Your Secrets are Funny

Your secrets can be comedy gold. As a comedy coach, I've watched thousands of new comics ignore the personal, relevant topics that could get them laughs, and even a career, in favor of the hack routine of every other beginning comic - Viagra, BJs, Online dating.  They're literally standing knee deep in gold nuggets of authentic material but grabbing at all the shiny plastic around them. Last week I was coaching a talented comic, whose new material had a "heard it before." feel to it.  When I questioned her about her life, she revealed that her parents are Holocaust survivors.  I said, "That's your topic." She was dead set against it, "I can't talk about that! Everyone will hate me." Now, granted, the Holocaust is not known for generating a lot of yucks, but isn't that the challenge of comics and speakers - to transform tragedy into comedy?  Anyone can get a cheap laugh off of an already-funny topic, but it takes skill and talent to find laughs where there are none. After all, it's not the topic that determines how many laughs you get; it's how skillfully and creatively you handle it. And when something serious IS a part of your life, as a comic or a speaker, you HAVE to include it.  Sorry, but it's part of the job.  Your secrets are funny.  It's as simple as that.  So share them or get off the stage. Every gay comic went through this in the 80's, with the whole "I can't talk about being gay" thing. Now it's your turn to open up. Let's face it, we all have something to come out about.  Omitting a topic that is a big part of your life (and secrets tend to be a big part) will create a disconnect between you and your audience, and between you and your career.  Just ask comic, Samuel Comroe. Samuel Comroe refused to talk about having Tourettes Syndrome for the first part of his career.  But now this brave young comedian has come out about having this disorder, and he's turned the trials and tribulations of living with Tourettes into an unforgettable stand-up comedy act that has made him a hot ticket in the college market. Honesty builds careers. I got a call back from the comic I was coaching. She's decided that her story has to be told. "It's hard growing up with parents who are Holocaust survivors. As a kid, no matter what happens to you -- if you fall off your bike, if the teacher is mean to you, if you get kicked out of Brownies -- you can't get any sympathy because 'You haven't been to Auschwitz.' 'But mom, the Brownies wear brown shirts.'" It's a start. What secrets of yours are you keeping from your act? Post them here! -Judy Motivational Humorist, Comedy Coach, and Author.