Practice what you teach!

This was me on 18th November 2018, standing on stage at the Glee Club in Cardiff in front of nearly 500 people, telling jokes. Am I a comedian? No. Was I scared? Yes.

Why did I do it? Two reasons: it was for a good cause and I tell people all the time to live their best life, to be brave. I encourage people to win against fear, so I must do the same.

I still have nerves when I go on stage to run events but I’m pretty comfortable. I have been doing my work for years and, although being an entrepreneur is often uncomfortable, I live mostly in comfort- so it was time to get uncomfortable.

Why comedy?

The comedy idea started last year at a Summer Camp run by the Happy Start Up. I was chatting to a comedian called Phil Lucas and it might have been the craft ale but he said he would love to see me do stand up. I laughed it off but it left me with a feeling of “maybe”

Could I really be that brave? I sat on it for a year and one day I was looking on Instagram and saw an ad - Learn Stand Up Comedy in 8 weeks: raise money for cancer and do your first gig at the Glee Club in Cardiff. Then without taking a moment to think about it, I applied.

A few weeks later I was at the registration evening with lots of other scared people, all of us wanting to learn everything we could to be funny. Our coach and comidian, Ignacio Lopez, gave us tips and tricks and as early as the second session we were up on our feet telling jokes in front of a room of strangers. I left the second session thinking "what the hell have I done? I’m not funny, I can’t do this! I’m going to bomb and bomb in front of my friends and family who will all have to pretend that I was good! How terribly awkward it will be for us all."

Comedy is completely different to my work. Comedy takes so much more of you and so much less of you at the same time. What I mean by this is that you have to put yourself out there, but not all of your heart and soul and never your own self worth.

You have to keep a bit back for you otherwise you could have the potential to get a tiny bit unwell in the mind.

If you know me you know I always blog by using a list; it's for the scanners and the skimmers (and I’m one of them, so here it is!)

What did I learn from Comedy and how it is so similar to life?

1. Perspective - If people don’t laugh, that’s okay; in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter. This can be applied to so much of life: does anything really matter? Yes, there are big things that matter, but if you are anything like me some of the things I can get concerned with don’t really matter. Let go of trivia as it only weighs you down.

2. Be brief- get to the funny as quick as you can so you can ride the wave of laughter. Start strong and then things will flow. The times I didn’t get laughs right at the start of the segment made the whole thing harder. Momentum helps with flow and confidence. Start; make things happen. Thinking, waffling and beating about the bush can take up time and valuable energy. Instead of “what’s my quickest way to funny” let's pick another thing: “what’s my quickest way of getting fit”. Don't think too much about it, get your trainers on and go for a walk. Action is the first thing you do to make things happen.

3. You can’t wing it- well, I couldn’t. I crafted my set for weeks, added words, took things out that didn’t add to the joke. A comedian I know, Leroy Brito, said it’s like Jazz. You need to know the piece of music to play with it. You need to know your set to play with it. Going on stage, attending a meeting, doing a presentation all need preparation. You maybe good at improvising but you are even better when you prepare.

4. You must control your nerves- I used every bit of knowledge I had. Amy Cuddy’s power poses before going on stage, breath work, meditation and visualisation. The fear that I was experiencing was tremendous; the first couple of times I was shaking like a leaf. I learnt to keep my thoughts powerful and my body calm. Practise what you have been taught. When we go into challenges, this is when we need the tools. Knowing what you need to do will help you beat the nerves. If you leave it down to fate, fear may get the better of you. If you haven’t yet developed the tools you need, keep following me as that’s pretty much what I talk about.

5. A shared experience is such a powerful thing- on the day of the performance, I saw only kindness. People giving each other pep talks and congratulating each other on a job well done. A shared experience can bring all different people together from different places and backgrounds. I think society could benefit with more experiences like this. We are so insular in our own echo chambers and this brought some new people into my life who I might not have otherwise met. In your team, in work, look at challenges that you can do together so you can bond more deeply. If you work alone, keep on the look out for something you can be apart of. There is so much out there when we just look for it.

I can highly recommend comedy if you feel like you want to do something scary, and I can promise you that the feeling you have when you walk off stage is better than anything I have experienced in my life. I’ve jumped out of planes, sang on stages such as the Royal Albert Hall, given talks in front of thousands of people, but making people laugh is pure magic. It is the act of giving joy to someone and the connection you get in return makes you feel so alive. It is worth the fear.

What are you afraid of? I invite you to sign up to do something that will make you feel ALIVE, as one day you won’t have another chance.

? Feel free to comment or email me on [email protected]