The first time I met Carolina Montesquieu was on a rainy morning in Times Square for this shoot. An hour later, she was driving me home in her Mini Cooper, and somehow it felt like we’d been friends since high school. She’s the kind of person who can be funny and sharp, while making you feel completely at ease.

She’s new to New York, having just moved here from Boston, but there’s nothing tentative about her. Carolina is a force. Warm, quick, and already moving like someone Brooklyn is going to have to catch up to. Here she is.

What’s your favorite show you’ve ever done?

I opened for my mentor, Vladimir Camagno. I was in my bag because it was a Spanglish show with a full Dominican audience, so I could do every reference and switched back and forth from English to Spanish, and they knew exactly what I was talking about.

I came out to “Los Palos,” which has a witchcraft vibe. I went onstage and pretended like I was possessed, and they were living for it.

That was the best show ever. I did 22 minutes and murdered. I was supposed to do maybe 12, but they let me ride.

What song do you listen to when you’re getting ready to perform?

For my walkout song, I’ll usually pick Bad Bunny to let them know that a star is coming onstage. I’m humble… That’s one of my main characteristics.

Why did you start stand-up?

I mean, I’ve always been funny.

Fuck, marry, kill: summer, spring, fall.

We’re going to kill summer because I’m a sweaty little pig, so we can just kill summer and get it over with.

We’ll marry fall because I’m from New England. I’m a foliage girly.

And then we’ll fuck spring because it just makes me want to open up my pussy. The flowers are blooming, my pussy is blooming. It’s so beautiful.

What are your thoughts on crushes?

I have a crush on everyone.

A boyfriend once said that to me. He was like, “You like everyone.” Some are short-lived. Some are longer. But I do have a crush on everyone.

So if you want to kiss me, come to my house.

What are you most excited about right now?

I’m doing two dates with Ilana Glazer at the end of the month.

It’s my first real comedy experience, getting flown out to do 20 minutes and getting that theater experience in. I’m very excited.

Where do you see yourself in three years?

This summer will be my four-year anniversary doing stand-up, so the trajectory is trajectorizing. I should have a special somewhere. Paid for by somebody else that’s not me.

One Hour Photo Creative Production: Carly Kane

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Ivy Wolk is completely everywhere. What should feel like a daring flirtation with overexposure just leaves us wanting more.

An actress, comedian, and internet native who built a following at 13 and has been clipped, reposted, and obsessively catalogued ever since, Ivy has the kind of impossibly quick wit I can’t help but be jealous of. Now 21, she is captivating to talk to and even more captivating to be a fan of.

She has also been, by a mile, the most requested feature for One Hour Photo. So when we finally locked in a date, I wanted to do a shoot with Ivy that had a little bite to it: tabloid-era mug shots, very 2007 DUI-core.

“A mug shot can easily be iconic,” she told me between photos.

Mug shots are public record, and Ivy has been living, in some form, on the record since she was 13. Here she is.

What’s something people don’t know about you?

People know pretty much absolutely everything about me — every medication I take, every diagnosis I have, everything I’ve ever experienced. At least in the past 10 years that I’ve been on the internet, I think it’s been chronicled. There’s not much to not know about me. I leave it all out on the field.

When did you get on the internet?

I mean, I’ve always been on the internet. I got a following online when I was 13.

What’s your relationship with mug shots?

It’s a great piece of celebrity iconography. I think a mug shot can easily be iconic. I follow local mug shot Instagram accounts — Raleigh mug shots, Tulsa mug shots. It’s fun to see what rowdy local people in places I’ve never been to are getting up to.

What’s your relationship to Lindsay Lohan?

Love her. I find her to be one of our most fascinating texts. I think Lindsay is endlessly fascinating, and I love her work.

If you got arrested, what would it be for?

I would like to say it would be for protesting, but I don’t be going outside like that.

It would probably be for public indecency. In college, I was really experimenting with taking my tits out as a punchline, and it was always funny. The right people found it funny, the wrong people would find it arrestable.

What pisses you off?

People who are sanctimonious. People who are aggressively morally righteous, or think absolutely everything has to be a virtuosic pursuit, or that everything has to represent your politics and your morals all the time. I think it flattens the human experience. I think it flattens art.

Things can be fun and transgressive and risky, and it doesn’t have to be indicative of how somebody actually feels about the world. Of course art is inherently political, but I think we can play with different shades and levels of that.

Is stand-up forever?

Stand-up is completely and totally forever. I don’t see myself ever abandoning it. I have no interest in abandoning it, the same way I don’t think I’ll ever abandon the internet. It’s just another medium through which I can express myself and disseminate my ideas. It’s very important to me, and it’s totally fulfilling.

What does stand-up give you that acting doesn’t?

Acting has so many gatekeepers in it. There are so many people you’re waiting for permission from all the time. But stand-up, you can just do it on sheer will and motivation. It’s endless freedom for artistic expression. Same with the internet.

What was your first stand-up show like?

I was wearing a bright green trench coat. It was electric and incredible. I was kind of manic and wily, and I was crushing. It was the craziest feeling.

My whole squad of guy friends who got me into doing open mics were there filming me and losing their minds in the back. Then we all loaded into my friend Gio’s van after the show and drove around the city. I felt like I was on the precipice of the rest of my life. I felt so young and awesome and unburdened. It was wonderful.

When was that?

I started doing stand-up in August 2023.

What was growing up in LA like?

Psychically torturous.

What kind of diva do you gravitate toward?

Spiritually, the divas I care about are people who were once divas and then crashed out, or people people thought were going to be the diva and then never made it to be the diva. Whether they died, went so crazy, or just flopped. A full flop diva is important to me. Like Valerie Cherish from The Comeback. That’s the kind of woman I really gravitate toward.

What’s your love language?

Riffing. Just going back and forth, hard, funny jokes.

So your ideal partner has to be funny?

Yeah, and really quick.

What gives you the ick the fastest?

Not having anything to say. Not making things that communicate how you feel about the world. Bad art, or just no drive or zeal to make anything of substance. I guess that would be it.

One Hour Photo Creative Production: Carly Kane

Photo & wigs: Dev Bowman

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There’s nothing like finding someone with undeniable star quality. Even the first time you see them in a video or at a show, you can just tell: This person is going to deliver. That’s Tina Hand. “Just four awards short of an EGOT,” she says.

The Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter is also a comedian, something she fell into — she can’t help being funny, especially when there’s a microphone. Her discography can be explored here, and I’d start with her kinetic single Bobby’s hobby. My favorite!

Now, she’s working on her sophomore album, set to be released this summer. She’s exploring a new sound that she says feels more lived-in, more grounded, and more Tina — and she told me she’s never been more excited to release anything.

This is Tina Hand.

Where do you get inspiration for your style?

Auntie’s treasure chest.

Song writing or performing?

Songwriting is giving birth - gritty, magical, often arduous. Performing is holding the baby out the window Michael Jackson-style so everyone who wasn’t in the delivery room can catch a glimpse of the miracle. So, both.

Gay guys?

Ironic homophobia is out. But guess what - so is talking about it. I’m yawning! How To Be Woke In A Chic Way: altogether ignore #THAT discourse popularized within #THOSE TikTok forums circa 2020. It’s not worth the attention, and they’ll tire themselves out eventually so it’s really a non-issue. Honestly I’ve already given them way too much in these few short sentences. All this to say, LET GAY GUYS BE GAY GUYS! I won’t be so extreme as to say we’d be nothing without them, but we’d certainly be noticeably less. Imagine Mona Lisa never had a gay guy to paint her into immortality - Mona WHO? Crying laughing emoji (which I’ve come around on btw, I’m heavy on her again). I love gay guys and they love me.

Where does your funny come from?

Raven Baxter and “Sweet Dee” Reynolds.

Attachment style?

And you know what? I’ve never really taken the time to learn what an “attachment style” is, because baby… I’m busy running businesses. But if you wanna know how I approach relationships just listen to any love song Miley Cyrus has ever written. We’re both Sagittarius with Venus in Capricorn. “Miss You So Much,” “Lighter,” “Never Be Me” - to name a few. Or ask my boyfriend.

What are you looking forward to?

I’m flying home to Colorado in a few weeks, so I’m looking forward to all but blacking out at the airport bar beforehand. It serves as a necessity to abate my terrible fear of planes, but it’s also just become a fun ritual for me. I always sit at the same little bar near my usual gate in LaGuardia. I order a Bloody Mary (double) followed by a gin and tonic (triple - kiddinggg double again). To fly while drunk out of your bazinga is to be held in the naked unwavering palm of God. I’m also birthing a new genre of music this summer so basically it’s all very exciting, this life is magic, and I feel like Katy Perry in 2009. Girl who is going to be okay.

Drink match the nails match the panties?

That interview where Anderson Cooper asks Lady Gaga point blank if she has a “male appendage” and she responds, while sucking on a giant diamond, “Would it be so terrible?”

Back in high school I used to say I could never leave the house without a cohesive outfit on. Okay gay guy! I suppose that sentiment stuck with me and evolved into an even more pressing motto demanding not just cohesion, but the building of worlds: #DRINKMATCHTHENAILSMATCHTHEPANTIES

One Hour Photo Creative Production: Carly Kane

Styling: Tina Hand

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Tanner DeVore is no stranger to the green screen—but that undersells his craft. What he’s done is cast short-form video into something denser. He’s world building!

Take this video. The door chimes… An employee yells from back of house. Tanner’s standing at an impossible angle inside a screenshot of a Subway that doesn’t quite obey physics. Scooby’s there. A stoned Shaggy. It plays like chaos, but it’s crafted. Underneath the lo-fi aesthetic is something closer to film studies than TikTok. Please watch this.

We had so much fun that day. Over grilled cheese, we talked about our relationships, growing up as gay boys, and what’s next. I started the day as just a fan—but I left with a new friend.

With your podcast, TANGENT, what has surprised you the most about long form content?

Surprisingly, rambling for 40 minutes without a script is easy when you’re ADHD.

Are you Type A or Type B?

Type A. Type B after a few drinks

What’s one thing about you that tells me you’re from the Midwest?

My love for Scotcharoos. Please google Scotcharoos. You will thank me later.

Last time you followed your gut?

I decided to impulsively travel to NYC just to feel something. No plans and couch hopping. It was such a routine break and it woke me up.

What was your dream job as a kid?

I wanted to be a crime lab worker. Just in everybody’s business. And a pediatrician. But I’m too squeamish.

Sound effect that describes your personality?

Arooo?

Middle school memory that still makes you laugh?

I used to tell people my iPod touch was an iPhone.

Least favorite social media app and why?

Pinterest has so much potential, but the ads are ruining it.

One Hour Photo Creative Production: Carly Kane

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Before going on stage at Treefort Music Fest, I got to spend time with hemlocke springs — talking nerves, instinct, and becoming something in real time. You probably know her from “girlfriend” — the song with That Bridge™. Or perhaps you caught her while she was on tour with Chappell Roan!

The name might be lowercase — the presence is not.

When did hemlocke springs click for you? When were you like, “Oh, this is the project that’s going to take me there”?

Honestly, I think I’m still kind of like, wow, this is really cool.

It was a natural progression. Probably around “girlfriend” was when I was like, okay, this is it. I was like, “Yeah, let’s go.”

It’s really nice to be able to say, this is my role, this is my job. I feel very lucky in that aspect.

Where does the name “hemlocke springs” come from?

One day, I used a random name generator, and things just built from there.

What was making “girlfriend” like?

Pretty chill, honestly. I miss that.

That’s sort of what I miss about making songs nowadays — nobody was really on my coat. I didn’t have a label back then, so I could just make something with no additional pressure.

Not that pressure is bad, but it’s new. Back then it was just, oh, I’ll do this song because I think it’s catchy, and I’ll release it and see what happens.

Congratulations on your debut album, the apple tree under the sea! Favorite song?

I’d say it’s probably be the girl! I kind of poured everything I had into that song.

I was really happy with how it sounds like the end of a film — fades to black. I was like, oh, this is what I want me to be playing.

What’s your favorite song to perform?

Honestly, “girlfriend.” It’s my most popular song. It’s almost easy — I can pull it out of the back of my pocket.

When you wrote that bridge, were you like, “I’m just going to do the damn thing”?

I was just like, oh, I like this. I didn’t think too hard about it. And I feel like that’s the way I need to go — I can’t think too hard about things.

If you had to name three artists who inspired hemlocke, who would they be?

I always put Avicii on there. I listened to a lot of Christian music growing up, and then in middle school I saw one of Avicii’s music videos and got into a very deep electronic phase. I credit him for that because I love that kind of music. It really got me out of my shell musically.

I always say Kate Bush too. I love what she does with her voice. I love how many different avenues she pushed musically, and how much she’s inspired so many artists across genres.

She’s one of those epicenter people. And I’m constantly amazed by the fact that she wrote and produced so much of her work. Like on The Dreaming, on Hounds of Love — that was all her. That’s crazy to me.

And then another one I don’t say a lot is Tears for Fears.

They’re such quintessential ’80s people, but what I really want to recreate is the feeling they give me. It’s like being transported. Like you’re in a car, sunroof open, and you’re just ahhh.

I sent a new song to my boyfriend a few days ago, and he said, “I really hear hemlocke in this.” That means you’ve established a sound people can trace.

Oh, that’s awesome. Thank you.

My favorite thing in the world is color. Tell me about your relationship with color.

I feel like we’re in a bleak world, so color just adds a little pizzazz to life.

I’m really a pink, blue, and purple person. This is going to sound deep, but I feel like I have a deep relationship with color.

Even today, I was wearing a pink Snoopy sweatshirt, and I was having anxiety about the set, but I was like, yeah, no, I can do this. I put on my pink Snoopy shirt, I got my black and white earrings, I made everything mismatched, and I can tackle the day.

What goes through your head before a performance?

“Don’t mess up. Don’t mess up.” I’m joking… kind of.

When you’re having fun, the audience will have fun. That’s what I try to instill in my brain nowadays.

This is actually the first kind of show I’ve done since touring with Conan and Chappell, so I’m relearning how to do that — just go out there and have fun, and be the person you want to see on stage.

Sort of… be the girl?

Literally. Exactly.

One Hour Photo Creative Production: Carly Kane

Special thank you to Eli Kramer, Reid Kutrow, & Megan Manowitz

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Recently, I showed someone Season 5 of RuPaul’s Drag Race for the first time. There’s nothing like introducing someone to Jinkx Monsoon—you get to watch them fall in love in real time. Her laugh, the timing, the way she pulls you in. It’s impossible not to fall under her spell.

Over the past few years, Jinkx has been steadily taking over Broadway—starring as Mama Morton in Chicago, appearing in Pirates! The Penzance Musical, and most recently completing an eight-week sold-out run as Mary Todd Lincoln in Oh, Mary!, followed by another sold-out four-week run. Next, she’s headed to London to play Judy Garland in End of the Rainbow.

Last fall, we shot together for Interview Magazine—a series of photos that have since been referred to (affectionately, and accurately) as “The Cuntification of Jinkx Monsoon.” We got to shoot together again for One Hour Photo, and Jinkx did not disappoint. The shoot was lively—and the interview, even more so.

What’s your relationship to New York right now?

I don’t live here yet, but I’m looking for a second place. I have a home base in Portland that I love, so New York would be a second location—Monsoon Manor East.

I never thought I could handle New York until recently. I think I’ve hybridized my Pacific Northwest passive aggression with New York active aggression.

When has your narcolepsy betrayed you most?

I fall asleep in cars a lot and wake up really disoriented.

Recently I had what I call a “sleep attack” and woke up in a meeting—with no idea what meeting it was. I faked my way through the whole thing. Then I looked it up after and was like… okay, everything I said still stands.

There was also a press junket where I was asleep between every interview. My music partner would nudge me awake, I’d sit up, do the interview, and then pass back out. You learn how to just snap into gear.

Tell me about this production of End of the Rainbow. What is it?

End of the Rainbow is a really lovely, heavy play about the end of Judy Garland’s life. It’s an intimate look behind the curtain at her final days—what she was dealing with. If you’ve seen the Judy with Renée Zellweger, it’s based on this play. It’s running in London at Soho Theatre Walthamstow.

Have you always been passionate about taking jobs from British people?

Yes! Specifically British people.

What do you think about AI?

AI can eat it.

AI itself isn’t evil—but what capitalism is doing with it is. I can see benefits in medical research, maybe. But we don’t need it for entertainment. That’s what I’m here for.

What would people be surprised to know about you?

I styled a music video recently. It was last minute—the stylist situation didn’t line up—so I just did it myself.

You’ve used our Interview Magazine photos on dating apps?

I’m not on Grindr anymore, but I’d use those photos to show “This is me… and this is also me. You need to know what I look like out of makeup too, because, like a team built that.”

There’s been a lot of gender affirmation in the last few years. I waited until I was 35 to transition, but then it was off to the races.

One Hour Photo Creative Production: Carly Kane

Stylist: @americanwastoid

Hair: @daveydidmyhair

Makeup: @velisadiku

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I will always smile if Tefi Pessoa is on my screen. The cultural commentator, host of Tefi Talks with The Cut, and all-around NYC cool girl has a way of making you feel like you’re in on the joke with her. I’m one of millions who feel “she’s my girl…” but she absolutely is my girl…

Tefi is exactly the kind of creator I hoped to photograph through One Hour Photo. On social, she’s charismatic, magnetic, and completely herself. When she walked on set, I was immediately relieved to find out she’s everything I’d built her up to be: charming, cool as a cucumber, and down to play. We chatted while we shot, and she was every bit as funny, warm, and effortless as you’d hope.

A gem of all gems.

Most dramatic celebrity breakup of the early 2000s?

I think people just don’t understand the cultural impact of Jessica Simpson and Nicholas Lachey. It birthed the “Reality TV Curse” theory, the idea that inviting cameras into your relationship is a death sentence.

What were you like in middle school?

Let’s just say I watched Holmes in Overcompensating and her character Hailee felt very familiar.

Favorite age so far?

6. The tamagotchi was invented in 1996. Changed lives and frontal lobes for many.

Most memorable meal you’ve ever had?

My mom’s tuna casserole. If you’ve had it, you know. It sounds disgusting, I am aware.

What are you most passionate about right now?

Perfecting a smokey eye. I have learned that the perfect smokey eye is putting eyeliner all over above and below the eye and then smudging it in with your finger. Victoria Beckham Beauty’s eyeliner has changed lives (mine).

How do you define success?

When you receive any kind of accolade or reach any kind of goal and don’t think about who it might impress.

Current vice?

Certified oversharer since 1993, baby.

Celebrity crush?

Me (in ten years)

Styling: Porch Finds

Hair: Josué Perez

Makeup: Amanda Thesen

One Hour Photo Creative Production: Carly Kane

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I haven’t been this electrified by an artist in a long time. Gelli Haha—the new project of L.A.-based Angel Abaya—has pulled me in hard.

Her debut album Switcheroo dropped last June, and almost immediately, Gelli became a bit of a Pitchfork darling. Playful, erratic, dancey—the music is its own kind of high. What really has me obsessed, though, is the world she’s built around it: the Gelliverse. Think Pee-wee’s Playhouse meets Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans. Or, as Gelli puts it, “somewhere between Studio 54 and Area 51.”

The Gelliverse began as an impressively monochrome world of red, punctuated by flashes of yellow, but has since blown open into a full-spectrum fantasy with her new single, Klouds Will Carry Me To Sleep. Released just last Friday, the video feels like The Magic School Bus on acid—meant as the highest compliment.

I’ve had Switcheroo on loop for the past year, so calling a new favorite feels strange—but this new single is making a strong case. (This is also the same album that gave us “Piss Artist,” a song about peeing in a jar at a house party.) Other personal favorites include “Bounce House” and “Dynamite.” Truly, there are no skips.

If you get the chance, go see her live. I’ve caught two shows already, and she runs the full album top to bottom, flanked by her two dancers—two “Gellis.” It’s tight, weird, surprising, and genuinely a party.

You’ve described Gelli Haha as somewhere between Studio 54 and Area 51. What parts of each world made their way into the project?

I love strange art parties like Studio 54. And that era of music and style is iconic and very influential to me. And I love the mystery of Area 51. The whole Gelli Kompany is from outer space, in the Gelliverse, and every planet is like a different art party. Gelli Haha is a glamorous weirdo alien transmission disguised as a DIY pop show.

Is there a moment on the album (Switcheroo) where you feel like listeners fully enter the Gelliverse?

“Spit” is the second track on the record. It’s a hypnotic bass-heavy dance track. When we play it live, it feels like I’m casting a spell on the entire audience, and by the end of the song we’ve fully blasted off to the Gelliverse and have transformed into a giant parachute monster.

Gelli Haha is such a fully realized universe—musically and visually. What has collaborating on it been like, and what do the people around you bring that helps expand the vision?

I love collaborating. I love making art with people. Collaboration has always been an important part of creating for me. I love the Gelli Kompany, we love each other, and we support each other as humans and artists. Everyone brings their own special, unique perspective to the project and shares their gifts with us, whether that’s performing, designing, directing, writing - we do it all together.

When you’re building the Gelli World, how do you know when an idea belongs in the Gelliverse and when it doesn’t?

Gut feeling. My brain categorizes things like, Gelli / Not Gelli, all day every day. Sometimes there’s Maybe Gelli things and it can take some testing out. We’re not always getting it perfect, we’re just always trying things on and staying curious, but of course there’s a groundedness to it all as well which helps keep it focused.

I love that at a Switcheroo show the album runs start to finish—no breaks. The room turns sparkly and bright—balloons everywhere, people jumping, everyone smiling like they don’t want the party to end. When you look out and see that, what does it feel like?

It feels like we’re exactly where we’re supposed to be, that we are all connected and on the same wavelength and get to share this jubilant little moment together <3

Do you ever feel like you’re observing your own life a little bit like an alien?

100%. I’m an Aquarius moon (and Mercury in Virgo), so I’m always poking and prodding at my soul, experimenting, questioning, thinking thinking thinking.

What expression do you make when you’re alone and an idea suddenly arrives?

My eyes probably bulge a little bit.

Did you really pee in a jar? :)

Yessss I did!! I was at a party, I was 20 years old, and it seemed appropriate. And yes I did convince all my friends to take their shirts off, for like a majority of the night.

Shot at Idaho Film Society in Boise, ID

One Hour Photo Creative Production: Carly Kane

Special thanks to Selby Jenkins ❤️

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Púca is one of those people you can’t help but adore. Jordan and I first saw him perform at Treefort in Idaho in 2024 and were immediately obsessed. He has a stage presence that’s bold, true, and unmistakably queer—a stunning voice, an iconic beard, big Disney prince eyes—and he dances so well I guarantee you’ll develop a crush by the second song, like we did. (It happens.)

An Irish musician and songwriter who makes music as Púca, he lives and works on a farm in rural Ireland when he’s not touring—which feels shocking when you see him onstage, and then makes total sense once you spend time with him. I originally found him through CMAT and The Very Sexy CMAT Band, in which he plays piano, and we finally hung out properly this New Year’s Day. We walked around the city in the freezing cold, took the ferry, waited in line at FAO Schwarz to see the piano from Big, and ended the day with a double date at Three Decker Diner in Greenpoint.

We talked about sobriety, Irishness, masculinity, Kate Bush, beards, and what happens when you start becoming more fully yourself.

Who’s your number one?

Kate Bush, definitely. It’s an interesting time to be a Kate Bush fan because of Stranger Things, but she’s still number one for me.

Do you have a favorite Kate Bush song?

I do — “And Dream of Sheep.” It’s from The Ninth Wave section of Hounds of Love. It’s about being lost at sea, waiting to be rescued. The live version she did in 2014 means a lot to me. She filmed it in a water tank and got hypothermia doing take after take, and you can hear that in her voice. It makes the performance feel so real and vulnerable.

What was young Púca like?

I was into Irish dancing and all of that. I learned instruments too — fiddle, whistle. Irish dancing is really hard. I wasn’t terrible at sports, but I wasn’t great either.

When did things start to click for you?

I’d been a very good kid, and then at eighteen I was just like, let’s go. I came out of the closet like a bobsled.

You’re sober now. What has surprised you most?

That it doesn’t fix everything. I’ve had to rebuild some friendships that were formed around partying, and they’re people I love, so you have to figure out totally different ways to hang out.

Someone said to me once — he doesn’t mourn the fact that I don’t drink anymore, but he was like, “You were so good at it.” And I was. I could drink anyone under the table. I thought that was kind of awesome, but I felt terrible for days after, and then I’d drink again just to blunt that feeling.

How long have you had your beard?

Five or six years, I’d say. I had a very baby face and was always getting read as younger than I was, and as a gay guy you kind of want to feel grown up.

We first met in Idaho… What was that tour like?

It was strange. The first time, we landed in Denver, drove to Idaho, and then went to L.A. It was a very odd introduction to touring America.

Check out the music video for his single And I Gleam Along A Knife Edge and follow along on Instagram.

One Hour Photo Creative Production: Carly Kane

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Annie DiRusso — New York, through and through. Born and raised in New York, she detoured through Nashville for a few years to sharpen the edges, and is now back home as of this winter—right on time.

She walked on set and the energy clicked instantly—exciting, magnetic, confident—the kind that makes you want to make something good.

Her debut album Super Pedestrian is out now—sharp, self-aware, and alive in a way that doesn’t try too hard. Watch her Tiny Desk performance here.

Favorite venue to perform in?

Probably Webster Hall. I love playing there, it just feels electric. The crowd always shows up in such a fun way, and it’s one of those rooms where you really feel the energy bouncing back at you.

What song is on repeat right now?

“Gimme More” by Britney Spears. Honestly the whole Blackout album is perfect. It’s one of the best albums ever made.

What does your perfect morning look like?

I wake up with a perfect breeze coming through the window, and I’m that exact level of warm under the covers where you don’t want to get up yet. Ideally I did something awesome the day before, so I can have a super chill morning. I’ll make a matcha in the kitchen, maybe read for a bit, then go meet a friend or take a walk. If it’s sunny, I’m definitely laying in the sun somewhere.

If you weren’t a musician what would you be doing right now?

Maybe I’d be a retired collegiate women’s lacrosse player. Like somehow I had a big career and now I’m retired and living a fabulous life.

What’s your song writing process?

It changes all the time, but it usually starts with a lyric in my Notes app. I’ll write a bunch of little fragments and ideas, and then later I sit down with my guitar and see what fits together.

Sometimes it’s the opposite and I’m just playing guitar and something comes out. But having those notes helps a lot because you’re never starting from a blank page. I also journal a lot and will go back through and underline things that could become lyrics.

Voice memos?

I love them. I use them all the time when I’m writing ideas. The only annoying thing is that little lag when you hit record… you always miss the first second of inspiration.

Sometimes I actually use Photo Booth instead so I get a video of myself writing the song. It’s kind of cool to have those little moments documented.

For voice memos from friends—I like them if you’re flirting with someone. It’s very flirty. But when someone sends you a four-minute voice memo, it can take me like a week to respond because I have to find a moment where I can actually listen.

What’s bringing you joy right now?

The weather getting warmer. Being closer to my family. My roommate’s dog.

I just moved from Nashville and officially started my lease in New York in December, so everything still feels really new and exciting. Being back [home] feels very life-giving. I feel really engaged with life in a way that’s been great.

Makeup: Georgia Lim

One Hour Photo Creative Production: Carly Kane

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They say there are people who give energy and people who take energy. Eric Sedeño is definitely the kind of person who gives it. His radiant smile and infectious laugh make it feel like you’re hanging with a friend rather than watching a creator.

Like past iconic One Hour Photo guests (Kay Poyer), Eric is a fellow Texan. I tend to love people from Texas…

Eric is a designer, so I wanted to show his creativity and sense of color a little more directly. I ran the idea by him of painting on a pane of plexiglass—basically just letting him go wild with paint markers and see what happened—and he was immediately game.

We talked about where we’re from, who inspires us, and the people we’re working on becoming.

This is Eric.

Are you traveling with type A or type B friends?

Oh, Type A down. I need a Type A support system around me, especially while traveling.

Favorite place to cry in Texas?

By a swimming pool in 110 degree weather. That’s the best place to be in Texas, near a swimming pool!

If you had to be on a reality show, which one would you pick?

It’s definitely a tie between Traitors or Real Housewives of Salt Lake City… I want to be the first gay guy housewife.

Who in your life makes you laugh the most?

Me! Can I say that?

Who’s inspiring you right now?

Issa Rae and Quinta Brunson. The fact that they’re internet girls who made it happen…

Were you born funny?

We’re all born funny, and the rest is drag! Right?

Favorite word right now?

Energy… It’s my word of the year.

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Spike Einbinder is a Brooklyn staple, and for good reason. He does stand-up, drag, and acting, often in ways that feel like all three at once.

Spike has famously been a professional dog walker for years. A few weeks ago I joined him for his Thursday morning route through Crown Heights. When I met up with him that morning, he had four dogs in tow.

It was actually the first time we’d hung out in person. Within thirty seconds, I adored him. Spike is immediately comfortable company.

I love the way he loves these dogs. They’re his clients and, more importantly, his friends. He knows each one so well, and most of them he’s known since they were puppies. He told me he’s the only person who’s ever walked a few of them.

This is Spike. Here are a few highlights from our conversation.

Stand up, drag, or acting?

Whenever I’m doing one of the above it’s never far from the other two. I can promise you that. I really want to get into a new performance paradigm… maybe endurance Shakespeare. Like doing a “stay on one foot without falling into the water” challenge à la Survivor while acting as Caliban from The Tempest.

Dream role?

Someone screaming and covered in blood, like a psycho killer in a horror movie. That, or anyone who wields a crossbow but has a heart of gold!

I’m obsessed with your drag. Where do you get inspiration for your performances?

I’m very inspired by imagery perverted by capitalism and grafting sexuality and hubris onto iconography. So basically: what if the green M&M mascot had a mother who was an uber right-wing conservative and simultaneously a repressed lesbian who needs an abortion. You know, stuff like that.

I want to entertain people and show them something they’ve never seen before every time, while still paying homage to the classics. Does that make sense? Do I sound insane? Comment below…

Your favorite dog walking story:

It’s too long to type but can be found in this episode of Greta Titelman’s podcast starting at 25:00 and ending whenever you don’t want to listen anymore.

Editor’s note: Involves a highway, a truck driver, and a lot of screaming.

Favorite city to tour in?

I have a lot of love for the PNW and the West Coast because I’m an LA native, but I have big aspirations to do a Euro comedy tour… bopping around from Bratislava to Prague to see if they dig my stuff.

What does your perfect night look like?

Weather that supports my love of trespassing. Looking so good we have to take a photobooth picture kissing my boyfriends. Seeing a repertory screening of some movie beforehand and making it home in time to give my 14-year-old dog his seizure medication.

Favorite deadly sin?

I’m a wrath sun, lust rising, and pride moon.

Catch Spike on tour with Honey Pluton kicking off March 10, with stops across the Midwest, the PNW, and the West Coast.

One Hour Photo Creative Production: Carly Kane

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Three years ago, I was shooting a queer prom in a smelly Williamsburg bar when Michelladonna walked up and introduced themself. They approached me with a warmth and confidence that, to this day, I’ve yet to see rivaled. We got along immediately.

At some point, after generously sharing a bit of their joint, I realized I had one roll of film left to shoot before heading out, and I was convinced I was radiating weird vibes. Without missing a beat, they said, “Say less. Let’s walk around together. I’ll direct your photos.” And that’s exactly what they did.

“Hold this balloon… Laugh like you’ve never laughed before,” Michelladonna instructed perfect strangers. We shot 36 frames together. Since then, we’ve been close friends and consistent collaborators. I love me some Michelladonna.

A few weeks ago, Michelladonna took me to Jackson Heights. We stopped at a bakery they grew up loving, then headed to a restaurant they’ve been going to their whole life. They knew exactly which table they wanted.

We put in our order, and they pointed out the dish their mom has always gotten to bring home for the two of them to split. I felt like I got a glimpse of who Michelladonna was at ten years old. And that felt really sweet.

Now, they can’t walk down a single city block without someone stopping them to say they love their bodega cat videos. Shop Cats is huge… featured in print in The New York Times, in Vogue, and beyond. The world is catching up to Michelladonna’s magic. They’re only just getting started.

A perfect night out?

This starts hours before you get to the club. We ate a good meal a few hours ago. We are sipping some henny, listening to good music, doing our makeup and trying on clothes, we figure out what time our DJ friend is spinning, we text them to get on list - confirmed. The bottle of henny is almost done at this point, we finalize our looks, we jump in the uber. We get to the club, the door person lets us skip the line immediately, and we head to the DJ booth to dance behind our DJ friend the whole night. Life is good.

What are you most excited about right now?

The revolution. And my directorial debut with my short film - AZÚCAR.

Describe your current era in one word

Ravenous

Favorite value?

The stock market.

Cats or Dogs?

Girl…

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Sheeeesh, so much will change within the next 5 years. I hopefully own a home for myself and loved ones in Colombia, somewhere in the mountains where I can escape to and rest. I’ll be leading intentional TV and film projects, acting and directing. I’ll have my own bike (I can buy a bike now but I have commitment issues with bikes). All my homies and I are eating good, I can fund community initiatives through I’m Finna Talk (@imfinnatalknyc) and I have a big fat juicy kitty cat named Pechuga <3 also I’m besties with Doechii

You’re a multi-hyphentate, why is that important to you?

As a first-gen queer Latine person, I am not afforded the luxury of only being good at one thing. I have to be great at a bunch of different things, that’s simply what the industry will ask of you to be taken seriously. I also have adhd, am an only child, and have a whole lotta curiosity. Add a hyphen to the list, certified scuba diver.

When are you having the most fun?

Anything to do with water, beach, scuba, snorkel, boat, lake - I love water.

Favorite artist right now?

La Lupe

What is inspiring you right now?

Collective community and joy as a form of resistance.

One Hour Photo Creative Prodcution: Carly Kane

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Sydnee Washington is the kind of comedian you see and can’t shake for weeks. The first time I saw her perform, I remember leaving and genuinely wondering how I’d built a personality at all without using hers as the blueprint.

Anytime I need a pick-me-up, I go straight to her Black Barbie Stories pinned on Instagram. They’re tales from her genuinely wild Manhattan bottle-girl days, told through hundreds of Black Barbie photos. Where she finds them, I cannot be sure, but thank God she does. Just go watch. I can’t do them justice here.

You’ve seen her on Abbott Elementary, Search Party, in the finale of Broad City, and through Comedy Central Up Next. She’s been nominated for a Primetime Emmy. She’s won a Writers Guild of America Award. And every week, she hosts the podcast Mess with her best friend Marie Faustin.

So we did what made sense. We hailed a yellow cab and turned it into a photo studio for ten blocks, much to the chagrin of our driver.

Best date spot in the city?

Domodomo in the west village. Delicious hand rolls, sexy ambiance, and they have a lot of dishes you can share (sharing is HOT!)

Last song that made you cry?

*Trigger warning* Olivia Dean “couple minutes” paired with a video of someone vlogging the last day with their dog’s life. Diabolical combo but yeah I couldn’t stop the water works for at least 20 mins.

Dream Role?

For so long I wanted to be on Euphoria as Rue’s long lost older cousin who is a reformed party girl. Show her you can get clean and still cause chaos. That’s literally my life right now. Sober for 8 ½ years and I’m still bad with money, constantly losing things, and break dancing at karaoke. You can still be a mess without drugs and alcohol.

Now this is just for shits & giggles: Maybe in the “Barbie” sequel and I would be Barbie’s best friend that never wants to meet up in real life but says funny monologues on FaceTime. A lot of close ups of my face just giving Barbie the best and worst advice.

Favorite place to perform?

I’m sorry I can’t pick just one: Comedy Cellar, Union Hall, Bell House.

Group chats?

I’m so bad at them. Too many messages overwhelm me. I’m a one-on-one type of gal. Currently I’m in 6 group chats and technically bombing in most of them.

Lesbians?

No notes. They are dominating is the dating field. Showing up in friendships. And the WNBA is the only reason I’ll ever be interested in basketball games.

Whats your process for writing a joke?

Let embarrassing things happen to me and then share it with the class without shame. That’s the process.

What’s exciting you right now?

I love TikTok videos about this baby donkey named Jasper. A new set of teeth grew in last month, very exciting. His bowl cut went away, did you know baby donkeys are born with a bowl cut?? It’s like is SuperCuts in the womb???

Favorite thing to cook?

I don’t cook, but if I have to… scrambled eggs and bacon. Real basic, safe, and who doesn’t like eggs and bacon in the morning?

One Hour Photo Creative Prodcution: Carly Kane

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Kay lives outside of Dallas but is on the brink of a move to New York City... I found myself in Texas and reached out to see if we could squeeze something in before she leaves.

We met in the parking lot of an antique mall the moment it opened. We wandered the aisles half-looking at things, half meeting each other. I liked her immediately. We’re both from Texas, which is its own kind of shorthand. We both love it in the way you only can if you’re from there.

I asked if I could photograph her against the open stretch of farmland on the far side of the parking lot — big sky, bales of hay, and nothing else. She laughed. “If you wanna see country,” she said, “I’ll show you country.” So she did!

“We’ll take my car,” she said. “I know where the potholes are.” Kay delivered for Pizza Hut on these backroads for years — knew exactly which stretches sneak up on you.

We ended up spending the whole day together — driving, talking, doubling back, talking more. About her process. About leaving Texas. About loving it. About what it means to be from somewhere people don’t always expect. There’s something special about photographing someone where both of your roots are planted — especially when they’re about to start a new chapter.

This is Kay Poyer.

Who inspires you?

Everyone around me, my friends. I am constantly trying to recreate them in words. Also, Ernest Hebert.

What can you tell us about your book?

I’m trying to balance the sex, the sadness, and the humor. I’m also trying to catch a couple lawsuits over it.

Djing or Dancing?

Dancing! I’m not superwoman.

Last thing that made you laugh?

A fart joke unfortunately. Laughed so hard I got the hiccups.

What does your perfect day look like?

An eggs Benedict, 67 degrees and cloudy. My phone has vanished and I have accepted it.

Last thing in your notes app?

“I get what I want and I never pay for it!” Not sure about context. I was probably drunk.

Comfort content?

Historical food and fashion videos, like V. Birchwood or Max Miller

What gets you out of writer’s block?

Nothing. I’ll shift my focus to other things, anything until the words come. Sometimes it’s praying, sometimes it’s drugs, sometimes it’s nothing at all. I think the block is the process for me.

What’s exciting you right now?

All the unwise decisions I’m planning to make very soon. The fallout makes life exciting. And I’m excited about New York, of course.

What can you not leave the house without?

Mascara. I can go out with no money, no phone, no ID and figure it out, but not without mascara on.

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After seeing his solo show I Have To Do This, I was under the spell of Richard Perez. He isn’t just a comic, he’s a performance artist.

Richard is perhaps best known for his impressions. He’ll crowdsource requests from his followers and bring nearly anything to life: flowers going into a vase, a street rat, or water being filtered through a Brita.

So, where do you take such a consummate performer? You drive around Brooklyn and end up at karaoke!

Here are a few highlights from our conversation:

What have you been thinking about lately

What’s going to happen…?

Who’s a performer you love to watch?

Madonna. I lowkey channel her in too many ways.

Flowers or trees?

Both are bae you cannot make me choose!

Favorite emotion?

Being moved

Would you rather star in a musical or horror film?

I would slay both. You CANNOT make me choose!!!!!

When are you having the most fun?

When I’m clicking with someone. You can’t name it while it’s happening, which makes it sparkly and exciting. It still catches me by surprise.

What would your Real Housewives tagline be?

“I don’t watch this show but I’m down to clown y’all”
*while holding apple or whatever they do*

Propose a would you rather scenario to the readers…

Would you rather tacos? Or hamburger…

Favorite onomatopoeia?

Pop! Because I like those Roy Lichtenstein paintings…

You can see Richard perform his solo show I Have To Do This at Joe’s Pub on February 17 and his improv show For One Night (with a band) Okay at the Bell House on March 30. You can also see our first photoshoot together for Interview Mag here.

Oh, and! He’s in Charli XCX’s new movie The Moment. In theatres everywhere today.

Styling: Porchfinds

Creative Producer: Carly Kane

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There’s no place like home. And for me? That’s on Planet Heather.

Heather’s voice is meant to be heard. Before the podcast, she fronted the band Gravy Train!!!! from 2001–2009, cementing herself as an electroclash legend. She’s now releasing music on her own under the name Heathers.

Heather’s voice comes through her words, her lyrics, and perhaps most clearly… her soundboard. A fabulous archive of hundreds of soundbites — most added by Heather herself (the real winners), and some pre-loaded. She’ll earnestly respond to a heavy relationship advice question sent in by a listener, then close the segment with the crescendo of Lady Marmalade. Or perhaps a gunshot. After years of listening to the pod, I find myself (pretty!) accurately predicting which sound she’ll use before she uses it. Getting it right is an amazing feeling.

And today, dear reader, you’re in luck… I’ve asked Heather to introduce you to a bit of the soundboard herself. Enjoy:

This fall, Heather flew in from LA to housesit for a woman she’s barely knows, but has a years-long personal connection to her dogs. The house is completely stunning and the weather that day was gorgeous. We had a blast shooting and chatting. Here are a few highlights from our conversation:

Tell me about the soundboard, how did it come to be?

It started to help me make transitions. I just love the rhythm and structure that it gives the podcast. Language is wonderful, but it’s finite and I need more. The soundboard is a way to get the bigger moment, or regroup with a LOL after something serious.

You have a unique way of talking that I’m addicted to… tell me about it?

I like the way words feel. When I abbreviate and make up words, it’s because I just want to have more fun when I’m talking. I’ve always done it. Even when I’m writing, I struggle because punctuation isn’t enough for me, I need more.

Do you dream?

Yeah, especially on nicotine gum. Those are the craziest dreams ever. Your ex, your crush, your dead brother–the gang’s all there!

When did you realize you were funny?

Me and my friends would put on little variety shows in school at lunch, called Funny Stuff. We would like, pick up cigarette butts off the ground and pretend to smoke them. I’m talking like seven or eight years old, just being hams. The crowd (other small children) went wild!

Thoughts on being cringe?

You really can’t do anything creative if you’re not okay with cringe. If you try to write a poem without being cringe, good fucking luck with that. Or singing without being cringe? That’s insane. It’s hard. You are moving mountains to put pen to paēps by writing a poem. Anything worth doing takes audacity, which I think is just the other side of the same coin.

How do you start a project?

I’ve learned that just starting is everything—whether it’s perfect or not, and just being open to the mystery of not knowing where it’s gonna go. Until 2020-ish, I’d been going about my process in a way that was totally unnatural to me, which was by sitting down to a blank page to try to make something “good.”

Now my process is getting things out as they come, like jotting down ideas, and working with the scraps later. It’s kind of a hack where you never actually have to do the hard part, because if I’m looking at a blank page, count me out.

Show up imperfectly. That is the best advice I ever got about making art.

Do you make yourself laugh?

One of the most reliable things you can laugh at is your own self-seriousness. Being in the airport makes me so anxious and over-serious. Weirdly I feel like I’m at Buckingham Palace and I’m gonna get in trouble if I make one false move. So many rules that I’m probably accidentally breaking. Oh my god, they’re gonna weigh my bag and they’re gonna find out that my bag is too fat to fly. And then they’re gonna find out I brought my fucking coffee maker from home and that’s gonna be this whole thing. But it’s because I’m staying at multiple places and I need a reliable coffee situation! Don’t tase me, it’s just a Moka pot!

What made you start giving a fuck?

It hit me later in my 20s post-touring band life, sitting still and thinking like, oh… I’m on this earth to be more than a shock rocker and get attention from that. And later, a lot of self-discovery due to experiencing personal loss and finally realizing, brutally, that we really do only live once.

Thoughts on gay people?

There are no straight people in my phone. I mean there’s straight women but I think if I scroll down to find my last text with a straight guy, you would be here when autumn turned to winter. You would see the lake freeze over.

What is your best day?

Oh, my God, my best day is simple and full of errands or hiking on a gorgeous LA day with a Cavalier King Charles spaniel by my side. And then at night I go to a chic dinner with three fab friends… I’m not on my phone at all. Forget it exists.

What do you want people to know about you?

I want people to know about my music. I have two singles out under the name Heathers on streaming, and I also fronted the band Gravy Train!!!! I’m working on the first Heathers album right now.

Planet Heather has hundreds of episodes and a lot of them are free to listen to. I’ve never done anything that has felt so intimate with an audience, and it’s so wonderful. It’s my favorite thing that I’ve ever done, and I feel so close to the listeners. I’m so happy with this podcast. I count it as my biggest success.

Have you always been deep?

I’ve always been somewhat contemplative and a seeker of the deeper truths and the dark humor in everything. I just want to live a curious life and be in touch with the miracle that I’m alive.

Should we be doing The Artist’s Way?

Huge fan of The Artist’s Way, but miss me with morning pages. I tried for years. I have tomes of my morning pages, and they’re mostly just me writing, in hundreds of different ways, that I feel fat.

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Saidah and I met for lunch at a diner before our shoot, and by the end, that was my blood relative… She is kind, thoughtful, and genuinely hilarious. What struck me most was her confidence, fierce but warm. She had to ask for ketchup three times, but she got it, and the waiter fell in love with her along the way.

Saidah can talk about her craft for hours. She knows exactly what she wants, and she’s known for a while now. Her Instagram bio jokes that she’s a “clown school dropout,” which is not entirely untrue. Clowning, she told me, has reshaped nearly every part of her life. Of course it changed how she approaches comedy, but more than that, it changed how she pays attention to the world around her. She explained that the role of a clown is to drill into the cringe of the room and stay with it instead of escaping it. Imagine that! There is power in that kind of presence, and she seems to carry it with her everywhere she goes.

We took the G train from Williamsburg down to Church Ave and back again. Here are a few highlights from our conversation:

Which subway line is the best?

The L is unfortunately that girl. She brings people together and tears them apart, and she knows she can get away with it.

What inspires your comedy?

Growing up in New York City as a first-generation Nigerian-American on financial aid at a private school made me see the city through multiple lenses: native New Yorker, immigrant, poor, rich, Black, white. I’ve realized those contradictions play a huge role in my comedy.

On top of that, just talking with friends about the small, absurd realities of being a twenty-something adult feels like its own comedy/tragedy. So, in a long-winded way, I find inspiration all around me <3

Acting, Writing, or Live Performance?

Live performance, which is a bit of a cop out since it involves writing and acting. I love how ephemeral it is, but I really love being silly with an audience.

What was the highlight of last year for you?

I had a friend breakup that I thought was going to destroy me but I made my first ever solo show about it and whoa… it was the most cathartic, vulnerable and silliest fever dream and genuinely healed me.

Where’s your favorite place that you’ve visited?

I hate to be that girl who won’t shut the hell up about studying abroad, but living in Melbourne was the best time of my life. If there were more than seven Black people, it’d be the perfect city. Gorgeous people, incredible food & coffee... The music scene is impeccable, and everyone’s effortlessly cool.

What reality show would you be on?

I would say Love is Blind but my attachment style wouldn’t survive so… as a guest judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Best park to flirt in?

Fort Greene Park, easily.

Fuck Marry Kill: Grad school, getting engaged, half marathon

Fuck grad school, marry getting engaged, and kill half marathon on SIGHT.

Song that’s been on repeat?

Electric Relaxation by Tribe Called Quest

Friend Groups?

I mean, I love them? I’m obsessed with my friend group. I don’t know what I would do without them.

If this is about that whole “friend groups are the new influencers,” that feels super dystopian to me. The only real friend group I feel kind of parasocial about is this group of girls from my high school who are still super close, traveling the world together, and getting engaged. Ugh, they’re so cool.

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If you’re reading this, you’ve certainly watched Overcompensating. No doubt, you fell in love with the electric Hailee Marie Matthews (“also known as ‘hmm’”). I didn’t know it was possible for every line to be a one-liner… Pisses me off!

But this interview is not with Hailee Marie Matthews. If Hailee is hot pink, Holmes, the incredible actor behind Hailee, is something deeper and warmer. Holmes hasn’t done many interviews to date. When asked why that is, they said “I feel more comfortable doing a character because I don’t want to lose my personality—I don’t want to lose the parts of me that aren’t popular. I want some things to just be mine.”

Newly based in NYC, Holmes invited me over to shoot in their Brooklyn sublet. Here are a few highlights from our conversation:

Last book you loved?

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This. I already want to reread and hope everyone in my life reads.

Thoughts on self-tapes?

You have to have fun in your audition. If you’re not enjoying yourself, you won’t book because it’s so obvious… For Hailee on Overcompensating, I was like, ‘I never get tapes like this... let’s have fun’. I put on a push up bra and wore this insane bodycon dress, watched a video on doing contour… I really was making myself laugh a lot, and I ended up getting it.

Process for getting into a character?

I just want to get off book. I use this app that reads it in a robot voice, and then I’ll have someone test me on lines and interview me as if I’m the character, so I have to improvise and feel like I really know them.

What would you say to someone who wants to try stand up?

Anyone can do stand up, because you can do whatever you want. You just have to crack your own code. When you try to do someone else’s formula, that’s when it’s really hard.

So what’s your code?

If I can’t surprise myself on stage, then I’m just bored. That’s why stand up is so cool, because you really can do whatever you want. You’re just on stage. You just have to find your thing.

Is your creative process very individual?

I love collaborating with my friends on projects… When you’re a kid, you have people over and you’re like, we’re making a movie, putting on a play. As adults, it’s like, let’s go sit at this bar for five hours. And I’m like, wait, I want to make a movie…

Ego?

I had never heard ego out loud until I was in the acting world, when guys say things, like, “this is how keep my ego in check”. I was like, “what’s going on over here?” Because you cannot be good at long form improv if you have an ego. You’re on a team of 10, and your idea can be erased in a second, and you have to literally immediately not care and know that another good idea is coming, because it’s not about you, it’s about the piece that the 10 of you are making.

Audiobooks?

Some people love to say ‘THATS NOT READING’ and to them I say we have bigger fish to fry... Of course I’d rather hold a book than a phone but audiobooks changed the game for me.

Improv?

My time doing long form improv in Chicago is the best time of my entire life, and I will always, always be hoping to be able to feel that again.

Weed?

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

Jobs before acting?

I was doing sales at a gym. Before that, I was working at a butcher shop (vegetarian, so that was really cool of me). And then before that, I was at an escape room where they called me Agent Shark.. And duh, a barista.

What were you like as a kid?

I was a really hyperactive kid. I remember in second grade, I kept poking this guy, and my teacher was like, ‘you can’t poke him again, or you’ll get in trouble.’ And I remember, so intensely in my brain thinking, ‘I’m gonna have to fucking poke him again.’

What color was your childhood bedroom?

Periwinkle, and I really didn’t relate to it. It was a real nightmare to me.

What’s your favorite color these days?

First and foremost, green. Did you know purple used to only be found underwater, which is why it was so expensive and used in royal colors?

Tell me about @holmestakesyourphoto!

I started it because I just love taking photos, specifically film ones. I love the dopamine rush when you get the photos back. And then you get to give people this little gift. I hate on digital cameras after you take a photo of someone, everyone’s so used to analyzing their faces, and then they don’t like it, and now I just have to watch them hate themselves, which I didn’t sign up to do.

What’s exciting you right now?

Tenant unions and knowledge of tenants’ rights growing across the country. People power.

Moms or Dads?

I have the best dad in the world but you know I gotta say moms. I love women so much it makes me sick :)

A song we need to hear?

Crush on Me - SirBabgirl

Styling: Porchfinds

Creative Producer: Carly Kane

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To Missy, there’s no such thing as a stranger.

I asked Missy what a date with her would look like, and she suggested we go on a pool crawl through the city. Over the course of four tables, I became friends with Brooklyn’s coolest girl.

Jealousy, I staunchly believe, is a map to what we really want. “So, who are you jealous of?” I asked Missy, “Sabrina Carpenter,” she said without missing a beat. My gut reaction was to chuckle, but now it makes complete and perfect sense: Sabrina has immense talent, but she’s got a comedic edge and charisma that sets her apart. Missy’s got it, too. Watch the music video for her single “No Shot” starring Missy herself and of course, Marty Miller.

Here are a few highlights from our conversation:

How do you get a table at Bernie’s?

Come early with your full party… or fall in love with someone who works there.

First date rules?

Don’t show up tipsy, no funny business besides kissing, and never dinner.

Horniest place in the city?

I used to call Twins Lounge the boyfriend store before it was what it is now. It was the closest thing straight people had to a gay bar.

What’s the hottest thing someone can be?

Insured.

What do you love about playing pool?

Pool is poetic. It’s a game of strategy and chance. I love that it can feel like you’re getting smacked in a game but then you come back in one turn and win. It’s sexy. I love the threat of the 8-ball; that the whole game can be over in an instant. I love that it has nothing to do with the entertainment industry.

Solids or stripes?

Depends on the day. Lately it’s solids because they’re chic.

Before you had your own moped, did you ever drive Revel scooters?

YES! I miss them. I felt like I was in Thailand.

What’s your order at the bar?

Dirty martini, no vermouth, shaken to hell.

If someone wants to go on a date, how should they ask you?

I will literally give anyone in the world my number if they ask.

What do you love about NY?

There’s something beautiful about how hard we make our lives here. It’s like swimming with drag on, like when swimmers don’t shave their legs.

Morning person?

I’m someone who does not set an alarm. I’m a woman who denies myself nothing.

What do you think of edibles?

Scary. I will make my way home.

What do you think about making returns?

Easily the hardest thing you could ever do.

What are you proud of?

I just bought a printer and it feels like I bought a house. It feels like I’m a woman who is in charge of her own life.

What do you want?

Taco Bell to be open later. And to be proud of my work. I want long hair, above all else.

What needs to be left in 2025?

Skipping dinner. I need people to be eating meals. Because if you’re not eating meals, guess what? You’re gonna be fainting. You’re gonna get too drunk.

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