Often, those who tread off the beaten path are misunderstood or mischaracterized and so we asked folks from the community to reflect and tell us about the times they’ve been misunderstood or mischaracterized.

Jay Jones

“Why does it look so….scary?” I’ve heard some variation of this my entire life. I’ve always been on the non-conventional side, interested in the morbid and the macabre, what lurks in the dark. Unlike most of my peers growing up, I gravitated towards darker/weirder media (think Meaty McMeats, Horror flicks, and anything you’d find in old school Hot Topic) and it definitely showed in my art. I can’t count how many times someone accosted my mother about the contents of my sketchbook. I remember several times being sat down and asked “is there something wrong?” Or “are you okay?”. To the outside world I appeared to be a quiet, loner, obsessed with skulls and guts, but on the inside, I was just a curious kid. I didn’t understand why no one wanted to see what was in the shadows, to peer into the darkness and see what we would find. Read more>>

Jacqueline & Nicholas Macaluso

Jacqueline and Nicholas, the owners of SmokySewCo, are proud members of the recovery community and vocal advocates for those struggling with addiction. Living in a small town that was slow to embrace art and change, they faced significant challenges. However, their dedication to staying true to themselves and their art helped them overcome these obstacles. Today, they actively support the recovery community, a commitment symbolized by the Narcan box they’ve installed outside their storefront. This initiative has sparked backlash from some local residents, yet it underscores their firm belief in aiding those in need. Read more>>

Rc Bennett

One thing that I’ve noticed, and granted I haven’t exactly been under the national spotlight, but I’ve noticed a tendency to assume the surface read of a story is the only read that could be intended. So, in that sense, it isn’t so much that the book, or myself as an author have been mischaracterized, but just not quite fully understood. And I get it. The book is about a highschool baseball player who falls in love. But really, it’s not about that at all. It’s about what you are supposed to do with the weight of tragedy—what you do when a stupid mistake that in theory anybody could have made costs someone their life. Because that’s a hell of a question. And I think the only way we know how to answer it is with stories. It’s not the sort of question that can be answered propositionally, with mathematical sort of language, it’s too personal for that. Read more>>

Maddy Kate

Hi, I’m Maddy Kate Cosplay, and I want to share the time I was “canceled” online. When I was 17, I grew in fame rapidly online. My cosplays on Instagram and Tiktok really blew up, and I was feeling important for the first time in my life. But with so many eyes on you, so much can go wrong. Bad decisions can be big with so many people watching it can go immensely downhill. This is a story I’ve been wanting to share for 6 years, and I hope others can listen and learn from it.  Read more>>

Mjsraven Pullen

Being a female Michael Jackson tribute artist what is normally a male dominated genre was always a mild tribulation for me due to having to work harder at proving myself when I felt there was no need to. The industry always when it came down to me loved what I did With speechless but yet didn’t know where to place me because I was a woman paying tribute to a man but as the years progressed and I’ve been in this field for 30 years, plus I have earned my right and standing amongst my male counterparts and even gained their respect Because of it. There has been occasions here and there where I have been turned down once they found out, I was a woman because they didn’t feel people would be interested in in what I had to do that people would be more in tune to want to see a male, but once they gave me an opportunity, there was no questions asked, and they had an abundance of an audience. Read more>>

Bryant Edwards

When you are first starting in theatre and as you develop as an artist you tend to feel like you have to perform and create art in a certain way – maybe you must be a starving artist, you need to abide by a very specific dress code, you must fit into your type, you need to take everything as seriously as a heart surgery. When I first started Theatre Contra, it was out of a want and need to create work that I want to work on and to create a space for artists to try new things without the fear of judgment by other artists. If you want to act, try it out. If you want to direct, we’ll be there to support you. At first, in my mind, that meant doing Very Serious Work (TM) – You have to suffer to be an artist, after all.  Read more>>

John Williamson

I think we’ve probably been misunderstood/mischaracterized since the very beginning from both sides. I remember when we first started the podcast we’d get people thinking that the whole idea of the podcast was to convince people to completely reject religion – “destruction” vs. “deconstruction.” We’d have to reassure guests constantly that that’s not what we were about. Eventually one of our favorite guests suggested putting a bracket around the “D” and “E” at the beginning of our name to highlight the word “construction.” Our intent was never to encourage people to burn it all down per say. Our only goal was to provide a safe space for people to wrestle with their faith, ask questions, etc. Sometimes that does mean getting ride of some things, but that certainly doesn’t mean everything. Read more>>