Podcast Summary

Podcast: All Of It (WNYC)

Episode: ‘The Writing on the Stall’ is a Musical Inspired by Bathroom Graffiti
Date: April 9, 2024
Host: Kusha Navadar
Guest: Caitlin Cook (Comedian, Musician, Creator of "The Writing on the Stall")

Episode Overview

This episode features comedian and musician Caitlin Cook, creator and performer of the off-Broadway one-woman musical "The Writing on the Stall", a show inspired entirely by bathroom graffiti. Host Kusha Navadar and Cook discuss the origins of the project, its creative process, themes of anonymity and connection, and the sociology behind bathroom graffiti—from the silly to the profound. The episode includes live music from the show and invites listener stories about memorable bathroom wall art.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origin Story: From Toilet Seat to Theater Seat

• Cook’s fascination with finding art in unexpected places began during her studies in art history, which she found “pretentious” ([04:23]).
• The project was born when she read bathroom graffiti that mused:

  “Since writing on bathroom walls is neither for critical acclaim nor financial reward, it is the purest form of art. Discuss.”
  (Caitlin Cook, 04:23)

• She began photographing graffiti everywhere and ultimately wrote songs using only found lyrics from public restrooms ([04:23]-[05:48]).

2. The Creative Process: Curating & Composing from Found Art

• Cook has amassed “hundreds of thousands” of bathroom graffiti photos, many sent by followers ([05:48]-[05:55]).
• Graffiti is grouped by themes (e.g., women’s, men’s, poetic, mean-spirited), which inspired various songs—like “Conversations with Strangers” and “The Difference” ([06:04]).
• While most lyrics are directly from graffiti, sometimes she inserts connecting words or punchlines or paraphrases due to poor photo quality. Still, her goal is to preserve the authenticity of the “found art” ([07:22]-[08:14]).

3. Musical Excerpts: Shared Humanity and Anonymous Connection

• Songs highlight the anonymity and universality of messages.

• Example lyric from “Conversations with Strangers”:

  "On a scale of one to America, how free are you tonight?"
  "That's a great line, but underneath it, someone wrote 'Germany.'"
  (Caitlin Cook, 03:11)

• The song “Good Luck Out There, Human” offers poetic, vulnerable moments from anonymous voices:

  “This is what the poems are for. Telling other people the things I can no longer.”
  (Caitlin Cook, 10:55)

4. Why Do People Write Bathroom Graffiti?

• The sense of anonymity, the thrill of “doing something a little bit wrong,” and the bathroom as a safe, liminal space—especially women’s restrooms—invite honesty and vulnerability ([12:28]).
• Cook suggests,

  “There’s something vulnerable about being in that position that sometimes makes you want to share your deepest, darkest secret.”
  (Caitlin Cook, 12:28)

5. Crowd Work & Interactivity

• Cook’s show is highly interactive, beginning with her needing something from the audience (toilet paper) before the show can proceed ([15:41]).
• This element was intentional to help her confront stage fright and to directly involve the audience in the communal experience of graffiti and connection ([15:41]-[16:58]).

6. Gender, Trends, and Geographic Observations

• Stark contrasts exist between men’s and women’s graffiti:
  • Women's: supportive and empowering
  • Men's: “tends to feature a lot of phalluses” ([17:25])
• Certain jokes become viral trends (e.g., “Toy Story 2 was okay,” inspired by Demetri Martin), spreading graffiti memes across cities and countries ([18:07]).
• Differences exist internationally: in the UK, for instance, graffiti gets painted over more frequently than in NYC ([19:12]).

7. High Art vs. Found Art

• Cook draws parallels between ancient cave paintings and bathroom graffiti, questioning why some art is venerated while other forms are overlooked:

  “Why is one work of art better…just because it’s hung in a gallery rather than carved into a toilet seat or on a bathroom wall?”
  (Caitlin Cook, 22:46)

8. Audience Stories & Listener Engagement

• Listeners contributed favorite graffiti anecdotes:
  • “Hell is hot, but is it humid?” (from a Hoboken dive bar, 13:37)
  • “To be is to do – Socrates. To do is to be – Sartre. Do be do be do – Sinatra.” (Columbia men’s dorm, 19:54)
  • Berlin bathroom promoting active consent (19:54)
• Listener Jules from Brooklyn described how her son's bedroom door became a living artwork of stickers and graffiti, connecting personal memory to the urban visual culture (23:32).

9. The Show's Evolution and Future

• The current Off Broadway run at Soho Playhouse ends April 13, but Cook plans to tour the show in New Orleans, Chicago, St. Louis, Edinburgh Fringe, and beyond ([25:11]).
• Cook hints at expanding from a solo format to a small ensemble production, broadening the narrative to include others' stories she’s collected ([25:50]-[26:43]).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On why bathroom graffiti is art:

  “It is the purest form of art. Discuss.”
  (Bathroom graffiti, paraphrased by Caitlin Cook, 04:23)

• Describing men's vs. women's graffiti:

  “Women’s bathroom graffiti tends to be very supportive and empowering. And men’s bathroom graffiti tends to feature a lot of phalluses.”
  (Caitlin Cook, 17:25)

• On the show’s vulnerability:

  “It is the most vulnerable piece I’ve ever written about my own trauma and coming of age story. And also it is hopefully universal and bringing in all these little bits of stories, things people have written on walls.”
  (Caitlin Cook, 09:39)

• On interactivity:

  “[The show] cannot continue until someone brings me something [like toilet paper]... I don’t see how the show could start any other way.”
  (Caitlin Cook, 15:41)

Important Timestamps

• [04:23] – The moment of inspiration, Cook reading “the purest form of art” graffiti
• [05:48] – Collecting hundreds of thousands of bathroom graffiti photos
• [06:04] – How songs are assembled from various categories of stall writings
• [08:36] – Incorporating personal storytelling with graffiti narratives
• [10:55] – “Good Luck Out There, Human” performance
• [12:28] – The psychology of why people write graffiti in stalls
• [15:41] – Audience participation and show interactivity
• [17:25] – Differences between men’s and women’s bathroom graffiti
• [18:07] – Trends and viral bathroom graffiti (Toy Story 2)
• [19:12] – International differences in bathroom graffiti
• [22:46] – Reflection on high art vs. found art
• [25:11] – Future touring and plans for an ensemble show
• [27:06] – Song "Confessions" excerpt: “On my 21st birthday, I got so drunk I threw up on a... cop car...”

Tone and Style

The conversation maintains a witty, self-deprecating, yet heartfelt tone, mixing humor and philosophy. Cook and Navadar keep the discussion accessible and engaging, balancing thoughtful artistic analysis with audience participation and the quirks of everyday life.

Final Takeaway

"The Writing on the Stall" celebrates the hidden poetry of public bathrooms, transforming anonymous scribbles into a musical exploration of connection, vulnerability, and everyday humanity. Cook’s work honors the overlooked creativity of strangers, revealing that art—and human truth—can be found in the most unexpected of places.