Performers & Creators Lab Holly Shaw

Sometimes whether we like it or not we are at the mercy of a "picker" or someone who gets to decide if we get to go on stage or not: casting directors, producers, bookers, or maybe it's just the guy who got tasked with hiring entertainment for his company's annual Christmas party! Either way you'll encounter plenty of so called gatekeepers no matter what artistic path you take.

In this episode we talk to Steve Ausburne, a comedian and one of the bookers for the SF Punchline Sunday Showcase. We cover:
How Steve's comedic style has changed over timeHow he recovers from a "bad night"His thought process behind booking the Sunday ShowcaseBONUS: I ask him the question we've all been wondering.  . .  this and more!

The "great book on comedy" that Holly can't remember the name of is Finding Your Comic Genius by Adam Bloom

About Today's Guest, Steve Ausburne
Steve Ausburne’s comedy career started with MC/Host work for friends with bands. His first attempt at actual stand up ended with a lifetime ban from a church in Grant’s Pass, Oregon. 
Buoyed by that successful start, Steve has since embraced the stage as a place to present a spoken word memoir of all the embarrassing life moments that lurk in a place that only stand up or therapy sessions can reveal.

Also, he is allergic to cats.
​Steve peddles his comedic wares throughout Sonoma County and the San Francisco Bay Area.  He produces comedy shows throughout California's Wine Country and in addition to comedy performances, he is available for auctioneering, event hosting, work parties, voice acting, and private dancing.
Some of his accomplishments include: regular at Punch Line, Cobb's Comedy Club, and Rooster T Feathers; opened for Nimesh Patel, Michael Kosta, Rory Scovel and more!
To learn more or contact him for bookings please visit steveausburne.com

About Your Host, Holly Shaw
Before becoming a comedian, Holly Shaw spent a lifetime on stage, T.V. and film as an actor, professional dancer and later as a speaker, coach and hypnotherapist. She's authored two books: the Amazon bestseller, The Creative Formula, as well as  Making Art In the Middle of Madness and she was a regular teacher at SAG/AFTRA's conservatories in San Francisco as well as Los Angeles. Her podcast, Performers & Creators Lab, was named One of the Most Outstanding Podcasts of 2019 by Databird Research. Through all of her offerings she has helped thousands of performing artists, some of them Emmy Award winning and Grammy nominated, overcome stage fright, impostor syndrome, and creative blocks so that they can create the work they were born to make and become undeniably magnetic performers.  To learn more about Holly's work as a coach please visit www.performersandcreatorslab.com To learn more about her life as a joke teller please visit hollyshawcomedy.com

Holly shares about what's really holding you back from being bold, asking for what you want, and letting go of what other people think of you. Followed by a quick exercise to help fortify your self-confidence and recognize just how damn resilient you really are.

In this episode:
Holly shares about her new writing project and what it made her realize about stand up comedy and how she's able to do it.Emotional fluency, queen years, and the truth about what it really takes to be bold in life and in artRelaxing guided meditation exercise to help separate you from your past and fortify your future!
Looking for unique gifts for the holidays?  Look no further!  Holly's got two books already published and easily available for purchase online:  Order The Creative Formula and  Making Art In the Middle of Madness today and get them in time for the holidays!

About Your Host, Holly Shaw
Before becoming a comedian, Holly Shaw spent a lifetime on stage, T.V. and film as an actor, professional dancer and later as a speaker, coach and hypnotherapist. She's authored two books: the Amazon bestseller, The Creative Formula, as well as  Making Art In the Middle of Madness and she was a regular teacher at SAG/AFTRA's conservatories in San Francisco as well as Los Angeles. Her podcast, Performers & Creators Lab, was named One of the Most Outstanding Podcasts of 2019 by Databird Research. Through all of her offerings she has helped thousands of performing artists, some of them Emmy Award winning and Grammy nominated, overcome stage fright, impostor syndrome, and creative blocks so that they can create the work they were born to make and become undeniably magnetic performers.  To learn more, please visit www.performersandcreatorslab.com

About the Composer: Dan Cantrell is an Emmy award winning composer and multi-instrumentalist known for his innovative film scoring approach, and his virtuosic abilities on the accordion, piano and musical saw. “Hauntingly beautiful…quirky and energetic” says the San Francisco Bay Guardian.  His extensive scoring catalogue spans a wide range of emotion and style. Dan’s compositions for film and television have earned him numerous awards including an Emmy Award for KQED’s Home-Front,a Golden Gate award for the soundtrack to the documentary Divided Loyalties, and an Annie nomination for his work on three seasons of Cartoon Network’s the Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. Visit bellowhead.com

This week we discuss the spiritual journey that is likely happening to you while you don't even think about it! Join Holly in a brief respite from worrying about how you're shaping your artistic career, to take this time to explore how your craft has shaped YOU!

In this episode we cover:
How to explore the journey your spirit is having while you focus on your artHolly goes through her own spiritual lessons she's learned from careers in acting in film, theatre and TV, the world of flamenco dance, creating 365 dances in a year and now as a stand up comedianQuestions you can ask yourself to begin uncovering your own spiritual journey and lessons you're learningWhy it's crucial and important to take the time to acknowledge this journey
About Your Host, Holly Shaw
Before becoming a comedian, Holly Shaw spent a lifetime on stage, T.V. and film as an actor, professional dancer and later as a speaker, coach and hypnotherapist. She's authored two books: the Amazon bestseller, The Creative Formula, as well as  Making Art In the Middle of Madness and she was a regular teacher at SAG/AFTRA's conservatories in San Francisco as well as Los Angeles. Her podcast, Performers & Creators Lab, was named One of the Most Outstanding Podcasts of 2019 by Databird Research. Through all of her offerings she has helped thousands of performing artists, some of them Emmy Award winning and Grammy nominated, overcome stage fright, impostor syndrome, and creative blocks so that they can create the work they were born to make and become undeniably magnetic performers.  To learn more, please visit www.performersandcreatorslab.com

About the Composer: Dan Cantrell is an Emmy award winning composer and multi-instrumentalist known for his innovative film scoring approach, and his virtuosic abilities on the accordion, piano and musical saw. “Hauntingly beautiful…quirky and energetic” says the San Francisco Bay Guardian.  His extensive scoring catalogue spans a wide range of emotion and style. Dan’s compositions for film and television have earned him numerous awards including an Emmy Award for KQED’s Home-Front,a Golden Gate award for the soundtrack to the documentary Divided Loyalties, and an Annie nomination for his work on three seasons of Cartoon Network’s the Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. Visit bellowhead.com

Are you having trouble just getting yourself unstuck and doing the thing?  Yup, been there! What we know is that you learn so much more in action then just sitting around dreaming about doing the thing, so in this episode Holly shares sneaky insights and hacks for getting yourself to JUST DO THE THING!

In this episode:
Your Biggest Blocks that are keeping you from doing the thingThe First Step in going for what you wantThe Difference Between Desire and "Shoulds"A Language Hack You Can Use to get yourself down to businessAbout Your Host, Holly Shaw
Before becoming a comedian, Holly Shaw spent a lifetime on stage, T.V. and film as an actor, professional dancer and later as a speaker, coach and hypnotherapist. She's authored two books: the Amazon bestseller, The Creative Formula, as well as  Making Art In the Middle of Madness and she was a regular teacher at SAG/AFTRA's conservatories in San Francisco as well as Los Angeles. Her podcast, Performers & Creators Lab, was named One of the Most Outstanding Podcasts of 2019 by Databird Research. Through all of her offerings she has helped thousands of performing artists, some of them Emmy Award winning and Grammy nominated, overcome stage fright, impostor syndrome, and creative blocks so that they can create the work they were born to make and become undeniably magnetic performers.  To learn more, please visit www.performersandcreatorslab.com

In this third episode in a series about intuition we finally start talking about dead people.  Can you talk to them? How to safely go about it.  Listen to this podcast to make the most of this season where the veil is thin!

Covered in this episode:
Holly shares her own experience with growing up in a psychic and ghost-talking family and the time when she first realized what she was actually capable of.Channeling for creativity: do the dead want to create with us?5 Ways you can start talking to dead peopleThe most important thing you need to know in order do this safelyYou Might Also Like:

Episode 39 Inspiration from the Beyond with award winning Hollywood screenwriter, Cynthia Whitcomb


About Your Host, Holly Shaw
Before becoming a comedian, Holly Shaw spent a lifetime on stage, T.V. and film as an actor, professional dancer and later as a speaker, coach and hypnotherapist. She's authored two books: the Amazon bestseller, The Creative Formula, as well as  Making Art In the Middle of Madness and she was a regular teacher at SAG/AFTRA's conservatories in San Francisco as well as Los Angeles. Her podcast, Performers & Creators Lab, was named One of the Most Outstanding Podcasts of 2019 by Databird Research. Through all of her offerings she has helped thousands of performing artists, some of them Emmy Award winning and Grammy nominated, overcome stage fright, impostor syndrome, and creative blocks so that they can create the work they were born to make and become undeniably magnetic performers.  To learn more, please visit www.performersandcreatorslab.com

About the Composer: Dan Cantrell is an Emmy award winning composer and multi-instrumentalist known for his innovative film scoring approach, and his virtuosic abilities on the accordion, piano and musical saw. “Hauntingly beautiful…quirky and energetic” says the San Francisco Bay Guardian.  His extensive scoring catalogue spans a wide range of emotion and style. Dan’s compositions for film and television have earned him numerous awards including an Emmy Award for KQED’s Home-Front,a Golden Gate award for the soundtrack to the documentary Divided Loyalties, and an Annie nomination for his work on three seasons of Cartoon Network’s the Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. Visit bellowhead.com

We continue our conversation about intuition as Holly answers some important questions:
How can I tell the difference between intuition and anxiety?Was there ever a time you didn’t listen to your intuition and what was that like?When I’m overwhelmed or in the thick of things, how can I drop in and tap into my intuition?
Episode highlights:


1:52 What's the difference between anxiety and intuition
3:20 How intuition feels
6:30 Driving and intuition
9:10 When Holly should have passed on an opportunity but didn't
13:45 The importance of collecting hard data
15:35 The power of the animal body and how to listen
18:20 Three questions you can ask to drop into your intuition in the moment


About Your Host, Holly Shaw
Before becoming a comedian, Holly Shaw spent a lifetime on stage, T.V. and film as an actor, professional dancer and later as a speaker, coach and hypnotherapist. She's authored two books: the Amazon bestseller, The Creative Formula, as well as  Making Art In the Middle of Madness and she was a regular teacher at SAG/AFTRA's conservatories in San Francisco as well as Los Angeles. Her podcast, Performers & Creators Lab, was named One of the Most Outstanding Podcasts of 2019 by Databird Research. Through all of her offerings she has helped thousands of performing artists, some of them Emmy Award winning and Grammy nominated, overcome stage fright, impostor syndrome, and creative blocks so that they can create the work they were born to make and become undeniably magnetic performers.  To learn more, please visit www.performersandcreatorslab.com

About the Composer: Dan Cantrell is an Emmy award winning composer and multi-instrumentalist known for his innovative film scoring approach, and his virtuosic abilities on the accordion, piano and musical saw. “Hauntingly beautiful…quirky and energetic” says the San Francisco Bay Guardian.  His extensive scoring catalogue spans a wide range of emotion and style. Dan’s compositions for film and television have earned him numerous awards including an Emmy Award for KQED’s Home-Front,a Golden Gate award for the soundtrack to the documentary Divided Loyalties, and an Annie nomination for his work on three seasons of Cartoon Network’s the Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack. Visit bellowhead.com