We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Stuart Preston a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Stuart, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Going back to the beginning – how did you come up with the idea in the first place?

After several years of telling jokey-jokes on stage, I decided I wanted my comedy to be more meaningful. I had recently experienced the loss of my son to depression and suicide, and I decided to create one-man show about that to help break the stigma around depression, mental health, and more. My grief journey was somewhat unique, assisted by psychedelics. The goal of The Stoned Ape Show is to save lives and raise money for suicide prevention. That is my primary focus, creatively, these days.

Stuart, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

When I was a young teenager, I heard Eddie Murphy’s self-titled album, “Eddie Murphy.” I was also a young musician. I recognized that what he was doing was a craft and that he was the best at it. That thought sat dormant in my mind my whole life. I always wanted to take up the craft of comedy. But like any responsible adult, I focused on my career and my family, joining the Army out of college and starting my first business after that. As the decades passed, I decided it was time to give it a try. I attended Tony Vicich’s comedy school in Tempe, where I learned the craft — how to write a joke, test it on stage, put together a coherent set, etc.

I pivoted my comedy into The Stoned Ape Show after losing my son to suicide and working with my grief with psychedelics. I also wrote a book, The Grief Trip: How I Learned To Heal WITH My Grief…and Psychedelics. Finally, I have a podcast that chronicles others’ journeys called The Stoned Ape Reports.

I now offer The Stoned Ape Show to any audience who will have me. I do shorter, 5-20 minute “Talk” versions of it as well as the full show with a panel discussion at the end.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I’m focused on breaking the stigmas around mental health, suicide, grief, and psychedelics. I believe that the more we all discuss these openly, we’ll break these stigmas. When we break these stigmas, people will get help. If they get help, maybe they won’t die.

 

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding part of being an artist is after a Stoned Ape Show when people come to me with their own personal stories. I can tell it helps them to hear they are not alone, that there’s hope. Or, they know somebody who has struggled. Or, they tried psychedelics as recreational drugs when they were younger and now see the true benefits these drugs have in healing past trauma.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://stonedapecomedy.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stonedapecomedy/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StonedApeComedy
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/s2artp/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/stonedapecomedy
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3FAi33CqB6YKAqb7WqoePg

Image Credits
Live shot photo credit: Jennifer Giralo Headshot photo credit: Shawna Steverson Photography Art Credit: Dom Patrick