"3 Kidneys, No Colon" With Dave Piontkowski - About IBD Podcast Episode 163

“3 Kidneys, No Colon” With Dave Piontkowski – About IBD Podcast Episode 163

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For people living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), the path to pursuing our dreams can look different from that of our peers. Stand-up comedian Dave Piontkowski, lives with not only ulcerative colitis, but also chronic kidney disease. He developed a one-man show called “Three Kidneys, No Colon,” which describes his journey with both of these conditions. Dave talks about how and why his comedy actually improved while he was fighting for his life with kidney disease. He also tells us how his comedy is connecting the chronic illness community, but there are some audience members who find it can be too much.

Find Dave Piontkowski at:

Find Amber J Tresca at:

Find Mac Cooney (mix, sound design, and theme music) at:

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Transcript

Amber Tresca 0:00

I’m Amber Tresca, and this is about IB D. I’m a medical writer and patient educator who lives with a J pouch due to ulcerative colitis. It’s my mission to educate people living with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis about their disease and to bring awareness to the patient journey.

Amber Tresca 0:19

Welcome to Episode 163.

Amber Tresca 0:22

Sometimes we think of IB D in terms of limitations, but it’s important to remember that people with IB D are in all kinds of professions, even show business.

Amber Tresca 0:32

My guest is Dave Piontkowski. Dave was diagnosed with a form of chronic kidney disease called membranous nephropathy when he was a teenager. His condition worsened enough that he needed dialysis and then a kidney transplant. But that’s only part of his story. Dave was also diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in his 20s. He had J pouch surgery after several years of coping with flare ups that sent him to the bathroom 10 times or more a day.

Amber Tresca 0:58

Dave took these experiences and turned them into comedy. He works as a stand up comedian in New York City and developed a one man show based on his life called Three kidneys, no colon. Dave tells me about what it was like for him to need dialysis as a young man and then to be put on the kidney transplant list. He describes how dialysis actually helped him hone his comedy and the reason some people walk out of his show.

Amber Tresca 1:25

Dave, welcome to about IBD.

Dave Piontkowski 1:28

Amber, Thank you for having me.

Amber Tresca 1:30

Oh, it’s my pleasure. I’m gonna ask you first if you would introduce yourself and tell our listeners a little bit about Dave. Let me get it right. Let me get it right. Dave piankowski,

Dave Piontkowski 1:43

yes, well, that is my name. Dave piankowski. I have ulcerative colitis. I got diagnosed with ulcerative colitis in my early 20s, around age 23 and dealt with it for a few years. It was very severe ulcerative colitis, which later led to J pouch surgery. Total collected me surgery where I had a temporary ileostomy bag. They eventually removed the bag, they reattached the pouch to my butt hole in a multi part surgery, and then I’m pooping out of my butt hole right now. So you know that was, that was about, that was about close to 10 years ago at this point, because I’m in my late 30s now, and I’m currently touring with a one man show all about it called Three kidneys, no colon, which is about the J pouch surgery and also some issues I had with my kidney, as you may have guessed from the three kidneys part of the title, yeah, 100%

Amber Tresca 2:38

Thank you so much for that overview. You just teed it up perfectly. About almost everything that I’m going to ask you, I will say that when I heard that your show was called Three kidneys, I was like, where’s the third kidney? Like, I don’t understand, but we’ll get into we’ll get into that so that everybody understands it, and hopefully people are smarter than I am and don’t get the wrong impression. All right, let’s first start, Dave with your journey, your ulcerative colitis journey, because that’s where things went to crap. So tell me about what your diagnosis journey was like. What were your symptoms first like? How long did it take you to get that diagnosis? And then we can get into a little bit more about your J pouch surgery and how many steps that surgery was for you and what that was like.

Dave Piontkowski 3:27

Yeah, so I believe I was about 22 and right around time I graduated college, I just started noticing going a little more frequently when I’d wipe I’d see blood, and I already had the issues with my kidneys, but those were kind of under control, but I still saw a doctor on a regular basis because of the kidney issues. And I remember this was this transition of like, I didn’t want to keep having to go back to Long Island, especially once I was out of school. I just like, Well, I live in New York City. I want to find a doctor in New York City.

Dave Piontkowski 4:03

And I eventually found this doctor in New York City, and I didn’t end up seeing him until, I think, like the winter, three to six months later. So now I’m 23 and I go into this nephrologist office who ended up turning out to be my main physician, and I told him about the blood on the toilet paper, and I didn’t think it was a big deal, because I ate like trash at the time, and ate a ton of fast food. And I was like, I was just my terrible diet, you know, normal. And he’s like, no, no, it’s not normal. And then he had me get a colonoscopy, which then led to the diagnosis. And then I don’t know what happened?

Dave Piontkowski 4:41

But after the colonoscopy, it went from maybe, like, you know, a few extra bowel movements a day to, like, it got crazy. It got to like, 1215, times a day, and it’s most severe. And yeah, it was. It made life pretty difficult to live. And this was the next, you know, you. Half decade of my life till I got surgery. And yeah, so I eventually, I get surgery, the J pouch surgery. Fortunately, it was successful. It was multi part or multi fart surgery, where, you know, they give you a temporary ileostomy bag, and then you take down surgery. They reattach everything you’re pooping out of your butthole.

Dave Piontkowski 5:24

And yeah, a lot of random complications from that that I talk about in the show, and mental and physical struggles dealing with all that. But present day, it’s still working. I’m still I don’t have an ostomy. I’m able to use the J pouch successfully, and hopefully I continue this lifestyle, and I’ve kind of just gotten more used to it. I’ve realized what foods work, what foods don’t work, things I do. I’m constantly drinking water, as I have here. So yeah, I’m living life, and I’m trying to be as healthy as possible to keep everything going.

Amber Tresca 6:01

So the kidney problems started first. I think I thought the reverse, so you were already under care for a kidney condition before the ulcerative colitis started. Correct?

Dave Piontkowski 6:13

Yeah, it was called membranous nephropathy, or just chronic kidney disease for the shortened version. But yeah, I started when I was a teenager. I was 15 years old, I had swelling in my legs, and he’s, like, big fat legs, and I was a skinny kid, and I didn’t know what was going on. And then they gave me water pills to try to, like, alleviate the swelling in my legs, and then that helped with the swelling.

Dave Piontkowski 6:40

But they still didn’t know what the issue was, and it was just months of uncertainty, and that eventually they figured it out, and they were able to give me this like dose of medications that control the decline of my kidneys. But what they basically said to me was like, Look, they’re under control, but they’re going to continue to slowly decline, but it’s going to be way in the future before you need to worry about that. And you know, with modern medicine, who knows it will come out in the next 10-15, years? And obviously none of that medicine really works. I ended up needing a kidney transplant.

Dave Piontkowski 7:11

But, you know, I’m here now, and I survived, and I’m just, I’m really grateful and happy to be alive and as healthy as I am at this present moment.

Amber Tresca 7:20

When did you have the kidney transplant? Was it after or before your J pouch surgery?

Dave Piontkowski 7:24

Jpouch surgery was before J pouch surgery. So let’s say I was like 23 when I got diagnosed, and then, so it was about half a decade later. So I say like 2728 when I had the J pouch surgery, and then I got on the kidney transplant list more recently that my kidney started to fail in early 2020 and I’m 37 now in 2024 so that would make me that was 33 or 34-33…34 I have an October birthday, so I’m like do the numbers on this, basically mid 30s when I got on the kidney transplant list, and I spent two and a half years on that before getting a getting a kidney and getting back to base.

Amber Tresca 8:11

And you know, the doctors were telling you, maybe you won’t have to worry about this for a while, which sounds like maybe it was a little bit of maybe wishful thinking versus what actually happened to you? Yeah, what was the threshold that finally pushed you to where you needed to be on the transplant list?

Dave Piontkowski 8:30

February of 2020. We had tried this medication called rituximab, and it failed, and my body had this reaction to it, where I started having a lot of muscle cramps. So I was in my bedroom, I was going out, I think it was like a Friday or Saturday night, and getting dressed, and I’m putting, you know, I’m putting my clothing on, and all of a sudden, like, my feet are cramping and my hands are cramping, my whole body starts just cramping up to the point where, like, I couldn’t even continue getting dressed, like I couldn’t put my pants on, and it was so brutal that I kind of just sat on my bed.

Dave Piontkowski 9:05

And eventually I, you know, I got enough strength to, like, get on my phone and call my doctor, and he said, Look, you need to go to the hospital immediately. And I physically couldn’t, like, get over there on my own, or even, you know, go or hail a cab or get an amber I was just like, so I called 911, and I had an EMT come. And it was fortunate. I had my underwear on. I didn’t know no one had the EMT. I didn’t want them looking at myself. I was fortunate. I, you know, yeah, they can’t, but, I mean, I still they so they kind of helped me get my clothing, get, you know, some clothing on, because it was the winter.

Dave Piontkowski 9:46

This was February in New York City, so it was cold, yeah, and I got rushed to the hospital first two, three days in the hospital, I’m still, kind of, my muscles are severely cramped up and, like, kind of these, like. Like cramping where, like, you can’t, kind of move your fingers in like a normal position, and you can’t my toes are all messed up and very uncomfortable. And eventually, between, like, IV fluids and whatever medicine they gave me the hospital, I was able to get back to base them.

Dave Piontkowski 10:15

But what happened was my kidneys had dipped below 20% which made me eligible for the transplant list. And I was really fortunate. I spent about a week, week and a half in the hospital, and the kidney function came back over 20% which meant I didn’t have to start dialysis, but I was eligible for the transplant list. And on my nephrologist insistence, he said, get on the transplant list right away, because it’s a long time waiting on that list and you’re gonna need a kidney transplant, so better be on there sooner rather than later, and then when things really start to fail, you know, that’s when we’ll really hyper focus on getting you a kidney, but just get yourself on a list so his time is very valuable.

Amber Tresca 10:59

Good advice.

Amber Tresca 11:04

Coming up, Dave tells us what it’s like being on the kidney transplant list.

Amber Tresca 11:20

But did you end up on dialysis? Eventually, you were on the transplant list for a while.

Dave Piontkowski 11:25

Yeah, yeah. I ended up, I spent six months on dialysis. It was, it started in late 2021 early 2022 like December, January, right around that time. I mean, I got COVID. That’s what happened. I was, I was double vaccinated the whole thing. But, you know, with my situation, it, it didn’t matter too much. It just I got it and, you know, that disease just really attacks your kidneys. And I had kidneys that were really on the borderline at the time, so that led to me being hospitalized for a month. Yeah, yeah.

Dave Piontkowski 12:00

So that’s how I spent New Year’s. I was like Christmas through New Year’s, through most of January, and then got out of the hospital. But I had to, I started dialysis in the hospital, and I had to go to a dialysis center from that point forward. And then that continued until July of 2022, when I eventually received a successful kidney transplant.

Amber Tresca 12:22

I have never been through this with with anybody that’s close to me, so I don’t know what’s that like to be on the list. It kind of means that you sort of have to be ready, right? Like at any moment you could need to take action because a kidney becomes available. Is that accurate? What does that feel like?

Dave Piontkowski 12:41

Yeah. So, you know, New York wasn’t the most fun place to be in the pandemic. Yeah. I mean, around that time when I started dialysis, things were starting to open up again, but it was one of these things where they’re like, hey, if we get a kidney and we offer it to you, and you can’t get to the hospital in like, less than an hour, you might not get the kidney. Yeah, so I had this fear of being outside of New York City and or at least the New York City area, and getting the call and not being able to get over to the hospital within an hour and miss my shot. And that happens a lot with people. I don’t know anyone personally, but this is what they’ve told me.

Dave Piontkowski 13:21

So there was this mindset of like, okay, I can. I gotta stay in New York because just in case, I gotta get the kidney there. But there was a point while I was on dialysis where I started looking at getting listed in like, New Jersey and Connecticut and some of the local states. But I never ended up like we were reaching out back and forth. I never ended up proceeding with it, and which, in hindsight, I’m kind of worked out, because living in New York City, and then you have all your follow up visits at whatever hospital you get the kidney from.

Dave Piontkowski 13:54

So if I had gotten it in New Jersey or Connecticut, or whatever, you know, I would have to constantly been going to those other places which to get a kidney, you know, whatever. But what the point making here is just a I don’t think it would have mattered, because I think if there’s a kidney available within, like, I don’t know, it’s 100 or 200 mile radius, that it’s all the same list. So I don’t know how much of a difference just the tri state makes.

Dave Piontkowski 14:17

And then I had friends who told me, Oh, you should move to Florida and come to Florida and get listed, and, you know, the problem was with my condition, and Florida was much more open, which, if I’m healthy, sounds great, but given my situation, I felt like New York actually was a better place at the time, given like and given my condition and given how like sensitive my kidneys were, I felt Like, okay, I can kind of be better off in New York. I don’t have to. I can just, I can get everything I need delivered, and I get it was easier for me to stay in New York.

Dave Piontkowski 14:25

And I felt like, especially medical care, Columbia is one of the best hospitals for this in the world. So I felt like I just was better off staying here. But I. It’s a stress it was a very stressful time. Dialysis is not it’s not a fun experience. I wouldn’t recommend it. I mean, you have to do it, but I wouldn’t. It’s not like, I wouldn’t do it as like an optional thing. If you have to do it, you have to do it. But that dialysis center that was, that was a rough time. That was probably one of the roughest experiences with the whole kidney failure, just dealing with dialysis at three days a week, three hours each time.

Amber Tresca 15:25

Just brutal that takes over your life. That’s nine hours a week, not counting there and back. Of course, you did it you I don’t have to tell you about this, but, like, what could you even do at that time? What kind of life did you have at that time?

Dave Piontkowski 15:39

I’m a I’m a masochist, so I was doing, I was doing stand up comedy. Oh, wow, this is going on. Yeah, I had started getting back into stand up prior to dialysis, starting up. And this was like 2021, and then when I was on dialysis, you know, you have three hours where you’re just, you sit there and you just, you know, you can do anything you want in those three hours within the limitations of, like, think of it like you’re on it. I would just look at it like you’re on an airplane or a bus, or like you’re traveling somewhere, like you’re just stuck in this seat.

Dave Piontkowski 16:15

So the days I had dialysis, doing stand up after was very difficult. I tried it a few times, and it was really difficult. So I tried to just, on the off days, go to like open mics or do shows. And on those days, I’d record every, every set that I did. And then when I’d be in dialysis, out of so much time, I would just listen back to my stand up, and then I would write a ton. I would just write and write and write.

Dave Piontkowski 16:44

So then, you know, the next day, if I went to an open mic, I had a lot of either new material or punched up versions of the material I had already written. So I had a lot of stuff. It was very beneficial. And in that regard, in terms of like, because finding the time to, like, sit and just write for three hours is lot more difficult now that I have a lot more demands on my schedule. But is that it kind of forces you to stop and just focus on whatever you want to focus on.

Amber Tresca 17:13

So would you say that dialysis made you a better comedian?

Dave Piontkowski 17:17

Yeah, I know. Yeah. Yeah, it’s a weird thing, but it definitely made me more disciplined as a comic, because I just felt like it was the only outlet I had. Because without that creative outlet, it’s a lot of just dwelling. And you just dwell in your situation and how unfair life is, and you know this thing or that thing, and it’s just, it can get very negative and very dark.

Dave Piontkowski 17:52

So the fact that I knew, Oh well, tomorrow I’m gonna get to try out these new jokes and see how they they do that gave me some hope or excitement or something to look forward to for the days I didn’t have dialysis. And in spite of all the pain and all the nightmare stuff that goes on there, you know, it was like, Oh, well, at least I have this escape that I know is going to happen and I can get away. And yeah, so that was good. That was a positive, glass half full. I mean, I can’t imagine.

Dave Piontkowski 18:29

There’s a lot of people who get on dialysis and go, Oh, I’m gonna keep doing everything I was doing before. But I’m the kind of person where, like, I didn’t, you know, physical stuff that, like, I used to be way more active. I’m very active now that I’m I have a kidney, but like, when I was on dialysis, my ability to be active on the dialysis days I was so drained, it would just be very I turned into, like, a lazier person. And then I would look at like, oh, well, I’m gonna go to this open mic and, like the or a show, and like the Lower East Side, and that’s like a 30 minute walk from where I live.

Dave Piontkowski 19:05

So I’ll walk for 30 minutes, I’ll walk back 30 minutes. That’ll be healthy. And then I’ll do a set. And regardless if the set went well or not, it’s just like, Okay, I’ll have, I’ll have a new five or 10 minutes of audio to listen to tomorrow at dialysis, and you know, I’m there for three hours. You listen to it multiple times. You really hone in on like, Oh, I did this. I like that what I did here. I didn’t like what I did here. And I wish I had that kind of discipline today. I still have, I still have a lot of discipline where I’ve worked very hard, and I listen to every set that I do, but I usually just do it immediately, like, after I do the set on my way home and just play it, listen to it, and then it’s not like, I listen to it, and then I have two and a half to three hours. Or I’m just like, Okay, I have a lot of time

Amber Tresca 19:53

Up next, how Dave’s comedy has helped him connect with the IBD community.

Amber Tresca 20:09

All right, Dave, you took your experiences and you developed a one man show, which is called “3 Kidneys, No Colon.” Tell me why you decided to use these personal experiences that you had to create this show, and then what has it been like to perform it so far?

Dave Piontkowski 20:30

I mean it to me, it was a no brainer. When I started back doing stand up, I felt like it was an escape from all the nightmare things I was dealing with, and then when it came to what I should talk about, it became really apparent to me that talking about yourself differentiated you from everyone else, because I can talk about colitis and I could talk about kidney disease and all these issues I’ve had, and I’m not worried about other comics stealing my act, because they don’t have these illnesses, so it’s just not going to come off as genuine.

Dave Piontkowski 21:06

So that if you do a joke that’s a generic joke, or it’s about some topical person in the news, I mean, I do those jokes too at times, but you have to be aware there’s parallel thinking, and a lot of times that’s a bit that someone else might think of or might perform, whereas if I talk about, oh, I had this personal experience where I got sick, and this is how I reacted to it, and this is how I live my life now, well, that’s only one person who’s going to be able to talk about that, and it’s me.

Dave Piontkowski 21:36

So to me, it was a no brainer, because I think being unique and being original is something I really value. And I watch comedy, so I really felt like it was important to put that forward. And then in performing it, performing it has been incredible. I mean, it’s I brought this to the amber Fringe Festival, and the amount of people I’ve had come up to me, where they go, Oh, I have Crohn’s. I have colitis, I have, I had cancer, and I lost my colon. I had, you know, whatever their thing might be.

Dave Piontkowski 22:09

And then to connect with these people and hear their story and have them feel seen, seeing my show, and just to connect with these people and the trauma, bond with them. It was, it’s, it makes the whole show worthwhile, because I know how alone and isolating these diseases can be, especially IBD, colitis, that sort of stuff. You know, you’re pooping. How if, in my case, 15 times a day, you’re not the most social butterfly when you’re doing that? You might be an extroverted person, but it kind of forces you to be an introvert because of the illness is so brutal.

Dave Piontkowski 22:44

So I think to see these people and see them actually powering through more difficult circumstances than I’m presently dealing with, and coming to my show with you know, whatever their situation might be, and saying, like, I’m going to live life in spite of this illness, was great to see. And I think that community, that community, gets largely ignored and disrespected, especially in New York City, where, you know, I was at the Oculus, the structure they built, it’s like a shopping mall they put where the World Trade Center used to be, because that’s how we show the terrorists. We won. We put a shopping mall where the World Trade Center used to be, and every bathroom was closed, and yeah, and I was like, freaking out.

Dave Piontkowski 23:34

I had to use the bathroom. I was late meeting someone because I just was like, I have to find a bathroom. Eventually I found some bar downtown and use their bathroom, but it was so stressful. I must have went every single bathroom being closed. And it’s just it’s in a city, it’s very adversarial to people with my issues, and very frustrating, very frustrating, and I feel the UK does a better job with it, but, you know, I don’t want to go on a whole rant here, but, yeah, my experience is that it’s, it’s an illness that a lot of people have, and I think when they see the show, they feel like, wow, I can really, I can relate to this, and they can laugh about it, and it’s a good escape for Everyone.

Dave Piontkowski 24:20

I feel that’s the best part of it is, and even if you don’t have the illness, you know, it’s a good show, but it’s like, if you have it, it like hits so much harder, because you know what those situations are like, where you need a bathroom and you can’t find one, or whatever the case may be.

Amber Tresca 24:35

Did you expect that? Did you think that you were going to have people come from the audience and tell you their stories, and have have this kind of reaction.

Dave Piontkowski 24:48

I started seeing it with comics. I would go up at shows, and I do you know, maybe a few minutes about colitis or a few minutes about the kidney stuff. And I have another comic come up to me, Hey, you know, I have Crohn’s, or I have and actually, I think it was like maybe one of my first few shows back, another comic I mentioned. Now I did. I started stand up when I was a teenager, and I stopped for a long time.

Dave Piontkowski 25:17

And you know, one of the barriers to entry was that I had colitis. Wasn’t going back on stage when I had to poop 15 times a day. So I mentioned that. And they go, wait, I have it too. And I said, Yeah, I had surgery. I had a J pouch surgery. And they go, me too. And it was this, and we pulled up our shirts, we had, like, the same scars.

Dave Piontkowski 25:39

And, yeah, it was a very cool bonding moment, and then he came and saw the show a few weeks ago in New York, and so he felt very relatable to a lot of the subjects that I talk about, because it’s things that like I’ve talked about privately with him, but, you know, to see me joke about it publicly, I think, is very refreshing and something that doesn’t always happen. And I think people, people appreciate it, and even people who don’t have these illnesses, they feel like it’s almost educational for them.

Dave Piontkowski 26:08

But in terms of the expectation, I mean, I felt, yeah, there had to be some people who have this illness who are going to find out about the show. And what’s been great is just, I guess, that I didn’t expect were people who maybe they didn’t have this exact illness, but they had something else where they had to have their colon removed, or they had to have a, you know, issue with their kidney, and then also had dealt with the same surgeries, but for different reasons. And meeting those people has been unexpected, but really great as well.

Amber Tresca 26:41

Yeah, I imagine it is. It is a lot of catharsis for everybody involved you and your audience as well, and then just being able to laugh about it. Because, as you said, it’s very makes. It’s a very solitary disease. And sometimes it feels very much not funny. A lot of times it feels very much not funny. So to have somebody look at it from that direction, I think also is really, really helpful. And I think take some of the sting out of it, you know, take some of that trauma out of it, a little bit at least, at least it does for me.

Dave Piontkowski 27:15

Yeah, that’s the thing. This is, this is something I thought about when I started getting back into stand up, and I was on the transplant list. I went online, and I was just looking and looking like, Are there any comedians talking about this? And I mean, I found like, you know, one or two things here or there where people talked about it, but then there’s a there’s a market. There’s a market for this. Because I’m not the only person on this transplant list.

Dave Piontkowski 27:45

There’s a reason I had to wait two and a half years, and that’s just in the Northeast region. I mean, globally, there’s so many people who deal with this. So I feel like as I tour with this show, and as I perform the show, more getting people who have these diseases, if they’re healthy enough to come out and see the show is really just the best part. And even if you don’t have it, you just know somebody who has it. I mean, you understand, like, wow, that’s it’s incredible. And to see someone who had these illnesses, got through it and is doing really well now. I mean, in terms of my health, I’m the healthiest I’ve ever been.

Amber Tresca 28:23

Wow, yeah, that’s yeah. That’s super helpful as well, to give people some hope. You know, I hear from people about that a lot, especially parents of kids and teens that have been diagnosed recently, it is very helpful for them to understand that there’s treatments available. Surgery is a treatment and that people can go on to to live a full life with these circumstances. So it does give people a lot of hope.

Amber Tresca 28:51

Coming up, why some people have walked out of “3 Kidneys, No Colon.”

Amber Tresca 29:05

You have shared some of the reactions that people have had to your show. I imagine these are people that are not living with a digestive condition. And in particular, I saw one where some folks like literally walked out of your show and who you had somebody there with you that was recording it for you, I guess. And these people, like, walked, like, through the frame and everything. Can you tell me about that and about, like, some of these type of reactions that people are having to your work? Yeah.

Dave Piontkowski 29:35

So look, it’s a, it’s a gross show. You know I’m talking when you’re talking about moving your bowels 15 times a day. Yeah, you talk about toilets and open it’s gonna get gross. It’s just inevitable. It’s and I started giving warnings at the beginning of the show. Now. If I have a video screen, I actually put up a written warning and have an announcement before the show at some of the Yeah, so I’m getting better at letting people know what they’re getting into before they sit down.

Dave Piontkowski 30:11

Because I don’t know you read the name three kidneys, no colon, and I figure, you know, okay, it might be talking about some medical stuff. And there’s a flyer. Is a picture of me in a cartoon form, like, Operation style, where, like, I’m being operated on. So it’s like, I’m trying to set it up so people know, like, yeah, it’s gonna get gross. But when you’re in amber and you’re doing this was the so the this past year, I did the free fringe. I’m gonna be coming back. I don’t know if it’s going to be the free fringe again or not.

Dave Piontkowski 30:43

That’s I we’re really early in the process right now, but I’m gonna when you’re doing the free fringe, it’s me and I had another person out there flyering for the show. And they hand the flyer to anyone who just walks in front of the venue and like, Hey, you want to see a comedy show? And they see it, and they’re like, all right, you know, it’s low commitment. They come and check it out. So a lot of times you have these people come in and, you know, they they don’t know what to expect, and then they sit through the show and they just don’t want to be there and they want to leave.

Dave Piontkowski 31:15

And most people, when that happens, they just get up and they leave, and they don’t make a big deal about it. And for this initial run of the show picked like a very small venue. This is like his little 40 person room in the back of a bar, and the stage is like basically right by the door. So anyone who’s leaving has to kind of walk through me to leave, right? So creates this like a very awkward scenario to exit the to exit the venue.

Dave Piontkowski 31:46

And most people, you know, it’s tough for me to not say anything if they’re leaving, but this guy in particular on that clip was leaving, and took the flyer and, like, shoved it in my face, which I thought was very strange. I don’t like, I don’t know what he wanted me to do with that. You see it on the clip, like his wife tells him what I said, and then someone in the audience goes, lock the door, because there was a little lock, latch style lock on the door. I was like, yeah, no, it’s not a bad idea. If I turn around, I lock the door. And if you listen to the clip, you’ll hear him banging, trying to get back in, which is very funny.

Dave Piontkowski 32:47

It’s one of those weird things that happens when you’re doing the show, and it just happened to be the I didn’t film, I audio recorded all the sets, but that was like the one night where I happened to be videoing the show. So just wow, sometimes that works out nicely, where you get get kind of a crazy clip like that, yeah, and yeah, I would say that was the minority. You know, you’re gonna get walkouts if you have a free show, in general. But I would say majority people stayed and really enjoyed the show. And the next day, when I was doing the same bit, I mentioned, like, Oh yeah, you know, someone walk. I’m glad you guys all stayed, because we had to get some people walk out on this joke the last time. You know it is what it is.

Amber Tresca 33:31

Are you continuing to whatever they walked, whatever part they walked out on? Are you continuing to do that part of the show?

Dave Piontkowski 33:37

Not only I continue to do that part of the show, I did it on a show last night in New York City. So I am continuing to do, if it’s a funny bit, I’m not gonna abandon it because an elderly couple didn’t enjoy it. They’re not my audience. I do get, I do get reactions from people where they say, Oh, my grandson or my, you know, my teenage kid would really like your your material or your stand up, but it wasn’t for me, and they’re older, and that’s fine, like you’re not gonna please everyone.

Dave Piontkowski 34:12

I can’t imagine that when you’re at home and you watch comedian a or comedian B on Netflix or whatever the streaming Network is that you like every person you see some people, you like some people you’re like. This isn’t for me, so it’s not going to be for everybody, but I think it’s for enough people. And I think more people, a lot more people have liked it than disliked it. But yeah, you do get walk as that happens at the fridge.

Amber Tresca 34:38

Well, you dealt with it very well, and it made for a very entertaining clip. In the end,

Dave Piontkowski 34:45

It’s all entertainment.

Amber Tresca 34:48

Well, you know what? It whether it’s good engagement or bad engagement, still engagement, right?

Dave Piontkowski 34:53

So, yeah, I mean, look, they came to the show. They didn’t like it. I’ve had other people. Come up to me and tell me it’s their favorite part of the show, the part I don’t know you can’t please everyone. It still is life.

Amber Tresca 35:08

Yeah, well, the show, I’m gonna say, “3 Kidneys, No Colon,” is for us. Is for the people that are listening to this episode, and it is for people like us who live with these stupid diseases and with all the other things that we live with, you know you have that the extra spice of the kidney disease, and people obviously have all other types of extra intestinal manifestations and and problems. So Dave, like, what’s next for the show? Are you appearing? I know you’ll be back in amber. But then also, where can people follow you so that they can find all of the things that you’ve been putting out across social media and can connect with you there.

Dave Piontkowski 35:49

I’d recommend going to my Instagram. Dave P comedy and I have stability, where I post the most up to date information. You can also sign up for my mailing list on there. I’m in the process right now of booking a tour for the solo show, so I have some tentative dates, but once I get confirmation, I will be announcing those in the coming days and weeks. So stay tuned for those. So that’s Dave P is in comedy at on Instagram, Dave D comedy, and, yeah, follow me on there, and I’ll, I’ll keep you guys up to date, and I’m happy to talk about this publicly, and I want more people to see the show. And if you, you know you’re in a town that I don’t have listed, let me know. You know, maybe I’ll come to your town just I need to know that they want, they want some BP, so, you know, I got,

Amber Tresca 36:44

I can’t imagine that anybody doesn’t want some DP. Dave, thank you so much for coming on about IBD and for sharing your story and for all of the work that you’re doing. I love that you are just pulling this band aid off and talking about your experiences, not only for the people like me, like us, our community, our IBD community, and then also the kidney disease community, but for everyone out there that has never had to live with these things, for them to fully understand more what it is like, and you’re doing it in a way comedy is kind of sometimes, I think the way to get people to understand and to educate people and to keep them interested, I guess, except for maybe some elderly people in Scotland. So thank you so much.

Dave Piontkowski 37:39

Yeah, look, I mean, you know, they’ll be wearing diapers at some point in their life, and they’ll be…

Amber Tresca 37:45

100%.

Dave Piontkowski 37:45

Yeah. So, you know, eventually it hits us all at some point. So hopefully not. But, you know, I imagine, if they’re listeners of this podcast, understand it more than others, and especially when it hits you, when you’re in the prime years of your life, it, it can be very devastating, but come see the show, laugh about it, get your mind off of things. And yeah, I look forward to seeing all you guys there. I’m glad we had this time to talk Amber and thank you for having me on the IBD podcast.

Amber Tresca 38:18

Hey, super listener,

Amber Tresca 38:19

Thanks to Dave Piontkowski for connecting with me and taking me through his journey. It is so important for people in the IBD community to hear the stories of people like Dave who are pursuing their goals, drawing on the experiences of living with chronic illness and making art out of them is an excellent coping mechanism, plus Dave’s one man show three kidneys, no colon, is a way for people with IBD to see themselves reflected in popular culture, and a way for the healthiest to understand some of what we deal with.

Amber Tresca 38:50

Dave is taking his show on the road, so he will be in Tampa and Orlando, Florida in early December, just in time for Crohn’s and Colitis Awareness Week. You can learn more about “3 Kidneys, No Colon” and buy tickets by going to Dave’s Instagram page, which is at Dave P comedy. You can also see his work on his YouTube channel, which is d p comedy, as always, links to a written transcript everyone’s social media handles, and more information on the topics we discussed is in the show notes and on my episode, 163 page on about IBD.com thanks for listening, and remember until next time, I want you to know more about IBD.

Amber Tresca 39:33

About IBD is a production of Mal and Tal Enterprises.

It is written, produced, and directed by me, Amber Tresca.

Mix and sound design is by Mac Cooney.

Theme music is from Cooney Studio. 

Amber Tresca 39:49

Dave, what’s your favorite color?

Dave Piontkowski

Brown?

Amber Tresca

Really?

Dave Piontkowski 39:53

Between my eyes and the ulcerative colitis I see, I see it a lot more than any other color. Literally.

Amber Tresca 40:03

Love the one you’re with.

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