COMEDY

Humor - such a many-splendored thing. What makes you laugh? Comedians come in all shapes and styles - it reminds me of the different versions of humor families and communities use. In many families, humor is often a way to express things that are hard to say, kindly or not. When I worked with cancer patients, that dark gallows kind of humor would surface when the staff needed a little relief. Our personal style of humor reveals a lot about us - our brilliance, the torque of our mental twistedness, our modes of expressiveness and creativity, and what we think about.

With performance, the underlying intention is critical. Shticks and well told jokes aside, an intelligent framework and higher underlying intention is critical to well done comedy. Don't get me wrong -  one of my most successful character for generating laughs was the mad body worker - essentially a master of slapstick and funny faces. Of course, the spoofing on the massage world was not lost upon my Boulder audience. Yet how fulfilling when comedy work has a higher intention - when you can laugh while you're learning for example, or gain a new perspective while your belly is bursting with laughter.

My first experiment with comedy characters created Baba BellyAna. Women's struggle with body image was the theme, and guess where that came from? Oh yes, People's magazine reports, not my own backyard oh no. A little research revealed a great picture (coming soon) that compared icons like Marilyn Monroe to Twiggy to Pamela Anderson. Easy to see how ridiculous and nonhuman the standards are that we're led to emulate, and how they shift over time. So there you are, you finally get the voluptuous thighs Marilyn had, and then it's time to switch to Twiggy's frame. Right! I got to thinking about an alternate reality - and came up with Baba's Belly Tribe. They had a yearly parade that celebrated the most unique belly - and the bigger the belly the more power the human contained. Used this way, humor brings awareness, dispels idiocy, and helps us appreciate a larger context to our struggles or conflicts.

Inspired Theatrics (IT) comedy presentations aren't just funny. There's a lot of serious pain going on today in our own lives and the world, as we engage with the endless directive to expand who we are, and what humanity is capable of. Growth edges mean you are alive, gaining the new and letting go of the old. New construction requires breaking ground. IT can take any topic, gather your information, conduct additional research, and create a unique and inspiring view on an important issue relevant to your life, your team, your community. The IT approach integrates the pain with the joy, in a way that softens your heart and widens your smile. Check out our current presentations under offerings, and our products and services. Contact us to learn more about how we can serve your spiritual and transformative comedy needs.

Here's an article on humor I wrote for my coaching website: http://www.soulsavvy.org/2005/HumorHelps.html

Even when she is playing an outrageous character, (e.g. Tina), I always feel we’re “on the same side of the desk”. Without attacking or ridiculing, she inspires me to feel/think in a different way.  Her courage, grounded in her heart and mind, was seen in her recent show a few months after 9/11. With great sensitivity she wove a piece around those events; she dedicated it to fostering the healing process in all of us. I am grateful for Denise’s ability to connect with her audience, bringing insight with humor and without pretension. -AL, Boulder