Massholes, Music, and Mayhem with Johnny Dismal

This episode of Ducking Realitea is a chaotic, tender wander through the life of Johnny Dismal: bartender-turned–festival boss, punk rocker, and darkly hilarious visual artist. Johnny and Siobhan trace his journey from a childhood bouncing between Air Force bases in Europe to becoming a self-described “Masshole” obsessed with hardcore shows along the New England coast.

Johnny unpacks how music and art showed up early—parents spinning John Denver and Peter, Paul and Mary, while he snuck horror flicks and formed teenage bands with friends who barely knew how to hold their instruments. A brutal early critique (“you have absolutely no talent”) became a lifelong vow to never shit on anyone’s creative dreams, a value that quietly shapes everything he does.

They go deep into festival bartending and people management: herding 600 bartenders, de-escalating drunk chaos, and why you should never punch a guest over twenty-five cents in tip money.

Johnny and Siobhan riff on grief, humor, classism vs. racism in Boston, walking as therapy, and why bars still matter as community hubs—even if you don’t drink.

It’s a conversation about art, work, chosen family, and humanity from two folks who’ve spent decades doing that shit from behind the bar.