6 of the show.

Ben also has a hilarious scripted audio series of his own titled Kepler’s Ark!

I hope this inspires you to have a deep conversation with a friend soon.

Best,

Tim

Ben Holbrook is a Brooklyn-based (originally from NC) playwright, filmmaker, and creator of digital and live experiences whose works have been produced, developed, or commissioned by: The Brick, The High Line, The Prism Festival (Makers Ensemble and Judson Church), Theatre Untitled, The Exponential Festival, Fundamental Theater Project, Ruddy Productions, The Samuel French OOB Festival, The Mercury Store, The New York International Fringe Festival, The Memphis Fringe Festival, The Motor Company, Wildwind Performance Lab, Voices of the South (TN), Ugly Rhino(LA), Seoul Players (SK), Holiday House, Find the Light (LA), The Irish Arts Council, 45th Street Block Association, and Paper Lantern Theatre Company (NC). Films

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Merch and more are coming soon at YouAreTheGenre.com

CREDITS:

* Host: Tim Barnes

* Guest: Ben Holbrook

* Theme Song: “You Are The Genre” by Freddie Nunez

* Music Engineer: Adam Smith

* Podcast Art: Madhuri Shukla

Hey, I’m Tim Barnes, you are the genre, and in this episode I’m chatting with Ian Abramson TWICE!

First up: a behind-the-scenes conversation about his experience writing episode five of my new scripted podcast JUDGE TRAVIS.

Second: a a special re-release of our conversation from 2024 where we discussed his standup comedy special The Heist.

Ian and I have known each other since high school and have collaborated on numerous projects from a web series that’s probably hard to find on the internet these days to the short film we co-created called Inland Empire (no relation to the David Lynch classic).

If you’re a fan of comedy math, pop culture and sugar burps—this is the episode for you.

Best,

Tim

Here’s Ian’s bio, as written on his website:

Ian Abramson? I haven’t heard that name in a long time...

Well, not the way you pronounce it anyway.

My name is Ian Abramson (I’m sorry, you’re still reading that wrong. EE-IN ABE-RAM-SHGERT).

I grew up in the Inland Empire. Between San Diego and Los Angeles. Weird area, but it made me a weird guy so who’s complaining? I went to college and I worked in summer camps. I’ve been told I have camp counselor vibes, which I guess just means I’m a lot sometimes.

I’m a comedian. I write, I act, blah, blah, blah.

They say not to make your website funny, but if you’re looking for something serious online I’d suggest Wikipedia.

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Merch and more are coming soon at YouAreTheGenre.com

CREDITS:

* Host: Tim Barnes

* Guest: Ian Abramson

* Theme Song: “You Are The Genre” by Freddie Nunez

* Music Engineer: Adam Smith

* Podcast Art: Madhuri Shukla

Hey, I’m Tim Barnes, you are the genre, and in this episode I’m chatting with comedian, writer, and fashion designer Rebecca O’Neal. We’ve been friends circa 2012 in the Chicago comedy scene and I was thrilled to bring her aboard the writers’ room for JUDGE TRAVIS. O’Neal wrote episode 4 of JUDGE TRAVIS which premiered February 18, so you can either listen after this interview or before!

We commiserate on the pluses and minuses of a sheltered childhood, nostalgia for the Chicago comedy scene that defined us, and the testy waters of the entertainment industry as it stands now.

O’Neal is a powerhouse of creativity and JUDGE TRAVIS is all the better for it.

Enjoy!

-Tim

Listen toYou Are The Genre episodes a week earlier than the rest by selecting a paid subscription to the newsletter!

Merch and more are coming soon at YouAreTheGenre.com

CREDITS:

* Host: Tim Barnes

* Guest: Rebecca O’Neal

* Theme Song: “You Are The Genre” by Freddie Nunez

* Music Engineer: Adam Smith

* Podcast Art: Madhuri Shukla

Hey, I’m Tim Barnes, you are the genre, and in this episode I’m chatting with actor/comedian Brandi Denise. She’s performed on THE TONIGHT SHOW, acted in the POWER series, and now voices the role of the bailiff in my new scripted audio series JUDGE TRAVIS. Before that role, we likely bumped into each other at some point in the Chicago comedy scene. It’s a testament to her clarity of voice as a performer that when it came time to start casting the bailiff role, she was immediately on my list.

When we spoke for this interview near the end of 2025, I was excited to learn more about her path as a comedian and star on the rise. Also, check out her Hulu special!

Hope you enjoy!

-Tim

Brandi Denise is an actress and comedian known for her standout roles on Power, Power Book II: Ghost, and BET’s Games People Play. She rose to viral fame with her unforgettable guest appearance on Abbott Elementary, sparking widespread buzz for her performance.

A 2022 Just For Laughs New Face, Brandi has been featured on BET’s ComicView and was named one of Vulture’s 2024 “Comics You Should and Will Know.” Her Comedy Central feature hit over a million views in 2022, adding to a growing list of viral moments. With over 350,000 followers, she’s built a loyal fanbase across both screen and stage.

Her debut comedy special is now streaming on Hulu, presented by Kevin Hart’s LOL Live series—cementing Brandi as a powerful voice in comedy and culture.

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Merch and more are coming soon at YouAreTheGenre.com

CREDITS:

Host: Tim Barnes

Guest: Brandi Denise

Theme Song: “You Are The Genre” by Freddie Nunez

Music Engineer: Adam Smith

Podcast Art: Madhuri Shukla

Hey, I’m Tim Barnes, you are the genre, and in this episode I’m chatting with writer Andrew E. Colarusso. I interviewed him in text form a few years back in the newsletter, but now he joins me in audioland to discuss his latest collection of poetry PETTYGOD. The collection is irrepressible, holy, profane, tender, hilarious, "too hot to touch."

Our two creative paths intersect in strange ways. For instance, another text interview of mine with DuVay Knox influenced one of the poems in PETTYGOD. Which is why I should warn you: some explicit words are said in this episode!

Andrew owns and operates Taylor & Co., an independent bookstore in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn. I worked there for a while as the “Monday guy” and can attest that it’s a uniquely inviting space filled with an eclectic roster characters popping in each day.

As risk of being petty, Andrew also flips the script and interviews ME about my scripted audio series JUDGE TRAVIS.

I hope you get to check out both of our projects.

-Tim

------

“Andrew E. Colarusso’s newest is a sharp-edged erotic, politically unflinching poetry collection where syntax is shattered to reveal deeper ancestral reckoning. Like Kamau Brathwaite, Colarusso understands the page as a score to conjure rebellion, bend grammar, break form, and tune the line to the frequency of diaspora, confessional grief, and spiritual survival. His language pulses with both prophecy and protest, as seen in poems like ‘The Pussy Detective,’ which blends pulp poetics, satire and sovereignty, and refuses the sanitized gaze of empire while regarding the vernacular as sacred terrain. In ‘Who Hath Known the Mind of God,’ the writer reckons despair and the brutal intimacy of city life as it unfolds into a fever dream of love and despair. Across his work, interiority becomes a site of disruption, therefore, Pettygod be a living archive for the haunted and the holy. Colarusso scribes like fire, raising sacred spaces from ash, where fracture and ruin form the raw scaffolding of a resilient desire to be free.”—Mahogany L. Browne

🔊: Apple - Spotify - Newsletter

Hey, I’m Tim Barnes, you are the genre, and this is a preview of an upcoming scripted audio series that I have coming out February 11th called JUDGE TRAVIS, which you should subscribe to now wherever you listen to podcasts! I’ll be interviewing people involved with the show here on You Are The Genre as we switch to a Monday release schedule between February 9 and March 16.

JUDGE TRAVIS is your front-row seat to the behind-the-scenes chaos of America’s favorite fake TV judge. Through the guise of leaked audio, listeners eavesdrop on the absurd drama unfolding behind the bench of the reality television court show, JUDGE TRAVIS. Starring Bashir Salahuddin (SOUTH SIDE), Langston Kerman (INSECURE), Brandi Denise (POWER), Keesha Sharp (GIRLFRIENDS), Amber Ruffin (LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS) and George Wallace (CLEAN SLATE).

Created and directed by television writer Tim Barnes (THE TONIGHT SHOW, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central), Judge Travis draws inspiration from classic Hollywood-satire comedies like THE BERNIE MAC SHOW and THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW. Court shows are one of America’s favorite pastimes. But why do we love these stern authority figures? And who are the real people behind those robes? JUDGE TRAVIS proves the answers to those questions are crazier than anything you’ve ever seen on TV.

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Merch and more are coming soon at YouAreTheGenre.com

Hey, I’m Tim Barnes, you are the genre, and in this episode I’m chatting with novelist and media multi-hyphenate Noël Stark. Her debut novel is a steamy romance titled LOVE, CAMERA, ACTION and it caught my attention because of the behind-the-scenes nature of the story. I love behind-the-scenes stories. It’s my THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW is one of my favorite sitcoms and why my upcoming scripted audio series JUDGE TRAVIS reveals the inner workings of a reality TV court show.

Stark and I dive deep into the misunderstood genre of romance novels, compartmentalizing your creativity, and growing up in the Canadian woods.

This was recorded months ago in 2025 but it’s ready for your ears now and everyone will find something to love in it.

Stay healthy and sane out there,

-Tim

[Listen toYou Are The Genre episodes a week earlier than the rest by selecting a paid subscription to the newsletter!]

LOVE, CAMERA, ACTION is Noël Stark’s debut novel. She’s worked in almost every position in the Film/TV industry, both in front of and behind the camera. Although she’s Canadian, she lives in L.A. with her young son, desperately missing winter. She likes chocolate milk in her coffee and gets most of her real world intel from her three step kids.

Merch and more are coming soon at YouAreTheGenre.com

CREDITS:

* Host: Tim Barnes

* Guest: Noël Stark

* Theme Song: “You Are The Genre” by Freddie Nunez

* Music Engineer: Adam Smith

* Podcast Art: Madhuri Shukla

Hey, I’m Tim Barnes, you are the genre, and beyond my excitement for the JUDGE TRAVIS audio series I have coming out in February, I'm thrilled to present this chat with novelist and television writer Kashana Cauley. Before comedy, Cauley worked in the world of law, but she rose to internet fame on Twitter (back when that place was kind of fun) for writing political hot takes that were so funny, they prompted Neal Brennan to bring her into the fold as a writer for Trevor Noah’s freshly minted version of The Daily Show in 2017. Since, Cauley has written for multiple television series and penned two novels: THE SURVIVALISTS, and her latest—THE PAYBACK, which was published by Atria Books in July 2025. We spoke around June of that year, but now the episode is finally being released as we kick off this new season of You Are The Genre!

THE PAYBACK was named an NPR and Electric Literature Best Book of the Year. It was also named a Best Book of Summer 2025 by many outlets, including the Boston Globe, Vanity Fair, and the NYT, as well as an NYT Editor’s Choice.

[Listen toYou Are The Genre episodes a week earlier than the rest by selecting a paid subscription to the newsletter!]

Cauley is a TV writer who has written for The Great North, Pod Save America on HBO and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, and a former contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. She has also written for The Atlantic, Esquire, The New Yorker, Pitchfork, and Rolling Stone, among other publications.

Merch and more are coming soon at YouAreTheGenre.com

CREDITS:

* Host: Tim Barnes

* Guest: Kashana Cauley

* Theme Song: “You Are The Genre” by Freddie Nunez

* Music Engineer: Adam Smith

* Podcast Art: Madhuri Shukla