Fran Drescher Shares Tools for Dealing With Trauma | Impact Theory

Everybody, welcome to Impact Theory. Today's guest is Fran Drescher, the Emmy and Golden Globe nominated actress who has had an extraordinary career that has spanned decades and covered everything from Broadway to the silver screen in such memorable film and television projects as Saturday Night Fever, The Nanny, and the film that defined my entire youth, UHF. She's also a cancer survivor, best-selling author, philanthropist, health advocate, and the star of the hilarious new sitcom Indebted. Fran, welcome to the show. It is absolutely wonderful to have you here. Thank you. I'm delighted to be here. I I really cannot start this show any other way than to say UHF is quite frankly the film I've seen more than any other film on the planet. Uh so, thank you for that. It was absolutely so sweet. [laughter] You know, they recently wrote a book about Weird Al and his contribution to comedy and I wrote a a lovely quote for him that's I think on the book jacket now. That's so cool. Yeah, that that movie it's always fun because I was a film major, went to film school, took myself very seriously in film school, and people always ask like, you know, what's your favorite movie or what movie have you seen the most? And my answer was always UHF. So, that was quite unusual in film school, but nonetheless true. So, Mine is always Annie Hall. Great choice. Great choice. Great movie. [laughter] Absolutely fantastic. Your whole life is really been pretty crazy. In the beginning of Cancer Schmancer, you do this like rundown of what your life has been. It's it's really pretty extraordinary. Going through some of the things you've dealt with I think are really appropriate to what's happening right now with you know COVID-19 and everything is is really pretty crazy. When you think about trauma and you think about building back from that, what's been your secret between the the rape and then cancer and yet still being so creatively putting out so much, how has your process been overcoming that and building back? Um you know, there's a couple of tools that I have come to rely on. Uh first of all, there's a trust that wherever you are now is not permanent. Um to also know that when you're in trauma that it's not the time to make important life-changing decisions, but to trust people that you have come to trust in your life who truly love you, help guide you because they're not in trauma, so they're probably thinking more clearly than you. Um to get help because you need to have a trained ear to help walk you through your pain and find your way out the other side. And I think that um turning your pain into purpose is very healing and somehow helps make sense out of the senseless. Writing about it, even if you don't become a best-selling author like myself, is very cathartic and uh extremely helpful and there are there's always somebody that can read your words and benefit by them or not, even if it's just for your own benefit, it's very cathartic and helpful. And then to ask yourself, which is very Buddhist and I am a Buddhist or as I like to call myself a Bu Jew. [laughter] Um I think asking yourself what why is the universe presenting this to me now? And how can I learn from this experience on my journey of self-refinement? So when you pose the question in that way and you start to think to yourself, okay, well, why is this being presented to me? And what is it bringing up in me? And what do I need to see in myself? What is it forcing me to look at? How can I become better for it? And I can say from experience that you know even though obviously nobody wants to have anything bad happen to them, I don't either. And I don't wish it on anybody, but one random Wednesday afternoon, life is going to bite you on the ass and you're not going to expect it. It's going to be totally out of left field and then it's going to possibly change forever your life. So whatever you thought your life was going to be isn't anymore. And it's going to take a little while for you to absorb this. You're going to kick and scream and say, why me, Lord? But at some point you're going to have to play the hand that's been dealt you as elegantly and courageously as you possibly can. Or, you're going to become cemented in what was supposed to be and waste the rest of your life being bitter. And I don't think that's what you should do. It certainly wasn't my choice. My mom always used to say, you know, man plans and God laughs. And that's true. Because we we don't have a crystal ball. Nobody knows what's going to happen 5 minutes from now, let alone the rest of our lives. So, naively we kind of make plans for the future. And that helps us to make some choices along the way. But, when the plan that you've been playing doesn't work anymore you have to plan a new play and play that one. And it's hard. You really have to shift gears in a very big way. Takes a lot of strength and courage. But, the deeper you go in the new direction that has been kind of dictated for you other things happen. Things you never imagined. You go to places you never thought possible. You turn into somebody you never imagined yourself to be. And you let the river carry you. You let life carry you. And along the way you keep asking yourself why is this being presented to me? How can I become a better person through this experience. What is it bringing up in me? What is What do I see in myself that I think I could improve? And that is the journey of life. It You said something back there that I think is really interesting, which is that Okay, you've got these plans, something happens, and now you have to change, but that change is hard. I've talked to you a lot of people um in my life that I feel like they when they went through trauma, the trauma really came to define them. And I'd like to tease apart that the hard part. What is it about that change is hard? And um ultimately we'll get to the Buddhism, but as far as I know you didn't have those tools earlier in your life. So I'd be curious how you um dealt with it in the early days versus how you deal with it now where you have a more um robust toolkit. So when when you first were assaulted, for instance, um how like I've always wondered how do people have fun again? Like how do they be playful again? How did you not let that become part of your identity? Was that conscious? Were you going through therapy? Like what what was that sort of first tool bag grab that you went to? Uh well, on night one I uh grabbed a joint. [laughter] And uh you know, I did start therapy. Um I learned to trust the people that were advising me, even though I didn't agree with it, it didn't feel authentic to me. I wanted to leave town. Yeah, that's what I wanted to Like what felt hard? to move. I wanted to give up the business. I thought when I had a gun to my head I wasn't thinking about the awards I didn't win or the parts I didn't play. I felt like I I living in a war zone. I wanted to move someplace that was on an island, maybe someplace more safe, smaller. And I would have gone like that week. But my manager and very dear friend, who was somewhat of a surrogate mother out here in LA, um said, "You know, honey, I don't think you're in a position to make these kinds of life-changing decisions right now." And I think you should give it 6 months. And if in 6 months you feel like you want to go, then I'll help you pack. And I didn't want to stay. I felt very you know, like I was in danger. And I was very on edge. But I knew that she loved me. And I knew that she was very wise. And I knew that I had been severely traumatized and was not maybe thinking clearly. So, I I listened to her, even though it went against the grain for me. And she was right. Within, you know, by 6 months I was no longer talking about moving. I was just thinking about moving on. Right. And that's, you know, the healthy transition to make. Um And I think that uh You know, I also moved in with friends. I didn't stay at my house. I was scared to stay at my house. So, for like 3 months I lived at a friend's. And uh actually it was the Aquariuses. Peter, my husband, and myself moved in with them. Wow. And they were you know, in a secure, gated home. Um and uh we just felt safe not being alone. Because Peter and I were both you know, like scared and uh we kept igniting each other's fear. If I get scared, he'd get scared. There was nobody between us to calm the other one down. So, we needed to be with normal people who had not been through the trauma. Um so, that was another thing that I did. And then I got a movie and uh I took it. It was a comedy. I didn't feel like being funny, but we needed the money. And uh so, I did it. And uh you know, I mean, it was hard for me to um go to work, to be in my dressing room. I mean, I was very fearful back then. Especially right then. And that was when I started bringing my dog to most places with me. Because even if you have a small dog like your dog, uh which was the breed I used to have, they are good watchdogs. See, now I have a watchdog. You know, I mean, when I had my Pomeranians, they would be like, "They're great watchdogs, but not what [laughter] you know?" But now I have a dog who's like, you know, she's like part wolf, so uh it's she's a good watchdog and she's a threatening-looking animal. And I feel good about that because when you're um violated like I was, um that leaves its imprint on you. It never goes away completely. You get on with your life and you know, there was a wonderful play. I think it was called "Down the Rabbit Hole". And uh there's a monologue in it and they were talking about the death of a child. But it anybody in the audience could relate because no one leaves this planet unscathed and pain is pain. And uh in this play it in the monologue the woman said that at first you feel like you are buried beneath a huge heavy boulder. And the weight of it is so overwhelming you just can't endure it. But given time you're able to kind of push the boulder off you just enough to see some sunlight. And then you're able to kind of climb out from under it and stand up. And then as time goes on the boulder becomes like a brick in your pocket. You're not always aware of it but sometimes you remember that there's this weight in your pocket and you're reminded. And that's the way you go on for the rest of your life with something that's profoundly shockingly traumatizing and painful. The important thing is that pain will find its way in your body if you don't let it out. And my problem back then was that I didn't really really explore the depths of despair that I was in. I kind of was still in that superwoman mode and I thought I needed to be strong and pick myself up and dust myself off, take the job doing the movie, get on with my life. And I remember once I was in a restaurant and um they uh uh I think it was a busboy or a server uh dropped a tray and it made a loud crashing noise, which obviously everyone in the restaurant noticed, but I leaped to my feet and screamed. Now, I didn't even Now, without even thinking about it, it was an absolutely primal response because the pain was so close to the surface that the loud noise just uh and everybody in the restaurant looked at me as I slinked back down into my chair. And um over the years I think that not really dealing with that pain that fear um turned into poetically my uterine cancer. Yeah, that's interesting. Because I got a gynecologic cancer and after not dealing with the pain of a rape. Mhm. I have to say that is I've I've heard you talk about that before. That is very weird. Um Well, it's uh you mean that I would get a gynecologic cancer? right? So But it's not weird. I mean, if you believe in Asian wisdom and medicine, uh it's not It's actually not weird at all. There There are very specific kinds of traumas that seem to lodge themselves in certain parts of the body. That's really interesting. So, I don't know how much you've explored um the way that psychedelics and MDMA are being used with trauma recovery. It's something I'm really fascinated by. So, the the whole idea of trauma and the way that it defines people's lives or people I'm very close to um that have really had basically all of their identity formed by early trauma, the number of people that are defined by their childhoods I find absolutely terrifying. Um and this notion of Okay, so you've been through a trauma, and now what we're going to have you do is what you're talking about. You're going to revisit that trauma, but you're going to do it when you're on, let's say, MDMA. So, you've got MDMA, which is flooding your brain with serotonin. You're now whether you want to be or not, no matter what you're thinking about, you're going to be feeling good. You're going to feel love and connectedness and all of the wonderful things that that sort of brain state brings. And now we're going to have you revisit your trauma. What they find is certainly all of this sort of self-blame, all of the punishing myself, all of that begins to wash away. And people have They're able to revisit this trauma with a sense of love and acceptance and compassion. And they're talking about for people with intractable depression, PTSD, intractable anxiety, that a single treatment has an effective rate of something like 80 to 85% Um which is really, really pretty extraordinary. One thing I wanted to ask you more about is when you talk about um, I forget the exact word you use like dealing with the pain, releasing the pain, letting it go, um, expressing it what one, that's what I want to understand like how do you do that? What is the sort of physical manifestation um, if somebody has been through that sort of trauma, how can they let it go? Like what is that process? Because if I step into a So, I know Eastern philosophy quite well. Um, wouldn't call myself a Buddhist. I certainly don't understand it at that level, but um, I've studied it enough to understand this too shall pass and and um, you know, clinging and suffering and and all of that. And and that I get, right? It's a contraction. It's pulling it in. It's holding on to it. Um, versus, you know, expanding and letting something go. How do you physically as a process process through the pain and release it? Well, first of all, you have to sit get comfortable sitting with pain. You can't numb yourself from your pain. You can't anesthetize yourself from your pain. You have to sit in pain. Um, and that's a very difficult thing to do because as I said, the first thing I did when I was raped at 25 was grab a joint. Today, you know, I wouldn't do that because I understand that I have to feel my feelings. And I went to a very good really serious older woman uh, psychotherapist for many years and she said to me you know, you can't come stoned to these sessions. And she said, because this is all about feeling your feelings, not numbing yourself from your feelings. And so, that was the beginning of me feeling my feelings. And uh understanding that the reason why I used to smoke so much pot was because I was numbing myself from my feelings. I didn't have tools how to experience my feelings, how to articulate my feelings, or how to even acknowledge them without feeling like I was being selfish or self-indulgent. These were words that I used to use if I put myself into the equation. Cuz I had spent the better part of my life from early childhood being needless and getting a lot of reinforcement for that. So, I had to learn how to recognize my own needs and not um make every decision uh based off of what's best for the collective, but actually put myself in first position and make sure that it's good for me, too. Uh to become a well-rounded human being, you must you must acknowledge who you are. Uh and that it's you're living your life. And everything around you and everybody that you meet and everything that crosses your path and every experience that you have is opportunities on your journey of self-refinement. That's the point. It's a big classroom. And it's for your benefit. When did Buddhism enter into all of this? And what are some of the biggest lessons that it's um helped you with? I'm going to take a sip of tea. [laughter] Um You know, I didn't grow up religious, although I am of the Jewish faith. In my family, we honored more the heritage, the struggles, um the the family, the matriarch, uh education, uh these are the things that I recall being a big through-line growing up. We would get together for the holidays as a reason to be with family and friends and gratitude, but we'd almost never follow any of the rules. [laughter] And um and I remain that way. My sister, less so. She raised two daughters. She wanted them to go to Hebrew school, she wanted them to be b'nai mitzvah. I never embraced that. I think that there are many different belief systems that offer a lot of wisdom, and it's worth exploring them as they present themselves to you, if they resonate with you. So, that was my thing. And then, a girlfriend of mine uh one day gave me a book of Buddhist offerings that was like 365 days. So, she said, "I keep it in my kitchen cuz we always go into the kitchen first in the morning every day, and I simply turn the page, and it's another Buddhist wisdom offering from a myriad of different uh you know, sage thinkers. And Not And they may not even all be Buddhist. Some may be Hindu, some may be, you know, but they're all dancing around that same kind of philosophy. And sometimes they say things, some are long gone and quite ancient, and others are walking right now with us. Do you remember any of the ones that really hit you? Um Well over and over again uh being present is a very important thing. When you have to explain that to people, the notion of being present, this is something I think a lot of people they get the words, they know each of the words individually, but when you string them together to be present where I don't think it really lands with people. How do you explain that concept? Well, you know how people sometimes say "Where does the time go?" Most of the time goes dwelling in the future or the past. And that's why it time escapes us. The most important time is the now. But how do we stay in the now when the mind keeps wanting to ruminate about a conversation that annoyed you from 3 weeks ago or you're fearful or anticipating or worried about a future that you have zero control over. So, we spend a lot of time doing that. And a third of our life was sleeping. So, you know, there isn't really a moment to waste. Um So being in the now, right now, is very important. So, how do you do that? Well, that's why uh some cultures promote meditating. What's meditating? That's uh being very single-minded. So, you're staying with what you're trying to focus on as much as possible. And then the mind's going to drift off and you're going to start thinking about what you want to make for dinner. And then you're going to have that awareness behind the thought, which is also something you cultivate and get better at of oh God, now I'm thinking about dinner. So, let me go back to thinking about, you know, my breathing and maybe I might have a mantra that someone gave me, or you could just say om, or you could just say love, or you could just say God, whatever you want. It doesn't matter. Now, are you ever graded it? No, you're never graded it. Do you keep doing it? You try to keep doing it because in the doing of it, you begin to notice you're getting a little calmer. You're getting a little more aware. And throughout the day, you'll notice, oh God, I'm off in somewhere and I'm not in the present. So, you do cultivate that ability more and more. Then the other thing is that I do, and that um I was taught to do, which is a very good tool, is look at them Look around you. Notice where you are. It could be that corner of my ceiling, the most mundane thing that I haven't looked at like forever and I don't really care about, but there it is and it's a this line and that line and suddenly you're pulled into the moment because you're forcing yourself to look at the mundane with wide-eyed wonder. And that is being present. So whenever you find yourself in the future, in the past, which is robbing you of your precious life, pull yourself back into the moment by if nothing else noticing the mundane. Sometimes I'll be here in Los Angeles, we drive a lot, and I'm stuck in traffic. And back in the day, I would be like, "Oh my god, I got to get to where I'm going." And it's like, not anymore because I'm a Buddhist and the universe wants me to be here. So here is where I'm at. Okay, I can't control this. So I'm going to look around and notice where I am. And suddenly I see things that I didn't see before. I notice a flag blowing in the breeze. I notice, you know, the reflection on the ocean. I notice the driver next to me. I notice a car with a dog looking at me and I'm looking at the dog. And all of a sudden I'm in the moment. I'm not anxious that I'm not where I can't get to anyway. I'm dealing with what is because what is is and nothing else matters. And the more you can do that in your life, the more you can be in the moment, that is the gift of living and it protracts your life. It makes life It slows life down in a very meaningful way. You've obviously put together a lot of really useful tools and I know that I still can't believe this is true, but the the night when you were raped, you actually had someone over for dinner who was also raped. Have you guys stayed in contact? Has she also developed tools? Have you guys um supported each other through that? How has has she and you know, obviously you can only speak for her so much, but um how has she dealt with it? We are still very very good friends. I don't know uh how she um dealt uh how she was affected by it, I should say and as compared to me. Um because I don't think that she became as scared as I became. I don't know if she was as traumatized, but it wasn't in her home. So, that's a significant difference because you feel safe, you should feel hopefully safe in your home. And I think that's probably the biggest chasm of difference between us. It wasn't her home. It was my home. She went home to her home. Right. I was stuck in my home. And the home no longer felt as safe to me. I had to climb out of that pit. I got a lot of security. I live very defensively. Um but but also I had to learn how to get past that. This whole notion of safety I find really interesting, especially right now. I think that with um you know, a a pandemic literally hitting, I think a lot of people are going to feel unsafe. Probably two things. One, just am I going to get sick? And then two, obviously financially. Having gone through cancer, which feels I'm sure I I I haven't thankfully had it, but I'm guessing you do feel a sense your body is somewhat turned on you. Um how do you reestablish that sense of safety? You talk in the book The book sort of ends at the first year of you um having gone through this, and I know in that you there was like a constant sense of oh my god, is it going to come back? Is it going to come back? Um how do you reestablish that sense of safety in your own body? Well, I you know, and I think that this is pretty true for most cancer survivors. You know, you get a headache and you think, oh my god, brain tumor. You have a cough and you think, oh my god, lung cancer. You know, it takes a while to trust your body again. And suddenly a headache is just a headache, a cough is just a cough, and a sneeze is just a sneeze. Um again, you know, time helps you with that, trusting your body. But, you know, one of the silver linings, and there were many, uh from the cancer experience, from every experience, and most of the best growing that we do comes out of pain. That's why they call it growing pains. Uh was that I founded the Cancer Schmancer Movement. And um uh you know, that's a great example of turning my pain into purpose and helping other people. And uh you know, one of the things about my um movement that's maybe different from other health nonprofits is that we're very empowering organization, and we're not looking for a cure for cancer. We're telling you what the causes are and how to eliminate them, and what you need to do to bolster your immune system, and how you need to focus in on your body so you become the thermostat of your body and realize when things are compromising it, when it's going off kilter, what you need to do to restore it, and put it back to its perfect optimum uh level. And the vision is a daily practice, and we're not really taught that anywhere in Western culture, and it's really, really sad because it's much more common in Asian cultures and indigenous cultures, and we've been dumbed down and numbed down to think that we have to uh depend on uh a a pharmaceutical drug or an inoculation or your doctor or hospital to make you well, when we have so much independent of that to help our bodies be strong so that we don't get sick in the first place. And so, a thing that we always say is, "Take control of your body." Um and so, you know, even during these strange and challenging times of a pandemic, I think it's important that people know that food is medicine, and bolstering your immune system is key to be able to resist viruses. We expose ourselves to a myriad of viruses each and every day. Uh the reason why the species continues is because we have this amazing thing called an immune system. And we have to learn how to protect it, how to take care of it, how to nurture it, how to honor it, and how to honor our bodies. When you say to be a thermostat, um what do you mean by that exactly? Well, like for example, uh a thermostat is something that you set the point that's the optimum comfort uh temperature in your home. Let's say 72°. Okay, so then suddenly a door opens, a big wind comes in, and it drops down, but the thermostat recognizes that and clicks on the heat. Or suddenly there's a heat wave and the temperature rises. So, the thermostat clicks on because it recognizes that we're no longer at a the optimum temperature and it clicks on the air conditioning. Okay, so that's the function of the thermostat. In your own body, you, you are the intelligence. You are the thermostat of how the systems within your body are functioning. So, if your boss yells at you and you didn't do anything wrong, you're going to be stressing. You have to have the intelligence to say, "Okay, I'm really stressed about this. That's going to compromise my immune system. So, what am I going to do about that?" Well, I can meditate. I can, you know, sit quietly for 10 minutes. I could take a walk out in the fresh air and feel the sunshine and listen to the birdsong. I could amp up on my antioxidants, which is helpful. Take a couple of vitamin C, wouldn't hurt. These are the ways that you become the intelligent thermostat of your body, always always trying to keep mind, body, and spirit in balance and at its optimal checkpoint. Now, you know when you have felt like fantastic. It's like, "Ah, I feel so great." It's usually pretty fleeting, but whenever that is, that's what you're always trying to get to. And you do that by being mindful of mind, body, and spirit. So, how is your mind controlling you or are you controlling your mind? What are thoughts are you allowing in? And then, um body. Are you honoring your body? If you're tired, lay down. If you're you know, if you're hungry, eat. What are you eating? What personal care items are you using? At Kansas Asher we have a very progressive program called detox your home because the home is the most toxic place we spend the most time in and ironically have the most control over. So, if you are eating industrial farm foods that's filled with pesticides and herbicides and GMOs and um and growth [clears throat] hormones and antibiotics, you are not doing yourself a service at all and you're going to start experiencing a lot of things that you may not connect with the fact that you're eating food that's filled with toxins. But, if you have arthritis, if you have autoimmune problems, if you have leaky gut, if you have skin problems, there are so many things that your body will express its unhappiness that you are ingesting and putting topically on toxins. Steer clear of that, all of it. And cleaning products, oh my god, you're doing yourself more harm than good, yourself, your family, your pets, your garden, everything. big things outside of food that um people are making just like super common mistakes on? Um Toothpaste. Toothpaste. If you're using a toothpaste, and most of the major brands I would say, that on the back says, you know, do not swallow or call poison control. Really? Is there anything more counterintuitive than that to something that you put in your mouth everyday, usually a few times a day? Step away from that toothpaste. Just, you know, I don't usually tell people to throw things away, but the mouth and the gums are gateway to disease. So, you know, think people, because if you're using anything that on the ingredients aren't just simple ingredients that might have grown in your grandma's garden, don't use it. You're one of the few people that I hear talking about um grounding or earthing, as some people call it. Um what are some of the the positive things that people can do? So, obviously, um be careful what you eat, removing toxicity from your life wherever humanly possible. Um what are some of the the proactive things that they can do to be healthier? Well, when you mentioned grounding, so what what is grounding? You know, when that third prong in your electric plug, that's a grounding plug. Why do we have that? Because the earth, that that's attached inside the socket, goes way down into the earth. Cuz the earth helps ground us. We are We are creatures of this planet. We are one with this planet. And we need to ground ourselves with the earth's energy. We wear a lot of rubber-soled shoes. That disconnects us with the earth's energy. Walk barefoot more. Walk on the earth barefoot more. Walk on the beach more. There's a reason why people, uh you know, you go to People like to vacation by the ocean a lot and it puts them into more of a state of relaxation because there are negative ions that come off of the ocean that decompresses us. Walking on the sand decompresses us cuz we're getting the Earth's energy. So all that is part of grounding and having an awareness of reducing the electromagnetic fields. So that's you know, that's what when we talk about grounding that's very important because you have to realize that the human body is all electrical. It's a just a big energy field and so what complements the energy versus what discombobulates it is part of why we experience disease. And you know, it we really have to pay a lot of attention to how to live a toxic-free life, to have an emotionally balanced life, to make kindness and compassion your compass. You know, these are the things that become a daily practice and you're never perfect at it. Otherwise, you know, what would this life be about? And I just urge everybody to go to cancer schmancer.org because what we offer you, there's a level of such informative video that you can view for free from some of the most outside of the box brilliant doctors who went to medical school, drank the Kool-Aid, started practicing, began to think there's got to be a better way, got woke and became the founders of functional medicine, which is what we at cancer schmancer align ourselves with now. And they're all there. We do an annual masterclass health summit and the one that we had just put out is there for everyone to see. We're trying to educate people through this time of, you know, the pandemic and empower them. One thing I'd love to ask you about in terms of sort of optimizing our our human condition and you being a comedian and such an enormously successful one, how much does the laughter and the levity play a role in the healing process? Well, I'm glad you asked that because laughter definitely is the best medicine and that's been scientifically proven. I'm only watching comedies and cooking shows, which for me is the equivalent of sucking my thumb and twirling my hair. [snorts] And we do believe that, you know, trying to be joyful in you know, harder times is a little more challenging, but it's when it's especially needed. And one of the things that I learned um through all of my experiences is that side by side with with despair lies joy. And you just have to kind of look over for it and see it. Miracles abound everywhere. Even a tiny little flower growing between the crack of a, you know, of a cement sidewalk. It's it's there. Notice it. Be present. Lift your spirits with the natural world. It's really very soothing and healing. And feeding into all of this in terms of bringing a little bit of ray of sunshine in this super weird time, you've got your new show Indebted. Uh Yes, thank you for bringing that up. Yeah, of course. So, um how are you feeling about this? nights on NBC at 9:30, 8:30 Central. I love some of the cool things you've done in terms of bringing the cast together. You said that, you know, when you're doing a show, you really have to do things to bond, to come together, that a little touch can go a long way. In in this time where we can't connect in that way, how have you worked to keep either them together or other people in your life? What are you doing to to stay connected with people? Well, you know, it's really interesting how all this social media and FaceTiming and Skype and and Zoom and all of these ways that we can connect with the outside world is factoring so heavily into our daily life. Um so that's I've been in gratitude for FaceTiming for a long time because it's how I get to see my parents every day. And I feel so blessed that it was invented while I still have them. So that's, you know, the miracle of technology. But it doesn't you know, hold a candle to being with your family, taking a walk, you know, playing a game together. Suddenly people are doing puzzles. You know, it's getting back to basics. And that's great, too. Cooking, baking, eating together, talking, everybody watching a movie together on, you know, a stream network or something. It's all there for us, and it's going to be, you know, as much of a devastating time as it will be a a joyful time if we allow it to be a time to reconnect, a time to let the planet heal a little bit from all the noise, from all the abuse, from all the pollution, a time to just self-reflect, and uh dial everything back to a simpler experience of what life should be like. And if in this time people wanted to connect with you, or anytime for that matter, uh what's the best way to connect with you, Cancer Schmancer? Uh obviously told people that the new show Indebted is uh Thursdays, so check that out. But what's the best way to connect with you? Well, I'm on Instagram, officialfrandrescher, as well as uh Facebook, which is also officialfrandrescher, and Twitter is just frandrescher. Not just, but frandrescher. Uh and uh and that's a good way. I I check in with that. I I answer back to people, and um and it's a good way to know what's going on with me. And then, of course, cancerschmancer.org, which particularly now it that's so much got my, you know, imprints on it everywhere. And I moderate interviews, and it's just it's such a great learning opportunity, and it's comforting because all we do is empower you, because knowledge is power. Now, you're doing so many things in your life. What ultimately is the impact that you want to have on the world? Well, I um you know, I mean, I I feel blessed that I'm able to make people laugh. And I feel, uh, like that Pat O'Malley is a celebrity that has the kind of reach that I have and ability to influence people, um, I'm very grateful that I, uh, you know, I I apply it towards the greater good. I, you know, I mean there are things that concern me and, uh, the way we look at our health, obviously that's a big one, but, you know, going to the mat for those who are marginalized and protecting animals and the planet and cleaning up our food. Well said. Well, guys, this is, uh, totally unexpected for me. I was shocked at the depth of her life and experience and how much she brings to her comedy and how much she is bringing to the world in terms of information and trying to help people avoid some of the difficulties that she's been through. It's really pretty extraordinary. I highly encourage you guys to read her book. It's phenomenal. Her shows are hilarious, one after the other. Definitely check that out. Um, I'm grateful for everything you've contributed to my life. As I said, um, one of my all-time favorite films, UHF, um, absolutely amazing. If you haven't already, be sure to subscribe here and until next time, my friends, be a legendary. Take care. Thank you. Thank you, friend. I really appreciate it. Thank you. fail on your idea or don't succeed on your idea, it it hurts so much less. You [music] go, "Well, I did my best. I tried. I had a good time. I At least this happen You could look at the glass half full. You know, you can do all these wonderful things if it's yours."