Therapist Zero: A Conversation with Brian Leonard

As part of this year's Minnesota Fringe Festival, Therapist Zero explores family, mental health, parenting, and the stories we inherit—with equal parts humor and heart.

I recently spoke with writer and performer Brian Leonard about how Therapist Zero evolved from funny stories about his childhood into something much deeper: a show about parenting, resilience, and the imperfect ways we love the people closest to us.

Q: Therapist Zero began with stories from your own childhood. At what point did you realize this was becoming a different kind of show?

Brian Leonard:
When I first started writing the show, it was really about my childhood. Like a lot of people, I grew up in a dysfunctional family and I found myself gravitating toward the more outrageous and funny stories. As my daughter likes to remind me, "I hate stories about your childhood. They never end well."

As I kept writing, I noticed the contrast between the way my parents raised us and the way my wife and I were trying to raise our daughter. We were dealing with severe mental health challenges, cycling through therapist after therapist, and trying to navigate a system that often seemed as confused as we were. Gradually, those stories started to take over.

The show stopped being a collection of funny childhood stories and became something larger: a story about what we inherit from our parents, what we try to do differently, and how imperfectly we all love the people closest to us.

I never wanted this to be confessional theatre or some flavor of drama therapy (Lord knows, I've had enough therapy). It's deeply personal, but the goal was always to tell a story that audiences could see themselves in. Whether they're parents, children, or simply part of a family, people recognize pieces of their own lives in the story. That's when I realized that it wasn't just our story anymore.

Q: You share some deeply personal moments in this show. Was there anything you almost didn't include because it felt too private? What made you decide to keep it in?

Brian Leonard:
When I first started to explore sharing stories about my daughter, I flat out asked her what she thought about that. She considered it for about twenty or thirty seconds and said, "Yeah, that's okay."

When I finished the first draft, I printed it out, handed her a copy with a red Sharpie and told her that I was going to perform it for her. If there was a word, a sentence, or a page that she didn't like or was uncomfortable with, she could draw a line through it. No explanations. No justifications. If she marked it, it was cut.

I performed it for her and at the end she was crying; it was very difficult to hear these moments played back to her. She handed me the script and told me I shouldn't change a word.

She's a very private person, so the fact that I'm able to tell any of this is kind of remarkable. As the script evolved, I continued to check in with her. Sometimes she'd ask me to remove a story or change a detail. Other times she'd suggest a better way to phrase something. Eventually she even started rewriting some of the jokes. I said, "Okay, that's fine, leave the jokes to Dad."

Q: The show reflects on your own childhood and how it shaped the parent you became. Was there a moment while writing or performing it when you realized something about yourself that you hadn't fully understood before?

Brian Leonard:
Yeah, there was a moment during family therapy that shifted the way I thought about my own childhood. I realized that the things I didn't receive as a kid—emotional support, attention, patience, and so on—had made me acutely aware of how much my daughter needed all of those things from me.

I told the therapist, "All the things I'm not, made me all the things I am."

Emily shot me a stink-eye and said, "Did you just quote Kanye? You wonder why we're in family therapy, when Kanye is your spiritual advisor?"

I had to remind her, "Yeezy. I think he wants to be called Yeezy. Or Ye."

That's our family in a nutshell. Even the deepest moments eventually end with somebody getting roasted.

Q: This show seems to ask, What do you do when nothing you've tried is working? Did creating Therapist Zero change how you think about failure, parenting, or even hope?

Brian Leonard:
I don't think the show changed how I parented as much as it helped me understand that parenting isn't about finding the perfect answer, it's about continuing to show up when there isn't one.

Hope is not a strategy. But believing your presence still matters is. Even when you don't know what to do next. That's a much more durable kind of hope.

Q: After audiences see Therapist Zero, what do you hope they're talking about on the drive home? What's the conversation you hope the show starts?

Brian Leonard:
I've heard from a lot of parents who've shared that they thought they were the only ones going through what they are. The circumstances may be different, but the frustration is the same. The sense of helplessness rings familiar.

If the show gives someone permission to have a conversation they've been avoiding, or to see a parent, child, or even themselves with a little more compassion, then I'll take that as a win.

The goal of the show is to entertain, and if people argue over whether we really needed twenty-eight therapists, that's okay too.

About Brian Leonard

Brian Leonard is a writer, performer, and storyteller whose career spans stand-up comedy, television, theater, and animation. A veteran of the stand-up circuit, he has appeared on numerous television comedy programs and has written for performers including Ellen DeGeneres, Jason Sudeikis, and Mindy Kaling. He has also served as a story consultant for Pixar Animation.

His work has earned recognition from the Chicago International Film Festival and the Webby Awards. Therapist Zero is his first solo stage show.