Vanessa Hollingshead

Vanessa is the quintessential, native New Yorker. She only just got her driver’s license a couple of years ago. As a child, she spent a year at Millbrook Mansion with her father, Michael Hollingshead, who introduced Timothy Leary, and later, Paul McCartney, of the “Beatles,” to LSD. At five years old she took LSD by accident. Hey, it was on a sugar cube, and they were out of Snickers. Mom found out and became outraged. She whisked Vanessa back to New York City, encouraged her to try “amphetamines” to help her clean the apartment and to stay away from sugar. “Bad for your teeth!” But motherhood did not agree with Sophie (Vanessa’s mother), as it interfered with her finding good weed in bad neighborhoods. Now, throw in two years on a commune by herself, two years in London with her dad, and a decade of temp work, and Vanessa’s angst was complete. Coincidentally, a comedian was born.