Dopey: On the Dark Comedy of Drug Addiction

FULL EPISODE www.patreon.com/dopeypodcast

Dave opens another Tuesday teaser by welcoming back Heart Attack Doug and immediately calling Patreon listeners winners and free listeners losers. Doug paints a hilarious picture of arriving at Dave’s house to find him shuffling around in a heavy dusty Ralph Lauren robe and knit cap looking 40 years older than he is.

 

They talk about Dave holding down the fort while his partner is away, buying three air conditioners for one room, family stress, and trying to stay productive. Dave describes making breakfast for Nora while Doug offers unsolicited nutrition takes and pushes cheap Aldi eggs. This spirals into a rant about dirty supermarkets, poor-quality yolks, and Popeyes chicken.

 

The conversation shifts into anxiety territory as Dave admits fears of escalators, airports, and bridges. He tells stories about navigating giant Manhattan subway escalators as a kid and nearly panicking while driving over the Throgs Neck Bridge. Doug piles on while also admitting everyone has fears.

 

They read Spotify and Patreon comments about Ray Brown, background noise, body image, and escalator anxiety. Dave uses the comments to plug Dopey’s five-shows-a-week schedule and Patreon tiers, including stickers, socks, beanies, ad-free episodes, and even a $100-a-month life coaching tier.

 

Before ending, Dave and Doug tease Doug’s recent mysterious bad stretch known only as “two weeks,” available behind the Patreon wall. The show closes with a touching listener cover of the Dopey classic “Good So Bad,” recorded while missing Dopey Zoom because the fan wanted to get it right.

FULL EPISODE IS ON PATREON - CHEAPOS!

 

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This week on the replay! We open this Monday's show by reflecting on starting Dopey with Chris after meeting at Mountainside rehab and why replaying old episodes helps newer listeners understand Chris and the origins of the show. He then reads a long email from listener “Panda,” who says Dopey inspired him to start Couch to 5K and enter a Prospect Park race.

Panda shares a brutally honest story about functioning alcoholism, drinking half bottles of liquor nightly, secret crack binges in Manhattan, and eventually quitting alcohol after deep ayahuasca experiences. He explains that psychedelics and microdosing have helped his recovery, while admitting the topic is controversial. Dave reacts with curiosity, jokes, and confusion over the word “mitigable.”

Next comes a voicemail from Lauren describing detox desperation: buying dope inside treatment and discovering the syringe she borrowed had been smuggled in someone’s butt.

Then Dave launches classic Dopey episode 24 featuring vintage Dave and Chris in full chaotic chemistry. They discuss the documentary The Wolf Pack, mock HBO’s Vinyl, and tell reckless stories about reviving overdosing addicts by injecting coke. Chris describes the “bell ringer” rush of shooting cocaine while Dave admits he mostly sniffed it.

They read an email from listener Emily, leading to one of Chris’s most absurd moments — replying that he’d “rest his anus on the microphone and blow you a kiss.” Dave is horrified.

The show turns serious when Chris explains how rehab finally worked: he stopped pretending he knew everything, listened to a counselor, and followed directions. Then they remember Francis, a brilliant young musician they met in rehab who openly said he planned to get high after treatment and later died from overdose.

Dave returns in present day with Billy Baroo (Randy Robles), one of the first Dopey superfans, who says he has listened since 2016, is still sober, and believes Dopey is better than ever. He praises Dave’s growth as an interviewer and the emotional power of replaying old episodes with Chris. 

ALL THAT AND PROBABLY MORE! on a brand new episode of a 10 year old Dopey show!

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This week on Dopey!  The Return of Andy Dick! Using story from Montana! Gratitude! Spotify Comments! Nitrous Car Crash!

Andy discusses his recent fentanyl overdose (where he clinically died), his history of resisting recovery, and his current fragile sobriety. The conversation swings between hilarious (fat shaming, keto coffee, random tangents) and deeply uncomfortable (career regrets, addiction identity, Chris Farley, missed opportunities like Mr. Show and Old School).

Andy admits he still isn’t sure if he wants to stay sober, but acknowledges things are “getting better.” Dave pushes him on willingness, recovery, and consequences, while Andy oscillates between honesty and deflection.

The episode closes with Dave reflecting on Andy’s sobriety, promoting harm reduction resources, and sharing a raw listener-submitted banjo cover of a Dopey song.

AL LTHAT AND MORE ON A DICK FILLED NEW DOPEY!

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This Dopey Greatest Hits episode kicks off with Dave introducing a fan-voted theme around iconic TV characters, with Michael Imperioli winning the poll. Dave goes on a classic rant about ads vs Patreon, breaking down the cost to “25 cents a day,” before spiraling into plans for DopeyCon — including a long-shot idea to book Steve Jones during the CBGB Festival.

A voicemail delivers pure Dopey chaos: a listener recounts taking acid, drinking, and shooting whiskey bottles in his basement, ultimately blowing apart his finger with a ricochet and attempting to cover it up using an angle grinder.

The episode then pivots to a legendary Dopey story from Bill Blaber. After falling deep into crystal meth addiction, Bill describes wandering New York City in full paranoia, convinced AOL was responsible for ruining his life. This leads him to break into a building, climb to the roof, scale a water tower, and pass out inside. He’s rescued by the FDNY, greeted by news cameras, and somehow avoids jail by fabricating a story — landing instead in a psych hold.

Dave calls it one of the greatest Dopey stories ever before transitioning into an interview with Michael Imperioli, who discusses his early acting career, Goodfellas, working with Scorsese, and the infamous glass-breaking stunt that landed him in the hospital. Plus the Sopranos - and Michael's crazy Lou Reed Fan Fiction - The Perfume Burned His Eyes!

All that and more on the Brand new old Greatest Hits Show! PLUS MORE!

 

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This week on the Wednesday Show!  New listener emails and voicemails, including a heavy duster relapse story involving a car crash into a house, psychosis, and near-total destruction of a sober life.

We read Spotify comments and welcome backGlenis—covering her past in heroin addiction, sex work, meth, prison, and her unlikely transformation into a sober business owner and treatment center leader.

We read more listener stuff and call it a show! All that and more, more, more  on the brand new Wednesday Dose of Dopey!

 

 

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