[Applause]
hello how are you guys this afternoon
excellent when we laugh we relax when we
relax we learn humor is a gift humor
provided me with a number of gifts in my
life but before I share those with you I
would like to tell you about the gifts
that humor has for you according to
research at Loma Linda University in
California did you know that one minute
of anger can weaken your immune system
by 5 hours on the other hand one minute
of laughter can strengthen your immune
system by 24 hours humor helps us fight
stress also when we associate
information with humor we tend to
remember that information longer my key
note relieving work-related stress with
humor one of the ingredients I include
is a positive attitude a positive
attitude includes humor I think that’s
so important I put that as number one on
the list let me ask you something how
many people here in the room consider
themselves positive people positive
people by a show of hands good excellent
now I know some people have their hands
down maybe they’re shy maybe they’re
skeptical if you’re skeptical that’s
okay
there’s comedians who tend to be
skeptical and that’s cool that gives
them that skewed perspective that makes
them funny but consider this according
to research at the University of Utrecht
in the Netherlands positive people
statistically live longer the negative
people how much longer up to 10 years
longer now how many positive people do
we have in the room a little bit more
and listen there’s no magic to it it
just makes common sense positive
thoughts equal positive actions equal a
positive purposeful life
but I get it sometimes it’s hard to be
positive and in those moments I say
throw the superhero cloak over your
shoulders two of the most important
words in the world are thank you the
attitude of gratitude just by saying
thank you we release all sorts of
possible positive chemicals in our
brains increased gratitude equals
increased self esteem equals increased
confidence if you need more proof
consider a study that the United Nations
does every year the happiest places in
the world and luckily Canada has been in
the top ten for years but what was
interesting about the study there were
some countries that had a lot of crime a
lot of poverty that scored higher than
other countries that had less crime less
poverty and one of the reasons was that
advertisers don’t care about poor poor
people advertisers aren’t marketing
towards poor poor people and as the
result poor poor people are forgotten
about and as a result poor poor people
aren’t flipping through magazines all
day targeted towards them going you know
what I’ll be happy when I buy my own
Island I’ll be happy when I buy my own
private jet
I’ll be happy when I buy my own yacht
instead poor poor people say I’m happy
to be alive I’m grateful to be alive
thank you and if some kid in Indonesia
making $10 a day can find something in
their life to be grateful for Who am I
here in Canada to complain because I
can’t assemble my IKEA furniture
like really although IKEA furniture is a
little bit frustrating I went to Ikea
the other day took me three hours to
assemble my bookshelf yeah it’s supposed
to be a bed I’m sleeping on a bookshelf
now they give you the instructions the
instructions never have words they just
have pictures do you notice that I mean
you know the instructions are
complicated when the people in the
pictures are arguing with each other but
think about it the first world problems
that we complain about this year started
off a little bit spooky for me
three weeks after Christmas I was
visited by the ghost of Christmas past
visa and I don’t know how my bills got
so high I did all my Christmas shopping
at Costco we have any Costco fans in the
room okay don’t go crazy on me I don’t
have anything to give away but isn’t
Costco addictive you go in for toilet
paper you come out with a trampoline how
does that happen you know what it is
it’s the free samples don’t you love the
free samples we tell our kids not to
take candies from strangers meanwhile at
Costco some freaking a hairnet and
rubber gloves hens you cat food on a
Triscuit and you put it in your mouth
you want another one meow so the
importance of humor is is so significant
in our lives I’ve certainly used it
doing stand-up comedy I’ve certainly had
some held gigs in my past I remember one
particular gig in northern Alberta it
was a hell gig it’s the type of room
that shouldn’t have been doing stand-up
comedy in the first place so 10 minutes
into my act the audience is like boo get
off the stage 20 minutes into my act boo
get off the stage and the management was
really smart they paid me my money ahead
of time so the money was burning a hole
in my pocket right there was no way I
was leaving the stage but just at the 30
minute mark just when I saw it it
couldn’t get any worse one of the
performers in the back of the room had a
chimpanzee on a leash the chimpanzee
snapped off the leash started running
towards the stage I dropped the mic I’m
like to heck with us I’m out of here –
the biggest round of applause and
laughter I ever got in my career up to
that point so the power of laughter is
amazing and by the way while you were
laughing there you just boosted your
immune system by 24 hours so you’re
welcome
when we laugh we relax when we relax we
learn and also when we laugh we release
endorphins endorphins are natural
painkillers when we laugh we release
serotonin serotonin is known as the
happy hormone serotonin actually helps
us process information ten times faster
so laughing actually makes us smarter
babies have the vocal ability to laugh
at 17 days old on average babies laugh
300 times a day adults we laugh 25 times
a day I get it it’s hilarious being a
baby with the eating the pooping the
sleeping I get it but where did we lose
275 laughs when did we become so
self-conscious if you need further proof
the power the superpower of humor
consider a journalist in the 1960s a
gentleman by the name of Norman Cousins
Norman Cousins wrote for the New York
Post he was diagnosed with a terrible
tumor on his spine doctors told him to
get his affairs in order and Norman said
you know what if I’m gonna die I’m going
out like a roman candle and instead of
checking himself into the hospital he
went home with all the movies that made
him laugh up to that point in his life
and Norman said when he woke up in
excruciating pain he would pop in one of
these movies and for ten minutes of
belly laughter he could actually sleep
for a solid two hours and you know six
months from the date that Norman was
diagnosed with that terrible tumor that
tumor went away and Norman went on to
live a normal life so the power of humor
humor is a gift as I said off the top
humour gave me a lot of gifts humor gave
me very funny parents my dad’s from
Holland my mum’s from Guyana I’m
actually half Dutch one-quarter Asian
1/8 black and 1/8 vodka it’s a perfect
combination both my parents are very
funny people but they grew up in some
pretty unfunny times my dad grew up in
Holland during the Second World War
where he spent most of his childhood
underneath the basement stairs with a
kitchen pot over his head because
Holland got bombed so badly during the
Second World War
meanwhile him like in meanwhile in
Guyana my mum’s country had a lot of
poverty but I almost remember my mother
saying that whenever somebody came to
their back door asking for food my
grandmother would give them at least a
cup of rice even if that was only the
only thing that she had and both my
mother and father said they grew up with
a lot of love and a lot of laughter in
their homes even though there were some
pretty scary times now growing up with
my parents my two sisters and I even
though they were funny they were very
strict and they came from the old
countries they didn’t mess around if
they had to discipline us naturally we
would be mad I remember this one time my
dad yelled at me so much my hair was
blowing back then I didn’t want to talk
to him afterwards but then after a while
you know I had my arms crossed I didn’t
want to laugh I didn’t want to talk to
them but then my mom or my dad would
crack a joke and we would all be
laughing and at a very young age my
sisters and I learned that humor could
be used as an olive branch humor could
be used as a communication tool like my
parents I leaned on humor during the
good and not so good times in my life
for example I always wanted to be a
veterinarian in fact during high school
I actually worked at a vet for three
years unfortunately during my second
year of university 70% of my fruit flies
and 50
my final mark flew out of the biology
class window I was devastated this is
all I had focused on up to that point
and I took a very logical step after
that I quit University and then I took
the next logical step I got in my car
and drove to the United States to do
stand-up comedy for three months
did I have any prior comedy experience
hell no minor detail did I bomb yes more
than the first and second world war put
together as Edmund Kean says dying is
easy
comedy is hard did I learn hell yeah I
came back to Canada and I was one of a
handful of female comedians doing
stand-up comedy full-time in Canada for
the next seven years humor gave me the
best gift at the worst time humor got me
unstuck humour forced me to learn
different skills and because of my love
for humor it gave me the gifts that the
fruit flies had temporarily taken away
determination resilience and self
motivation in the face of some pretty
scary challenges fly tyers snowstorms
hell gags Norman Bates motels bad money
bad food and bedbugs humor got me
unstuck and it gave me the gift of
flexibility later on I was able to apply
humor to another passion that I had
radio broadcasting what I lacked in
radio experience I made up in comedic
experience and over the next 15 years I
was lucky enough to do morning or
afternoon radio shows in Toronto Ottawa
Montreal New York and Los Angeles humor
also gave me the important gift of
fundraising while I was doing the
morning show in Toronto I was able to
hook up with some phenomenal
organizations and some wonderful people
we created an annual comedy event
that over six years raised over 650
thousand dollars for breast cancer
humor also gave me is a wonderful gift
of teaching second city Toronto asked me
to teach stand-up comedy to the next
generation of comedians it’s really
exciting to use comedy to help people at
various stages in their life many of
which I could relate to switching
careers being afraid
rebuilding rebec rebranding building
confidence again or heck just checking
something off of a bucket list
finally humor gave me the greatest gift
of all time for those of us who do
comedy or speak for a living we don’t
work 9 to 5 jobs so I recognize that not
everybody is in that position and I feel
very lucky however as author richard
reed says contribute if you come across
a charity contribute money if you don’t
have money contribute time and if you
don’t have time contribute clothing I
chose to give my time to a local group
called city street outreach it’s their
mission to feed and clothe Toronto’s
homeless and needy and when you see
people on the street that are sitting on
a blanket and you give them a cup of
soup or a sandwich and they crack a
smile or they crack a joke you suddenly
realize that humor indeed is a gift
sometimes in the darkest moments so what
is your gift what is your superpower
what is your purpose in this
ever-changing world many of you will
face multiple careers in your lifetime
I’m here to tell you don’t be afraid of
change
use the challenge of change to
continually develop new skills
experiment don’t be discouraged when
things go wrong Oh
things will go wrong don’t I know
hashtag chimpanzee be brave be resilient
keep your sense of humor and don’t wait
to make it to make a difference the
world needs you now choose one random
act
of kindness a day it just might actually
help you find your superpower look for
your superpower look for your purpose
find it learn it teach it and give it
back as Anthony Anderson says from
blackish be ready for when your time
comes you will have that window of
opportunity so seize the moment and
capitalize on it at one of the lowest
points in my younger life someone opened
a window of opportunity and my fruit
flies escaped with all my dreams of what
I thought I wanted to become and damned
if I didn’t capitalize on it be brave be
resilient and keep your sense of humor
thank you [Applause]
hello how are you guys this afternoon
excellent when we laugh we relax when we
relax we learn humor is a gift humor
provided me with a number of gifts in my
life but before I share those with you I
would like to tell you about the gifts
that humor has for you according to
research at Loma Linda University in
California did you know that one minute
of anger can weaken your immune system
by 5 hours on the other hand one minute
of laughter can strengthen your immune
system by 24 hours humor helps us fight
stress also when we associate
information with humor we tend to
remember that information longer my key
note relieving work-related stress with
humor one of the ingredients I include
is a positive attitude a positive
attitude includes humor I think that’s
so important I put that as number one on
the list let me ask you something how
many people here in the room consider
themselves positive people positive
people by a show of hands good excellent
now I know some people have their hands
down maybe they’re shy maybe they’re
skeptical if you’re skeptical that’s
okay
there’s comedians who tend to be
skeptical and that’s cool that gives
them that skewed perspective that makes
them funny but consider this according
to research at the University of Utrecht
in the Netherlands positive people
statistically live longer the negative
people how much longer up to 10 years
longer now how many positive people do
we have in the room a little bit more
and listen there’s no magic to it it
just makes common sense positive
thoughts equal positive actions equal a
positive purposeful life
but I get it sometimes it’s hard to be
positive and in those moments I say
throw the superhero cloak over your
shoulders two of the most important
words in the world are thank you the
attitude of gratitude just by saying
thank you we release all sorts of
possible positive chemicals in our
brains increased gratitude equals
increased self esteem equals increased
confidence if you need more proof
consider a study that the United Nations
does every year the happiest places in
the world and luckily Canada has been in
the top ten for years but what was
interesting about the study there were
some countries that had a lot of crime a
lot of poverty that scored higher than
other countries that had less crime less
poverty and one of the reasons was that
advertisers don’t care about poor poor
people advertisers aren’t marketing
towards poor poor people and as the
result poor poor people are forgotten
about and as a result poor poor people
aren’t flipping through magazines all
day targeted towards them going you know
what I’ll be happy when I buy my own
Island I’ll be happy when I buy my own
private jet
I’ll be happy when I buy my own yacht
instead poor poor people say I’m happy
to be alive I’m grateful to be alive
thank you and if some kid in Indonesia
making $10 a day can find something in
their life to be grateful for Who am I
here in Canada to complain because I
can’t assemble my IKEA furniture
like really although IKEA furniture is a
little bit frustrating I went to Ikea
the other day took me three hours to
assemble my bookshelf yeah it’s supposed
to be a bed I’m sleeping on a bookshelf
now they give you the instructions the
instructions never have words they just
have pictures do you notice that I mean
you know the instructions are
complicated when the people in the
pictures are arguing with each other but
think about it the first world problems
that we complain about this year started
off a little bit spooky for me
three weeks after Christmas I was
visited by the ghost of Christmas past
visa and I don’t know how my bills got
so high I did all my Christmas shopping
at Costco we have any Costco fans in the
room okay don’t go crazy on me I don’t
have anything to give away but isn’t
Costco addictive you go in for toilet
paper you come out with a trampoline how
does that happen you know what it is
it’s the free samples don’t you love the
free samples we tell our kids not to
take candies from strangers meanwhile at
Costco some freaking a hairnet and
rubber gloves hens you cat food on a
Triscuit and you put it in your mouth
you want another one meow so the
importance of humor is is so significant
in our lives I’ve certainly used it
doing stand-up comedy I’ve certainly had
some held gigs in my past I remember one
particular gig in northern Alberta it
was a hell gig it’s the type of room
that shouldn’t have been doing stand-up
comedy in the first place so 10 minutes
into my act the audience is like boo get
off the stage 20 minutes into my act boo
get off the stage and the management was
really smart they paid me my money ahead
of time so the money was burning a hole
in my pocket right there was no way I
was leaving the stage but just at the 30
minute mark just when I saw it it
couldn’t get any worse one of the
performers in the back of the room had a
chimpanzee on a leash the chimpanzee
snapped off the leash started running
towards the stage I dropped the mic I’m
like to heck with us I’m out of here –
the biggest round of applause and
laughter I ever got in my career up to
that point so the power of laughter is
amazing and by the way while you were
laughing there you just boosted your
immune system by 24 hours so you’re
welcome
when we laugh we relax when we relax we
learn and also when we laugh we release
endorphins endorphins are natural
painkillers when we laugh we release
serotonin serotonin is known as the
happy hormone serotonin actually helps
us process information ten times faster
so laughing actually makes us smarter
babies have the vocal ability to laugh
at 17 days old on average babies laugh
300 times a day adults we laugh 25 times
a day I get it it’s hilarious being a
baby with the eating the pooping the
sleeping I get it but where did we lose
275 laughs when did we become so
self-conscious if you need further proof
the power the superpower of humor
consider a journalist in the 1960s a
gentleman by the name of Norman Cousins
Norman Cousins wrote for the New York
Post he was diagnosed with a terrible
tumor on his spine doctors told him to
get his affairs in order and Norman said
you know what if I’m gonna die I’m going
out like a roman candle and instead of
checking himself into the hospital he
went home with all the movies that made
him laugh up to that point in his life
and Norman said when he woke up in
excruciating pain he would pop in one of
these movies and for ten minutes of
belly laughter he could actually sleep
for a solid two hours and you know six
months from the date that Norman was
diagnosed with that terrible tumor that
tumor went away and Norman went on to
live a normal life so the power of humor
humor is a gift as I said off the top
humour gave me a lot of gifts humor gave
me very funny parents my dad’s from
Holland my mum’s from Guyana I’m
actually half Dutch one-quarter Asian
1/8 black and 1/8 vodka it’s a perfect
combination both my parents are very
funny people but they grew up in some
pretty unfunny times my dad grew up in
Holland during the Second World War
where he spent most of his childhood
underneath the basement stairs with a
kitchen pot over his head because
Holland got bombed so badly during the
Second World War
meanwhile him like in meanwhile in
Guyana my mum’s country had a lot of
poverty but I almost remember my mother
saying that whenever somebody came to
their back door asking for food my
grandmother would give them at least a
cup of rice even if that was only the
only thing that she had and both my
mother and father said they grew up with
a lot of love and a lot of laughter in
their homes even though there were some
pretty scary times now growing up with
my parents my two sisters and I even
though they were funny they were very
strict and they came from the old
countries they didn’t mess around if
they had to discipline us naturally we
would be mad I remember this one time my
dad yelled at me so much my hair was
blowing back then I didn’t want to talk
to him afterwards but then after a while
you know I had my arms crossed I didn’t
want to laugh I didn’t want to talk to
them but then my mom or my dad would
crack a joke and we would all be
laughing and at a very young age my
sisters and I learned that humor could
be used as an olive branch humor could
be used as a communication tool like my
parents I leaned on humor during the
good and not so good times in my life
for example I always wanted to be a
veterinarian in fact during high school
I actually worked at a vet for three
years unfortunately during my second
year of university 70% of my fruit flies
and 50
my final mark flew out of the biology
class window I was devastated this is
all I had focused on up to that point
and I took a very logical step after
that I quit University and then I took
the next logical step I got in my car
and drove to the United States to do
stand-up comedy for three months
did I have any prior comedy experience
hell no minor detail did I bomb yes more
than the first and second world war put
together as Edmund Kean says dying is
easy
comedy is hard did I learn hell yeah I
came back to Canada and I was one of a
handful of female comedians doing
stand-up comedy full-time in Canada for
the next seven years humor gave me the
best gift at the worst time humor got me
unstuck humour forced me to learn
different skills and because of my love
for humor it gave me the gifts that the
fruit flies had temporarily taken away
determination resilience and self
motivation in the face of some pretty
scary challenges fly tyers snowstorms
hell gags Norman Bates motels bad money
bad food and bedbugs humor got me
unstuck and it gave me the gift of
flexibility later on I was able to apply
humor to another passion that I had
radio broadcasting what I lacked in
radio experience I made up in comedic
experience and over the next 15 years I
was lucky enough to do morning or
afternoon radio shows in Toronto Ottawa
Montreal New York and Los Angeles humor
also gave me the important gift of
fundraising while I was doing the
morning show in Toronto I was able to
hook up with some phenomenal
organizations and some wonderful people
we created an annual comedy event
that over six years raised over 650
thousand dollars for breast cancer
humor also gave me is a wonderful gift
of teaching second city Toronto asked me
to teach stand-up comedy to the next
generation of comedians it’s really
exciting to use comedy to help people at
various stages in their life many of
which I could relate to switching
careers being afraid
rebuilding rebec rebranding building
confidence again or heck just checking
something off of a bucket list
finally humor gave me the greatest gift
of all time for those of us who do
comedy or speak for a living we don’t
work 9 to 5 jobs so I recognize that not
everybody is in that position and I feel
very lucky however as author richard
reed says contribute if you come across
a charity contribute money if you don’t
have money contribute time and if you
don’t have time contribute clothing I
chose to give my time to a local group
called city street outreach it’s their
mission to feed and clothe Toronto’s
homeless and needy and when you see
people on the street that are sitting on
a blanket and you give them a cup of
soup or a sandwich and they crack a
smile or they crack a joke you suddenly
realize that humor indeed is a gift
sometimes in the darkest moments so what
is your gift what is your superpower
what is your purpose in this
ever-changing world many of you will
face multiple careers in your lifetime
I’m here to tell you don’t be afraid of
change
use the challenge of change to
continually develop new skills
experiment don’t be discouraged when
things go wrong Oh
things will go wrong don’t I know
hashtag chimpanzee be brave be resilient
keep your sense of humor and don’t wait
to make it to make a difference the
world needs you now choose one random
act
of kindness a day it just might actually
help you find your superpower look for
your superpower look for your purpose
find it learn it teach it and give it
back as Anthony Anderson says from
blackish be ready for when your time
comes you will have that window of
opportunity so seize the moment and
capitalize on it at one of the lowest
points in my younger life someone opened
a window of opportunity and my fruit
flies escaped with all my dreams of what
I thought I wanted to become and damned
if I didn’t capitalize on it be brave be
resilient and keep your sense of humor
thank you [Applause]
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