Spoken word artist Artie Fox (Arthur) opens with an impromptu reflection on mental illness and the X-Men as a metaphor for shared human difference, then performs his piece ‘This Is Not’—a raw, layered poem navigating suicidal ideation, anxiety, grief, and a hard-won acceptance that ‘it’s okay not to be okay.’
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Transcript
[02:56:31] So I had like a whole plan that I was going to come up here and do.
[02:56:38] But I don’t know, sometimes I just change my mind like midway after just seeing other
[02:56:42] people and feeling other stuff.
[02:56:44] When the show first started, I saw a bunch of people come up here, right?
[02:56:48] And everybody kind of like shouted out the things that they go through.
[02:56:52] All of their mental illnesses.
[02:56:54] As a kid, I didn’t really understand that stuff.
[02:56:59] I was a kid, right?
[02:57:01] One of my good friends, I’ll never forget his name, was Joshua Wheeler, rest in peace.
[02:57:06] He told me as a kid that we were all mutants like the X-Men.
[02:57:11] And I didn’t understand what he meant.
[02:57:13] And he used to always say it.
[02:57:14] Even when we weren’t playing around, like Artie, you’re a Cyclops and I move around,
[02:57:18] people go, no I’m not.
[02:57:19] But I say all that to say, whatever you might be going through, however it might affect you,
[02:57:26] just remember we all are X-Men.
[02:57:28] We all got our own powers.
[02:57:30] And things that we might go through.
[02:57:31] And you know, the X-Men still saved the world with all the things that he had wrong with
[02:57:37] them.
[02:57:38] How come we all can’t just be a bunch of X-Men?
[02:57:40] Regardless of how mentally we think we messed up.
[02:57:43] What does right look like in a world full of wrong?
[02:57:54] I’m a nerd.
[02:57:55] I love cartoons of all kinds.
[02:57:56] I love anime.
[02:57:57] I love every anime.
[02:57:58] It doesn’t matter which one it is, I still love it.
[02:58:00] I love cartoons.
[02:58:01] When I was a kid, my favorite cartoon was Arthur.
[02:58:03] My name was Arthur.
[02:58:04] That’s probably why I like it.
[02:58:05] I’m not sure.
[02:58:06] But this one was called This Is Not.
[02:58:07] Every day when you’re walking down the street, everybody that you meet has an original
[02:58:08] point of view.
[02:58:09] And I say, hey, what a wonderful, wait, is that the show?
[02:58:10] Where’s D.W.?
[02:58:11] Where’s D.W.?
[02:58:12] Where’s D.W.?
[02:58:13] D.W.
[02:58:14] D.W.
[02:58:15] D.W.
[02:58:16] D.W.
[02:58:17] D.W.
[02:58:18] D.W.
[02:58:19] D.W.
[02:58:20] D.W.
[02:58:21] D.W.
[02:58:22] D.W.
[02:58:23] D.W.
[02:58:24] D.W.
[02:58:25] D.W.
[02:58:26] D.W.
[02:58:27] D.W.
[02:58:28] D.W.
[02:58:29] D.W.
[02:58:30] D.W.
[02:58:31] D.W.
[02:58:32] D.W.
[02:58:33] D.W.
[02:58:34] D.W.
[02:58:35] D.W.
[02:58:36] D.W.
[02:58:37] D.W.
[02:58:38] D.W.
[02:58:39] D.W.
[02:58:40] D.W.
[02:58:41] D.W.
[02:58:42] D.W.
[02:58:43] D.W.
[02:58:44] D.W.
[02:58:45] D.W.
[02:58:46] D.W.
[02:58:47] D.W.
[02:58:48] D.W.
[02:58:49] D.W.
[02:58:50] D.W.
[02:58:51] D.W.
[02:58:52] D.W.
[02:58:53] D.W.
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[02:58:55] D.W.
[02:58:56] D.W.
[02:58:57] D.W.
[02:58:58] D.W.
[02:58:59] and thoughts sent him away from sections that seemed so, so suicidal.
[02:59:05] I mean, strong arms and moist palms were like those ghosts
[02:59:08] from the Mario Brothers.
[02:59:09] And when you look away, they pass right by.
[02:59:13] Y’all ever heard a Russian roulette?
[02:59:15] Well, me and my shadows, we actually played it.
[02:59:19] Only, we up the ante and rolled the dice and always say, man,
[02:59:23] for our lives, we can bet.
[02:59:25] Don’t think it’s much cheaper.
[02:59:28] Does he have a halo?
[02:59:29] Anyway, my aura is never feeling like a winner.
[02:59:32] My pride most of the time gets gobbled up.
[02:59:35] My dreams end.
[02:59:36] Look at that black boy.
[02:59:37] He don’t got no whole piece.
[02:59:39] Now, my asthma got me choked up.
[02:59:41] No, I really can’t breathe.
[02:59:42] I’m forgetting this piece because my grandmother is the only person
[02:59:45] I actually want to see.
[02:59:47] No, no, no, no.
[02:59:48] This is not that kind of piece.
[02:59:49] No way. It is actually a, my name is Arthur, and I’m not okay.
[02:59:56] And after a thousand points,
[02:59:58] and a thousand conversations with myself, I realize, it’s okay.
[03:00:04] .
[03:00:13] Artie, Artie, tell them where they can find you.
[03:00:16] Tell them where they can find you.
[03:00:17] It’s Artie Fox on everything, Spotify, YouTube, everything.
[03:00:21] It’s Artie Fox, two X’s at the end of Fox.
[03:00:23] Thank you.
[03:00:25] Hey.
[03:00:26] . Give it up for Artie Fox.
[03:00:27] Give it up for Artie Fox and Brown Paper Doll, y’all.
[03:00:30] Give it up for them.
[03:00:33] Make sure you check them out.
[03:00:34] They also host open mics, so you definitely check them out