On this episode of Risk

I always pretended to like Rush more than I was familiar with their music.

I know they're cool.

Well, I don't know exactly how the...

They're definitely cool among nerds.

Among music.

Yeah.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Hello, Hello, folks. This is Risk, the show where people tell true stories they never thought they

dare to share.

I'm Kevin Allison, and this is another one of our conversation story episodes where someone tells me a story.

And if you're hearing this on our audio podcast, know that there's a link to the video version of the show in the show notes.

And if you're watching this, come on over to our audio podcast, Risk, where we've been sharing jaw-dropping, boldly told true stories for over 15

years. There's thousands of stories to find on Risk wherever you get your podcast or at

risk-deshow.com. Today, we're sharing a story that John F. O'Donnell told me about his 15-year-long

journey from first experiencing major manic and

depressive episodes from bipolar 1 to the remarkable creative and communal work he's done

to shine light on the condition and help others with it.

We'll be right back.

We're back.

So without further ado, here I am with John F. O'Donnell, a story about that time he got kicked out of his favorite comedy club.

Tell me, like, what was it like when you started off in comedy in new york like how old were you and how did

your whole new york comedy thing start sure well i started comedy i did like three and a half years before

...