Dopey: On the Dark Comedy of Drug Addiction

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Episode Summary

This week on Dopey's Greatest Hits! What may be the greatest Dopey episode of all time: the unbelievable story of tattoo artist, punk-rock survivor, bank robber and Dopey legend Shane Enholm. Before the replay, Dave announces that DopeyCon is officially happening October 3, celebrates the publication of his kratom piece in Rolling Stone, and reads a listener’s story about Bristol’s open heroin market.

Then Shane’s story begins. Raised by an addicted mother, arrested alongside her at 12 and homeless as a teenager, Shane hitchhiked across America before finding punk rock in late-1970s Los Angeles. He crossed paths with Darby Crash and the Germs, became involved with Crash’s former girlfriend Casey, developed a devastating heroin addiction and began robbing pharmacies.

After entering adult prison at 18, Shane escaped a Synanon-style treatment program and returned to heroin, cocaine and crime. When Shane and Casey lost custody of their children, he robbed his first bank with a toy gun. Over the next six months, he became the FBI’s “Ponytail Bandit,” robbing 29 banks—including one $36,000 score—while financing an enormous heroin habit.

Shane describes robbing banks with his children in getaway cars, a dye pack exploding inside a taxi, his arrest in San Francisco and the eight years and 23 days he subsequently spent in federal prison. Inside, he developed another heroin habit, dealt drugs, swallowed and concealed balloons of heroin, and survived the violent racial politics of high-security federal institutions.

After prison, Shane found his daughters living in horrific conditions, regained custody and slowly attempted to rebuild his life. He survived hepatitis C, cirrhosis and bacterial endocarditis, found stability through methadone, recovery, tattooing and art, and eventually became a respected historian of antique tattoo machines.

The episode ends with Shane performing “Making Mud Pies,” the heartbreaking song he wrote in prison about Casey, followed by Trinity's cover of “Good So Bad.”

Plus more! more! more! on the new old Dopey show!

 

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On a brand-new Dopey Wednesday! Dave announces that DopeyCon is officially happening October 3 at the SVA Theatre, presented by Mountainside—and reveals the game-show-inspired concept for the event.

Legendary Dopey storyteller Mick Popham calls in from New Zealand with a brutally dopey story about stealing oxycodone, Valium and dihydrocodeine from an elderly cancer survivor—then replacing her pain medication with laxatives.

Later, writer and recovering addict Kevin McEnroe returns for a wide-ranging conversation about the Knicks championship, watching his father John McEnroe celebrate with Larry David, and the strange emotional power of finally seeing the Knicks win.

Kevin also opens up about growing up with his mother, Tatum O’Neal, during her addiction; addiction and resentment within a famous family; caring for his mother following her stroke; sobriety, forgiveness, service and the possibility of becoming a father himself. He and Dave compare the challenges of traveling sober, attending alcohol-soaked weddings, missing meetings, resentment toward their wives and learning to show up for other people.

Plus: Farrah Fawcett in Playboy, Dave’s deeply unfortunate first masturbatory experience, teaching tennis as “chop wood, carry water,” Dave’s new Rolling Stone kratom piece—and a potentially great new book idea for Kevin.

All that and more on the new new new wednesday!

 

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EPISODE SUMMARY

 

On the Teaser! Heart Attack Doug returns to Dopey Tuesday for his 63rd birthday—and immediately lies about his age.

Dave and Doug argue about aging, white hair, barbers, gluten sensitivity, recovery meetings and Doug’s plan to celebrate with gluten-free chicken parmesan. They remember Dopey legends Ray the Clamour and Crosstalk Larry, read comments from the Dopey Nation and debate whether drugs should be decriminalized and regulated.

Dave also recaps the Great South Bay Music Festival, including Little Feat, My Morning Jacket, Sublime and the strange reality of openly buying legal weed at a music festival.

After the paywall: more Heart Attack Doug voicemails, the truth about Ray versus Larry, DopeyCon plans, marijuana, recovery and additional birthday insanity.

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SUMMARY:

This week on the Dopey Total Replay: Dopey goes back ten years to Episode 38, a strange cult-classic featuring Dave, Chris and comedian Modi. Before the replay, Dave remembers recording in his old Lower East Side apartment, reads early listener comments and shares an email from a former member of the Real McKenzies whose life moved from crystal meth and touring to cocaine dealing, opiate addiction and a suicide attempt.

Dave also talks about briefly considering buying weed at the Great South Bay Music Festival, announces that DopeyCon is likely happening at SVA on October 3, and revisits listener reactions to the early Chris episodes.

Then the original episode begins. Modi immediately destroys Dave’s apartment, fish tank, furniture and primitive podcast equipment. He shares his first experiences with marijuana and ecstasy, explains the growing market for kosher Sabbath edibles, and talks about performing at a Caron recovery event and appearing on The Sopranos.

Chris tells the story of his father discovering his crack pipe—and then recognizing it while the family watched The Sopranos. The guys discuss Artie Lange, Greg Giraldo, sober comedians, AA, Al-Anon and whether everyone has some form of addiction.

A convicted bank robber named Shamrock writes from an illegal marijuana farm in Maine, and Dave finally tells the legendary “blue cheese” story: a misunderstanding involving a Mexican man in detox, John Belushi and speedballs. The episode concludes with an old-school New York weed story involving Sheep Meadow, a paranoid elderly dealer, brown paper, a fake payment and an incredibly unlucky subway encounter.

 

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SUMMARY:

This week on Dopey, Dave marks eight years since the death of his original co-host and close friend, Chris O’Connor. After celebrating members of Dopey Nation—including brothers Brian and Matt, Laren, Steve Schneider and Jessica—Dave reflects on recovery, character defects and the strange experience of hearing Chris again every week through the Total Dopey Replay.

 

The heart of the episode is an intimate conversation with Chris’s former fiancée, Annie, who is now a surgeon, a wife and the mother of two young children. Annie looks back on finding Chris after his fatal overdose, the trauma that followed and the years it took before that memory stopped feeling frightening and became simply, painfully sad.

 

Dave and Annie discuss the life Chris never got to live, whether he wanted children, the secrecy surrounding his relapse and the possibility that nobody close to him knew he was using. Annie explains why she ultimately walked away from a planned career treating substance use disorder and why Dopey may offer comfort to some people while remaining too painful for members of Chris’s family.

 

Annie shares a powerful analogy she received shortly after Chris died: in the beginning, grief is the only room in the house. As life continues, you add new rooms—relationships, children, work, friendship and purpose. The grief room never disappears, but it is no longer the only place you can go. That realization leads Dave and Annie to an unexpected connection: recovery from addiction can also be a form of grief. You may never erase the loss or forget the feeling you once chased, but you can build a life large enough that it no longer consumes everything.

PLease listen to this very special ChrisMiss Episode.

 

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