Beyond The Comfort Zone: The Power of Doing the Scary Stuff

John: 00:00:00

How are you doing with getting on with the scary stuff, the kinds of things

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that you need to challenge yourself

with in order to grow and develop,

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especially as a speaker and communicator.

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And we know what those things are,

pretty much, and we also know that

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really stage time is the thing

that's going to progress as the most.

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Especially when we are doing stuff

on stage that we are not always used

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to doing and is a little different.

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Even if we're pretty advanced as speakers,

the stuff that we are not fully proficient

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in that we would maybe like to be and

we know could take us to a new level.

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And that's what I wanna talk

about today, stage time.

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And I'm gonna share with you some of my

recent stage time experiences as well.

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So welcome to present Influence the

show for professional communicators who

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want to inspire, impact and influence.

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My name's John Ball and I'm your

guide on this journey to mastery

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level communication skills.

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Thank you for joining me and stage time

has been on my mind a lot and doing the

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scary stuff has been on my mind a lot,

especially after a recent episode that

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I keep referring back to at the moment.

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But it made a huge impact on me

with Judy Carter, episode 1, 9 8,

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if you want to go and listen to it.

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And Judy is a professional comedian

and professional keynote speaker,

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and she teaches comedy workshops

for people who want to be funnier

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as speakers or standups and.

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The fact that she said to me she still

challenges herself to go and do open

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mic nights and do standup to scare

herself because you knows we need that.

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We need that to feel alive.

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We need to challenge ourselves and

do the stuff that we could otherwise

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get complacent about or think, oh,

I'm good enough, or that'll do.

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I don't need to keep developing I

know speakers, and I've even tried

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to coach some of them who are at a

level where they're good and they

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can get the bookings and they can get

the fees, and they don't think they

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need to grow or develop any further.

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And I think that's a shame.

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Unfortunately, some people,

you can't tell them that.

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Some people are very coachable.

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Some people get to a point where

they become uncoachable and become

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divas, and I hope you won't do that.

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Just be aware.

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Now if, I know I'm guessing

as as someone listening,

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watching a podcast like this, I.

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That's probably not who you

are, and I hope you wouldn't

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want to become that either.

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There's never gonna be a stage that

you're gonna get to as a professional

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communicator where there isn't still

something you could improve upon and

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something you could be even better

at that would take you to a new

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and even higher level of mastery.

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So don't ever get complacent about the

stuff that we do and keep challenging

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yourself to do the scary thing.

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And those words, even though Judy

didn't directly challenge me, I took it

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as a challenge to do the scary things

and knew that I had been putting off,

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putting myself forward for an open mic

Comedy Night in Valencia that I knew

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had started up recently and was being

done in English because there's no way

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I could tell my Spanish is okay, but.

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Not good enough to do a

standup routine, I don't think.

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Maybe in the future who knows.

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But in English, so standup, a standup

comedy night in English, and it's been

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on my bucket list for the longest time.

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And I always thought I'll do a standup

comedy course and then I'll probably

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have to perform at the end of that.

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And I know people who've done that.

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Some people have had great experiences.

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Some people are like never again.

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Fine, whatever your

experience of that is, great.

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But then I thought, I don't need that.

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I just need to put myself in the

experience and be okay that I might bomb.

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I might fall flat on my face and come

off the stage feeling embarrassed

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or humiliated, and just be okay

with that and know that the big

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achievement would be getting up there

and doing it in the first place.

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And so I put myself forward and I guess I

could have been really nervous about it.

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I wasn't, and I did create some jokes.

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I created some routines and I

used Judy Carter's book, the

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Comedy Bible to help me do that.

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And I have to say invaluable,

absolutely invaluable as a resource.

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I don't think there's any way

I'd stand a chance if I didn't

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use the material from her book.

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So I do think it's, it is worth checking

that out, even if you have no intention.

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Of doing open mic or standup comedy.

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And so I put myself in for that.

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And a friend of mine had mentioned

about a storytelling event as well,

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and it was like one of those things

that you could turn up to and you

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could put your name into speak and

tell a story on stage if you wanted to.

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You didn't have to do it.

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And she wanted some support,

so I said I'll come with you.

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I'll support you.

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She wanted to do this and

she was challenging herself.

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And so well done, Aida.

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You did a great job.

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And I thought I'll do it as well.

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I'll get up and speak to.

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I know Aida really wanted me to

go first and that the way things

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worked out, she ended up going

first, but she was fantastic and

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it was great to go on after her.

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Oki Alexander, who's running these events

in Valencia got up and did the story

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himself and we managed to get a few

more people up doing those stories too.

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It was a really fun evening

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and I definitely recommend checking

those events out if you are in Valencia

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or if you happen to be visiting English

speaking people, there's plenty of

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English events around Valencia now, and

even just a year ago or a few years ago,

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that wasn't really the case that there

would be these kinds of events on, so

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in English for people to go and attend.

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So I've been getting

my stage time reps in.

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I did a lot of work on my story.

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I had to create a five minute story

and there was a theme for the night.

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Unfortunately, I don't even remember

what the theme was for the event now,

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but I created a story that was about

my initial interview when I joined the

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airline, British Airways years ago.

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And some experience that I had there.

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The whole premise of the story

was about my inner conversation,

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potentially sabotaging my outer

reality and talking myself down.

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I actually called the story

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I'm not supposed to be here

because I felt inside myself that

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I wasn't supposed to be there.

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I wasn't supposed to be the kind

of person who would ever get

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selected for something like that.

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Little did I know, but it's amazing

how we can talk ourselves into

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particular things that are either

gonna be, we're rather gonna support

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ourselves internally or we're not.

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And that conversation that's going on

inside of us can very often completely

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sabotages and stoppers from trying.

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So that's what the story is about.

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And I'm gonna share that with

you in just a moment as well.

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And then I'm gonna share with you the

standup , so you can check these out.

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And if you're watching on YouTube, you can

watch the stories and stand up as well.

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I will say you might be better

off with the standup to watch

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it on YouTube simply because the

audio quality was not that great.

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I wasn't properly micd up.

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It was in an environment with bar and

restaurant and tables, so it wasn't a

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normal theater experience maybe a

more normal standup experience, so

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there was a lot of background noise.

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So there's a lot you can't hear.

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And I've also added subtitles to the

standup as well, so that you can tell

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what I'm actually saying in various

parts where it's not super clear.

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I thankfully had two different tracks that

did make some aspects a little clearer.

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One recording on a friend's mobile, one

recording on somebody's camera set up.

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But unfortunately I didn't have

their mic set up as well so I

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apologize for the bad audio for that.

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And you're welcome to skip it if you

don't like listening to bad audio.

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But what I really want to show with you is

these are both things that could have been

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experiences that I taught myself out of.

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They could have been really

scary experiences that I just

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said, no, I'm not doing that.

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I don't really need to do that.

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I already tell stories

in my presentations.

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I already do that from

stage to some degree.

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Whereas getting up just to tell a

story for telling a story's sake

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and having a good structure to that

story and applying storytelling

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skills is definitely something

that I know I could be better at.

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And stand up.

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That's something I've never done before,

and that's a huge challenge where I

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didn't even think I'd get any loss at all.

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So I was fully expecting to bomb.

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And you can find out in the

video whether I did or I didn't.

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But either way, these are both

things that I'm gonna be better.

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The next time I do it.

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So I've already put myself forward for

doing both of these things again, a longer

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storytelling competition, another open

mic comedy night, that's gonna be better.

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'cause I know what to expect now.

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And I know in my head that

I can do these things.

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I can get up there and do

it, and I think can deliver.

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And I'm gonna practice more because I know

that I didn't practice, I didn't rehearse

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nearly enough for either of these things.

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Because I took them on last minute

and I was already pretty busy.

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I have two podcasts and multiple

episodes and lots of other

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promotional things going on right now.

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That is very hard to fit stuff

like that in around it, but managed

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it and I'm really glad I did.

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I had so much fun doing it.

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And my challenge to you

is to do the scary stuff.

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Do the stuff that you

don't know you can do.

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And I will say this.

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Don't do those things.

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When you are being paid 5,000, 10,000

or more for a keynote delivery and

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you are trying out something new that

may or may not work, don't do that.

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But when you're doing something a

bit for free or something for fun,

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where the stakes are a lot lower.

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That's the time to try stuff out.

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That's one of the main reasons why

there are open mic comedy nights, so

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comedians can go and try out material

and see what jokes get a response

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and what doesn't, so they can decide

what's gonna make it into their

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acts, into their longer performances.

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I'm definitely gonna do more on this

show about humor and standup comedy.

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I'm trying to line up some real

experts in this area right now who

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I've been learning from alongside Judy.

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And I think that's gonna be high value for

you as well, you won't wanna miss those.

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And you will be aware of them if you tune

into this show regularly, because I will

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be letting you know what's coming up.

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But the whole standup experience,

it's one of those things that most

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people say they could never do it.

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And I put my fear of that was

probably on a par with jumping out

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of an airplane, which I don't know

if I could do, I've never tried it.

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I've been very afraid of doing

that, wanting to do it, but afraid

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of doing it because, I don't want

to break every bone in my body.

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But obviously I want to jump out

with a parachute and with somebody

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who knows what they're doing, that's

probably makes things a bit safer.

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But even then.

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I know that would scare the crap

outta me, but I also think it would

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be exhilarating once you get over

that initial fear and you just

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have to give in to what's going on.

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The comedy was a bit like that as well.

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Once I got over my initial fear of

getting up on the stage, things

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just started to kick into gear

a bit and just got on with it.

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Certainly not perfect, but I'm happy

with what I did and for any, if you are

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listening to this and I couldn't do that.

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I couldn't get up and do it, I would

say this, you absolutely can, and maybe

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it's a good sign that you absolutely

should, because even if you think

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I'm not funny, or even if you think

no one's gonna laugh, who cares?

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Who cares?

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I'll tell you this, outta six

performers who got up that

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night, only two got laughs.

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A few got snickers and some

got pretty much nothing at all.

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And that's how it goes.

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And yet the audience was

still very supportive.

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The audience want you to do well.

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They want to laugh.

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Sure.

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And they'll sometimes even laugh

at stuff that's not so funny.

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They'll even laugh at

your attempts to be funny.

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If

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that's the level of support that you

can often find in those sorts of events.

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So I'd say this, I was less afraid to

get up on stage after seeing a few people

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tank and bomb before I went up there.

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That was a big help.

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And I hope it would be

a help to you as well.

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'cause if everyone got up there and

everyone was hilarious, they should

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probably be on a talent show or having

their own Netflix special already.

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If they're that bloody good.

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So open mic nights are

four people to bomb.

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They're four people to have

their failures and try and get

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a few lasting successes as well.

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And people in the audience know

that they're not at this event.

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They're paying six euros

to come and listen.

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So what do you expect for six euros

that you're gonna, that you're gonna

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see some world famous comedian?

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No, but you hopefully get

at least a few laughs.

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First of all, let me share with you the

audio and video from the storytelling

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competition from a couple of weeks back

that was organized by Oki Alexander.

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Oki is really super nice guy who

has a company he's set up to do

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this called En Route Storytelling.

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And he's running events in Valencia,

Barcelona, Madrid, and training and

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coaching, alongside that on storytelling.

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And it's been a real joy to work

with him since then as well.

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And I'm looking forward

to the next story night.

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In fact, I have a coaching

session with Okie tomorrow that

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I'm looking forward to as well.

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So I need to go and do my homework

for that in a little while.

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Beyond that, I just hope you'll

enjoy this and get some value

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outta the story and just know it's

not really something so special.

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Most people have had a

job interview for stuff.

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Most people have maybe had doubts

and fears about something whilst not

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everyone is necessarily interviewed

for British Airways as cabin crew

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is not an unrelatable story, I

guess is what I'm trying to say.

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And I hope that you'll enjoy that.

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And then we'll check out the standup.

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I'm sitting in a very brightly lit

business lounge in Hans Low, close

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enough to Heathrow Airport that we can

hear the planes taking off and landing.

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I'm a little bit tense and I look around.

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There's at least a hundred other

people there for exactly the

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same reason I'm there, but I

know I'm not supposed to be here.

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And just 30 minutes earlier, I'm still

stressed out because I was trying to

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dry my suit pants under the hand dryer

in the men's toilets for reasons.

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And uh, and I'm wondering if anyone

around me can tell, maybe they can, but

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I'm pretty sure they're looking at me

and thinking, what are you doing here?

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I'm not supposed to be here.

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I look around the room and there's

lots of, lots of women there, and

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they look impeccable, like their

hair is tightly pulled back in

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their heads into a bun so tight.

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It looks like it's giving

them a mild facelift.

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The men, there's not so many,

but they look just as impeccable.

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They're very smartly dressed, and I'm

there in my Marks and Spencer's suit

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looking like I'm trying to become

an assistant supermarket manager.

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So what am I doing here?

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I don't belong.

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I'm expecting any moment now someone's

gonna come and tell me, oh, hey John.

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We made a mistake.

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You are not supposed to be

here, but I've got my letter in

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my pocket so I can show them.

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I, I was invited, I was told to

come here just in case anybody asks.

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Nobody does.

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But as I look around the room, I

become more and more convinced that

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I'm just not supposed to be here.

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Then I see one guy who doesn't look

quite so perfect and impeccable.

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He is got long, curly hair and

he's, he's very overweight.

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And I'm thinking, I know that they're

gonna weigh and measure us very shortly.

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And, um, that's coming up.

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Dude, are you ready for this?

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Because we're all there to become cabin

crew for British Airways, and I know

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that that's a job for beautiful people.

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So I'm not supposed to be here.

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I look around the people start talking.

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One, somebody suggests that they've

actually got microphones buried around

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in various places so they can listen to

our conversations whilst we're waiting.

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I think that's probably not true, but

you know, I careful what I say just in

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case and suddenly some of the girls I'm

with notice the guy with the curly hair

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and they all start saying, what I think

they're probably thinking about me.

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What's he doing here?

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Doesn't he know they're about

to weigh and measure them?

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Because even after two months on SlimFast

and stomach ache, I don't know if I'm

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quite there with the weight height

ratio that's gonna be required for

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this job, but nothing's happened yet.

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A bunch of ladies come into the

middle of the room and they start to

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announce that things are gonna happen.

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They're setting things up and they tell

us, most people don't even get this far.

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Most people never even make

it past the application stage.

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So you have already come really far

and done really well and I'm thinking,

305

: 00:15:36

well, that's good, that's nice.

306

: 00:15:38

But you know, I'm probably going home in

a little while, but you know, I've seen

307

: 00:15:41

someone who I can probably go and have

a Constellation burger with a McDonald's

308

: 00:15:45

to break my two month fast of solid food.

309

: 00:15:50

But then things start to move.

310

: 00:15:52

We sit down, everything's

getting set up for the day.

311

: 00:15:54

They start calling people up to

get weighed and measured whilst

312

: 00:15:58

we're talking more, more, uh,

speculation starts to happen about

313

: 00:16:02

what's gonna occur during the day.

314

: 00:16:03

And at this point, I don't really care

'cause I'm expecting to be sent home

315

: 00:16:07

as soon as they put me on the scales.

316

: 00:16:10

But my name gets called and I go up,

walk up to the scales, get in line,

317

: 00:16:16

and just think, well, any minute now

someone's gonna pull me out the queue.

318

: 00:16:18

They're gonna, they're gonna

realize what's happened.

319

: 00:16:20

They're gonna notice

that there was a mistake.

320

: 00:16:21

They're gonna come up and say to

me, Hey, you know that you're about

321

: 00:16:25

to be weighed and measured, right?

322

: 00:16:26

Maybe we could just save ourselves

the bother, but nobody does.

323

: 00:16:30

But then I see curly hair guy leaving.

324

: 00:16:32

He's been weighed and measured,

clearly not within the weight

325

: 00:16:35

height ratio that they asked for.

326

: 00:16:37

So I guess I'm gonna be having my

consolation burger by myself after

327

: 00:16:41

the interview is all finished, I.

328

: 00:16:44

But finally I get to closer and

closer to the front of the queue.

329

: 00:16:47

They post it up all the height, weight

ratios, and I look and think, you know,

330

: 00:16:51

I'm, I'm so, so on the edge of this.

331

: 00:16:53

So on the edge of this, I'm not expecting

to, I start thinking light thoughts and

332

: 00:16:57

maybe see if I can make myself lighter.

333

: 00:16:59

No, that probably isn't gonna do much.

334

: 00:17:01

Then I'm thinking, well, can

I make myself a bit taller?

335

: 00:17:05

Maybe.

336

: 00:17:05

Maybe when they measure me, I

can sort of straighten myself

337

: 00:17:07

up and make myself a bit taller.

338

: 00:17:10

But then I see that they're being very

careful when they measure people to

339

: 00:17:13

make sure that nobody's trying to make

themselves tall as like that's out.

340

: 00:17:17

I get to the front of the queue,

finally, they put me on the

341

: 00:17:20

scales, write down my weight.

342

: 00:17:22

They measure my height, write down

the number, tell me to go and take my

343

: 00:17:27

seat ready for the rest of the day.

344

: 00:17:29

So something's gone wrong.

345

: 00:17:31

Nobody's sending me home.

346

: 00:17:33

I'm gonna be there for

the rest of the day now.

347

: 00:17:36

Oh, well.

348

: 00:17:38

Nobody's telling me I'm not attractive

enough to be a cabin crew member.

349

: 00:17:42

Nobody's telling me I'm

too fat to be cabin crew.

350

: 00:17:45

Nobody's telling me I'm

not good enough except me.

351

: 00:17:50

Thanks.

352

: 00:17:55

So what do you think?

353

: 00:17:56

I hope you enjoy the story and

if you are willing to put up with

354

: 00:17:59

some bad audio here, let's take a

listen to the standup comedy Night.

355

: 00:18:02

That was organized by a great guy.

356

: 00:18:04

He was very fun himself as the host

Alexi and again, if you're in Valencia

357

: 00:18:08

and you want to check out Events,

meetup is the place to go to find out

358

: 00:18:11

all these things and see what's on.

359

: 00:18:13

Lots of really cool people organizing lots

of really good events, whether you're here

360

: 00:18:17

visiting or you're here to stay longer or

live there's lots of good stuff going on.

361

: 00:18:23

So I now enjoy the comedy

stylings of yours Truly, I.

362

: 00:18:28

But it's lovely to see, not see so many

people coming out to financial happiness.

363

: 00:18:33

My, my grandmas have

sex me when I was a kid.

364

: 00:18:36

We need to go and find your hat.

365

: 00:18:37

So I'm really happy to see so new you

could come out to find your happiness

366

: 00:18:42

that I, I'm not promising I'm gonna

go you to happy about, but you

367

: 00:18:46

know, we'll, we'll see what happens.

368

: 00:18:47

That apparently I was supposed to

prepare something for this, but, ah,

369

: 00:18:53

what will just covid the flow now.

370

: 00:18:56

But yeah, I, there's so much

unhappiness in the world.

371

: 00:18:59

Let's say we all together

with five days from all this.

372

: 00:19:01

So politics from now was, and somebody's

just ordered the copy, so like,

373

: 00:19:07

you're not gonna a single word or

say, you know, that might be for you.

374

: 00:19:11

That is it.

375

: 00:19:14

Uh, but I'm really big here.

376

: 00:19:17

It's to see four on three.

377

: 00:19:19

Uh, but before we start, I feel like I

need to address the elephant in the room.

378

: 00:19:25

I prefer the word bear.

379

: 00:19:27

I've learned elephant a little bit.

380

: 00:19:29

Same first, you could call me a bear.

381

: 00:19:32

That's bit nice.

382

: 00:19:34

Everyone would be too unkind to myself.

383

: 00:19:36

And if you're wondering what a bear is,

a bear is a larger, sometimes hairy,

384

: 00:19:43

uh, but you'd be a bit overweight.

385

: 00:19:45

Uh, middle-aged gay man.

386

: 00:19:49

Oh my God, this gay and he's fat.

387

: 00:19:52

Is what my mom said

when I came back to her.

388

: 00:19:56

I actually have, uh, it

is not what she said.

389

: 00:19:58

I I really wasn't that fat then,

but, uh, that did big piece.

390

: 00:20:03

I made it a little bit unkind to myself.

391

: 00:20:06

But I feel like making jokes about

fat people is probably the only

392

: 00:20:11

social accept, social acceptable

only that's still allowed.

393

: 00:20:15

You know, we still allowed

to make jokes about people.

394

: 00:20:18

Oh, nice.

395

: 00:20:18

But you can still do it, but you're not

supposed to make jokes about gay people.

396

: 00:20:22

You not to make, make jokes

about, uh, old people or by that.

397

: 00:20:25

So you are not allowed to do it.

398

: 00:20:27

So I can, because I'm gay and because

I'm fat, it's because I'm middle late.

399

: 00:20:33

If you do it, are yours.

400

: 00:20:34

Not those things.

401

: 00:20:36

It's hate speech, but when

I do it, it's empowering.

402

: 00:20:42

So let's have some character.

403

: 00:20:43

I'm probably a little bit inclined

for myself, young carrying.

404

: 00:20:47

A few extra llbs.

405

: 00:20:48

There's no gas about that, but

it's leasing weight is so hard.

406

: 00:20:52

It's, it's really hard.

407

: 00:20:53

Anyone, anyone else tried

to lose weight here?

408

: 00:20:55

Buy it really hard, but it's really

hard and I, I do order ride fields.

409

: 00:21:01

I've bought an expensive gym and

410

: 00:21:04

I bought a Men's health magazine and I've

watched it and released a thousand workout

411

: 00:21:10

videos on YouTube and I'm still fat.

412

: 00:21:14

It's so lovely.

413

: 00:21:15

Three is so lovely.

414

: 00:21:16

She.

415

: 00:21:16

I, I'm probably, probably, they

a bit unfair, but I carry a

416

: 00:21:22

few extra pounds around him.

417

: 00:21:24

I think that this year was probably

the year, unlike every other year

418

: 00:21:28

that I've made this decision to

change my life and, uh, get in shape.

419

: 00:21:32

And this year is the year that I'm

gonna finally uncover my six pack.

420

: 00:21:37

Alright.

421

: 00:21:38

I'm not delusional.

422

: 00:21:39

I'll be quite happy with

normalizing my blood pressure,

423

: 00:21:44

my, my six pack.

424

: 00:21:45

Is a bit like a God.

425

: 00:21:49

Really?

426

: 00:21:49

Yeah.

427

: 00:21:50

It's a bit like God.

428

: 00:21:51

She's like kind of, it mighty there,

but there's no evidence for it.

429

: 00:21:58

So I'm like, I really want to believe you.

430

: 00:21:59

I really want to believe

it's there, but good luck.

431

: 00:22:02

Fine it God, but God is, uh, there's

some of you just find out the

432

: 00:22:05

first time you had that God real.

433

: 00:22:07

So I'm sorry about, and, uh,

but I, I used to believe.

434

: 00:22:12

I really used to believe

I, I was a church organist.

435

: 00:22:14

I was, uh, a Sunday school teacher

indoctrinating young minds.

436

: 00:22:20

And there are people who say that,

uh, you know, religious education

437

: 00:22:25

for children is indoctrination,

is it's a form of child abuse.

438

: 00:22:28

So I guess if anyone knows about

child abuse is the research, but,

439

: 00:22:34

uh, no, I have, I have my own form of

religious child abuse when I was a kid.

440

: 00:22:39

My C clerk used to make me get up

every Sunday morning and go to church.

441

: 00:22:43

So you have to go to church, you have

to read your Bible, you have to sing

442

: 00:22:47

the hymns, you have to have your gay

demons prayed out to, you know, so, so

443

: 00:22:52

normal kind of thing like that, you know,

that that was by, that was my form of

444

: 00:22:56

child of peace when I, when I was a kid.

445

: 00:22:58

And you know, I think that

turned out okay for a bit.

446

: 00:23:01

I'm not too worried about it.

447

: 00:23:02

And, um, yeah, I'm, I'm

pretty happy with that.

448

: 00:23:06

I thought that Flex.

449

: 00:23:13

So not perfect.

450

: 00:23:15

A few, some laughs in there

and some jokes that I was quite

451

: 00:23:17

pleased though my favorite joke

on my own was the one about abs.

452

: 00:23:21

I didn't quite nail the joke the

way it was in my head or the way I'd

453

: 00:23:24

written it about my abs being like,

God, because, I hope they're there,

454

: 00:23:28

but there's no evidence for them.

455

: 00:23:29

And I thought that really

wasn't my favorites.

456

: 00:23:31

There was bits that I forgot from it.

457

: 00:23:33

I did edit this a little bit as well

because there was a section where you

458

: 00:23:36

just couldn't make out what I was saying

that I just had to take out completely.

459

: 00:23:41

But you saw most of it and I'll

see if I can get a better mic

460

: 00:23:44

set up for the next time I do it.

461

: 00:23:46

And if you like it, I'll

share that with you as well.

462

: 00:23:48

But you are welcome to offer feedback on

my story, on my standup if you want to.

463

: 00:23:51

Good or bad, I'll take it.

464

: 00:23:53

I don't mind.

465

: 00:23:54

But I'd love to hear your thoughts

about what you're gonna do to challenge

466

: 00:23:56

yourself to do some of these scary

things and get yourself out there.

467

: 00:24:01

Because nothing really happens

or changes until we do this.

468

: 00:24:04

And I will say, regardless of the

outcome of the standup or any of it.

469

: 00:24:10

I knew it was gonna be

worthwhile doing it.

470

: 00:24:12

And the people that I'm meeting and

connecting with, making new friendships,

471

: 00:24:15

new connections is so valuable.

472

: 00:24:19

And knowing that I'm pushing myself

to do stuff that I wouldn't normally

473

: 00:24:24

do, and making that little bit

of extra effort to get into these

474

: 00:24:27

things was great and lucky for me.

475

: 00:24:31

For the story night, I had the support of

my good friend Aida, and for the comedy

476

: 00:24:37

night I had the support of my husband.

477

: 00:24:39

Aida came to that as well, and a

whole bunch of our friends came.

478

: 00:24:43

So I had about eight people all

together who were there to, support

479

: 00:24:47

me, which was great, and that could

have been scary, but it wasn't.

480

: 00:24:51

They loved it.

481

: 00:24:52

They loved the experience.

482

: 00:24:53

They want to come again

the next time I do it.

483

: 00:24:54

So I really feel like I need to put on

a good show for them and everyone else.

484

: 00:24:59

And now that I've gotten over the

initial fear of doing it, I hope

485

: 00:25:02

you'll join me for that and more.

486

: 00:25:04

Certainly they're gonna be way

more besides next time on the

487

: 00:25:07

show, I'm gonna be talking with a

guest about visual storytelling.

488

: 00:25:10

We've had some episodes on this before.

489

: 00:25:12

And Oreet Kaufman has

some interesting text.

490

: 00:25:15

I really liked.

491

: 00:25:16

When I first spoke to her, I thought,

oh, we've just had an episode about

492

: 00:25:19

PowerPoints and things like that.

493

: 00:25:20

Do I really want another one right away?

494

: 00:25:22

Oreet has some really nice, unique

stuff that they thought, oh yeah,

495

: 00:25:25

I think we should do this, and

continue that theme, and I think

496

: 00:25:29

you'll like what she has to say.

497

: 00:25:30

So I hope you'll join me for my next

episode with Oreet Kaufman next week

498

: 00:25:34

and make sure you subscribe to the

show if you are not, and get in touch.

499

: 00:25:39

Let me know what you'll be

doing to challenge yourself.

500

: 00:25:42

So wherever you're going, wherever you're

doing, have an amazing rest of your day.

501

: 00:25:45

See you next time.

502

: 00:25:46

Take care.