Julian Shapiro-Barnum

🚴‍♂️ Taking phone calls while biking, 🎶 Our House (demo), 🦧 Low quality monkey pictures, and more.

Perfectly Imperfect is a newsletter offering “A Taste of Someone’s Taste” from guests like Ayo Edebiri, Charli XCX, Michael Imperioli, Rayne Fisher-Quann, Matty Matheson, Molly Ringwald, Mac Demarco, Lena Dunham, Dasha Nekrasova, Julian Casablancas, and Jeremy O. Harris. Full archive here.

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Cool people like cool things, which is why we asked Julian Shapiro-Barnum to share a taste of his taste on Perfectly Imperfect.

Julian Shapiro-Barnum is a Brooklyn-based comedian, writer, and actor, most known for the ever-so-popular and adorable kids interview show Recess Therapy. Aside from eliciting some of the best advice from the young minds of NYC and collaborating with Olivia Rodrigo, Charli XCX, and Dua Lipa, Julian tells us you can catch him “around the neighborhood doing improv and being silly.” He also has a book coming out at an unspecified future date and a brand new series called Celebrity Substitute (watch this space.) Lucky for us, Julian’s here to tell us what he’s been into.

Without further ado

Julian Shapiro-Barnum (instagram, twitter, recess therapy)

🚴‍♂️ Taking phone calls while biking

I bike everywhere and nothing makes me feel more like a Gen Z mover and shaker than taking work calls and catching up with friends while I zip across the Manhattan bridge or glide through the backstreets of Bushwick. Yes, it’s impossible to hear me because of the wind and no, nobody likes talking to me while I’m biking BUT the way it makes me feel is electric. I am out here closing deals and catching up with grandma while pushing 7 mph with my jeans tucked into my bombas socks to avoid getting grease stains on my pants.

🎶 Our House demo

The Graham Nash Our House demo is one of the most beautiful and intimate song demos I’ve ever heard. Joni Mitchell softly laughing in the background as Graham sings a perfect love song about their desperately imperfect relationship. It makes me want to fall asleep smiling. But in general I recommend checking out demos of songs you know. They are so fun and usually have different lyrics. 

👖 Lewayne and Job the thrift gods

If you’re looking for a stylish vintage t-shirt, perfectly fitting 70s Levi jeans, or a weird ass velvet jacket you HAVE to check out Job and Lewayne’s personal thrift collections. Every Saturday and Sunday these two dudes set up outside the entrance of McCarren Park in Williamsburg (in front of the Forma Pasta Shop) and sell really beautiful clothes. There are a ton of vendors but ask for Job or Lewayne because they are so cool and chill and will take care of you. (Their IGs are @hinoonvintage and @servesoft.ent)

🦧 Low quality monkey pictures

There’s something about an 8 pixel image of a tamarind monkey that makes my heart sing the most beautiful melody known the man(imal). I have an entire folder of these pics on my phone, hundreds of grainy monkeys and apes, and I look at them whenever I’m feeling down. They are my coffee, my muse, my goodnight kiss, and my sacred text. Also monkeys are like… funny lol

🥪 R and D Foods

Every sandwich is SO GOOD! Everyone is SO NICE! I go there when I need to eat something yummy. They also have a cute backyard. It’s not the cheapest spot so go there when you need a pampering.

🧔🏻‍♂️ Acting really masculine at the bodega

I’m a bit of a girly pop but whenever I go into a bodega I tap into a divine Italian masculinity that delights and frightens me. I say things like “hey boss” and “lemme get that with pepperjack”. I don’t even know what pepperjack is but it sounds dangerous. Like asking for a sandwich with a switchblade in it. 

🪪 Never carrying a wallet

I’m so over wallets. They weigh you down and are honestly embarrassing. Why do you need all of that? I keep my ID in the back of my phone case (risking identity theft like a chiller) and I pay for everything with my phone (because I live in the future). I feel so free and dexterous without it, like I could run a marathon or slide between the bars of a metal gate. And if some place I go to is cash only… well I get to have a cute little meltdown and then sheepishly ask my friends if they can pay for me and I venmo them later.

🗣️ Starting conversations with strangers

I love meeting new people with my entire being. I talk to everyone and have so many wonderful connections because of it. It’s an art, one must know how to enter a conversation and when to exit it. Never overstaying your welcome or coming on too strong. I think everyone in NY should be friends and I wish every weekend the entirety of prospect park was a picnic that anyone could join.