Staying Alive with Jon Gabrus & Adam Pally

Episode: “Bridge & Tunnel: A Live Staying Alive at The Bell House!”

Guests: Liza Treyger (comedian, host of That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast) & Carolyn Brown (nutritionist)
Date: August 28, 2025
Location: The Bell House, Brooklyn

Episode Overview

In this live episode, Gabrus and Pally bring their trademark unfiltered humor to Brooklyn’s Bell House for a raucous, community-driven conversation about health, self-care, and the daily dance between indulgence and “wellness.” Joined by comedian Liza Treyger and nutritionist Carolyn Brown, they poke fun at their own habits and setbacks, interrogate the real meaning of "balance," and dig into practical (and laugh-out-loud impractical) advice for staying alive—psychologically, physically, and socially. The audience, fellow comedians, and even a luchador-masked attendee become part of the sprawling, self-aware chaos.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Absurdity of Wellness—Comedians' Style

• Why are these two hosting a wellness podcast?

  • The episode begins with future guests Allison Libby and Justin Tyler playfully asking why Gabrus and Pally, known for over-indulgence, are at the helm of a wellness series.
  • Gabrus sums up their philosophy:
    “Life is about balance.” (00:47, Gabrus)
    Adam and Jon’s “balance” means offsetting whippets and roast beef with the occasional lettuce wrap and sauna.

• Coping with Preparation and Recovery

  • Gabrus describes his show-day health routine: waking up early, running, hitting the infrared sauna, and eating a lettuce-wrapped roast beef sandwich—a clumsy attempt at “wellness.”
  • Pally, meanwhile, chronicled his late-night drinking, early-morning bodega run, and returning to bed until 1:30pm.
    • “I woke up at 6:30 in the morning and took a wonderful dump...ate that, smoked a J...and went back to sleep.” (04:54, Pally)
    • “I am 43 years old.” (05:21, Pally)

Comedy and Community: Liza Treyger Enters

• SVU Fan Theories and Guest Star Lore

  • Liza recounts favorite SVU guest arcs (Ludacris, Cynthia Nixon), shares a Robin Williams-on-set story, and jokes about her own “desperation” in front of a live crowd.
  • “She [Cynthia Nixon]’s a spider woman at the Natural History Museum…Her other personalities: pigtailed teen slut, then there’s a Russian bitch who will slap you.” (09:44, Treyger)

• Audience Dynamics in Live Podcasts

  • The trio jokes about people listening at home while driving, now unsure how to act in person.
    • “Most of these people are used to listening to our voice while they’re driving.” (07:56, Gabrus)

What Really Keeps You Alive?

• Lisa’s (Liza) Real-Life Survival Technique

  • Living above a coffee shop provides daily structure and social connection.
    • “Truly, the thing that keeps me alive day to day is I live above a coffee shop … I like being able to run on down and get coffee.” (14:18, Treyger)
  • The act of getting out, seeing people, and sipping an Arnold Palmer as a treat keeps her mentally stable—far more, she notes, than prescribed “healthy” behaviors.

• Medication, Family, and Wellness Baggage

  • Liza discloses a long-term thyroid issue and her complex familial relationship to medicine (rooted in post-Holocaust distrust).

    • “My dad would change the prescriptions on the pads … We were just kind of sick and not trustworthy of doctors, but also needed them.” (22:48, Treyger)

  • She also talks about Wellbutrin, describing antidepressants as a “miracle” when they work:
    “All of a sudden, I’m doing an extra errand, and I’m like, what the fudge? Like, it just feels incredible.” (26:05, Treyger)

Health, Habits, and Gentle Self-Sabotage

• The Reality of Routine

  • Hosts and guests unpack the difficulty of consistent habits: medication timing, brushing teeth, and taking vitamins.
    • “I’m not putting fucking retainers in…My teeth just went right back to where they were.” (21:04, Pally)
    • “Does everyone here really brush their teeth twice a day? You guys are fucked losers.” (21:19, Pally)

• Trying (and Failing) at Moderation

  • Adam: “I'm always like, no joke, being like, when is the last day I didn’t drink?” (37:59, Pally)
  • Jon: “Like, we always have someone on our podcast and they'll give us like, you should be doing this and this and this. It's like, well, sometimes my job lets me out at 11pm at night. And then you'll see the person go like, well, I guess you're gonna die young then.” (54:52, Gabrus)

Integrative Nutrition with Carolyn Brown

• Her Philosophy

  • Balance, community, joy, and nutrition all matter equally in “wellness.”

    • “Fun is really important. Joy is really important. As important as nutrition, community, laughter—all of these things are an essential part.” (39:37, Brown)

  • Rejects “everything in moderation” as the ultimate goal:

    • “I really don’t believe everything in moderation … I don't want people to feel moderately good. I really believe you can optimize and get to the point of feeling fantastic and living your life at that level.” (52:16, Brown)

• Personalized Wellness

  • Brown emphasizes personalized, adaptive approaches over one-size-fits-all plans.
    • “It's going towards really personalized wellness…which supplements, which food works best for every single [person].” (51:05, Brown)

• Practical Hackery

  • On snacks: Greek yogurt + protein powder, cottage cheese with chili oil, and real food over low-cal “spaceship” desserts, except sometimes (Yasso bars).
  • She’s not anti-indulgence: recommends “upgraded” versions of treats or simply enjoying the real thing intentionally.
    • “At a game, I might get, like, a giant pretzel or, you know, even a hot dog or something like this if there's, you know…or I might eat ahead if it was, like, not worth it to me.” (56:18, Brown)

• Food, Mental Health, and Upbringing

  • The group explores how family attitudes (Jewish/Italian/Holocaust survivor/middle America) shape relationships to food, restriction, and self-image.
    • “Did me growing up in an Italian American household where you were cheered on and rewarded for how much you ate…set me up for failure somehow?” (64:12, Gabrus)
    • Brown gently affirms the impact of these influences.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Balance. It's all about balance.” (01:40, Gabrus)
• “Nothing says health like reptiles being afraid of you.” (01:52, Treyger)
• On brushing teeth:
  “Does everyone here really brush their teeth twice a day? You guys are fucked losers. Yeah, I wish I had that level of free time. I’m out here beating Assassin’s Creed, the ninja one.” (21:19, Pally)
• On whippets:
  “I am the Jason Momoa of metal nitrous cartridges.” (01:05, Gabrus)
  “You can actually Postmate for the environment.” (49:01, Treyger)
• Integrative nutrition, bluntly:
  “I think our bodies are not calorie counters, they're not calculators; they're chemistry experiments.” (67:29, Brown)
• Moderation critique:
  "I really don't like that saying at all. Because I don't want you to feel moderately good." (52:16, Brown)

Important & Funny Timestamps

• Host wellness origin story begins: 00:10–01:41
• Lettuce-wrapped roast beef sandwich saga: 03:43–04:30
• Liza discusses SVU/crowd dynamics: 07:01–10:07
• Lisa’s “Stay Alive” answer—coffee shop life: 14:18–15:45
• Thyroid medication/pharmacy trust issues: 19:17–23:08
• Antidepressants, Wellbutrin & the sudden jolt of energy: 25:51–26:28
• Exercise + cannabis routines: 29:19–32:42
• Camaraderie around Brooklyn’s food & city love: 17:00–18:54
• Carolyn Brown on joy’s role in wellness: 39:37–39:51
• Rejecting ‘everything in moderation’: 52:16–52:24
• The truth about eating disorders across genders: 54:10–54:39
• Audience Q&A / What would you get at a baseball game?: 56:15–57:03
• Debate over calories versus “good fats”: 67:29–68:22
• Snack hacks galore: 69:33–70:08
• Cocaine as a wellness strategy (joking): 71:09
• Audience reminded: “We do not have a discord; walk the other way or you’ll catch hands.” (72:36–72:40)

Tone & Takeaways

• Irreverent, self-aware, raucous: The panel (and audience) delights in sharing the small “failures” and victories of adulthood—making this episode remarkably relatable for anyone trying (and mostly failing) to overhaul their health habits.
• Wellness Erased of Pretension: Both guests and hosts agree: Real wellness is less about restrictive diets and more about finding daily joy, community, and realistic, personalized habits.
• The ‘Bridge and Tunnel’ Mentality: The magic isn’t discipline or stoic sacrifice—it’s showing up, laughing at yourself, and sharing your survival strategies (however weird or embarrassing) with your chosen community.

Additional Resources

• Carolyn Brown, MS, RD — Integrative Nutritionist (website)
• Liza Treyger — Comedian & host of That’s Messed Up: An SVU Podcast
• Staying Alive Podcast on SiriusXM
• Eaton Gummies — Adaptogenic, wellness-focused cannabis edibles mentioned by the hosts

For listeners new and old, this episode is a wild celebration of stumbling (often messily, sometimes hungover, but joyfully) toward staying alive.