[Music]
let me tell you a little bit about
myself I grew up in Seattle Washington I
went to the University of Washington I
studied business now I’m a comedian
my parents are ticked school-bell
classroom how does that make you feel
when you hear that whoa
hello bitterness well you guys responded
I’ve asked a ton of people that question
the answer is never good when you hear
it is it I get anxiety nausea anger
sadness and why do we put ourselves
through this we spent a third of our
lives twenty years if you count
preschool in college too when you get
out and there’s no guarantee you guys
are gonna make it when you get out
holder ladies laughing at that one there
is no guarantee you’re gonna make it
when you get out I’ve been out for 20
years and I realized the teachers did
not teach us the right stuff they did
not once if I used a quadratic equation
I’ve never climbed a rope outside of gym
class the last thing I want to do when I
hear a fire alarm is getting a
single-file line and not talk 20 years
of your life in school not one minute on
how to actually have a successful
relationship with your spouse not one
minute on how to raise a child
successfully they’re crazy
so I’m going to show you guys i will
teach you for all the things they’re not
teaching you okay i’m going to show you
this is how your life goes down and what
your teachers are not teaching you in
school all right and i don’t care who
you are or where you’re from everybody
has the same life it’s the same thing it
starts out at about age sixteen sixteen
you say to yourself for the first time
oh i need to get a job one day so i’m
gonna have to work real hard at a skill
to make money but you know what i want
to make a lot of money so i’m gonna work
and work and work for years to become an
expert at a skill and then one day out
of the blue I get a relationship going
[Applause]
now I’ve got to keep the job going cuz
she needs a lot of money but now not
only do I have to be an expert at my job
all of a sudden I have to be an expert
at relationships this is hard she wants
me to be masculine yet sensitive I don’t
know if I’m supposed to be Tom Cruise or
Tom Cruise then we bought a house now I
have to be a plumber I have to be an
electrician I have to be a landscape
artist I have to be an expert at taxes
now we have children now I’m a doctor
I’m a mentor I’m a theologian and all of
a sudden I hear from my wife honey I
don’t get enough attention there is no
time oh there’s the bell right there how
did that Bell make you feel not so good
perhaps this time same Bell this time
it’s a recess Bell now how do you feel
let’s have some fun you want to have a
fun recess croquet yes awesome
awesome I got a new thing I want to show
you guys you guys are awesome watch
closely
once closely I got a ping-pong ball here
my mouth up here ping pong ball my mouth
watch closely here we go I’m gonna fit
your ball in the air now for you
[Applause]
[Applause]
now my door to him
[Applause]
[Applause]
there we go it’s a living here we go
[Applause]
come on
[Applause]
there’s a bell back to class
[Applause]
I know I know look at this look at this
say to the class no fun work classroom
crazy why did I spend 20 years of my
life doing this when I think about it no
joke my life is based on what I learned
at recess in the fifth grade
I’m not kidding that’s where I learned
how to juggle and that is my career now
my life is based on what I learned at
recess I don’t use anything I learned in
the classroom isn’t that crazy I learned
how to juggle at recess I went on and at
15 years old I set a world record on the
Jerry Lewis telethon for juggling at 19
years old I took fourth in the world in
an international competition went on to
have a great career as an entertainer
don’t use anything from the classroom
all from the playground and when you
really think about it I think the way we
played on the playground shaped what we
chose to do for a living I found some
old home movies of me on the playground
and I found out all my friends grew up
and chose the careers you would expect
by how they played you want to take a
look okay here we go
right here Oh first guy was the bully in
school he’s punching the other kid in
the back chasing him he’s now in
management Oh
dodgeball that was Doug floating he
loved to hurt other people look he wings
the ball in and then he laughs when he
hurts them he loved it when he heard
people he’s now a dentist oh my word
Stephen Huntley’s his glasses every day
get him while he’s down nail him while
he can’t see pick on the weak he’s now
an air traffic controller
look at that Julie green just got hit by
the ball and she keeps denying it look
at that she was hit by the ball again
they’re telling her she’s wrong and she
keeps denying it she’s now a lawyer how
about that huh pretty funny right she is
a lawyer and I am a juggler recess was
crazy though wasn’t it wasn’t recess
crazy do you miss it you do don’t you
I felt alive at recess I felt so alive
because remember we ran out to recess
but we walked back in
why don’t we treat every day of our
lives like it’s recess I think we should
I’m not the only guy thinking this way
change agent and author David Baum says
this a company that has fun where
employees put cartoons on the wall and
celebrate a spirited and creative is
usually more profitable what a company
that’s more fun is more profitable you
mean I can have a career be successful
and have fun and you know what a lot of
fortune 500 companies are now adopting
this into their culture check these
pictures out this is Google Zurich that
is a slide in the middle of office in
Google Zurich how cool would that be
like let’s take the elevator no way I’m
taking the slide we got to go upstairs I
don’t care I’m climbing up the slide I
would use it constantly oh I got to
check this one out this is Google Dublin
look how bright and vibrant the colors
they are giant beanbag chairs look how
creative the lighting is in the art on
the wall do you think that makes their
employees more creative I bet it does
check this one out this is Google Docs
that is called the fun floor who
wouldn’t want to work there right oh my
gosh and you’d think oh maybe Google’s
losing money because everybody’s goofing
off no I think Google actually is onto
something here I think they get more
productivity out of their employees by
doing this right let me tell you guys a
little secret here I don’t know if you
know this at the age of four a
four-year-old laughs up to 300 times a
day those are my kids right there
laughing all the time as kids 300 times
a day as a kid by the time you are 40 it
turns into 15 15 times a day what
happened where did the laughter go and I
started thinking about you know what a
four-year-old doesn’t it’s life is just
recess that’s all they do is have fun
you get to school and it’s work work
work we got recess for a little bit work
work work
recess for a little bit now in high
school you guys don’t have recess by the
time you’re an adult it’s never gonna
happen and I think that’s why adults
invented Las Vegas
well right but fun is important research
is now showing how important fun is
check this out from help guide org
laughter is a powerful antidote to
stress pain and conflict
nothing works faster or more dependably
to bring your mind and body back into
balance than a good laugh humor lightens
your burdens inspires your hopes
connects you to others
keeps you grounded focused and alert and
I know a lot of you are buying this and
going that’s great and some of you are
sitting there going well run that’s
really easy for you to say just have fun
and be recessed and be crazy because
you’re a comedian that’s what you do I’m
saying you can do it in any job you want
like let’s pick them what’s the most
boring job in the world accounting
accounting right just a bunch of numbers
how do you have fun with numbers let’s
have some fun with some numbers right
over here okay
what could the numbers be 9 minus 6 is 3
what could the number 3 be how about the
degree of burn on my thigh after my
Samsung Galaxy blew up how about that
two times 112 that’d be 224 how about
the average SAT score from a student at
Westlake
did we hit a nerve Oh three and three
that says six what could that be the
number of times I had to explain this
last joke at Westlake and then some of
you are going well Ron well Ron you
can’t always have fun then you know I go
will where and they go well how about at
a Funeral and I go yeah what are the
first three letters of the word
all seriousness though when I been at
funerals I’ve actually had some of the
biggest laughs of my life and I think
it’s because your emotions are connected
you are emotionally grounded there and
then somebody says something and it hits
you so hard it’s a big laugh and that’s
just like it recess you remember
everything at recess because you were
emotionally engaged you had adrenaline
going you remember the rules of the game
you remember who was playing and you
remember who was a jerk but you got back
into classroom where you weren’t
emotionally connected and it all just
went away
think of your favorite teacher right now
who is your favorite teacher I guarantee
you they’re either funny don’t say
they’re either funny or or they’re
energetic one or the other could get you
emotionally involved well Ron you know
you can have fun and all that but you
can’t have fun at a time of extreme pain
oh yeah
here’s how my family dealt with it right
here yes it is what you’re thinking that
is my wife giving birth on the right I’m
standing on the left it’s 3:30 4:00 in
the afternoon my daughter was born at
336 two minutes from now my wife just
finished contractions she’s in pain
let’s see how funny I am she’s laughing
she’s giving birth and laughing that’s
not supposed to happen but you know what
happens with laughter it becomes
contagious jump start flying around the
horn I’m not kidding the doctor makes a
joke you can’t hear it and then the
nurse is gonna make a joke listen to
this my dad is so busy and then my wife
has the last joke
right there that’s not supposed to
happen in the extreme pain but then
watch here it is two minutes later my
life is forever changed look at that
it’s now it’s now my wife my daughter
and me it’s my wife my daughter and me I
got a team now I’ve got my own team just
like it recess we were always picking
teams were we remember what it was like
to be the first pick and how great that
was remember how horrible it was to be
the last pick don’t ever let the people
you love feel like they’re the last pick
not your family not your friends not
your colleagues recess can I tell you
guys another trick can I show you a
trick okay okay I’ve been working on
this for a while I hope it works
[Applause]
–
[Applause]
I’d like to thank Jay Leno for teaching
me how to do that trick
how cool is that for a recess pretty
cool isn’t life great man always
treating life like recess and having fun
and goofing off and that’s kind of been
my life but there was one time in my
life there was that probably wasn’t the
easiest to have fun was the year my
father died I was seven years old and
that’s a tough age I don’t know
sure there’s somebody in here who’s gone
through that and I know what you went
through or you might be going through it
right now and I understand I’m the baby
of eight kids and God blessed me with
great parents because two of the kids in
my family were adopted
well my parents never told us which
witch to battle mess you up
talking that over with my brother lee
fong and
he thought it was Abdul Elijah it was
between them
you know I didn’t really know my dad
very well I was so young and he wasn’t
around not cuz he didn’t want to be but
he had to work really really hard to
support all those kids so my dad would
usually leave before I got up in the
morning and come home after I went to
bed but what I do remember of my dad was
when he was around me we played we just
played he would get all the kids in the
neighborhood and make a baseball game
one time actually the pool down the
street where we all swim he actually got
them to stop Adult Swim so 10 of us
could play ball tag of course he wanted
to play too cuz he loved to play but I
couldn’t believe he actually got them to
stop Adult Swim he just loved to play my
favorite game was a game called kick the
can cuz you could play til way till
after dark and that way I got my dad
just a little bit longer I recently went
through his desk and I found this poem
and I read the poem over and I went man
that’s how my dad lived his life the
poem goes like this the master in the
art of living draws no distinction
between his work and his play his labor
and his leisure his mind in his body his
education and his recreation his love
and his religion he hardly knows which
is which he simply pursues his vision of
excellence through whatever he is doing
and leaves it up to others to decide
whether he is working or playing to
himself he’s always doing both so if I
could leave you guys with anything it
would be this we ran to recess but we
walked back in so next time you hear
that Bell and you will it’s coming which
one are you gonna choose
run to life it’s your recess god bless
you all
you
let me tell you a little bit about
myself I grew up in Seattle Washington I
went to the University of Washington I
studied business now I’m a comedian
my parents are ticked school-bell
classroom how does that make you feel
when you hear that whoa
hello bitterness well you guys responded
I’ve asked a ton of people that question
the answer is never good when you hear
it is it I get anxiety nausea anger
sadness and why do we put ourselves
through this we spent a third of our
lives twenty years if you count
preschool in college too when you get
out and there’s no guarantee you guys
are gonna make it when you get out
holder ladies laughing at that one there
is no guarantee you’re gonna make it
when you get out I’ve been out for 20
years and I realized the teachers did
not teach us the right stuff they did
not once if I used a quadratic equation
I’ve never climbed a rope outside of gym
class the last thing I want to do when I
hear a fire alarm is getting a
single-file line and not talk 20 years
of your life in school not one minute on
how to actually have a successful
relationship with your spouse not one
minute on how to raise a child
successfully they’re crazy
so I’m going to show you guys i will
teach you for all the things they’re not
teaching you okay i’m going to show you
this is how your life goes down and what
your teachers are not teaching you in
school all right and i don’t care who
you are or where you’re from everybody
has the same life it’s the same thing it
starts out at about age sixteen sixteen
you say to yourself for the first time
oh i need to get a job one day so i’m
gonna have to work real hard at a skill
to make money but you know what i want
to make a lot of money so i’m gonna work
and work and work for years to become an
expert at a skill and then one day out
of the blue I get a relationship going
[Applause]
now I’ve got to keep the job going cuz
she needs a lot of money but now not
only do I have to be an expert at my job
all of a sudden I have to be an expert
at relationships this is hard she wants
me to be masculine yet sensitive I don’t
know if I’m supposed to be Tom Cruise or
Tom Cruise then we bought a house now I
have to be a plumber I have to be an
electrician I have to be a landscape
artist I have to be an expert at taxes
now we have children now I’m a doctor
I’m a mentor I’m a theologian and all of
a sudden I hear from my wife honey I
don’t get enough attention there is no
time oh there’s the bell right there how
did that Bell make you feel not so good
perhaps this time same Bell this time
it’s a recess Bell now how do you feel
let’s have some fun you want to have a
fun recess croquet yes awesome
awesome I got a new thing I want to show
you guys you guys are awesome watch
closely
once closely I got a ping-pong ball here
my mouth up here ping pong ball my mouth
watch closely here we go I’m gonna fit
your ball in the air now for you
[Applause]
[Applause]
now my door to him
[Applause]
[Applause]
there we go it’s a living here we go
[Applause]
come on
[Applause]
there’s a bell back to class
[Applause]
I know I know look at this look at this
say to the class no fun work classroom
crazy why did I spend 20 years of my
life doing this when I think about it no
joke my life is based on what I learned
at recess in the fifth grade
I’m not kidding that’s where I learned
how to juggle and that is my career now
my life is based on what I learned at
recess I don’t use anything I learned in
the classroom isn’t that crazy I learned
how to juggle at recess I went on and at
15 years old I set a world record on the
Jerry Lewis telethon for juggling at 19
years old I took fourth in the world in
an international competition went on to
have a great career as an entertainer
don’t use anything from the classroom
all from the playground and when you
really think about it I think the way we
played on the playground shaped what we
chose to do for a living I found some
old home movies of me on the playground
and I found out all my friends grew up
and chose the careers you would expect
by how they played you want to take a
look okay here we go
right here Oh first guy was the bully in
school he’s punching the other kid in
the back chasing him he’s now in
management Oh
dodgeball that was Doug floating he
loved to hurt other people look he wings
the ball in and then he laughs when he
hurts them he loved it when he heard
people he’s now a dentist oh my word
Stephen Huntley’s his glasses every day
get him while he’s down nail him while
he can’t see pick on the weak he’s now
an air traffic controller
look at that Julie green just got hit by
the ball and she keeps denying it look
at that she was hit by the ball again
they’re telling her she’s wrong and she
keeps denying it she’s now a lawyer how
about that huh pretty funny right she is
a lawyer and I am a juggler recess was
crazy though wasn’t it wasn’t recess
crazy do you miss it you do don’t you
I felt alive at recess I felt so alive
because remember we ran out to recess
but we walked back in
why don’t we treat every day of our
lives like it’s recess I think we should
I’m not the only guy thinking this way
change agent and author David Baum says
this a company that has fun where
employees put cartoons on the wall and
celebrate a spirited and creative is
usually more profitable what a company
that’s more fun is more profitable you
mean I can have a career be successful
and have fun and you know what a lot of
fortune 500 companies are now adopting
this into their culture check these
pictures out this is Google Zurich that
is a slide in the middle of office in
Google Zurich how cool would that be
like let’s take the elevator no way I’m
taking the slide we got to go upstairs I
don’t care I’m climbing up the slide I
would use it constantly oh I got to
check this one out this is Google Dublin
look how bright and vibrant the colors
they are giant beanbag chairs look how
creative the lighting is in the art on
the wall do you think that makes their
employees more creative I bet it does
check this one out this is Google Docs
that is called the fun floor who
wouldn’t want to work there right oh my
gosh and you’d think oh maybe Google’s
losing money because everybody’s goofing
off no I think Google actually is onto
something here I think they get more
productivity out of their employees by
doing this right let me tell you guys a
little secret here I don’t know if you
know this at the age of four a
four-year-old laughs up to 300 times a
day those are my kids right there
laughing all the time as kids 300 times
a day as a kid by the time you are 40 it
turns into 15 15 times a day what
happened where did the laughter go and I
started thinking about you know what a
four-year-old doesn’t it’s life is just
recess that’s all they do is have fun
you get to school and it’s work work
work we got recess for a little bit work
work work
recess for a little bit now in high
school you guys don’t have recess by the
time you’re an adult it’s never gonna
happen and I think that’s why adults
invented Las Vegas
well right but fun is important research
is now showing how important fun is
check this out from help guide org
laughter is a powerful antidote to
stress pain and conflict
nothing works faster or more dependably
to bring your mind and body back into
balance than a good laugh humor lightens
your burdens inspires your hopes
connects you to others
keeps you grounded focused and alert and
I know a lot of you are buying this and
going that’s great and some of you are
sitting there going well run that’s
really easy for you to say just have fun
and be recessed and be crazy because
you’re a comedian that’s what you do I’m
saying you can do it in any job you want
like let’s pick them what’s the most
boring job in the world accounting
accounting right just a bunch of numbers
how do you have fun with numbers let’s
have some fun with some numbers right
over here okay
what could the numbers be 9 minus 6 is 3
what could the number 3 be how about the
degree of burn on my thigh after my
Samsung Galaxy blew up how about that
two times 112 that’d be 224 how about
the average SAT score from a student at
Westlake
did we hit a nerve Oh three and three
that says six what could that be the
number of times I had to explain this
last joke at Westlake and then some of
you are going well Ron well Ron you
can’t always have fun then you know I go
will where and they go well how about at
a Funeral and I go yeah what are the
first three letters of the word
all seriousness though when I been at
funerals I’ve actually had some of the
biggest laughs of my life and I think
it’s because your emotions are connected
you are emotionally grounded there and
then somebody says something and it hits
you so hard it’s a big laugh and that’s
just like it recess you remember
everything at recess because you were
emotionally engaged you had adrenaline
going you remember the rules of the game
you remember who was playing and you
remember who was a jerk but you got back
into classroom where you weren’t
emotionally connected and it all just
went away
think of your favorite teacher right now
who is your favorite teacher I guarantee
you they’re either funny don’t say
they’re either funny or or they’re
energetic one or the other could get you
emotionally involved well Ron you know
you can have fun and all that but you
can’t have fun at a time of extreme pain
oh yeah
here’s how my family dealt with it right
here yes it is what you’re thinking that
is my wife giving birth on the right I’m
standing on the left it’s 3:30 4:00 in
the afternoon my daughter was born at
336 two minutes from now my wife just
finished contractions she’s in pain
let’s see how funny I am she’s laughing
she’s giving birth and laughing that’s
not supposed to happen but you know what
happens with laughter it becomes
contagious jump start flying around the
horn I’m not kidding the doctor makes a
joke you can’t hear it and then the
nurse is gonna make a joke listen to
this my dad is so busy and then my wife
has the last joke
right there that’s not supposed to
happen in the extreme pain but then
watch here it is two minutes later my
life is forever changed look at that
it’s now it’s now my wife my daughter
and me it’s my wife my daughter and me I
got a team now I’ve got my own team just
like it recess we were always picking
teams were we remember what it was like
to be the first pick and how great that
was remember how horrible it was to be
the last pick don’t ever let the people
you love feel like they’re the last pick
not your family not your friends not
your colleagues recess can I tell you
guys another trick can I show you a
trick okay okay I’ve been working on
this for a while I hope it works
[Applause]
–
[Applause]
I’d like to thank Jay Leno for teaching
me how to do that trick
how cool is that for a recess pretty
cool isn’t life great man always
treating life like recess and having fun
and goofing off and that’s kind of been
my life but there was one time in my
life there was that probably wasn’t the
easiest to have fun was the year my
father died I was seven years old and
that’s a tough age I don’t know
sure there’s somebody in here who’s gone
through that and I know what you went
through or you might be going through it
right now and I understand I’m the baby
of eight kids and God blessed me with
great parents because two of the kids in
my family were adopted
well my parents never told us which
witch to battle mess you up
talking that over with my brother lee
fong and
he thought it was Abdul Elijah it was
between them
you know I didn’t really know my dad
very well I was so young and he wasn’t
around not cuz he didn’t want to be but
he had to work really really hard to
support all those kids so my dad would
usually leave before I got up in the
morning and come home after I went to
bed but what I do remember of my dad was
when he was around me we played we just
played he would get all the kids in the
neighborhood and make a baseball game
one time actually the pool down the
street where we all swim he actually got
them to stop Adult Swim so 10 of us
could play ball tag of course he wanted
to play too cuz he loved to play but I
couldn’t believe he actually got them to
stop Adult Swim he just loved to play my
favorite game was a game called kick the
can cuz you could play til way till
after dark and that way I got my dad
just a little bit longer I recently went
through his desk and I found this poem
and I read the poem over and I went man
that’s how my dad lived his life the
poem goes like this the master in the
art of living draws no distinction
between his work and his play his labor
and his leisure his mind in his body his
education and his recreation his love
and his religion he hardly knows which
is which he simply pursues his vision of
excellence through whatever he is doing
and leaves it up to others to decide
whether he is working or playing to
himself he’s always doing both so if I
could leave you guys with anything it
would be this we ran to recess but we
walked back in so next time you hear
that Bell and you will it’s coming which
one are you gonna choose
run to life it’s your recess god bless
you all
you
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