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.
Connect with Frank!
X
thementalhealthcomedian.com
316: B2B vs. B2C Marketing: What's The Difference? - with Eric Morley
315: Sharing Your Client Success Stories Through Case Studies - with Katie Corbett
314: Steps To Sell Big: How Entrepreneurs Can Target and Sell To Corporations - with Melinda Chen
313: Advocating For The Future of Manufacturing - with Mike Womack
312: Finding Customers Online By Optimizing Every Touchpoint - with Jeff Venn
311: How Manufacturers Can Show Up In The Digital Space - with Gail Robertson
310: The Importance of Discovering Your Brand's Voice - with Geoffrey Stern
309: Stepping into A New Role In The Marketing World - with Valerie Weber
308: How Coaching Paves The Road To Professional Success - with Andy Hillig
307: Choosing The Right Channels To Maximize Your Online Presence - with John Buglino307: Choosing The Right Channels To Maximize Your Online Presence - with John Buglino
306: Creating Ferocious Advocates For Your Brand - with Andrew Deutsch
305: Leave Workplace Burnout In The Dust: The Science Behind Caffeine - with Danielle Robertson Rath
304: Keeping Up with Workplace Health and Safety - with Ted Carew
303: How Manufacturers Can Protect Their Market Share - with Sam Gupta
302: Maintaining Control of Your Body and Business - with Matan Gavish
301: Helping To Rebuild Families After Re-Entry - with LeTeisha Gordon
300: Cultivating Long-term Relationships through Podcasting - with David Bain
299: Breaking Barriers to Help Women Climb The Corporate Ladder - with Gina Stracuzzi
298: Fostering Relationships That Help You Grow - with Elin Barton
297: Entering The E-Commerce Market As A Manufacturer - with Curt Anderson
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The emPOWERed Half Hour
NABOR® TALKS
U.S Property Podcast
Aligned Money Show
The Ramsey Show
Planet Money