Featuring Sarah Hagi

Explicit content warning

10/22/19 • 33 min

Sarah Hagi, writer and queen of Twitter @geeklylonglegs, comes to the Cavern of Secrets to talk about the Garfield restaurant, the Blackest cartoons and how to have fun (again) as a writer. “It was intended to be a joke piece where I was like, yeah, Bugs Bunny is black.”

Our favourite moments: “In a lot of ways, editors only hit me up when it’s like ‘ooh, we need a little spice here’ which is annoying.” [9:55]

The thing about when you make something your brand. And I don’t know how it happened but I associated myself with Garfield but it happened somehow. And to this day, people are always sending me something to do with Garfield. Like, people who do not know me. And it feels great But again, I’m like, “Oh no is this why I’m single?” [10:50]

“I was walking down Bloor with my friend and I was really sad and crying, then I was like “What’s Garfield doing on that storefront?” [11:59]

“I spent my whole life thinking, “Julia Stiles? She’s got RHYTHM. Only to realize now that she cannot dance” [21:37]

“I didn’t go to my prom. I went to Dairy Queen.” [23:51]

CREDITS: Cavern of Secrets is hosted by Lauren Mitchell. Produced by Ellen Payne Smith & Katie Jensen, with assistance from Vicky Mochama and Sarah Daniel.

Our favourite moments: “In a lot of ways, editors only hit me up when it’s like ‘ooh, we need a little spice here’ which is annoying.” [9:55]

“I was walking down Bloor with my friend and I was really sad and crying, then I was like “What’s Garfield doing on that storefront?” [11:59]

“I spent my whole life thinking, “Julia Stiles? She’s got RHYTHM. Only to realize now that she cannot dance” [21:37]

“I didn’t go to my prom. I went to Dairy Queen.” [23:51]

CREDITS: Cavern of Secrets is hosted by Lauren Mitchell. Produced by Ellen Payne Smith & Katie Jensen, with assistance from Vicky Mochama and Sarah Daniel.

Previous Episode

Featuring Monica Heisey

Monica Heisey, author, comedian, TV writer and all around warm and funny individual joins host Lauren Mitchell in the Cavern to talk about the years that have passed. After a three year hiatus, Cavern of Secrets is back. Since then, Monica has become even more successful, gotten a divorce, and moved to London where she’s delighting the locals with her British accent. “I was more of a Greek mythology girl than a horse girl...”

Our favourite moments: “My friend Lindsey [Weber] who is a host of and creator of Who Weekly says the best dirt - the worst dirt - is in a little-known podcast before [someone] got super famous.” [3:12]

“I’m not sure confidence is real. I think it’s something we’re projecting onto other people...” [6:01]

“Everyone’s trying and not sure they’re doing it right” [9:18]

“One thing that [divorce] gave me was: I was so sad, I was just very heartbroken that it didn’t work. It led to this wonderful freedom. These petty occupations that have taken up so much of my time ... I care a lot less about things but in a way that feels good.” [10:18]

“In a way, the very difficult emotional things was...very good?” [12:54]

“I’m doing a lot of developing [tv shows] right now and production companies will say, we don’t want to limit you, you’re the creative. And in theory, that’s nice. I feel like that episode where school closes and Lisa Simpson is jumping around in front of Marge and saying “Grade me! Please! Grade Me” [15:00]

“It’s such a disaster to say you’re writing a second book because everyone believes you.” [16:15]

“On LUSH products, there's a picture on the bottom of the person who made the product and it was this man named Brandon and he had big ear spacers. Every time I was putting my thigh chafe cream on, I just pictured Brandon saying "Good for you. You do whatever's good for you."” [18:57]

“All my favourite shows are British comedies so I just want to go over there and [say] “Please please, here I am!” [25:12]

“They have a list of awards that you can win “or equivalent”. And I had to say that the Canadian Screen Awards is the Emmys for Canada. Just put it on your list! It’s real!” [26:55]

CREDITS: Cavern of Secrets is hosted by Lauren Mitchell. Produced by Ellen Payne Smith & Katie Jensen, with assistance from Jay Cockburn, Vicky Mochama, and Sarah Daniel.

Next Episode

Featuring Georgia Webber

Georgia Webber, writer and illustrator, comes to the Cavern of Secrets to talk about what it means when you can’t express yourself, learning to draw again, and allowing the possibility that someone will say ‘yes’ and help you. Georgia’s graphic memoir, Dumb, is about what it means to become voiceless and how it changes you.

Our favourite moments: “If there’s something that calls for my voice to be raised at all in a really loud way, I can push it if I want to and I most of the time really want to. But it’s a bad idea.” [4:43]

“I had always wanted to make comics but I didn’t feel like I was good enough to start. Which is a terrible trap to be caught in.” [5:34]

I hit send. I woke up the next morning and I felt - god, I’m gonna sound like such an asshole right now - I felt the closest thing I can to enlightened.” [10:05]

It’s much harder for us to accept something that changes constantly and it’s much harder for the wide broad us to accept complication” [14:55]

“It’s also fascinating to collaborate with someone and have her voice at the centre of it but she can’t see what I’m doing. She’s exercising a massive amount of trust...” [17:00]

“This idea of disability as a shift in health paradigm as the rest of the world to accept is something that I’m grappling with” [24:00]

“I could see all the accommodations that were being made for people who had those different needs and being in that space and sharing it with them was not a detriment to my experience in any way” [28:05]

CREDITS: Cavern of Secrets is hosted by Lauren Mitchell. Produced by Ellen Payne Smith & Katie Jensen, with assistance from Vicky Mochama and Sarah Daniel.