Getting Attention the Hard Way
I'd have to say that the motivation for becoming a comedian was in large part due to a need for attention. I quickly discovered when I was young that making people laugh was a great way to get acknowledgement and praise. The problem with finding a successful strategy for coping with life at an early age is that we can get stuck on one channel. That describes my relationship to humor pretty well, I was a one-channel comedy broadcast. I have since found a variety of other fulfilling modes of interaction, but it took me years to find some balance and I'm still susceptible to using a laugh to handle discomfort or more vulnerable feelings.
The first time I went over for dinner with the parents of a former girlfriend we retired to the livingroom after the meal to watch a movie. The movie was, “Dead Poet’s Society,” starring Robin Williams. The crux of the movie revolves around a teacher who encourages his students to be themselves and reject any need to conform to the rigid impositions of institutional structure. There is a great scene where this teacher is having the students walk around the courtyard and he encourages them to find their own walk, their own stride - to step forward in their own unique manner.
I was sitting on a couch and had to go to the bathroom. So I asked where it was. I was told to walk out the door into the hallway, take a right down the hall and then a left into the bathroom. Trying to make a good impression on the parents I got up off the couch and started strutting out of the room with long loping strides, comedically playing off the scene we were in the middle of watching. Their satisfying laughter echoed behind me as I turned right down the hall, enjoying the feeling of my exaggerated gait. I strode down the hall toward the bathroom. It was dark, but that wasn’t a problem, because I could see an open door ahead of me on the left.
As I turned into the room and stepped forward into the darkness of it, planning next to search for a light switch, I was surprised to discover that this room had no floor. I had in actuality walked out into mid-air, over a set of almost verticle wooden stairs that ascended from the root cellar of this older home. I plummeted to the bottom, crashing and banging, winding up in a crumpled heap against the clothes dryer at the base of the steps.
I heard the screams of alarm from the whole family a floor above me as they realized what had happened and came running to my aid. Miraculously I walked away with severe bruises only, no broken bones.
If we are identified with a limited range of expression then rather than being aware of our surroundings and adjusting to what is needed, we tend to plow ahead without accommodating the reality of the terrain in front of us.
This is the day I literally discovered the pit-fall of having to be a comedian all the time.
Jugglelogue #1
Quotable
"If most accidents happen within five miles of home, why not move ten miles away?"
Michael Davis
Past Newsletter Topics
Kindness Heals Everyone
Get Out of Jail Free
3 Things to Remember in an Economic Downturn
If You Love Something ...
Does Your Success Need an Audience?
Perfectionism or Professionalism?
What Doesn't Kill You ...
Ever Had One of Those Days?
The Power of Humor and Relaxation
Rick's Agent Friendly Site
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Monthly Laugh on Video
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.
