I did a presentation for CentrePoint's Executive Breakfast Meeting this morning called "why are we not laughing" - how to be casual and productive, relaxed and hard-working, fun and sophisticated - looking at the case for comedy in the world of fund development and non-profits ...if you were there - you can send your boss to my blogspot to explain what you were up to...or not! If you wanted more handouts/notes - you could just print this and file it under "funny".....thanks for your enthusiasm and for sharing yourselves with me this morning...
what a risk! (comedy at 7:30!) and what a joy! - in a nutshell my presentation addressed our dire need to take the mickey outta what's become a very serious serious profession - surrounded by professionals with letters after their name, lawyers, insurance agents, government officials, sponsors, canada revenue rules and regulations - we tend to keep a very stiff upper lip -
so we talked about why we can't afford to not laugh. Depression alone surpasses heart disease as the country's leading cause of disability. we need to slow down and listen. breathe. laugh. - for our immune systems, our blood pressure, our cardiovascular effects - to relieve stress and lift our spirits. to connect us with one another!
- we ran through a few laughter yoga techniques;
- I did some of my routine;
- we talked about resistance to change;
- how we've isolated ourselves;
- how we all split the world into us/them (read Oprah's magazine article, November 2005 called "We're All in the Band");
- we talked about our formal attire (the current ad on TV selling rum - where the Jamaicans are telling us it's a good thing they didn't react to the world as stiffly as the rest of us);
- we talked about being bottom-line and loving pies/charts when we should be anything but bottom-line;
- that we have relationships with board, ceo, staff, government, donors, foundations, corporations, media, financial institutions, development committees, volunteers, consultants and othe organizations and STILL no one knows what we're up to - so we feel a lack of suport, a lack of communtication, a lack of appreciation and specific stresses like competition;
- we talked about the fact that we have our own lexicon and that separates us from others;
- I told the only jokes I knew or could find in my research about fund development;
- we wrote jokes about either "the reason you give to organizations other than your own" or "You know you're a fundraiser in Calgary when..." - with lots of laugh as our reward!
- We looked at why humour is like asking for a big gift
- we talked about how within the room there were folks we'd seen countless times and yet we know very little about them - not many know I'm a comic - some one else might tapdance, play the violin - and I told them that my partner Mooky Cornish (acclaimed clown, Cirque du Soleil/Pickle Circus/Dell'Arte School) and I were going to travel from community to community with a new concept called SHOW ME YOURS - inviting folks to share those dreams and their talents in a travelling talent show format...
and I concluded with my notion of the world of fund development and Mary Poppins. We hang out with folks who "feed the birds" - they put their money into hope, and possibility and let it fly away to do great things - they relate to magic, humour, the sense of play and joy and creativity. They have the potential to laugh so hard they float to the ceiling, during tea.
and we all left. with smiles. to feed the birds.
