Bob Brader is an award-winning actor, writer, and monologist.His acclaimed solo show, Spitting In The Face Of The Devil, tells the gripping, true story of discovering that his abusive ex-Marine father isa pedophile. It has won numerous awards including “Best Show” in the London Fringe. Bob has also toured internationally with his second solo show, Preparation Hex, a hemorrhoid tale and love story.He is currently working on his new solo show, Smoker

Click to tweet: Bob Brader shares his incredible journey on the i’Mpossible Project #podcast!

Time Stamped Notes

• 4.19Part of what helps Bob overcome his traumatic childhood is writing and performing autobiographical one-person shows (theatre)
• 6.00 In high school Bob worked at community and small professional theatres with a mixture of amateur and professional actors, because he thought the shows at his high school weren’t taken seriously enough
• 8.05 Doing theatre as adolescents was an outlet for both Bob and Josh to find their respective voices and find somewhere to fit in and belong
  12.35 Bob believes (based on his own childhood) that parents should be careful on what they say to their children in the form of encouragement or discouragement because their words can stay with their child for a lifetime
• 17.17 Bob is currently working on adapting his play Spitting in the Face of the Devil into a book
• 20.25 Bob feels like writing his autobiographical one-man play Spitting in the Face of the Devil
  was one of the most powerful things he’s ever done
• 23.15 Bob feels like the negative voices in his head (that tell him he can’t do something) helped push him forward and when he can overcome the voices to do something it gives him an overwhelming sense of pride
• 26.22 Find out what one person divulged to Bob after one of his shows, that validated the theatrical and advocacy work he (Bob) is doing
• 26.45 Bob’s favorite word is “awesome,” and if someone made a movie of Bob’s life, the title role would be played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt (find out more fun facts about Bob in the Quick Fire Round)
• 29.53 Anna Bridgforth is brought up again on the podcast (go back to Suzanne Bachner in episode 15 to see just how many times Anna gets mentioned…ha!)

Key Points

• When facing “negative voices” in our heads telling us we’re incapable or less than, it’s better (maybe easier) to try to make those voices our friend rather than try to get rid of them
• The art of theatre is something that can: help a person overcome obstacles, provide catharsis, help improvise through life, facilitate self-awareness, and give children and adults alike a place where they feel like they belong
• When stuck or lost or overwhelmed it’s important to look to the past where one has had success and see if that success can be adapted to help the current difficulty one is facing

Resources or Websites Mentioned

Bob’s websites: www.bobbrader.com | www.spittinginthefaceofthedevil.com| www.smokertheplay.com

Bob is an author in The i’Mpossible Project: Volume 1—Reengaging with Life, Creating a New You: www.iampossibleproject.com/one