50 Ways to Completely Lose Your Mind

How to Completely Lose Your Mind is a graphic novel memoir of an indie band’s attempt to break a Guinness World Record of playing 50 gigs in each of the 50 U.S. states in 50 days (yes, this is a real record). Currently, the Guinness World Record for the fastest time to play a concert in each of the 50 U.S. states is 49 days, which was first set by Donavon Frankenreiter and Devon Allman in September 2023. They broke the previous record of 50 days, which was set by Adam Brodsky later in in 2003. 

 What we have here with this entertaining graphic novel is neither of those stories, but rather the Indie Band, Pocket Vinyl’s record-breaking music tour. Unfortunately, Pocket Vinyl’s tour didn’t quite make it into the Guinness Book of World Record, as they didn’t actually follow the qualifying rules which include the following:

Key rules and criteria

·         50 distinct concerts: A separate concert must be played in each of the 50 U.S. states

·         Fastest time: The goal is to complete all 50 concerts in the shortest possible timeframe

·         Measurable and verifiable: The record attempt must be measurable, and all performances must be verifiable by Guinness World Records

·         Open to challenge: The record must be breakable, meaning it is open to new attempts by others

·         No specific state order required: 

According to the graphic novel about their epic tour, while Eric Stevenson and Elizabeth Jancewicz—the husband and wife team that have been playing as Pocket Vinyl froe a decade—determine to make this cross-country road trip and then recount their hilariously humorous, and touchingly heartfelt account of their across the USA tour, while the couple attempt to (unofficially) break the world record for playing a musical gig in every state of the union.

It is their stated intention to create their own world record music tour by playing gigs in 50 States in 45 Days. Together, the couple perform as the band Pocket Vinyl, where Eric slams on the piano and sings while Elizabeth creates a large oil painting on stage. In these artists’ graphic novel, it is fun to watch as they take on their biggest challenge yet, touring the whole nation in just 45 days, while they attempt to break the record for the fastest time a band has played in all 50 U.S. states.

Needless to say, even after Eric and Elizabeth realize that actually complying with the Guinness rules would be impossibly costly and logistically beyond their means. Still, instead of simply giving up, they determine that they will make the trip anyway and begin their planning.

In doing so, what we as readers come away with is this delightful graphic novel is a wild road trip of performance highs, self-doubt lows, and determination. As co-author Elizabeth Janceqicz says, “I knew that embarking on such a monstrous adventure would provide me with stories to tell, but I hadn’t realized how much those stories would change me...In retrospect, we learned so much: about how our art helps people, how interconnected we all are, and how easily our minds can descend into mental illness without us even realizing it’s happening.”

The book starts out with a flash forward sequence of Eric and Elizabeth where Eric is beyond distraught as he realizes that he messed up and ruined everything (or so he believes). From this point, we return to the very beginning of the tale, when Eric proposes the trip to Elizabeth, and the planning begins, and Eric goes about book. Once the plan is set, they kick it off and head out onto the road.

Before they actually head out, they take us through several steps of their planning phase, including getting the gigs booked—occasionally booking back-to-back gigs just across state lines so that they can stack up multiple gigs in a single day so as to speed up their travels—planning out the route they plan on taking, determine what to clothing, food, and supplies to pack in their car. All the things that they will need for their trip.

As they are based in Connecticut, they plan their early gigs throughout New England. Then traveling through the Mid-Atlantic states, the South, Midwest, Southwest, up the West Coast, winding up In Alaska and then Hawaii. Along the way they run into old friends, new fans, and folks who have been following their journey online. As can be expected, here are ups and downs on their epic journey (including the supposed screw-up from the start of the story—revealing what it is, and what happens will ruin the story).

We personally discovered this book as a freebie giveaway on 2025’s FCBD. The book was apparently a misprint that was issues with a note affixed to the cover, and a Post-it on the inside cover, as well as a corrected blow-in page. We found the story refreshing, engaging, and thoroughly enjoyable, and we heartily suggest that all’y’all go out and secure a copy of your own.