VOTW 020 | Can Sharing Your Story Start a Business and Stop a Murder? P1 with Dominic Syracuse

Welcome to Episode 20 of Voices on the Wind with host Toby Lyles, sponsored by artist Denise Patton from Art at the Hynds.

Connect with Denise on FB @ https://tinyurl.com/Artatthehynds

Toby is joined today by Dominic Syracuse an actor, stand up comedian, cognitive behavioral specialist and owner of Cognitive Behavioral Theater. They discuss accidental starts and how fun is a big first step toward healing.

“I was able to grow up in this atmosphere of just pure creativity and ideas. Imagination...comes from the word image, and it means we have foresight. We have the ability to see things that aren't there. And if we can see them and then write it down and then make it happen, we have that ability. And when I teach people, I always say, you know, you are the genie. You are the magician.”

“I can get on stage and do my thing and tell my stories and there's no one who can tell me I'm to this. I'm to that. Exactly. And, interesting, all the stuff that the casting directors would say about you, you know, you're too short or you're too square or you too. This is the perfect material for stand up, you know? So, so now I get up on stage and I just start rifling off all these short jokes or all these, you know, Italian jokes or whatever. And I'm just ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba.

Although I didn't know at the time that I was also learning a brand new craft, you know, starting from scratch, learning this brand new craft.”

“Stella Adler had this philosophy that growth as an actor and growth as a human being are synonymous. What that means is the more life experience you have, the more you can draw on as an actor. Right? So, she started this program called the Outreach Program, which taught acting in maximum security prisons, in homeless shelters, and in rehabilitation centers. Right? And it was this way of sharing the therapeutic experience of acting...So they do two days in the men's maximum security, then three days in the women's facility. And we'd go do these acting workshops. And we'd put on shows in front of the cell block. So they'd turn their life story into five minute shows in front of the cell block. And we got to, and I loved it so much. I loved it so much. What I would do, not kidding, is I would literally sell my blood to justify the amount of time that I had to take off work. I still have my mark from selling blood to like go do this. And so I've always been drawn towards it. And wanting to help with any kind of injustice or any kind of anything.”

“I'm like, that is the power of sharing your story. Right? In acting, you know, what we don't want is we don't want what's called two dimensional characters. That's melodrama, right? That's the good guy, the bad guy. He's the bad guy because he's bad. You know, she's the helpless maiden who just can't wait to be saved. That's what dehumanizes people. Because when you hear their story, it humanizes them.”

Episode 020

Release Date: August 26, 2025

Host: Toby Lyles

Guest: Dominic Syracuse (Part 1)

Get in touch with Dominic

https://www.cognitivebehavioraltheater.com

https://www.dominicsyracuse.com

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dominicsyracuse

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@DominicSyracuse