I work with organizations that want to LAUGH through difficult cHAnge.
I am figuring out how to get this widget badge to show up permanently on the side of this blog. If anyone knows where to paste the Fan Page link, please let me know.
In the meantime, you could join my fan page to learn about upcoming shows!
Thanks for your support and, “Get Your SHINE Together!”
Here’s an article from the AP about my friend Jason Say’s new hunting program. His co-host is featured in the article. I’m not sure how funny their show is. But Jason created the show out of his passion for hunting. He is open to new ideas for shows and hunting areas. He is creating an exciting atmosphere around his project. And–people are having fun!
You can follow the show on WiredOutdoors.com and on Facebook!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33353582
This week’s Comedy Around the World goes into the woods. Despite the fact that Fall signals the back-to-school season, it can be a pleasant season. So can winter. Both remind me of humor. Here’s why:
~Humor, like bright leaves or snow, lightens our view. Even if it’s dusk, it is still bright outside. And if the moon is out, too, it’s even better!
~Humor yanks us out of our daily routine. I’m sure that people who live in the southern part of the U.S. or in tropial islands would be amazed by colored leaves and snow. We may take these things for granted by the middle of each respective season. But no doubt we are snapped out of our stupor at the first snowfall or the moment we really notice the leaves in Fall.
~Humor, like every leaf or snowflake, is unique among all the others. Just like your sense of humor, and the reasons you use your sense of humor. Some people use humor as a coping mechanism. They enjoy diving into the negativity until they blow everything out of proportion and make themselves laugh. Others prefer physical comedy to distract them from thinking about their problems.
Next time YOU notice the colored leaves, remember to
Take note, Lighten up, and Appreciate your style of humor.
…a little less now, thanks to Certified Speaking Professional, Michael Scott Karpovich. His workshop today at Pittsburgh NSA gave me a lot of ideas and new strategies to use. I’ll be working some new material into my keynote with the tools I got at today’s NSA meeting. Look for me in a city near you! To learn more about Michael you can go to http://www.karpovich.com/speakerr.htm
Humor is all about venturing into unknown territory. Trying something new. Creating something. Junior Achievement does this too, by encouraging youth to develop their entrepreneurial skills.
Junior Achievement of Western PA will be featured as the Charity of the Day on GoodSearch.com and GoodShop.com on Sunday, October 18, 2009!
Remember to use GoodSearch.com, the Yahoo-powered search engine, for all of your web searches and JA will receive a donation every time you do a search! (don’t forget to designate JA as the cause you want to support)
And, please do all of your online shopping through GoodShop.com where a percentage of each order will be donated to JA! (you don’t pay anything extra) Hundreds of great stores including Amazon, Best Buy, PetSmart, Target and others have teamed up with GoodShop and every time you place an order, you’ll be supporting JA!
(GoodShop also lists coupons and deals, so you can save money while you’re helping us!) You can also download the GoodSearch/GoodShop Toolbar and your purchases at participating stores will count towards a donation even if you forget to go to GoodShop.com first!
For more information, please contact Mike Jopinko at 800-522-6957, ext.112, or mjopinko@jawesternpa.org.
Yes that IS Rockefeller! He was in this very building at one time.
Thanks to Cinnamon Evans, director of CASA, www.nationalcasa.org, for inviting me to speak to their volunteers tonight. You were a great audience, especially Mac who proves that everyone’s a comedian!
Congratulations to Reni Chalot for being this year’s Volunteer of the Year! Thanks to her son, Levi, for filming clips of tonight’s show. Look for them soon on my YouTube channel,
URL: http://www.youtube.com/cleanatrina
Thanks again for a great show. Check out CASA’s program if you want a volunteer project that will change the lives of children and help them to Live Life–Lite!
Humor is all about thinking differently. Going outside your usual boundaries. Being brave. Trying something new. Here’s an event happening in Pittsburgh that meets all the criteria:
“Bellydance BellyRockapalooza with Ishtar & il Troubadore at Istanbul (formerly Your Inner Vagabond, under new ownership). Friday, October 23, 2009, 8:00pm - 11:30pm 4130 Butler St. in Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh, PA.
“Join us in welcoming back il Troubadore, the 16th century folk band from Indianapolis. Also Ishtar has been on vacation for a while, so we return to the Pittsburgh scene as a five piece BellyRock band with special guest dancers: Hakan, Nesheli, Janim, Kari, Laila, Mehira, Berna, Susan and many more. (If you are interested in dancing, please message Melissa Murphey.)
“Come see the changes at Istanbul! Josh Gokalp is the new owner of the former Your Inner Vagabond! Known for his excellent and authentic Turkish cuisine, Josh will be offering fabulous Turkish entrees including meat and vegetarian choices at his new location. COME HUNGRY! Cover is $10 for the show.”
http://www.huntofalifetime.org/home/ is a fund-raising venture I read about in Jason Say’s “Outside and Wired” column. Jason is a friend of mine who started www.PaSportsmenPortal.com and the national TV show, Wired Outdoors.
Hunt of a Lifetime sends kids with life-threatening illnesses on their dream hunts throughout the world. This year Jason will take Michael Ciarlone on an elk hunt. Jason explained that each year he is assigned two children. “This past year one of those assignments was a young man, Matthew Ciarlone, suffering from leukemia. When I first met the Ciarlone’s, Matthew was doing very well and the family was confident that he had beat leukemia with his last operation. Unfortunately, a couple months later, the leukemia was back and Matthew passed away within two months.
“I find myself getting very attached to them and their children. So after a few phone calls I was able to make all the arrangements to take Matthew’s father, Michael, on an elk hunt to finish what his son started and dreamed about every day until the day he passed away.
“This is going to be a very emotional hunt for Michael and myself, but promises to be a truly remarkable way to honor Michael’s son Matthew. We will be filming the entire hunt to air on our show, Wired Outdoors, this year.”
You can follow this story with live streaming videos and live photo uploads on location at www.Facebook.com/WiredOutdoors and www.Twitter.com/WiredOutdoors and also www.PaSportsmenPortal.com
Occasionally I like to bring you information about speakers’ resources. One of my favorite resources is from my friend Craig Valentine, World Champion of Public Speaking.
Craig doesn’t write specifically on humor. However, his style is so light-hearted, and he is such a pleasant person that I thought I’d include him in my humor blog. Craig personifies the humor-enriched likeable personality that I like to describe here in these blog entries.
For more info on Craig’s blog, his writings, his free email newsletter, and more, just go to http://dreamisnotforsale.com/ You’ll be glad you did. Craig will help you to not only communicate better but to Live Life–Lite! Enjoy!
September 28, 1991 will live in infamy. At least in my mind. That’s the day I finally finished my first marathon. Forget the ambulance ride and walking to the bus stop in hospital scrubs that characterize the Pittsburgh Marathon. I vowed that this race would be different. It was Berlin, Germany, where this week’s Comedy Around the World will run.
This race would be different than the brutal massacre that had occurred in Pittsburgh four months earlier. This race had to be different. The American GI’s there told me, “Don’t let them take you to a German hospital. We’ve heard stories…”
This marathon story illustrates how humor can help us transpose, translate, or at least traverse pain.
Pain helps us to focus. It awakens us to what’s wrong. It points out things we need to do–or stop doing.
But none of these processes can happen unless we have one vital ingredient: HUMOR.
Humor lifts us out of the pain and shows us that focus. Gives us direction. Gives us ideas we can implement toward our next goal.
There is a lot of pain involved in running a marathon. No matter how interesting the sights are in that particular city. Or how supportive the Germans were. They were even hanging from their apartments and banging on pots and pans as we ran toward the now-open Brandenburg Gate.
The pain was in the aftermath. Not just physically, but also geographically. The newly-accessible East Berlin was the only place that still had hotel rooms. Or, in my case, dorm rooms. With minimal accoutrements that people who have just finished running 26.2 miles really, really need. Like hot water. And blankets. And an alarm. Because the next day I would be taking the train across the water to visit my friend in Sweden. And then on to Norway. I couldn’t rest.
And apparently neither could the other people who had run the marathon. I recognized them on the ferry because they were all walking like John Wayne. They couldn’t walk down the stairs. But they could give me something to laugh about. Despite the excruciating pain I was feeling not just from running, but from carrying all my luggage. Despite the fact I wasn’t sure how to get to my friend’s place in Sweden.
I knew that if I could laugh about this–about something–then it would be O.K. I would be O.K.
And I was, even though my plans abruptly changed. My friend wasn’t able to meet me at the train station in Stockholm. I quickly decided to take the overnight train to Oslo. Fear, indecision, panic. And, of course, pain.
But that John Wayne memory reminded me to relax. To remember that there is always something to laugh about, even in the most dire circumstances. I woke during the middle of the night to see Norway by the moonlight, racing past. Because I was calmed enough from laughter, I could rest into the night. And into the next morning. I wasn’t even worried that I had no hotel reservations. I new it would be O.K. I knew I would be O.K., too.
And it was O.K. I did find a small hotel with a little desk in the room, and a breakfast buffet in the lobby. I enjoyed an extra two days in Oslo. Relaxing, sleeping, riding the city bus to see how the locals lived. My calves were still screaming in pain, and my shoulders were getting worn from the luggage. I had no definite plan on where to go next, or when to leave. But wherever I would end up, I knew there would be something there to laugh about–to remind myself to not take things too seriously.
