12.04.11
Posted in Humor~Business, Humor~Creativity, www.HumorAcademy.com at 9:36 pm by Dr. Trina Hess
Q: Sometimes I’ll see someone giving a medical-information presentation and they’ll add a funny slide from time to time. Some kind of medical cartoon, something the people in the audience would get. Or I’ve seen some presenters joke about themselves: “Some people tell me I have an accent…” I think it makes people seem more interesting and human, and their presentation wasn’t all solely information-heavy.
A: Yes! That goes along with being comfortable with your character or style of humor. The more familiar you are with your skill in getting laughs, the better you’ll know how far to push the envelope. When you’re giving a speech anywhere, you can read the audience. In a professional setting, you can get a sense of your co-workers and audience members—how funny they are, or how far to push the humor.
The best way to improve your sensing is by doing these three steps, continually and consciously:
1. Record the things you say that make other people laugh. You may be surprised at all the funny things you say when you weren’t even trying to be funny!
2. Accept your humor style, even if it’s not what you think of as “comedic”. Other people have validated that it works, that you ARE funny!
3. Get comfortable with transitioning seamlessly into and out of humor usage within your presentations. This will keep your laugh lines more organic and less show-biz.
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09.20.11
Posted in Humor attitude, Humor~Creativity, Humor~Health & Goals, Learning Identity, www.HumorAcademy.com at 2:21 pm by Dr. Trina Hess
Every time I see William Hurt, I like him more and more. I just watched him yesterday in “The 4th Floor.” The more I watched his stoic character, the more I realized, HE embodies HUMOR.
No, he’s not rolling in the aisles.
No, he’s not cracking jokes.
No, he’s not even smiling.
But what he DOES do is open up a world where HUMOR can thrive. Here’s how:
1. He is un-usual. His character is definitely not what we think of when we think of the status quo “actor.” He’s not one of those Lifetime-movie heavy-sighing, cat-fighting, back-stabbing actor (and those are just the love scenes).
Instead, the silence of his character lets OUR creativity roar. His minute, almost imperceptible facial expressions let US read into the story, let US make up our own minds about him, about his relationship to the other characters, and his level of guilt and suspicion.
2. He makes us wonder. He stands back and lets US figure out “the joke”, or the meaning of the movie. Not only that, but his complete lack of the lady-ga-ga-style over-the-top style that we’ve come to define as “entertainment”—that’s what makes him compelling.
3. He opens space. Like all good humor, he surprises us, catches us off guard, because he isn’t doing anything. He’s not flailing around, he’s not shouting, he doesn’t have a non-content-rich reality show. He doesn’t DO anything!!! And in today’s world of people who do too much, that is fascinating!!! It’s ground-breaking!! It is different. And we notice.
4. He is OK with what is. William Hurt embraces the quality of acceptance—one of the key components that makes humor work. He’s no Brad Pitt. He probably looks like your dentist. He doesn’t wear flashy clothes or talk in an accent. He doesn’t have abs.
You can imagine that this actor you watch on screen is the same one who would be taking out the garbage to the curb on trash day, going to PTA meetings, or balancing his checkbook. He simply makes a seamless transition to his career, which happens to be acting, the way people transition from getting out of bed and into their car to go to their jobs. This comfortable acceptance of himself makes us feel comfortable watching him. He is credible. That makes his characters credible. That makes me more interested in seeing what else he will (or won’t) do.
Is your humor style Hurt-ing anyone? I hope so.
Being yourself is very compelling. And you might even surprise someone…..
How funny is THAT?
Tell us more at www.HumorAcademy.com and then continue the conversation on Facebook!
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01.05.11
Posted in Humor attitude, Humor~Creativity, Humor~Inspirational at 10:46 pm by Dr. Trina Hess
There’s something N*E*W going on at YourShiningExample.com
My cat’s name is MAESTRO. If someone isn’t a classical music fan, they probably haven’t heard the word. And mostly no one has seen it spelled. But when you say it correctly it sounds kind of like it was derived from “mice.” Get it?
What a clever name. It’s perfect, meaningful. And—at the vet’s office—very very ineffective.
We sit amid the huddled masses trying to calm each other down. The receptionist calls out, “May-ES-tro?” (I never know whether their voice is rising because they’re wondering if we’re here at our appointment, or if they’ve said the name right.)
Usually we don’t answer because neither my cat nor I have ever heard of “May-ES-tro?” We didn’t realize the call was for us. We were only listening for a specific thing, focused on a specific goal. We wanted to hear what we wanted to hear.
And so everything else was muffled.
That’s the way we—me, my cat, and you and everyone—functions on an average day. We’re focused on goals. We’re specific. If something lies outside our range of attention, we may miss it.
UNLESS it’s something HUMOR-induced and capable of whipping us out of our cyclone of daily tasks.
UNLESS it’s something HUMOR-induced that creates a lighter load for the listener.
UNLESS it’s something HUMOR-induced that will remind us or our humanity and bring us back into connection with others rather than with tasks.
What do you hear when someone calls YOUR name today? How funny is that?
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01.03.11
Posted in Humor attitude, Humor~Creativity at 2:00 am by Dr. Trina Hess
Check out more humor resources at www.YourShiningExample.com
Happy New★* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★Year★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門｜ ˚From YourShiningExample.com
This New Year’s Eve I totally missed out. Missed out on all those radio and TV shows reminiscing about the things that happened in 2010.
And you know what? I didn’t miss them at all. In fact, missing out on them made me realize all the reasons why I hate those types of shows. They aren’t very HUMORous at all.
1. These year-in-review shows don’t offer us a forward glance. Instead, they keep us mired in last year’s old news. Events that we have no power over changing. Of course we can change—in our minds—the effect those events may have had on us. But who wants to waste precious energy on doing THAT?
2. Looking backward gives us a very skewed sense of time. Either we realize we’d forgotten about all the tragedies that happened, celebrities who had died, or Golden Globe winners. Or, worse, we think, “Was that THIS year that that happened?” We’re left confused as we try and add, subtract, and multiply minutes and dates. And in the process, we divide our energy that we need to tackle this new year.
3. These shows take us out of the present moment. We can’t connect with anyone in the here-and-now because our minds are reveling, regaling, or retching about what happened to us, for us, without us, or about us in the past year. We’re distracted beyond what a normal person needs to be.
4. We’re cramped from creating new things because our minds are so stuck on reflection on what used-to-be. Oh sure, we can come up with new ideas and images. But when we have one eye on the past, we’re always going to be a not-wholly-authentic masterpiece of our own.
HUMOR not only holds our audience captive, it holds our hand as we traverse uncharted new-year territory. How we handled last year’s events isn’t important. What IS important is how humor can highten our hopes for the upcoming 365 days.
What did YOU choose to not remember about 2010? How funny is THAT?
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01.01.11
Posted in Comedy Around The World, Humor attitude, Humor~Creativity, The Change Process, www.yourshiningexample.com at 1:28 am by Dr. Trina Hess
This week’s Comedy Around the World celebrates New Year’s Eve in Israel. When I was in this intricate, intriguing country, everything was new to me. The street signs written in Hebrew, the foods with a tinge of Middle Eastern cuisine, the personality of the Israelis.
But on that New Year’s Eve, I was reminded of how not so common, common sense is.
In Tel Aviv there was a dance club called Soweto. They played all the best reggae music. All the hip kids were there. And me.
It was nearly midnight. I was excited to bring in the new year in this new country. But a strange thing happened. No one else seemed excited. No one was counting down, ten, nine, eight…
Only I was, and a few Swedish tourists. That was it.
Later I found out that Israel’s New Year falls somewhere in the Fall of the year!
What?!
January 1st isn’t the New Year?!
I was shocked and more than a little disappointed.
Funny, isn’t it. How we are convinced that everyone understands our message? This evening marks our opportunity to start our own personal revolution. Our chance to connect, create, and crash through our perfectionistic tendencies that close us off to new experiences. Let’s go!
Funny, isn’t it. How we think that our way will bring people together and make them pleased?
Funny, isn’t it. How in our certainty we close the door to any hope of new discoveries?
What will allow the new year bring YOU? How funny is THAT?
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12.20.10
Posted in Humor~Creativity, The Change Process at 10:40 pm by Dr. Trina Hess
One of the biggest obstacles to humor — and creativity in general — is that time-worn split between the arts and sciences.
Have you ever worn a perfectly tailored suit? Fashion is an art, right? But what about the exact distances the seamstress measured to get the suit to lay exactly right? That’s a science.
And how about the neurosurgeon who is also an award-winning photographer?
Do we really HAVE to be one OR the other? Either, or?
It’s the blending, or rather the ”mashing,” that marks the new dawn of modern creativity. Just like in comedy, there ARE no rules. The only structure is what YOU want to make.
When we let our borders bleed onto other ‘categories’, we wind up with things that are one-of-a-kind and — like humor — memorable.
What can YOU do to make your message, your product, or yourSELF more memorable? How funny is THAT?
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12.17.10
Posted in Humor attitude, Humor~Creativity, Humor~Health & Goals, The Change Process at 11:11 pm by Dr. Trina Hess
Today at the gym I heard a dissonant, screeching sound. No, I didn’t break the weight machine cable. I didn’t even DO anything. It’s something that happened TO me.
Someone with ear buds was — unknowingly or else vengefully — singing out loud and off key. I can’t relate to that. I don’t own ear buds (or as I like to call them, ear wax collectors) because they are painful and gross. If I can’t carry my Sony Walkman around with me, it’s not worth the effort. I’d rather just think up songs in my head and then keep them to myself.
My first thought was to find the manager. My second thought was, “Does this person know she is singing out loud?” And my third action was—to—laugh.
Because whether or not singing was “allowed” in the gym; and whether or not the person was aware of others in the room; she was singing.
What ways do YOU censor yourself?
What ideas and joy are YOU afraid to express?
What’s wrong with YOUR earbuds? Put them on today and have fun. I promise I won’t tell the manager! ;)
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12.10.10
Posted in Humor attitude, Humor~Creativity, Humor~Health & Goals, Humor~Inspirational, The Change Process at 4:16 am by Dr. Trina Hess
I’m in the midst of reading Gina Mazza’s excellent book, “Everything Matters, Nothing Matters.” Right now she’s talking about observing the things that happen to and around us, without being attached to our the results of these happenings or our own image (ego).
Gina describes a particularly bad day that included the hotel staff losing her materials for her presentation, a co-worker who bailed on her, and that culminated in a few drunken sailors stumbling over and breaking Gina’s book table at the convention.
Instead of becoming unglued, Gina merely observed. This far-away-type view let her detach from the happenings, and not take them or herself overly seriously.
Looking at things in this way highlights the humor of the situation as well. When we’re not so bent on having a perfect outcome, we CAN laugh at those lost handouts, and we can be amused—instead of outraged—at drunken sailors ruining our display.
What a great example of de-ego-izing yourself so that you can finally laugh at yourself. From this laughter we get many things:
1. A calmness that protects us from physical stress-effects
2. A clearer focus as we see what’s really and not really important
3. A fearlessness that makes our next moves more productive
4. An anti-perfectionism stance that fosters our creativity and risk-taking
What drunken sailors have stumbled onto YOUR day? How funny can that be?
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12.07.10
Posted in Humor attitude, Humor~Creativity at 6:15 pm by Dr. Trina Hess
Singing is a lot like laughing.
Both make you feel happier afterwards.
Both help you breathe easier, literally.
Both help you breathe easier, figuratively—via reducing stress.
Both release endorphins, making you feel happier.
Both promote restful, more relaxed sleep.
I especially like singing the alto part because it draws on the humor mindset. What I mean is that singing alto:
1. Boslters your listening skills so that you can sift through the sounds and find your part.
2. Produces a magnificent blending with the other parts to provoke a richer, fuller sound than the mere egotistic melody offers.
3. Focuses constantly on the whole. Although the alto is a weird sound sometimes (no matter who is singing it) the overall music stays in your mind so you can see where and how your weird part fits.
Like humor, singing alto isn’t always easy. Its vocal gymnastics requires you to stay on your toes, be present, attend to, adjust, co-create, and of course—have fun.
What are YOU singing today? How funny is that?
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Posted in Humor~Creativity, www.yourshiningexample.com at 5:21 pm by Dr. Trina Hess
A publication of www.YourShiningExample.com © 2010 All Rights Reserved
While reading my friend Jay Speyerer’s Legacy Road article I thought about truth.
Jay wrote about the tiny details that writers get wrong, and how that ruins it for the reader. Totally demolishes any credibility or interest.
Humor is like that, too. If there isn’t a tiny grain of truth, the whole isn’t funny. It’s not credible. And, from that, it’s not so entertaining either.
It’s also one of the reasons my early rap jokes never went over well. Or my dumb blond material. No one laughed because they couldn’t believe me.
Although I can’t wholly relate to Jay’s ardor at Mannix episodes and the age of Citizen Kane’s young hand, I can see Jay’s point. After doing lots of extra work in films I got into the habit of seeing too much while I was watching movies.
I realized that every single person you see on screen in the background was placed there, purposefully. The director told them where and when to cross, after and before which other actors. Nothing is random.
That’s why the issue of continuity is so important. And why the wardrobe pixy yelled at me for putting a tiny tiny clip in my by-then bad hairdo during one of the takes on The Kill Point series.
“Who will ever notice that?” I thought to myself. Doesn’t matter. She grabbed it anyway.
Truth is that important.
More important than what your hair looks like. More important than an ‘acceptable’ image.
So what’s the answer?
Just tell the truth.
Your truth.
And don’t forget the details.
Jay just may be watching…
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