#77 - Loneliness and Male Friendship with Gabe Mollica

Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship

If there's one thing we need these days, it's some joy and laughter. It's dark times. And while today's story of a heartbreak from a friendship breakup isn't exactly what we think of as funny on its own, I am thrilled to tell you that there is a fantastic comedian out there who has made humor and art out of a painful friendship breakup he had in college.

Gabe Mollica's one-man show is called Solo: A Show About Friendship. How could I not feature it on Dear Nina?

If you're a fan of This American Life, you might have already heard a bit of comedian Gabe Mollica's friendship breakup story. Reporter Aviva DeKornfeld did a story called “Say It To My Face” about Gabe. I don't want to give too much away from that episode, but for context, Aviva managed to interview not only Gabe, but also his former college best friend, Tim. The parts with Tim are the fantasy anyone with a friendship breakup has ever had. Gabe got to hear from the friend who got away. And it was that part I related to most in Gabe's story. We discussed it more in today's episode.

Listen to Gabe and I swap friendship break-up stories and share how we both turned that pain into art. Gabe is a masterful storyteller, and his one-man show, Solo: A Show About Friendship, is in the middle of a long run in New York City with shows planned in Chicago and other cities, too.

More about Gabe Mollica:

• Gabe's story on This American Life
• Review of Gabe's show in Time Out New York
• Information on getting tickets to "Solo" can be found here.
• Find Gabe on Instagram and TikTok.

Let's connect over all things friendship!

• My Substack newsletter about friendship & more
• Dear Nina website with show notes and a guide to pitching yourself as a guest
• Instagram , TikTok, Twitter, Youtube, Threads
• JOIN the Dear Nina Facebook group
• Ask an anonymous question

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Bab

1. Loneliness and Male Friendship: Gabe Mollica (00:00:00)

2. Comedian Gabe Malica on Friendship Breakups (00:00:06)

3. Friendship and Vulnerability in Solo Shows (00:08:26)

4. Challenges of Friendship and Show Production (00:14:50)