Tammy Faye Starlite: Performance Artist

Tammy Lang a/k/a Tammy Faye Starlite has come to be one of the brightest stars in the Downtown New York scene.  She maintains a busy schedule of performances, guest appearances and benefits, not only in Manhattan but around the country including stints in Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Chicago, St Louis, Pittsburgh as well as the farthest reaches of New Jersey and New Hampshire.  She’s been a girl on the go-go since her soap opera days when she was a regular on The Guiding light portraying one of two “wacky maids.”  Allison Janney was the other one. 

 Her Tammy Faye Starlite character is a chipper yet bitter country music singer whose reactionary rantings and authentically convincing Partonesque vocals made for sophisticated satire of the highest -- or lowest -- order.  Her jaw-dropping repertoire included such ersatz country classics as “God Has Lodged A Tenant In My Uterus” and “Did I Shave My Vagina For This?” among other campfire favorites.  Against all odds, the act was accepted not only in New York and LA but also in Nashville where her sold-out performances both scandalized and thrilled club goers.   

 In recent times, her startling feats of musical reincarnation she has created a new kind of cabaret. Equally gifted as an actor and singer, Lang deep-dives into the vaults of art-pop-rock-whatever and returns clutching buried treasures. In Nico: Underground-- her bio-show, as it might be called – she brings back the late Velvet Underground icon in all of her fuzzed-out, deadpan glory.  With mentions of Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, Jackson Brown, John Cale and Andy Warhol, she animates the character providing both historical context and up to the minute contemporary references.  

 With Cabaret Marianne, Lang salutes Marianne Faithfull one of the great, straight-talking divas of modern pop music, another foreboding yet tragically vulnerable blonde icon of the 1960s.  She pays homage by performing a singular repertoire that is bitingly and world weary while commenting on the continuing downward spiral of the culture.   

 Her latest original incarnation is Tamar, an Israeli pop star with an international following on the comeback trail.  She totally inhabits the persona, maintaining a convincing accent during narrative passages between note perfect songs performed in Hebrew and English.  The performance is as immersive as a warm mikvah bath. Broadway World calls Tammy/Tamar’s performance of Yesterday, Today and TAMAR "Tammy Faye Starlite's maddeningly funny portrayal of the maddeningly self-serious Israeli chanteuse..."

Performances scheduled as of 9/14/22:
Rolling Stones - Pangea, New York City - November 3 and November 10
Nico - Joe's Pub, New York City - March 23, 2023

 Hey, everyone, get ready to make a pivot to investigating the potholes each of us encounters as we navigate life. 

The first pothole we will discuss is Lying: Part 1-Good Lying and Part 2- Bad Lying. We ABSOLUTELY are not going to explore lying in the media or government; instead, we are keeping it personal. Of course, we all lie, but I have never heard anyone say how much they adore liars. Why is that?

Drawing on the current research in Sociology, Psychology, and other sciences to create a broad understanding of how Lying serves us and how it can entrap us.

Join me for a fun talk about lying misconceptions, dealing with bad lies, learning how to be a more honest liar, and many other tips to navigate lying healthier.

I will be telling three lies in the Good Lying podcast. Listen to see if you can hear them, and I’ll reveal the lies in Bad Lying.

Growing up in New Jersey, Turk was surrounded by diversity. After high school, the options encouraged were limited, and Turk chose the Marine Corp. After four years, he had decided to become a State Trouper in North Carolina, but he felt called to begin bodybuilding. Playing a pickup basketball game, Turk encountered his first pothole by sustaining a catastrophic injury that led to arthritis and multiple joint replacements. He opened a smoothie business, worked in the mortgage field, and ultimately returned to personal training. Listen as Turk talks about steroid abuse versus use and how a suggestion motivated him to move off the bottom. Married, well, sort of (there's a story here), a beautiful baby, and a new business result from persevering when he did not feel like it.


Robin St James: LifeBridging.org

Turk Fickling: Founder TTP Fitness    https://ttpfitness.com/

Jonathan was born in what he calls an inhospitable place, the desert of Southern California, and at 18, he felt called to adventurous exploration, which led him to Portland, Oregon. Proximity engendered a love of naturopathic medicine and biology. The next call to adventure prompted a move to Austria, where there was much drinking of beer and stoned museum appreciation. It was at the Louvre where Frau Lois inspired his passion for learning. Returning to the states, Jonathan began his scientific studies, which led to his interest in biohacking and ultimately mycology; he describes this as "applied miraculousness." In 2019 Jonathan launched an enterprise focused on the nutritional and health benefits of mushrooms. Jonathan's advice to anyone working at the DMV is to "quit" and pursue the thing that inflames your passions.

Robin St James
lifebridging.org

Jonathan Fredette
https://www.evolvedmushrooms.com/
Instagram: evolved_mushrooms

In the sixties, a woman’s choice of futures was limited. However, some women stepped out of not simply the acceptable female role, but out of the functions dictated by society et al. Linnea Wardwell attended college with the idea of becoming a teacher. A fateful plane delay changed the course of her life when she met her future husband Larry, who was the antithesis of American cultural norms of the day. Their life together began in Washington DC, working for the government. Linnea became a fellow at the Smithsonian. She left to explore the Transcendental Meditation movement, living all over the country, running TM centers, and ultimately landing in Berkeley, where TM met the prolific drug culture. Linnea had been raised with priorities of botanicals, herbs, and naturopathy. This foundation was fully engaged when she and her husband launched a business to educate naturopathic doctors, which continues 22 years later. Join us as we talk about TM, drugs, naturopathy, doing the right thing, and many other delightfully relevant tidbits.

lifebridging.org

Linnea Wardwell:   botanicalmedicine.org

Intro Music:  An Illusion  - A Lost European

Mariah began making pivots early in life when she transferred to a “high school for misfits” (Arts and Communications), where she found her cohort, who remain her posse today. When Mariah began college, she had to re-take math classes, and this is where she learned that math had been taught to her incorrectly: Math was no longer her arch-nemesis. So she changed her major from psychology to mechanical engineering, which led her to work in the biomedical field. Listen as Mariah talks about her journey from goth to operating rooms.



Robin St James
lifebridging.org


Intro Music by Roger Bashew

Meet Vickie Bottelson, who we are fortunate to catch as she makes a significant life pivot. An actor and singer from an early age, Vickie also worked at Disney in children’s content. When the internet blew up in the 1990’s Vickie was right there to ride the wave, and as all waves do, it crashed into the shore. She then went on the road for six years to perform and ended up living in Nashville. She hit a pothole and returned to Los Angeles to work for MySpace until she was downsized, which led to her current position as the Marketing and Events Manager at Lake Arrowhead Village. She is in the middle of figuring out her next move, and she has great stories to tell about her process in deciding which of the terrific opportunities she will accept.


Robin St James
lifebridging.org

Vickie Bottelson: Story Wrens https://www.storywrens.com/

Intro Music by: Roger Bashew

Wanting to be an Architect, you head off to school, but the university you attend doesn’t have the curriculum, and you find yourself studying engineering. Money runs out, and on a long drive home, you decide to enlist in the Coast Guard. These two events are just part of the Pivots, and Potholes Rees Erwin experienced. In the Coast Guard, he was aboard one of only two Coast Guard ice breakers, and after traveling to the Arctic and Antarctica for years, Rees left the “don’t ask don’t tell don’t pursue” military returning to college and obtaining a BA in art. In college, he supported himself with work in the hospitality industry, and a new pivot took him to Los Angeles as a Concierge for the Beverly Wilshire hotel. There were many other pivots Rees took in life, which all led to his designing a home that he built for himself. Join us and learn what it takes to sleep when you’re on a 24-hour roller coaster ride for months!

Robin St James
lifebridging.org

Intro Music by: Roger Bashew

What makes you a writer, having a few books published? Corey Mesler would argue that point. So come along as Corey discusses the path he has followed in life, all founded on the written word, including owning a bookstore that opened in 1875.

Life’s Pivots and Potholes is a conversation with people from many career trajectories who made mistakes, took the right pivot, and ran into potholes along the way.

Robin St James
lifebridging.org

Checkout Corey's bookstore and his work
https://www.burkesbooks.com/advSearchResults.php?action=browse&category_id=213

Latest Poem published: https://blackpoppyreview.blogspot.com/

Intro Music by Roger Bashew

Want to be a musician? It can be a long winding road indeed but hearing one person’s story can give you fresh insight, inspiration, and a sense of humor about the business. Life’s Pivots and Potholes is a conversation with people from many career trajectories who made mistakes, took the right pivot, and ran into potholes along the way. 
 
My guest Dan Dubelman began his acting career at 4. Since then, he has traversed music, Hollywood, Nashville, and returned to New York to make custom-made guitars. Join us as we discuss the unexpected benefits, funny stories, and difficulties faced, which all led to a new chapter of life.

Robin St James
lifebridging.org

Check out Dan's music and custom made guitars. 
http://hotrodguitars.com/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Z95946F/ref=tsm_1_tp_tc