Humor That Works

The Power to Unplug

Drew — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:41:30 +0000

I went to Cape Cod, MA this past weekend for a wedding and a short vacation from my obligations in New York. Foolishly (or so I thought), I left my phone charger in my apartment and soon realized my phone was not going to last the duration of the weekend.

As it turns out, this “mistake” was actually exactly what I needed to relax. I couldn’t constantly check my email, Twitter went a few days without an update, and anything unrelated to the wedding or my relaxation was put on hold until I returned to the city–and surprisingly the world didn’t self-destruct because I was disconnected. I was OK in an absolute emergency since I could turn my phone on to use the remaining 20% battery, but I had to be frugal with how often I really had to connect to my everyday life. I found the answer was not very often.

So if you really want to disconnect for a weekend, leave your charger at home. You won’t have the power to recharge your phone, but you will have the power to unplug.

Team-Building Activity – Line Up

Drew — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 16:52:06 +0000

One of my favorite team-building activities of late has been the “Line Up.” It’s an exercise that involves all of the participants lining up single-file according to a specified criteria. As an example, you might have everyone line-up alphabetically by first name. As you specify different criteria, you can add conditions like not being able to talk or having everyone close their eyes.

The normal exercise is great for large groups–you get people moving around and visually learning about their peers through where they stand in each line. However the real fun I’ve had with the exercise is with smaller teams. Having 7-10 people go through the exercise gives you time to discuss the different challenges and really get to know each other.

If you’d like to incorporate the Line Up team-building activity into your next gathering, you can follow the instructions in the following presentation, or download it and take it with you. The presentation provides instructions, an example, and a set of 8 criteria that build trust each step of the way. Some additional team-building tips are included after the presentation.

Team Building – Line Up

View more presentations from Drew Tarvin.

Some additional tips to make the most of this team-building activity:

There are countless other criteria you could use; if you decide to switch them up, think about what topics the participants would gain from learning about each other.
The order of the slides is important as the challenges should slowly build in amount of discussion and intimacy of questions.
The last challenge allows you to gauge the effectiveness of the exercise. Regardless of how people respond, you can share with them one of my favorite notes about team-building:
- “Studies show that people become closer when they share emotion and experiences. So if you guys love this exercise, then I’ve done my job because you’ve become closer over the activity. If you guys hated this exercise, I’ve still done my job because you’ve become closer together over all hating me for making you do it.”

Done this activity before? What’s your favorite criteria to use? Share it in the comments!

Carnival of HR: Humor at Work Edition

Drew — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:30:38 +0000

If you’re correctly applying humor at work, one of the groups you’ll be talking to is HR. Not because they’ll be scolding you for taking a break at 3pm to run down a Slip N Slide in the company’s front lawn, but because they’ll be yearning to learn more about the amazing benefits of humor.

With that in mind, I have the pleasure of hosting this week’s Carnival of HR–a gathering of awesome HR-related posts from around the web. Check out the below links for topics ranging from leadership to teambuilding to chickens (sorta). And be sure to follow these folks on Twitter or RSS–they have some amazing blogs and are just the kind of people you’ll need to know when you have to explain to HR why pulling an office prank on your CEO is totally a good idea.

10 Engagement-Building Behaviors for the Boss – Who’s the Boss? Here’s what you and Tony Danza can do to get better results from your team.
Accidents Will Happen – As is the case with improv, depending on how you handle accidents afterwards, they are no longer accidents.
Are Men In HR Going the Way of the Dinosaur? – Interesting question to consider about HR. 80% women attendees? I knew I should have majored in HR instead of Computer Science.
The Art of Saying No – Why “Just Say No” isn’t just for D.A.R.E.
Be Bodacious: Put Life in Your Leadership book review – Thoughts on how a book that includes chicken catching and chicken eating is great for leadership.
Become Unnoticeable to Be Noticed – Getting noticed in the corporate world means doing the “non-sexy” work exceptionally well.
Connecting, Building Relationships and Team Success – Just like good improv, good companies and projects focus on relationships.
Creating Online Content and #socialrecruiting – Why creating online content is good, even if it’s LOLcats.
Don’t Pick My Pocket Just Because I’m Female – Wo(ah)man, that’s not right–even in female dominated professions men are still paid disproportionately more money.
Everyone has their own Trevor – Why “your cat not letting you do your work” is no longer a good excuse.
Five Ways to Disarm an Angry Mob – AKA delivering not-necessarily-happy news. Does not cover how to create the angry mob.
Getting the Most Out of International Assignments – Improving the value of international assignments regardless of currency, except Monopoly money.
HR Technology Conference – It’s Just Around The Corner. Are You Ready? – HR Technology Conference reminder, be there or be without awesome HR technology.
Infinite Choice – The “Analog vs Digital” argument for decision-making.
Leadership Development: Executive Self-Assessment – Pop quiz, hot shot! An informative assessment on leadership development.
M&A Observations: StepStone Solutions Acquires MrTed — Who’s Next – Thoughts on happenings in the talent management software market.
The Problem is Likely Not the Person Pointing Out The Problem – Further exploration as to why you shouldn’t shoot the messenger, even if it is ICQ.
Seven Ways to Build Rapport Anytime – Rap-port isn’t just a dock for hip hop music. Here’s how to build the other kind of rapport.
Teamwork or Talent? – Why Teamwork and Talent are both important and why I don’t want to hang out with Oz.
Three Reasons Why Small Companies Do Not Use Pre Employment Hiring Assessments – The title says it all.
Top 10 Reasons Why HR Professionals Should Use Metrics – I, too, am all for the metric system (both in terms of measuring results and the system of measurement).
Training Series: Calling Yourself a “Trainer” doesn’t make you one – Some good thoughts on training, kind of like the corporate version or “a house is not a home.”
Uncle Joe’s Employee Engagement Funda – Kick Once Kiss Thrice – What you can learn about leadership from a interesting, old, Indian shopkeeper.
Understanding Employee Turnover – The costs of turnover. Apple turnover is $1.99.
Voluntary vs Involuntary – Not about turnover this time – Avoid coworkers screaming “TMI! TMI!” after a story about your weekend by thinking about if they are a voluntary or involuntary friend.
Well Duckie, we’re only as lucky as the next net job. – No it’s not about the rules of “Duck Duck Goose” but rather a compelling look at the job market.
What’s Your IQ? – Discussion on some of the misconceptions of innovation, such as the fact that INN-ovation is not about enthusiastic responses about hotels…
Where I rant about Immigration Laws… – “I-9.” “Bingo!” — An HR perspective on Immigration Law.

That’s it for this week’s edition of the Carnival of HR. Round of applause for the authors, well done.

Old Spice: The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

Drew — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 19:35:46 +0000

The most recent Old Spice campaign has generated over 100 million views online; the Old Spice channel on Youtube has over 100,000 subscribers; there are nearly 700,000 fans on Facebook. What started out as a well-done commercial for Old Spice has turned into a hilarious internet phenom–and all of this for body wash and deodorant.

Isaiah Mustafa, aka The Man Your Man Could Smell Like, has helped launch the Old Spice brand into social media stardom with one of the most popular social media campaigns of all time. The original video (shown below) generated 15 million views on Youtube and over 20,000 comments. But the Old Spice group wasn’t done. They’ve since released another video (now with over 10 million views) and have made over 180 video responses to social media comments–generating thousands more comments and over 100 million views online.

The entire campaign has been a showcase for the power of humor. The reason the videos have exploded into popularity is, simply put, they are hilarious (although I’m sure having an attractive, athletic man with no shirt on doesn’t hurt).

What’s so Humorous

I could try to describe all of the intricate details of what makes the videos work, but a picture is worth a thousand words, so the video is probably worth a million:

Why the Humor Works

The collective humor of the entire Old Spice campaign works for a number of reasons, many of which are re-applicable to a variety of work contexts (not just marketing):

They know their audience. The commercials speak directly to women (“Hello Ladies”) but are targeted to both men (the amount of humor and assumptions about what women want) and women (making a man smell better and a man with no shirt on). What’s more, when the original commercial went viral, the agency realized the most receptive audience wasn’t people sitting on a couch watching TV but people at their computers, so they went to the interwebs with direct video responses to comments made by influential social media moguls.
They are confident. Part of the reason the commercials are so successful (and why Mustafa now has a development deal) is because Mustafa plays the role perfectly and is confident with everything he is saying. If he meekly tried to deliver these lines, it would never have worked–it’s his swagger that defines the humor.
They have the element of surprise. Laughter is caused by a break in expectation, and the videos are one surprise after another. The flowing changes in scenery and objects constantly surprises us with delight as we see The Man Your Man Could Smell Like go from a shower to a boat to riding a horse in one seamless take.

Of course there’s more than just those 3 elements to consider–such as the hard work by the agency to do clever writing, proper promotion, and the shear work required to create over 150 videos responses, but those basics are something we can all learn from the videos. And if you’re wondering how they could create so many videos (shooting as many as 40 in one day) in such a short time, the answer is improv. In a talk with GameChangers, Dean McBeth, Digital Strategist on the Old Spice brand said “Improvisation is the single most important factor in the success of the Old Spice Guy campaign.”

For more on the videos, check out the Top 10 Old Spice Guy Video Responses.

The Answer is Improv

Drew — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 18:23:34 +0000

Q: What can I study to become a better presenter?

A: Improv

Q: Is there a way to learn how to think on my feet?

A: Improv

Q: What can I do to improve my creativity?

A: Improv

Q: How can I demonstrate the keys to successful communication?

A: Improv

Q: What’s a fun event I could host at my company off-site?

A: Improv

Q: How can I build trust with my co-workers?

A: Improv

Q: Is there a team-building activity that’s actually fun?

A: Improv

Q: How do I teach someone about humor?

A: Improv

Q: What’s a fun and easy way to get started in comedy?

A: Improv

Q: What is the shorter word for improvisation?

A: Improv

To learn more about improv, check out these other great improv posts.

$5000 or a Stranger’s Happiness?

Drew — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 13:49:13 +0000

Which do you think would make you happier, receiving a $5,000 pay raise or having a friend of a friend of a friend who is generally happy?

According to a recent survey conducted at Harvard Medical School, the friend of a friend of a friend (aka someone you’ve never met) being happy increases the chance of you being happier three times more than if you got the $5,000 raise.

The study found that if a friend of a friend of a friend is happy, you have a six percent chance of being happier (versus two percent caused by a $5,000 pay raise). If it’s a friend of a friend who’s happy, the odds jump to 10 percent, and if it’s a direct friend, 15 percent.

They also discovered that this works for sour moods as well, though not as strongly. Each “unhappy connection” decreased the chance of a person being happy by seven percent. That means if you have 14 friends, friends of friends, or friends of friends of friends who are unhappy, you are 98% more likely to be unhappy.

How does that affect you? Well in addition to underscoring the importance of surrounding yourself with people who are generally happy, it also emphasizes the impact you have on other people. When you’re happy, you increase the liklihood of your friends being happy by 15 percent (and people you don’t even know by six percent)!

So if not for yourself, than for the good of mankind (that might be a slight exaggeration), be happy.

Your First Kiss

Drew — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 18:00:58 +0000

Do you remember your first kiss? The excitement. The nervousness. The curiosity. All of it leading up to a pivotal moment in your life. Those types of moments are hard to forget.

That’s how you should feel whenever you start something new, whether it’s a project, job or relationship. Those “firsts” should be memorable because you are excited, nervous, and curious about where things might lead.

Because if not, what’s the point? If you aren’t excited about becoming healthier as you start your new exercise regimen; if you don’t feel nervous about the new promotion you just received; if you aren’t the least bit curious about how a new relationship (platonic or otherwise) might pan out–what’s the point of even doing it? Instead, find something that does make you feel that way.

Life is short, be doing something memorable.

Hospital Humor… An Interview with Sally Franz

Drew — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 19:11:06 +0000

What would you do if you suddenly became paralyzed from the waist down? Well, if you’re Sally Franz, you write a book about the experience. I sat down with the Scrambled Leggs author to talk to her about her book and how she uses humor as means to an end. What end? Listen and find out.

Sally Franz

You can listen to the interview below:

Highlights include:

What Scrambled Leggs is about (0:56)
What an ocean liner, ice skates and wheelchair have in common (3:45)
How the Greeks used humor (12:16)
Humor for pain management (16:30)
A list of things you love (20:27)
Choosing what makes you happy (23:47)

For more, check out:

I’ve transcribed the interview for those who prefer reading to listening (note: it has been edited for clarity). You can find the transcription at Hospital Humor from Scrambled Leggs.

Note: This is the fourth Humor Talks interview, a series with some of today’s thought leaders on the topic of humor in the workplace. You can sign-up for the Humor Newsletter to stay up-to-date with new interviews or get all future interviews via Podcast.

Hospital Humor from Scrambled Leggs

Drew — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 19:10:28 +0000

Note: This is the transcription of an interview with Scrambled Leggs author, Sally Franz. The interview has been edited for clarity and ease of reading. For the audio of the interview, check out Hospital Humor, an Interview with Sally Franz.

Sally Franz

Welcome everyone to today’s episode of Humor Talks, where I talk with some of the thought leaders of humor in life and in the workplace. Today we are talking with Sally Franz, author of the Amazon.com Best Seller Scrambled Leggs: A Snarky Tale of Hospital Hooey. Thank you for joining us Sally.

Oh Drew it is really my pleasure. I really admire your work. I can’t think of anything we need more than humor in the workplace.

Thank you. I have certainly been trying to do that, and that’s what initially caught my eye about your book, reading the description of it. The book doesn’t necessarily apply to the workplace but it applies to life in general.

Why don’t you tell us what Scrambled Leggs is all about?

Well about 5 years ago I was skiing, on a retreat with a bunch of kids and within a half-an-hour, I was paralyzed from the waist down. Oops, didn’t see that in the day planner.

I got dragged around to various hospitals and then air-lifted home, which cost $15,000. And did you know, when you pay $15,000 for a one-way airline ticket, you don’t have to put the tray table up on landing? That’s pretty cool.

Anyway, that’s where the story starts. But then I found out that getting paralyzed was just the beginning of my problems. The real issue was that hospital staffing has not changed in the 30 years since I had my kids–it was top-down management and the mentality from the staff was “You’re stupid, we’ll tell you what to do.” It was a nightmare; I couldn’t believe it. I was powerless and didn’t know what to do because people weren’t listening to me.

So I did what any good stand-up comic does: I started to take really good notes. The only tricky part was hiding my notes so the nurses didn’t smother me with pillows, but other than that…

I spent about a year in rehab learning how to walk again and I just took copious notes.

So Scrambled Leggs is a book about that experience of going from one moment skiing on a mountain to the next moment not being able to move your legs, and the journey that takes place after that–the emotional roller coaster as well as the thoughts you had in that moment.

You know in the 60′s there was a book called Black Like Me. I thought maybe I should have titled this Gimp Like Me because for a very short period of my life I got to find out what it was like to be in a wheelchair and be treated like an idiot.

I say on the back of the book, “If you wonder how to treat someone in a wheelchair, assume they are smarter than you are and you’ll probably be right.” There’s only a small minority of people in wheelchairs who are also retarded. It’s not the same thing.

When you are in a chair, everyone around you is stupid, they don’t know what to do. It’s simple, just talk to the person in front of you. But people don’t do that. You go out to dinner with friends and the waiter asks your friend what you want when I’m sitting right there.

The other thing I learned was that prior to being in a wheelchair, I wasn’t thinking much about being in a wheelchair. I watched the wheelchair Olympics once but that was about it.

Here’s a question, what does an ocean liner, ice skates and a wheelchair in common? Give up? No brakes!

No brakes. They do have these paddle things on the wheels that are just stabilizers so the wheels don’t turn when you’re parked, but they don’t have brakes. So if you’re going up a ramp and half-way up you get tired, too bad, keep pushing, because you’ll go backwards like a Mel Brooks scene if you let go.

It’s the small things you don’t think about a lot of the time, the things that we take for granted.

And that’s one of the great things about your book–it gives insight into that. It tells the story from the perspective of someone who is in a wheelchair that is very conscious and aware of those difficulties. And from that you share some tips for people who are caregivers to someone who is ill or injured, things to keep in mind when you go to visit this person in the hospital.

Hopefully many of us will be lucky enough to not have to experience a life-threatening injury, illness or anything that puts us in the hospital for awhile, but unfortunately it may happen to someone we know. The tips you provide are great for people who not only are experiencing an injury or illness but also the people who are interacting with people in the hospital.

One example is if you are visiting someone who’s very ill, maybe on morphine, don’t turn on your favorite TV show. Even if they look comatose, or are comatose, they can hear, and you don’t want to force them to listen to loud violence, like The Unit or 24.

Don’t do it. Just go hold their on hand, rub a little lotion on it, and talk quietly.

Also don’t come in with five friends and start bragging about all the cool stuff you’ve been doing since they’ve been flat on their back.

I was never sick a day in my life. I was in the best health of my life when it happened. I went mountain climbing, rock climbing, kayaking, skiing, and I didn’t like to visit sick people–I didn’t like the whole idea of sick. I pretty much thought it was a mindset and you just don’t go there. And then when it happened to me, I realized I was pretty insensitive and better pay attention here.

But I think the book is not just for sick people or people who are going to be around sick people. People who are not sick will laugh and will drop to their knees laughing because what I do is make fun of everything that got near me.

For instance there was a nutritionist who showed up and she was anorexic. She’s teaching me about food? I don’t think so. Then a shrink showed up and told me “You know I’m a psychiatrist but that’s just a big word. I can be your friend.” It’s like “Who are you? Where did you come from?”

At one point she said, “Sometimes we can be so sad we feel depressed.” I’m like “Oh my God, it’s Shirley Temple.” And then she said. ”And if you’re really really sad, boys and girls, you might feel suicidal. Do you feel suicidal?” I’m thinking, I’m doing my new age thing. Suicidal? No. Homicidal is coming up though.

I think that’s one of the things I really enjoyed about the book–in each chapter you give a summary of the lessons you’ve learned from that experience, which I think is great because those lessons apply in many circumstances.

Throughout the entire thing there is also a great use of humor both in terms of style and how it’s written, and it’s a book that talks about the value of humor.

So how did you use humor through this experience and in your daily life?

I came from a family of five kids in New Jersey, so right there you’re funny or you don’t eat–you’re going to be left out or pushed out. You have to be in the game, you have to be funny with one-liners.

It also showed me growing up that there isn’t anything that is so horrible that it can’t be funny. We laugh at funerals–we love the people that have passed on–but we tell funny stories about them; we enjoy the essence of life. We don’t say “OK after we’ve mourned for five years, now we can talk about that funny time dad went fishing and didn’t catch anything but a cold.”

We laugh about it right away, and that’s been a valuable thing because my life has shifted and changed very quickly. I’ve moved 32 times in 20 years–it’s been that kind of life–and you have to be able to laugh.

I have a whole chapter on laughing. I laugh at myself when I go to have an MRI because I have several of them every year and I know people who are terrified of them. That’s good because that means they’re not a narcissist because if you’re a narcissist and you go in there, all you think about is yourself the entire time.

When I hear that loud pinging noise I just think I’m like Jane Jetson getting my hair changed four different ways. And while I’m at it, I’ll pretend I’m Bill Murray in Groundhog’s Day getting gifts bestowed upon me, like I’ll come out being able to play the piano.

I teach people that, in your mind, you can have a whole different experience if you choose to have an imagination.

That was probably one of my favorite stories from the book, when you go through the MRI and you say “Every time this bar passes over me, I’m going to be a different person or a different character.” I think it’s hilarious to imagine you in an MRI machine being a wide variety of characters.

I like that you had a different mindset or perspective–you could be freaked out but instead you take this as an opportunity to, as you say in another part of the book, have a play date with yourself, to just enjoy the time you have and make the best of it and entertain yourself.

I have two kids and now grandkids, and anyone with kids knows there are times in your life when you go “Oh dear Lord, just five minutes to myself.” Well there you are. You may have up to 15 minutes in there. No distractions, no cellphones, no one saying “Mommy, Mommy, Mommy.” They don’t let anyone else in, so it’s great. It’s like a New York City apartment; it’s six feet by two feet.

I think one of the other things that’s interesting in the book is that you have a good outlook and you use humor, but you also aren’t unrealistic and saying everything is perfect, everything is great. Obviously if you could choose not to have had this happened to you, you would make that decision. So how do you balance humor with still being realistically in touch?

The answer is that I use humor very much the way it was used with the Greeks. I believe that sarcasm, irony, banter, satire and wit are used to point out the things that are very wrong in our society.

I actually have chosen, in my humor, stand-up and humor writing, to use humor for justice, to say “This is not OK with me. I’m going to make a joke so that everyone laughs but then everyone is going to have to think about the topic also.”

So it’s very realistically based. It’s important that people understand that it’s not OK with me that if you have to use a bedpan, a nurse says “I’ll be back in half-an-hour” and may or may not be. It is not OK with me that when I’m in pain they say, “Well next shift maybe we’ll talk to someone.” That’s 8 hours. It’s not OK with me that it happened to me and it’s certainly not OK with me that it might happen to someone else I care about.

So it’s really about patient advocacy and upgrading our healthcare system. If we’re going to have a huge change in our healthcare system delivery because of the new laws, we need a lot more trained people. And the nursing and medical staff that are not full-out doctors need to be given a lot more authority to help people.

That’s actually happening, by the way. We have a whole new group of people called Patient Advocates and some of them are actually doctors, and they are saying “We have to listen to patients.”

So to me, if humor is not baked in reality it’s just silly. The funniest stand-up comedians, such as George Carlin, were the people who talked about real things.

George Carlin is a great example of that. Not everything he said was a direct message, but if you think of bits like “Seven Words You Can’t Say on TV,” it was attacking this idea of censorship.

And maybe it was vulgar in the sense of the language being used but he was doing that to emphasize his point, use humor, and call out the absurdities of it. That’s a great example of how humor can be used; there’s a lot of truth said in jest.

That particular piece is really deep philosophically because it’s really asking “Do words have power of us? Do we choose that?”

Maybe the pen is mightier than the sword. Certainly every war where genocide has been involved has this kind wipe-out ideology; the great religious wars are all ideology—it’s words.

So Carlin’s piece was deep. He was really brining us to task–is it words that are really offending us? Is it what words mean? So you might giggle and laugh because he’s said some really foul stuff, but nothing the Wayan brothers haven’t said.

I heard him do a bit one time on the planet, “All this whining and complaining ‘Save the planet. Save the planet.’ It’s a rock, it will be here for millions of years. What you’re trying to save is your own sorry butt.” I fell off of the chair. No one had ever said that before—everyone was all Green Peace and love, and no one in the audience laughed, but I was at home watching it and couldn’t get off the floor because I was laughing so hard.

So I use humor that way—to point out injustices. It’s very reality-based.

I also use other people’s humor a lot, I’ll watch the comedy channel for hours because it helps me in my pain management.

That’s one of the points you talk about towards the end of the book. You share great stories about the absurdities you were going through, but then towards the end, you also talk about what life is like now.

One of things you talk about is how you deal with the fact that you are still in pain at times. You say that you create moments that are “so overwhelmingly funny that you forget that you don’t have your health.”

Right, and I will tell the people listening to this, if you have someone in your life that is disabled—I used to hate that phrase and I think I still do—if you’re not as abled as you used to be, you know someone’s that come back from the war and is missing a limb or two or a face or something, the only thing someone who is injured wants to do is blend in for five minutes. All we want to do is forget.

We do not want to be our condition, we’re over it. It’s hard sometimes when you’re in a lot of pain–you’re in the middle of therapy or burn-ward treatment–to forget that you are not your condition. People will give anything to just spend 10 to 15 minutes laughing or forgetting that they are injured or damaged.

In my case, I’m in pain 24/7. If my pain is really bad, I’ll just check myself into back-to-back comedy movies at the movie theater. And if I’m in the middle of something and really engrossed in the story, I’m good, because redirection is one of the best things you can do for pain—get your mind off of it basically.

There have been a number of times after improv or stand-up shows where I’ve talked to people who have been very appreciative for making them laugh, getting them through a rough point and allowing them to forget for a little bit.

That’s the appeal of movies–for these two hours I’m going to allow myself to escape to this other world where my bills aren’t piling up or I’m not in pain. And certainly you want to be able to handle those things once you leave, but everyone needs a break every now and then from the this crazy, serious world that exists.

As Einstein said, the best thing you can do for creativity is to day dream. Escapism is actually a form of Zen because you are putting your brain into a different mode other than crisis mode and stress mode. And that’s when the body can really think and come with a plan to solve some of the problems that are back on the desk.

If you don’t do it, and you just kind of keep pushing yourself and pushing yourself, you are, as my sister and I love to say, “Robbing Peter to pay Paul.” People ask what do I do all day. I say I manage the family estate, which means if I only give Visa $100 instead of $150 and I take that other $50 and I give it to the doctor so that maybe this guy won’t call me.

Everyone’s playing these games and challenges, and I was never really very good at math, so yeah, I need to go to the movies a lot.

20:18 – One of the other things I really liked about the book was the non-laughter kind of humor. A big focus of mine is that while laughter is a huge part of humor, it’s not the only thing.

Humor can be you in an MRI machine and entertaining yourself by changing characters everytime the bar passes over you. You’re doing some for amusement, something out of the ordinary. And I think one of my other favorite tips you share is making a list of simple things that you love and then choosing to have at least one of them in your life every day. Can you talk a little bit about what that means?

Well I learned this at a Tony Robbins seminar. He said people are going to be miserable if their list for a perfect, happy day includes winning the lottery, marrying Mr. or Mrs. America, having all of the bills paid, blah blah blah.

There are a lot of people like that. They say they will not allow themselves to have any happiness or laughter or enjoy themselves until life is perfect. Tony said you have to have a long list of “it’s for free” things you can access, and allow yourself to happy with those few things.

For instance: going to the park, smiling at a child and having them smile back; or going to a park and throwing peanuts out and watching 5,000 pigeons come down; or better yet, sitting at a park, throwing peanuts across to someone else’s bench and watching 5,000 pigeons come down on them.

You have to have something that is funny and fun. I say to people, particularly moms , if you splurge and buy homemade cookies at the bakery, buy three for yourself and hide them in the car where the kids can’t find them, and actually eat them all by yourself.

Some people say “that’s ridiculous,” but for some people that’s a splurge and that’s a kindness that they can do for themselves. I think it’s about being gentler and kinder to yourself, and letting that be fun and funny.

A lot of times it can be those small things.

I was just reading in an article today about a research study at The Ohio State University that talked about people who have depression. They’re finding that it’s sometimes a change in thinking that’s more helpful than a change of behavior.

I think small things like that are ways of changing your thinking. Instead of saying “For me to have a good day, I have to do X, Y, and Z—I have to wake up at the right time, work out, get at least 18 things done at work, etc etc,” instead, for me to have happiness all I need is to smile, see a certain color that I enjoy, walk past flowers or eat a cookie for 5 minutes by myself. That small change in thinking can go a long way in terms of your overall attitude and health.

I really think that there is a lot of science that backs this up. I’ve read quite a few studies myself that talk about attitude and the need for individuals to harness in the difference between reality and expectation. Sociologists will say that if you live a life where what you expected and what you got are too far apart, there’s going to be a lot of rage and anger in your life. So what do you do?

Let’s say you wish you could afford a BMW and you can’t even afford a beat-up Jeep. You can say to yourself, actually, I like the idea of a beat up jeep, now that I think about it. Who told me I had to have a BMW when I’d rather be bouncing around in a jeep and be able to take it on the beach or off-track.

It’s about examining where you got these beliefs. I have a Twitter account and Facebook group called “Sally Franz Uncorked,” and today’s message was, “I just looked up and saw I have six tubes of lipstick all different colors, that match different outfits.”

I stopped myself and thought, who told me that I had to match my lips to my clothes? Where did that come from? Why don’t I match my nose or my elbows to my clothes with color? Think of all the possibilities!

It’s like all of the sudden you look at how we’ve been programmed by our culture, not to mention Madison Ave, to buy things, and you are miserable.

You have to really reconstruct what you want to do and what you’re choosing to say makes you happy and makes you feel good about yourself–not an easy task.

Your book is full of a number of humorous anecdotes that talk about the different stories and different situations of your experience. Is there one in particular that you want to share with the listeners or even one that’s happened since the end of the book? Just a humorous example of something that has happened?

Wow, there were so many things that were just ridiculous. I think the thing that was really funny for me was looking at the distinction between what I thought would happen and what did happen.

I tell a funny story about the first time they tried to put me in a machine to help me walk (this was in the hospital before I got to rehab). It was like a Mister Machine or a borg thing that they strapped me into, with wheels and gears, and dragged me around the four corners of the building, back to my room, and they were dragging my toes.

They kept saying in the beginning “You can do it, you can do it. That a girl. Good job.” Which is what you tell a 2 year old when you’re trying to potty train her. As I got around the last wing, heading towards my room, it was more like “Well you seem a little tired. Maybe we’ll try this again next time when you’re not so tired.”

It was like “Whoa, how did this somehow become my fault, I’m the one that’s paralyzed. You’re the one that’s been dragging me around. My toes feel like they’ve been dragged on industrial carpet and Emory boards for the last half hour. “ I was like “Um, when do I get to vote? When did I give up my vote? I want to vote on how I get treated and how I get talked to.”

Sharing these stories is my way of trying to make fun of a really horrific situation. People just walk into a room, hoist you on a machine, drag you around, and then at the end of the day it’s your fault since it didn’t work. That’s when I’m like, whoa, get me out of here. One of my chapters is called “Vote Me Off the Island, Please. “

People who are going through a horrible time can read this book. Even if that horrible time isn’t about illness, I promise you you’ll begin to get a sense of how you can laugh at yourself and the situation. And tell the truth at the same time.

Awesome. You can find the book scrambled legs on Amazon.com as well as your site ScrambledLeggs.net. You have a Twitter account and a Facebook page as well. Anything else you’d like to make sure listeners are aware of?

Yeah I would love to have people go to my site or you can go to Amazon and leave a review. You can also reach me at sallyfranz on Facebook. I would love to talk to anyone who wants to talk to me about this.

And I certainly appreciate you talking to me, Drew, this was really fun. Thanks!

It was a blast for me as well. Thank you very much for joining us Sally and have a great rest of the day.

Great, you too!

That concludes the interview. For more, you can listen to the audio on Sally’s interview or check out her book.

Scrambled Leggs by Sally Franz

Humor Lessons from Scrambled Leggs

Drew — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 13:02:08 +0000

Humor has many benefits–it can bring you closer to another person, ease the tension in a room and help you deal with difficult circumstances, like becoming paralyzed. Such is the tale in Sally Franz’s Scrambled Leggs: A Snarky Tale of Hospital Hooey, a book about laughter, pain, and everything in between.

Scrambled Leggs

In the eBook, Sally tells of her experience of dealing with Transverse Myelitis, an auto-immune disease that left her paralyzed from the waist down. But the book isn’t just about that story, it’s also a memoir of events that shaped who Sally is, a how-to guide on dealing with difficult situations, and of course a humorous read. Sally holds nothing back, sharing her highs and lows, doubts and concerns, and opinions on everything ranging from faith to politics. And while I don’t agree with all of her views, I do agree with on this: one of the best way’s to survive this thing called life is to “Use humor, sarcasm and be generous with smiles.”

With that in mind, here are 7 Humor Lessons from Scrambled Leggs:

1. Humor can be simple.

“I made a list of very simple things I love (fresh linen, flowers, birds, cheesecake, prisms). I choose to have ONE of these items (at least) in my life every day.” (page 16)

Some people feel like incorporating humor into their lives means that they have to become a stand-up comedian, and while that’s one way to do it, there are much easier ways to add a little levity. Just creating a list of simple things you love like Sally did, and experiencing at least one per day, can go a long way in reducing stress and improving your attitude.

2. You have to take time to play.

“Why not have a playdate with yourself?” (page 46)

When we were kids, our only responsibility seemed to be to have fun. But as adults we have many more obligations and playing falls by the wayside. That’s why it’s important to schedule the time to enjoy humor, even if it means blocking an hour on your schedule during the day to be able to take a walk or read a book. Sally only learned the value of this when she was forced to rest and encourages the rest of us to not wait that long.

3. Gratitude inspires humor.

“A grateful person is fun to be around because they never demand blessings and yet they see them everywhere.” (page 50)

Being appreciative of what you do have (instead of longing for what you don’t) goes along way in improving moods. And we all know that being near someone who enjoys what they’ve got is much more fun than being around someone who complains all the time.

4. Humor inspires hope.

“I don’t have a whole lot of woo-woo-whoopie-doo-type joy all the time. But, I have a sense of humor and that gives me hope.” (page 54)

Sally stays honest with herself and the readers–she doesn’t pretend that everything is perfect. That’s because humor isn’t going to make life perfect, but it will make it manageable. Having a sense of humor won’t stop you from feeling sad at times, but it will help you rebound and know that things can be better.

5. Humor is a choice.

“‘You can choose to have a nice day, even if you don’t feel like it. So start choosing, NOW!’” (page 135)

This advice from Sally’s mom is incredibly important but so often missed. You choose how something makes you feel, and how you feel in general. Choose to have a nice day by seeing what’s been going well that day, by looking for reasons to laugh, and by smiling. Simply putting a grin on your face can trick your body into believing that today has been a great day.

6. Humor helps the things you can’t control.

“Dude, you might as well sit back and enjoy the ride. The time to sweat bullets is right before you get on the plane when you still have a choice.” (page 251)

We have to make a lot of decisions in our lives and many of those can be stressful–you may not always know what the “right” thing is. However once you’ve made a decision (such as sitting on an airplane mid-flight), it’s time to enjoy what you can because you can’t go back and not get on that flight. Once you’ve made a decision, go forth and embrace it.

7. Humor heals.

“I finally came up with a solution. Create moments that are so overwhelmingly funny that you forget you don’t have your health.” (page 262)

Humor won’t stop cancer or cure Sally’s Transverse Myelitis, but it can heal your soul. Laughter is the best medicine because it can help you heal mentally and, for brief periods of time, help you forget about the woes in the world and in your body. And while humor does help improve your immune system, increase tolerance to pain, and reduce stress, it’s the change in attitude and mood that improves your quality of life, and that’s one of the most important things to heal.

Scrambled Leggs

Sally shares a lot of wisdom in her book, both on humor and on living. But perhaps one of the most important things that stuck out to me was this overriding concept: Humor is free, so be generous with it. To find out more, check out the book’s website or purchase Scrambled Leggs on Amazon.