02.08.10

Super Bowl Sunday

Posted in Humor~General at 12:58 pm by Dr. Trina Hess

This week’s Comedy around the World goes to the Super Bowl! What better example of humor’s M.O. than the Super Bowl. Tonight I gathered with a group of friends, some old some new. Since the Steelers weren’t playing, none of us were invested in which team would win the Super Bowl. We weren’t personally competitive or particularly worried.
Instead, we enjoyed the environment created by the hype about the Super Bowl. We laughed at some of the clever commercials. We enjoyed seeing The Who play the half-time show. We talked, ate, and enjoyed each other’s company.
Humor operates in the same way. It creates that environment where everyone can feel at ease. Where everyone is open to contribute. In this type of atmosphere, every team wins.

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02.07.10

Samuel J Comedy Benefit Reminder

Posted in Humor~General at 2:33 am by Dr. Trina Hess

Our Sixth Annual “Laughter Is The Best Medicine” Comedy Benefit for our Pediatric Brain Tumor Fund is scheduled for 8 PM on Saturday, March 6, 2010, at the Radisson Hotel in Greentree. Scheduled to appear are nationally touring comics Chuck Mignanelli, and Matt Wohlfarth(aka Buzz Nutley), as well as Local comedian PJ Williams. Tickets are now available, and are only $20 in advance and $25 at the door. You can also reserve a table(10 seats/tickets) in advance for $200. You can order your tickets directly from our website at http://www.samuelj.org , or by mailing your payment, along with a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Samuel J Foundation, P.O. Box 75, Oakdale, PA 15071. Payment for reserved tables must be received by March 1, 2010.

We’ll be having alot of great ticket auction items(including Pirates, Steelers and Penguins items) as well as a cash raffle and cash bar with drink specials(including buckets of beers and wine by the bottle),snacks and finger foods.

RIVERS RESTAURANT BUFFET
If you’re thinking about getting dinner before the show, the Radisson will be offering an Italian buffet dinner special in their Rivers Restaurant as a convenient dining option. It includes soup, salad, several entrees, vegetables and dessert for $17.95, including tax. They’ve offered this same deal to our guests for the past 2 years, and it has been pretty popular. You can make reservations by calling (412)920-8011 or (412)920-8026.

The Radisson is also offering a limited number of guest rooms at a special rate of $90 for our guests the night of the show. Reservations must be made by February 13th by calling (800)333-3333. Make sure to use code SJF10 to get the Samuel J Foundation group rate.

We’re still collecting raffle donations. Call me at (724)693-9901 or send me an e-mail if your interested ASAP. Your support would be greatly appreciated. Business card size ads are also available in our program for $25. Contact me for details. The deadline for ads is February 19th.

Please come and join us for a night of fun to support a very worthy cause.

Thanks!

Kelly
Kelly Johnson
http://www.samuelj.org

random acts of kindness are cool….

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02.05.10

Still Listening?

Posted in Humor~General at 6:43 pm by Dr. Trina Hess

Why do we love the comedians who keep the conversation going? You know the type–especially if you are sitting in the front row. You make a comment, and they come back with a witty reply. It’s like watching a tennis match–but with good players. They don’t hit the ball over the fence. They hit it to you. They don’t let the ball hit the net; they run to it. It’s a delicate balance, a tenuous dance. Because none of it is rehearsed. You don’t personally know the comic. He or she doesn’t know you. So how is the comic able to make this all happen?
By listening.
That’s why we love this performer. If the side of the stage blows up, he doesn’t just go on with his act. He comments on it. He heard it.
If you make a remark, he hears it and responds to it. We love this kind of show because we feel heard. This isn’t always the case. There are performers who deliver comedy like they are reading a monologue. You had better not yell things at them, because they will lose their place in their script. Don’t expect them to ask you questions or acknowledge you. That’s takes too much effort for them, because it’s waaaay out of their comfort zone.
There are comics like this in real-life offstage. The people who talk louder than everyone. Who don’t notice that others want to give their input. The ones who answer your question not with an answer, but with something else they want to talk about.
Some people are born listeners: attuned to others’ reactions and impressions. They sense when it is time to jump in or out of the conversation. They know when you are about to hit the ball to the net, and they run after it. They sense the entire scene of the tennis match and where each player stands on the court.
The good news is that this listening is a skill that can be learned. You can improve on what little or lot that you have. You can learn to not hit the ball over the fence with loud oblivious remarks. You will know to run to the net to keep the game going. Even if it’s more effort for you to do that. You’ll just know.
The speaking/listening game isn’t a competition, like Wimbeldon. One or the other player isn’t the star. The ball is the star. The message is the main thing. When we focus on the ball–on the message–we keep the game going.

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02.04.10

SMS says, “GN8″

Posted in Humor~General at 2:43 pm by Dr. Trina Hess

Do you think texting and technology are hurting our reading and spelling skills? One article in a German language lesson thinks not. http://www.deutschlern.net/aufgabe.php?show=2&lc=1281&id=11735#seeresult

In fact, the researchers at Coventry University in Great Britain found the exact opposite: That texting actually helps schoolchildren with reading and writing.
They have to know the phoenetics. And they have to know the language very well before they go changing it all around.

Texting requires many of the same skills we need to create humor. When you think of it, you have to be very brave to text. You have to be willing to suspend your belief and judgement. You have to go against the status quo of spelling rules. You are essentially creating new knowledge. And then you’re communicating and sharing your new knowledge. As far as I know, there is no ‘right’ way to shorten words into text messages. If yours is the best choice, people will catch on. If not, they won’t.

Bis morgen, GN8.

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Are You a Starfish?

Posted in Humor~General at 2:12 pm by Dr. Trina Hess

I’m on Chapter 3 of “The Starfish and the Spider,” by Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom. The book’s subtitle, “The unstoppable power of leaderless organizations,” could easily describe the process and role of humor in our lives.

For example, humor is all about being flexible, embracing change, changing the filters we use to interpret our world.

In these leaderless organizations of the future (and the future is now, remember?), people don’t take themselves too seriously. They aren’t controlling and aren’t aiming at perfection. Instead, they are aware of their ideas, want to freely contribute to the group and are not self-protective.
Sound ambiguous? Hazy? Wishy-washy?

It’s all that and more. Like, powerful. These are the same types of organizations that elude major corporations. Think of eMule vs. the major recording labels. The Apaches vs. the Spanish.
The leaderless organization is like a starfish, rather than a spider. Think of it: A spider needs a central brain in order to function. If you chop off one of its legs, it can survive. But not without it’s brain.
A starfish has no central brain. Each leg has the cells it needs to survive. It moves when the legs convince each other that it’s a good idea to move. In this light, unsuccessful attempts at change can be explained by the authors in this way: “The real culprit each time was the system itself. It’s times like these that you need a starfish.”

What makes a starfish so easily adapted to change? “It’s not that open systems necessarily make better decisions. It’s just that they’re able to respond more quickly because each member has access to knowledge and the aiblity to make direct use of it.” The intelligence isn’t headquartered with one CEO or in one building.

Instead, the intelligence is spread throughout the system. Like with humor, there’s no need to buy a joke book to add humor to your next speech. You already have the humor–it’s inside you and imbedded within your experiences.

The problem is, most of us weren’t trained to notice this. We weren’t given that leaderless lens to examine our world. The successful organizations (and people) of the future (and the future is now, remember?) are those that can catalyze a new idea and then get out of the way.

In that instance, you need to be followable, likeable, approachable, and many other adjectives that you can be by adding more humor to your life!

Funny, isn’t it?

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02.03.10

Happy Groundhog Day!

Posted in Humor~General at 2:14 am by Dr. Trina Hess

Look for more photos on my Facebook Fan Page and YouTube interviews with Groundhog Club President Deely!

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02.02.10

JA Golf Outing

Posted in Humor~General at 1:42 am by Dr. Trina Hess

Since I’m busy getting ready for the big day tomorrow, I’ll just post this news flash about JA. Hope you can make it:
“Monday, May 24 & Tuesday, May 25
New Format for 2010!
Golf with us on Monday afternoon, Tuesday morning, or both!
Overnight accommodations at Laurel Valley fill up fast, so register TODAY!
Golf Packages Available:
Foursome for Monday Afternoon = $3,750
Twosome for Monday Afternoon = $2,250
Foursome for Tuesday Morning* = $4,950
Twosome for Tuesday Morning* = $3,000
*Packages include Monday evening dinner & overnight accommodations at Laurel Valley
(No increase in pricing since 2007!)
Other sponsorships are available. To make your reservations, contact Stacey Martin:
Phone: 800-522-6957, ext. 111
Email: smartin@jawesternpa.org ”

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01.31.10

Life in the Everglades

Posted in Humor~General at 11:43 pm by Dr. Trina Hess

This week’s Comedy Around the World goes to Florida’s Everglades. I traveled to this strange place ten years ago. My friend and I went on the boat ride. You know, the one with the big fan on the top, that just skims the water.
We could see some of the alligators along the banks. At one area, the driver stopped the boat. He asked us, “Do any of you want to get out and stand in the Everglades?” My friend enthusiastically said, “Yes!” and jumped in. I knew what the bottom of a pond is like, so I said no. Plus, I would rather be considered chicken by the other tourists instead of the alligators.
When I look at the picture we had taken–him in the water, me sitting on the boat laughing at him–I used to regret not going into the water. But now it doesn’t bother me as much.
I don’t have to be a maniac and do every scary thing I can imagine. Maybe there were barnacles and snakes at the bottom. Or a pull tab from a pop can. Either way, it may have been dangerous.
Point is, my friend’s action wasn’t risky at all. To him. His risks aren’t mine, and mine aren’t his.
We only need to assess the pain factor (in embarrassment, extending our comfort zone, or actual physical danger) and act in our own best interests.
As long as we choose something that stretches us, I think that’s enough.

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Listen to the Moonlight

Posted in Humor~General at 6:23 am by Dr. Trina Hess

Tonight I caught one of the final performances of Cats before it left Pittsburgh’s Benedum Theater. The musical is a dizzying array of lights, music, costumes, dancing, and not a plot in sight.
At least that’s what I thought during the first act.
But then I really listened to what was going on.
I listened beyond the flashy dancers and the bright costumes. I listened to what was beyond the lights and set designs.
I listened to the most interesting characters.
Because they were the most unlikely. They were the aging cats. One looked like his fur was made from a dirty mop and had a face like Liberace. The other went on a dream sequence where I think he was a pirate? And the female cat wore tatterred fur and high heels. Hers was the most poignant song of the entire musical.
These weren’t flashy characters. Their costumes weren’t even interesting. But they were.
Theirs were the stories that helped me piece together the plot. Theirs were the stories that would rip your heart out. Theirs were the characters that you were rooting for in the end.
When we listen beyond the obvious–beyond the first place winner, beyond the shiny attractive exterior–we learn. Not only about the big picture, but about ourselves, too.

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01.30.10

Listen and Learn

Posted in Humor~General at 3:35 am by Dr. Trina Hess

We all know that people who drive too slowly in front of us are idiots. And people who drive too close behind us are maniacs. It’s all a matter of perspective. When we really listen, we can see ourselves reflected in other’s behaviors.
Today I got my glasses adjusted. And my attitude. I saw what I may look like when I’m in a hurry.
Today I wasn’t. But the loud woman in the big fur coat was.
You know the type. While the technician was on the phone, this woman knocked on the counter. Yes, knocked. And then she started to explain her problem (with her glasses; I’m sure she didn’t notice her other behavioral problems) while the technician was on the phone. Yes, on the phone.
I’m sure we’ve all witnessed this type of customer. You know, the person who makes you embarrassed to be an American and glad that no other foreigners were in the mall to think you behave like this woman does. So as I waited my turn, pretending I was Canadian, I just listened.
Because when we’re the irate person, we can’t listen. We can’t hear anyone else’s perspective. We just want our needs met. We want our glasses fixed. Now. And we will pound on the counter.
Humor trains us to be observant. To really hear what’s going on. To listen. And learn.

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