I am a Suicide Prevention Speaker and Comedian, was a writer for The Tonight Show for 20 years, a full-time speaker and comedian for 37. I’ve worked with Jeff Foxworthy, Jerry Seinfeld, Jon Stewart, Steve Harvey, Rosie, Ellen, The Beach Boys, Neil Sedaka, Randy Travis, and Lou Rawls. I’ve fought a lifetime battle with Depression and Chronic Suicidality, turning that long dark journey of the soul into 11 TEDx Talks, one SPEAK Event, and sharing my lifesaving insights on Mental Health with colleges, corporations and associations. I’ve survived 2 aortic valve replacements, a double bypass, a heart attack, 3 stents, losing to a puppet on the Original Star Search and lived to joke about all of it.
A comedian who speaks on depression and suicide. How does that work?
Well, depression and suicide run in my family. It's called generational depression and suicide. My grandmother died by suicide. My mom found her. Nine years later, my great aunt died by suicide. My mom and I found her. I was four years old. I screamed for days. In 2010, after filing a Chapter Seven bankruptcy in April, I came very close to suicide. Close enough, I can tell you what the barrel of my gun tastes like. Spoiler alert. I did not pull the trigger. A friend of mine came up at a keynote recently. He goes, “Hey man, how come you didn't pull the trigger?”
I go, “Hey, man, could you try to sound slightly less disappointed?” So that's where the humor is in the topic. It's not jokes. It's just funny, personal anecdotes. That's why. And I myself live with two mental illnesses, major depressive disorder and chronic suicidal ideation, major depressive disorder, relatively common. Chronic suicidal ideation, far more rare. It means for people in my tribe, the option of suicide's always on the menu as a solution for problems large and small. And when I say small, my car broke down a couple years ago. I had three thoughts unbidden. One, get it fixed, two buy new, and three, I could just kill myself.
That's chronic suicidal ideation.
You have 11 Tedx Talks. How did you land all of those?
Well, the only person who had five was the guy in England. He passed away. That's the most I've been able to find anybody else has gotten. In 2014, I applied. It was a Tedx in British Columbia. And I got it on my first try, which is unusual. And then two TEDx events reached out to me after that said, do you have any more mental health ideas to talk about? And I did. So I did two more at their request.
The next seven I applied for and got. And I've got a really big social media footprint on LinkedIn. And an event in India, in the state of Assam, reached out and said, we like your take on mental health. Would you be willing to do a TEDx force virtually? I said, absolutely.
So I got invited to as well. So, it's just a matter of applying, it's a bit of a numbers game. I got my first one on the first try, but the other ones took 20, 30, 40 applications before I got the audition and got asked to do it.
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thementalhealthcomedian.com
216: The importance of having a plan - with Tim Fulton
215: Be assertive and polite - with Peter Yawitz
214: S.M.A.R.T. criteria - with Dr. Wayne Baker
213: People are Hungry for Connections with Drew McLellan
212: Now is the time to reinvent yourself - with Lori Mendelsohn
211: Wisdom based learning - with Craig Lemasters
210: Surround yourself with smarter people - with Luke Doubler
209: Prioritize networking - with Christopher Gerg
208: Relationships are found in every community - with Dr. Froswa' Booker-Drew
207: The power of podcasting with Elzie Flenard
206: The arts and science of networking - with Cory Nichols
205: You can create your brand - with Nela Dunato
204: Be of service in an authentic way - with Britt Bolnick
203: How a website ties into a company's impact - with Chris Yoko
202: Skills are today's currency in the workplace - with Naresh Vissa
201: Your network is your net worth - with Lane Kawaoka
200 - Top Networking Tips
199: Find someplace to volunteer - with Frank Agin
198: Writing a letter to Jay Leno - with Gary Loop
197: Know your zone of genius - with Thembi Bheka
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