He almost left comedy altogether. Now, Liam McGurk is sharing a more personal side onstage
— he only did it because he likes his space on the train.
This is the part that's different. McGurk has always been funny. Now, he's digging deeper and talking about the parts of his life that make him nervous. 'Over this year and last year, there's been like, a huge change in me, as corny as that sounds,' he said, speaking backstage after the show. 'People say like, 'I've been working on myself.' I used to say that, and it didn't really mean anything. But I have hours and hours every week of like, different sorts of therapy and recovery stuff.'
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McGurk has had to take breaks in his comedy career before to deal with addiction and mental illness. In 2023, McGurk posted on social media that he was back pursuing comedy. He felt better, so he thought he was better. But the turmoil returned. He would swing from hopeful to hopeless. He couldn't control his thoughts or emotions. It got to the point where he didn't think he'd be able to live a normal life. 'I was pretty much debilitated for all of 2023,' he said. 'Late 2023, I was able to get into a program that actually started to change me and turn my life around.'
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Over the past couple of years, he has undergone intense therapy in the Borderline Personality Disorder Outpatient Program at McLean Hospital, 15 hours a week with different psychologists and psychiatrists trained to help people with his condition. McGurk was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder in 2022.
The program gave him better control over his emotions and a way to navigate his daily life. When he got back to
performing comedy again in 2024, he did so without any big pronouncements. 'I just quietly started going to mics and shows again,' he said. 'Quietly started to reconnect with people.'
Comedian Liam McGurk, right, kills time with fellow comedian Laith Al-Sasah before his set at Goofs Comedy Club.
Ken McGagh for The Boston Globe
The new treatment helped him as a person, and as a comedian. 'It's actually changed me internally,' he said. 'It made me like, a much happier and grateful person. And so I feel a lot looser onstage, because I'm just very happy to be up there and perform. And when I see people laugh, I get very excited, and then I want to tell my next joke.'
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Andrew Giampapa has known McGurk since they were both 19 and starting their careers as students at UMass Amherst, and he has seen the work McGurk has put in. 'You watch somebody who's just goofy like that really deal with some of the most painful and serious situations that a human being can experience,' he said, 'and not only get past them and get through them, but thrive. He's just become a much stronger version of himself.'
McGurk's comedy hot streak almost ended before it got a chance to take hold. He was preparing to demote stand-up to hobby status in May and pursue nursing classes, and almost dropped out of a scheduled appearance in the
A friend convinced him to do it anyway. Then he was eliminated in the first round, but found himself back in it when a comedian ahead of him dropped out. He made it to the finals and had a killer set at the Somerville Theatre for the finale and wound up winning the competition. He was shocked. 'If you look at the video of me winning, I almost passed out,' he said.
It was a test of McGurk's ability to persevere through uncertainty. 'I can at least be true to myself by giving the best performance that I can,' he said. 'That's the only thing I can control. I could control my delivery, and I can control my timing, and I can control how confident I'm coming across.'
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McGurk takes the stage.
Ken McGagh for The Boston Globe
Since winning the Boston Comedy Festival competition, McGurk has been getting more headlining spots around town. He's out several times a week doing showcase shows. He landed a college booking agent and will start the audition process to get on that circuit soon. The Festival win
gave him the confidence he needed to take one more step forward. 'I thought I could never be a full-time comedian, and [I realized] that's actually not true at all,' he said. 'I'm much, much closer than I thought.'
McGurk knows he's not a finished product. But he realizes he doesn't have to be. Right now, the dream is working out, and he's writing and gigging to make sure he takes full advantage of every opportunity. And that's enough.
'If I'm really looking at, should I be a comedian, or should I be a nurse?' he said, 'I don't have to make any final decisions. I could go back and be a nurse if I want to be a nurse. But I'm looking right now like, I just got this agent, I just won this contest, and winning made me realize how hard I was on myself.'
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Boston Globe
5 days ago
- Boston Globe
He almost left comedy altogether. Now, Liam McGurk is sharing a more personal side onstage
The laughter is a bit nervous, but it grows as McGurk talks about how maybe he shouldn't have scheduled a date three days after he was released. How his potential mate found the grippy socks he kept lying around his apartment. And he defends the decision to keep the gown from the hospital — he only did it because he likes his space on the train. This is the part that's different. McGurk has always been funny. Now, he's digging deeper and talking about the parts of his life that make him nervous. 'Over this year and last year, there's been like, a huge change in me, as corny as that sounds,' he said, speaking backstage after the show. 'People say like, 'I've been working on myself.' I used to say that, and it didn't really mean anything. But I have hours and hours every week of like, different sorts of therapy and recovery stuff.' Advertisement McGurk has had to take breaks in his comedy career before to deal with addiction and mental illness. In 2023, McGurk posted on social media that he was back pursuing comedy. He felt better, so he thought he was better. But the turmoil returned. He would swing from hopeful to hopeless. He couldn't control his thoughts or emotions. It got to the point where he didn't think he'd be able to live a normal life. 'I was pretty much debilitated for all of 2023,' he said. 'Late 2023, I was able to get into a program that actually started to change me and turn my life around.' Advertisement Over the past couple of years, he has undergone intense therapy in the Borderline Personality Disorder Outpatient Program at McLean Hospital, 15 hours a week with different psychologists and psychiatrists trained to help people with his condition. McGurk was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder in 2022. The program gave him better control over his emotions and a way to navigate his daily life. When he got back to performing comedy again in 2024, he did so without any big pronouncements. 'I just quietly started going to mics and shows again,' he said. 'Quietly started to reconnect with people.' Comedian Liam McGurk, right, kills time with fellow comedian Laith Al-Sasah before his set at Goofs Comedy Club. Ken McGagh for The Boston Globe The new treatment helped him as a person, and as a comedian. 'It's actually changed me internally,' he said. 'It made me like, a much happier and grateful person. And so I feel a lot looser onstage, because I'm just very happy to be up there and perform. And when I see people laugh, I get very excited, and then I want to tell my next joke.' Advertisement Andrew Giampapa has known McGurk since they were both 19 and starting their careers as students at UMass Amherst, and he has seen the work McGurk has put in. 'You watch somebody who's just goofy like that really deal with some of the most painful and serious situations that a human being can experience,' he said, 'and not only get past them and get through them, but thrive. He's just become a much stronger version of himself.' McGurk's comedy hot streak almost ended before it got a chance to take hold. He was preparing to demote stand-up to hobby status in May and pursue nursing classes, and almost dropped out of a scheduled appearance in the A friend convinced him to do it anyway. Then he was eliminated in the first round, but found himself back in it when a comedian ahead of him dropped out. He made it to the finals and had a killer set at the Somerville Theatre for the finale and wound up winning the competition. He was shocked. 'If you look at the video of me winning, I almost passed out,' he said. It was a test of McGurk's ability to persevere through uncertainty. 'I can at least be true to myself by giving the best performance that I can,' he said. 'That's the only thing I can control. I could control my delivery, and I can control my timing, and I can control how confident I'm coming across.' Advertisement McGurk takes the stage. Ken McGagh for The Boston Globe Since winning the Boston Comedy Festival competition, McGurk has been getting more headlining spots around town. He's out several times a week doing showcase shows. He landed a college booking agent and will start the audition process to get on that circuit soon. The Festival win gave him the confidence he needed to take one more step forward. 'I thought I could never be a full-time comedian, and [I realized] that's actually not true at all,' he said. 'I'm much, much closer than I thought.' McGurk knows he's not a finished product. But he realizes he doesn't have to be. Right now, the dream is working out, and he's writing and gigging to make sure he takes full advantage of every opportunity. And that's enough. 'If I'm really looking at, should I be a comedian, or should I be a nurse?' he said, 'I don't have to make any final decisions. I could go back and be a nurse if I want to be a nurse. But I'm looking right now like, I just got this agent, I just won this contest, and winning made me realize how hard I was on myself.'
Boston Globe
04-08-2025
- Boston Globe
Inspired by a writer's long-gone home, an artist made gardens in its remains
'On day two of the residency I'm calling the director, saying, 'I have an idea. What if we put the house back as a garden?'' Glovinski said. 'To make this a place again a sanctuary for artists, for creatives, for the residents.' Advertisement Never before much of a green thumb, the artist made an art project of Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up A giant flower mural, Almanac, by Carly Glovinski, is on view at Mass MoCA. Artist: Carly Glovinski ; Photographer: Julia Featheringill In July, Glovinski installed ' 'Opelske' is Glovinski's first piece blending art with live greenery. 'The two are so intertwined to me at this point,' she said. 'The artist and the gardener.' Advertisement A piece made of glass tile and live greenery, Opelske, by Carly Glovinski is at Seaport West in Boston. Artist: Carly Glovinski ; Photographer: Julia Featheringill Where to find her: Age : 44 Originally from : Berwick, Maine Lives in : South Berwick, Maine. Making a living : She works full-time as a tech marketer. Studio : Glovinski has a studio in a South Berwick mill building, maintained 'in a chaotic mess that only I understand,' she said. Carly Glovinski tends to her garden, a living art exhibit she has created where the Wild Knoll house, formerly owned by writer May Sarton, used to stand in York, Maine. Heather Diehl/For The Boston Globe How she started : 'I didn't come from a family of artists. My dad was a union telephone company guy, and my mom was a social worker,' Glovinski said. 'But they built their world. They built their house. I come from that background of resourcefulness and making and craft.' What she makes : For Wild Knoll, 'I didn't want to use any chemicals. I didn't want a fence,' she said. 'I had to find plants that were drought resistant, deer resistant. bulletproof.' Among the dozens of blooms: Butterfly weed,Heliopsis, and a Mango Tango Hyssop frothier than cotton candy. And always, there's the artist's eye. Sarton's floor plan now boasts a different color theme in each room. 'It's such a painterly process,' Glovinski said. 'All these different ways of making marks. All of these different ways of putting down color. All the textures.' Carly Glovinski's Wild Knoll living art exhibit stands where the Wild Knoll house, formerly owned by writer May Sarton, once stood. Each former room of the house is now a different garden bed filled with different colored flowers. Heather Diehl/For The Boston Globe What May Sarton would think: 'On any given day she could probably find some fault with the flowers themselves,' the artist said. 'But overall, the idea of making a house of flowers, I think she would love.' Advice for artists : 'Just keep falling forward. There's a point where if you keep doing, you can trust the doing. If you keep making, you can trust the making. It will start to lead you.' Wild Knoll is open by appointment. For more information, email Advertisement The Wild Knoll living art exhibit stands where the Wild Knoll house, formerly owned by writer May Sarton, once was. Artist Carly Glovinski planted purple flowers in an area that used to be a three-season porch. Heather Diehl/For The Boston Globe
Boston Globe
27-07-2025
- Boston Globe
Saturday brings twists of country to the Newport Folk Festival
Advertisement There was much more in between, of course, both of folk and allied roots forms. on 'Exile.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Bonny Light Horseman performs at the Fort Stage on Saturday at the Newport Folk Festival. Heather Diehl/For The Boston Globe Their performance Saturday concentrated on songs from their latest record, 'Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free,' along with a couple of older favorites. All of it served to display the band's singular sensibility as well as the marvelous twining harmonies produced by Johnson and the third Horseman, Anaïs Mitchell. Advertisement With his recent debut solo release, 'American Romance,' Lukas Nelson is touring under his own name, and so he came back to Newport in a new guise, without his long-running band Promise of the Real. That new guise leaned country, from the short back-and-sides and the cowboy hat Nelson sported, to the songs he played, and it brought a lot of looking back. He started with the first song he ever wrote, at age 11, the fiddle and steel-filled 'You Were It.' He prefaced 'Just Outside Of Austin' by saying 'let's go home,' and he sounded like he was channeling dad Willie Nelson's voice and guitar as he sang and played it. Later, he tacked a run-though of Willie's classic 'Bloody Mary Morning' onto his own 'Ladder of Love.' He ended with the title song from his new album, a song inspired by the life he lived coming of age on the road with his father. Katie Crutchfield, in the guise of her Waxahatchee project, has also been doing something new of late, exploring country-folk territory with her elliptical lyrics and her remarkable, off-kilter vocal style on her latest LP, 'Tigers Blood.' The bulk of what she played Saturday came from that record, along with one ('Problem With It') from Given that several of the songs on the new record are also evocative of Bob Dylan, it seemed apropos to be hearing them at Newport in the wake of last year's Dylan biopic, Advertisement Waxahatchee performs at the Fort stage in Fort Adams State Park on the second day of the Newport Folk Festival. Heather Diehl/For The Boston Globe What was new about He sang seated for most of the set; his band was more acoustic, and more dialed back (until he brought it home by going electric) and he featured songs from the understated acoustic 'Fathers & Sons' project that he released last year (one of them, 'Whoever You Turn Out to Be,' written about and for his sons, caused the heart-on-his-sleeve Combs to choke up mid-song). Fans enjoy Waxahatchee's performance during the second day of the Newport Folk Festival. Heather Diehl/For The Boston Globe He added a couple of covers, too: Darrell Scott's deep-holler lament 'You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive,' and, yes, 'The Times They Are A-Changin'' (his version following Keb' Mo's, Combs noted). If at the end of the day, much of what we heard still sounded a lot like the mainstream country world from which it came, Combs attempted to fit what he did to where he was, and he largely succeeded. NEWPORT FOLK FESTIVAL At Fort Adams State Park, Newport, R.I., Saturday Stuart Munro can be reached at
