07.21.08
Batman
Ever since my nosejob I look just like Julia Roberts. Brother Eric.
07.20.08
Travel Lightly
I don’t run marathons anymore–I live them. After working 11 hours at my day job, 4 hours sleep, and a quick run to wake up again, I was on the road. This time to MeadowLands Racetrack to be an extra in Shannon’s Rainbow.
Little preparation time, and even littler energy meant that it was a mad dash to throw everything into the car at the last minute. I like to br prepared. So I bring everything–hairspray, 17 changes of clothes, extra food and reading material in case the car breaks down. But then I forget things like my license. Or gas.
And it was a mad rush because I wanted to make sure everything was perfect–the right colors for the scene, the right pants length, the right or else comfortable shoes. I was forgetting about how many time I have told other people that they shouldn’t be perfect. They should look for the humor in things: I was forgetting that I would be among extras–people who willingly put in 13+ hour days for the chance to appear as a blur in the background of a big-name actor. They knowingly sit in horse stables in the hot sun and eat chips that are thrown to them by stagehands.
These people weren’t looking for perfection in anyone, so why should I? But I packed some more outfits just in case I was wrong about that.
Then there is the usual list of travel prep: who will care for the pets, will someone give my cat his blood pressure medicine, will the house burn down? Then I remembered to look further into it, and find the humor: maybe my cat will be better off with a few days away from me; maybe he wouldn’t even need his blood pressure medicine.
07.19.08
Nothing personal
One of Ruiz’s Four Agreements involves not taking things seriously. I would add that people’s seemingly malicious comments might just be their attempt (however lame) at humor. Maybe they are a sarcastic, clever type. To you their words sound attacking. But to them, it was meant as a clever, intelligent remark.
When we can finally separate ourselves from the imagined intentions we have of others’ behavior and words, we can live at peace–with them and with ourselves. Maybe we can even laugh it off.
07.18.08
Redneck Grillin’
Thanks to Andy Smith and World’s Strongest Redneck Steve McGranahan for a great show with me tonight. Thanks to the great audience–biggest collection of people on dial-up in my whole career so far… And to Jay Giglio who believes in the magic of comedy–and who saved the Grille’s pans from Steve bending them all up. Great food and great fun in Foxburg tonight!
07.17.08
Agreements
Don Miguel Ruiz, in his book, “The Four Agreements” talks about our bad habits, and how to break free of them. It’s like the habit of not seeing the humor and funny things around us every day. When we are stressed, tired, angry, busy–we miss a lot of fun, fun that can help to relieve these stressors in our lives. But we need to have a lot of power to change these bad habits. We need a lot of power to create the habit of humor–of seeing the lightness and irony that exists every day.
Ruiz says, “We are addicted to being the way we are.” And our addiction results from repeating bad habits over and over again. In order to heal and to change, we need to repeat better, more positive habits. So start today and look for the humor in your life. Write down things that are ironic, silly, surprising. Then do it again tomorrow. And the next day. Make it a point to find something to laugh about every day. Make your agreement to “Get Your SHINE Together!”
07.16.08
Are we having fun yet?
Humor shocks us into paying attention. This is one tool in Accelerated Learning. When we’re having fun, learning occurs faster. We remember the things we’ve learned. We are using both sides of our brain, holistically.
How do we cause this shock? The surprise, contrasts, and the unusual are what comedy is all about. When we can present our ideas in an appropriate way using humor, we will be effective.
The brain remembers outstandingness. Think of where you were on 9-11. Or the day you graduated. Or your wedding day, the birth of your children. Comedy is outstandingness. It is something seen from a different perspective. Something we’re not used to. We remember that.
Accelerated learning–including using humor–helps learners retain 95% of the material.
07.15.08
New Kid on the Block
Look for his debut this Friday at our show (www.visitfoxburg.com), and check him out at YouTube: “Andrew Smith stand up comedy”. See you then!
07.14.08
Redneck
Join us this Friday, July 18th at the Allegheny Grill for a night of comedy on the patio! I will host the show that stars Andrew Smith, an up-and-coming comic who won Mr. Clarion University. And headliner Steve McGranahan, World’s Strongest Redneck. He’s a regular on Country Fried Videos on CMT, and he’s been on Leno bending stuff. Come early for a wonderful buffet dinner.
http://www.visitfoxburg.com/comedy_flyer.pdf
07.13.08
Have A Hostile Christmas
Humor and laughter cross all borders, languages, cultures, dialects, etc. This week we travel to Israel for our Comedy Around the World segment. Picture it, Christmas Eve, Bethlehem. I was with some friends I had met from the U.K., waiting in line to see the Church of the Nativity. Unfortunately for us, we didn’t have tickets for the event, so we were turned away. No room at that Inn.
We headed back to Jerusalem where we stayed at a youth hostel. The owner of the hostel hated young people, and didn’t try to hide it. He was the hostel father–or in his case, the hostile father. One German friend commented on this wordplay. And on how he was not very welcome in Israel these days. The Germans had some issues in their past, he said.
Next morning, we went to a Christmas Day service at a church near the hostel, right in the Jurusalem walls. They played all the Christmas-Day greatest hits, Silent Night, Joy To The World, and others. The strangest sounds emerged, as everyone sang these well-known hymns in their own languages!
I stopped singing for a moment and heard behind me what must have been a Dutch accent. Across the pew was someone singing in Spanish, and another voice belted out the tune in Chinese. It was a wonderful amalgam of everyone’s own translation of joy.
Our sense of humor is like that–we each have a different ‘language’: Some people find physical comedy funny; others require a more cerebral approach. Some people are sarcastic, and others can joke about themselves. Through all these languages, one common outcome emerges–laughter. In our own way, it is our common song.
07.12.08
This is What I’m Talking About
People sometimes ask me what the SHINE System is all about.
It’s organic. It’s light. It might even be fat-free. Think about a stand-up comic, one who relates, connects, and acknowledges the audience during an entire show. These kind of comics are in control. They make the audience feel important (even if they are ‘attacking’ the audience; the people at least feel they are ’seen’ and acknowledged).
We can take that format of communication into our daily work and home lives. Then we can create those connections that make people feel valued. When they feel valued, they value our message, and they will listen to us. It’s a reciprocal, cyclical, spontaneous give-and-take. It’s a win-win situation, every time.
There are comics who are successful who do not perform in this way. Think of the ones you’ve seen on Last Comic Standing, or on most Comedy Central hour-long specials. Those comics usually deliver a monologue format. Theirs is almost like a speech. A funny speech, yes, but the audience and its reactions are incidental.
One exception I saw recently is Dane Cook in one of his cable specials (not $45.99 for 3 months; it wasn’t that kind of cable special). Dane Cook reacted to and acknowledged every audience remark, even though there may have been hundreds in that audience. He was aware, in the moment, alive, and ON. And of course I kept listening.
“Get YOUR ‘SHINE’ Together!”
P.S. In the photo, comedian Chris Ciardi, a master at the SHINE System, shows us how to ”Get Your SHINE Together!”
