Episode #021 Growing Up with Grief with Billy Brandes
In this episode of Grief on Purpose, Laura sits down with longtime friend and performer Billy Brandes to explore how grief has shaped his life from adolescence into adulthood. Billy opens up about his father's death at just sixteen. He reflects on the confusion and emotional shutdown that followed, the impact it had on his relationship with his mother, and how skateboarding and the party-fueled subculture of his youth became both refuge and distraction.
As the conversation unfolds, Billy shares the profound effects of other deaths (friends and figures from the skate scene whose deaths rippled through their tight-knit community) and how those experiences compounded his understanding of mortality. He speaks candidly about his mother’s recent death, the disconnection of losing her from afar, and the strange peace he briefly felt afterward. Through these reflections, Billy reveals how grief has shaped not only his relationships but his creative path as an improv and sketch comedian.
Together, Laura and Billy explore what it means to live with cumulative grief, the way early trauma can “freeze” parts of us in time, and how, even decades later, we carry our grief forward.
Billy Brandes is an improviser/actor and musician from Phoenix, AZ. Trained in longform improvisation, he has been performing for over a decade and is a regular at Second Beat Improv Theater. He also owns the Buckaroo Lodge, a sketch comedy theater in Phoenix which writes and produces its own material along with educational opportunities. You can catch him most weekends on stage in some capacity.
More Listening Options:
Resources & Support
If you’re looking for more support after listening to Jen & Moshé’s episode, here are some resources that may help:
Additional organizations and resources:
Option B – resources for navigating grief
My Grief Angels – online community and resources for grieving
Watch the full episode video on Substack.
