I have never written a talk...

It usually takes me two or three days to prepare an impromptu speech.

Make Twain

My Favorite Comedians

Growing up, my parents had a lot of vinyl records (vintage, right?) that really ran the gamut musically. My favorites were the Beatles albums (because, yeah, Beatles) and the comedy albums. I would spend hours listening to The Smothers Brothers, Jose Jimenez, and of course George Carlin; before they put the warning labels on the albums. I was amazed at how Carlin delivered his material. It was so precise, and the flow was magical. As I had more exposure to his material, I also noticed that he always delivered his material in exactly the same way. I later learned that he was a very scripted performer. He would write his material and then deliver it almost verbatim every show, every time. [One of my favorite Carlin bits]

Some years later, my parents got "cable" TV and I was exposed to my other favorite comedian, Robin Williams. Coming from the highly scripted comedy of George Carlin I was amazed at what Robin was doing. He was all over the place! I had to really focus to follow where he was going at first, but then I discovered that he had a rhythm that I could allow myself to fall into. I could just let the insanity fall all over and around me. It was truly magical.  Now that I am older, I can see that Robin also had a way that he built his sets. While there was a lot of improvisation, you could see themes jumping out the more you watched his shows and appearances. When he found something that audiences responded to, he would keep it inside that genius brain of his to pull out at a future date. 

So, Who Was the Better Comedian?

I have thought a lot about this question, and I think the only real answer is that they are both the best, they were both at the pinnacle of their profession. They were both great. I will say that I identify more with Robin Williams now than I do with George Carlin, at least from a personality and methodology standpoint. I am more like Robin, a little chaotic, but I still try and do what is best for the people around me. I also have a really hard time being scripted. Even writing these blog posts is just an exercise in word dumping through my keyboard. I don't really edit or revisit my text, I just let it all happen naturally.

Events and Presenters

In a previous life, I worked for an events and marketing company called Allbee Green. One of the requirements for all of the presenters was that they memorize the scripts they would be presenting. At the time a lot of presenters would use an earpiece that would play back a recording of them giving the presentation and then just repeat what was being said in their ear, but that was not enough for Allbee Green. They required their presenters to memorize the script so they could deviate from the script if they needed to interact with the crowd. They could then come back to the script where they left off. 

Kevan Allbee shared the quote that starts off this post with me, and it has always stuck with me and helped me realize my process. I spend a lot of my time memorizing movie quotes, poems, song lyrics, and jokes (a lot of them are dad jokes). 

This brings us back to my conversation with my friend. It made me think about my process, and I realized that even though I have never sat down and written out a presentation, I still have a rhythm and process for coming up with what I want to say. I even commented about this to my friend. I said, "You know, in thinking about it, I guess I have always been writing my talk." Every day I am gathering material, quotes, anecdotes, experiences, and memes that I store in this crazy brain of mine for later retrieval. Like the presenters at Allbee Green I have all the material I need to create a presentation, talk, or to just have a conversation, and I can pepper in little anecdotes or quotes where needed. 

Consume, Consume, Consume

A former coworker said to me once that I have absorbed so much great literature that it makes sense that I would output it as well and I really think that is the key to all of this. If you want to have the appearance of being quick witted, consume, consume, and consume. Force feed your brain information from everywhere, and I mean everywhere. I have read some amazing books by the likes of Kim Scott, Simon Sinek, Jordan Petersen, Cervantes, Dumas, and more. But I also read fantasy and science fiction novels. The music I listen to runs from classical and jazz instrumentals to heavy metal and country. The point is, you never know when something will be important. 

I have used quotes from song lyrics in talks given in church and quoted scripture in my standup. You have to have a deep source of what might seem like useless information to draw from, and you need to have it memorized. Don't worry what anyone else thinks of your treasure trove of pop culture references from the 1980s and sarcastic remarks. Follow the example of Shel Silverstein's Hector the Collector:

Hector the Collector
Collected bits of string,
Collected dolls with broken heads
And rusty bells that would not ring. Bent-up nails and ice-cream sticks,
Twists of wires, worn-out tires,
Paper bags and broken bricks.
Old chipped vases, half shoelaces,
Gatlin' guns that wouldn't shoot,
Leaky boasts that wouldn't float
And stopped-up horns that wouldn't toot. Butter knives that had no handles,
Copper keys that fit no locks
Rings that were too small for fingers,
Dried-up leaves and patched-up socks.
Worn-out belts that had no buckles,
'Lectric trains that had no tracks,
Airplane models, broken bottles,
Three-legged chairs and cups with cracks.
Hector the Collector
Loved these things with all his soul--
Loved them more then shining diamonds,
Loved them more then glistenin' gold.
Hector called to all the people,
"Come and share my treasure trunk!"
And all the silly sightless people
Came and looked ... and called it junk.

Hector the Collector ~ Shel Silverstein