Episode Details

Keith Serry is a rockstar. Actually, he’s not a rockstar. But he’s a big fan of rockstars. He hosts the singular podcast, The Volume Knob where guests tell poignant and personal stories, each one featuring a song that saved their life. Beyond his podcast, he is an acclaimed storyteller who has graced many stages from Montréal’s Confabulation to­—maybe people have heard of the TV channel PBS? Keith was on that. A show called Stories from the Stage. Keith is a lawyer by trade, which means he gets lots of things done, even though he is also a husband and father—of two children and the laziest labradoodle in Montréal. But today, we are going to talk about Keith’s imminent show, The List:  A Traumady About Probiotic Masculinity, premiering June 8 at Montreal’s 2024 Fringe Festival.

The List takes us on a hilarious and heartbreaking road trip that answers questions like, Why are men like this? Must all the role models be terrible? What’s going on? And, are men okay? Given these volatile times, these are racy topics. It got a little awkward, but I’m glad we went there. Keith Serry, thank you for this splendid episode.

Keith Serry on This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life

00:00 - Intro and Theme Song

01:16 - Quick and very fun break. Please rate and review This Is Your Strange and Beautiful Life. Please buy tickets to Keith’s Fringe show The List.

03:30 - Keith Serry’s long and impressive bio

06:14 - Erica fails to resist the question, What’s it like being really tall? Keith humours and enlightens her.

10:35 - The PR Crisis of Cis-White Men. Erica asks, are men okay and why should we care? Keith answers as tactfully as possible.

22:12 - What is probiotic masculinity?

25:20 - Despite mainly terrible role models, how did Keith Serry grow up to become a nice guy? Did Erica get that wrong? What are the pros and cons of being a nice guy? Keith feels uncomfortable speaking on behalf of nice guys but does his best.

36:38 - Erica remains committed to differentiating the assholes from the decent dudes out there. How does the looks lottery come into play? Can you be conventionally attractive and kind? Is a lack of confidence conducive to more empathy? Why do rich and famous people act a certain way and why do they get special treatment?

40:50 Keith tells his law school students: The mere fact that you are here means that you are incredibly fortunate and that can co-exist with the fact that you hate what you’re doing and you don’t want to do it.

42:03 Erica: “Well, how frustrating to have a body. Is how I feel.”

43:10 Keith’s shows’ press release mentions bad sex. So Erica asks, what sex is bad, why is it bad, and what’s happening out there?