What Doesn't Kill You
Will Only Make You Funnier
Many years ago I was contacted by the Ft. St. Johns Oilman's Association in BC, Canada. They required entertainment for 500 association members for their winter celebration. A contract was signed and before I knew it I was bouncing way up north on a little prop plane to the small snowy town where the sun shines for about 6 hours a day in the winter months.
My performance would take place at the local high school on the stage at one end of the cafeteria after the group's celebration dinner. I stood ready behind the red velvet curtain as the announcement was made that it was time for the evening's entertainment. The men were full of energy, excited and vocally enthusiastic, until the emcee asked them to put their hands together for "juggler" Rick Lewis.
No one had bothered to mention to me that the only form of entertainment provided to this group in the last 20 years had involved a boom box and a person of the opposite sex trained in the slow and methodic removal of various pieces of clothing.
The curtain went up as the loud booing of the crowd filled the entire auditorium. I stood there as they jeered, wondering what would happen next. From halfway to the back of the hall one of the men threw his spoon, which landed with a ping on the wooden stage in front of me. There was a pause and a moment later several hundred more spoons were launched into the air, like schrapnel from an exploding bomb.
The spoons clattered to stillness on the stage. They all went silent, waiting to see what I would do. I looked back at them feigning complete calm, though my heart was pounding loud enough to lead a marching band, pulled my goofiest face and did a standing backflip, feet to feet - one full somersault in the air. There was another moment of silence before the entire group erupted into applause and cheers and I began what turned into a very fun show for me and the audience.
Events are full of such moments, though mostly not quite so dramatic, where what happens right after a moment of tension, a mistake or a faux pas will determine the outcome of an entire event. A sense of humor commands authority, because it has the power to relax others and communicates the workability of a situation. We need to practice and train ourselves in humor in our daily lives so that when these pivotal moments arise we can meet them with the same context of lightness and relaxation, and hold that possibility for others.
Don't miss this month's
Hidden Camera Video Clip
of The World's Funniest Waiter in action.
Rick Lewis has been entertaining and inspiring audiences for the last 30 years. The success of The World's Funniest Waiter over the years is based on clean, interactive comedy and high-level circus skills.
Total Event Success in 3 Courses
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-Rick
Hidden Camera Highlight
Quotable
“There's so much comedy on television. Does that cause comedy in the streets?”
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