Why Embarrassing Moments Lead to Great Stories
A popular life law is:
- Pain + Time + Introspection = Wisdom
A remix to this law is:
- Embarrassing moment + Time + Introspection = Funny Story
The next time you are watching a stand-up special, look closer at what is really happening.
A lot of these comedians are talking about past traumas.
They’re talking about:
- How they used to get beat up for their accent.
- The after-effects of getting a divorce.
- How they got fired from their job due to political beliefs.
- Getting slapped on stage by a famous actor.
Etc.
Even though the comedian is delivering this message with a smile & the audience is laughing away…
Don’t be fooled.
These are all embarrassing moments.
But the comedians are not stopping at the embarrassment moments alone.
They’re delivering it.
They’re turning those experiences into words.
By turning those emotions into words, they’re capable of grasping control over the narrative.
That’s what we must do as well.
Turn the dark into light.
The Breaking Desk
In 2008, I was a junior in high school.
This was the last day of school before summer break.
I was the only guy in math class.
The other 8 students were girls and our teacher was a woman.
For some reason, I was feeling myself that day.
I was sitting on top of a desk, with my legs dangling on the sides, trying to look all cool.
All the girls were surrounding me due to my positioning.
I felt like the man.
Suddenly, my desk breaks!
When the desk breaks, I fall in one of the most embarrassing fashions out there.
I was grasping the air hoping to find some balance.
And in a feeble voice, I blurt out:
‘help’
After I fell like that, the girls went from admiring me to laughing at me.
Even Ms. Reddington was giggling too.
I thought:
‘Damn, this story is going to get passed around like wildfire. I’ll never hear the end of it!’
Then I realized…
‘Wait a minute! This is the last day of school before summer. I have 3 months for people to forget.’
Let’s say a certain student didn’t forget once summer break is over and says:
‘Hey guys, let me tell you a story about when Armani fell last year.’
Now I had the leverage.
I could easily be like:
‘Was your summer that boring that you were just thinking about me falling the entire time? Who’s the real loser?’
You see how I flipped the script?
That’s exactly what happens when you turn an embarrassing moment into a funny story.
Now you have the power!!
A lot of people suffer from the ‘jig is up’ mentality.
They think they will be exposed for their flaws at any moment.
So….. get a head start!
Expose your own flaws.
How to Turn Embarrassing Moments into Stories
Here’s how you turn embarrassing moments into stories…
- You say the embarrassing moment out loud.
‘Just say it out loud? That’s it?’
That’s it.
Due to the emotional charge of the event, your voice and body language will naturally adjust to the story.
Your only goal is to bring the experience to the forefront of your mind and put it into words.
‘One time, I was walking out of Pizza Hut with my food. As I was almost out the door, I slip and fell. The pizzas fell on top of me. This was the only time I wished for cold pizzas, rather than the straight-out-the-oven ones…’
After you put that experience into words, you have your rough draft.
Congrats!
If you’re ambitious, try adding in layers to the rough draft by recalling more memories from that event.
‘The cashier looked at me in a conflicted way. It seemed like she was thinking, should I help this man up or tell him no refunds?’
Each added layer of noticing makes the story seem funnier.
But let’s say the moment is too embarrassing to put into words.
Then lead with wisdom, not pain.
- Just find 1 lesson from that embarrassing moment.
‘After those pizzas fell on me that day… I learned that I need to hold pizza boxes on the sides, not the bottom. The bottom is too hot for my hands.’
You’re getting story material left and right.
As you’re getting story material left and right, you’re also healing yourself left and right.
Transformative Arts
When the top comedians are asked:
‘When’s the last time you’ve been to therapy?
They will say something like:
‘I do therapy all the time. It’s when I’m performing my bit in front of an audience.
Because for the comedians, what they’re really doing is:
- Analyzing themselves.
- Finding unresolved issues (embarrassing moments).
- Resolving those issues via humor.
Embarrassing moments serve as a magnifying glass on where to look in your sea of experiences.
Introspect on the pain, allow time to pass, and you’ll have a comedic bit yourself.
If you want to learn more about humor, be sure to check out:
- LOL: A Beginner’s Guide to Comedy, Telling Funny Jokes, and Conversational Humor
In this book, you will learn more about:
- What is a joke?
- How to effectively tell jokes.
- Methods to insert humor into conversations.
- Joke-telling exercises.
- Autopilot humor.
And much more!
