Comedy and Philosophies on Life - what's not to love?
edge of the world
Firstly, no I have not dropped off the edge of the world, although I did visit it last week (seriously, check out the photo). I've just had a slightly crazy month, and quite honestly felt a bit uninspired to write a post. But I had last week off, and found something I wanted to write about - so all good.
Why do I forget about podcasts?
Derek and I had a week away in NW Tasmania, our first holiday for far too many years. That meant we would be doing a bit of driving, and whilst we do have some areas of musical taste that are the same... well I decided that we should have something else to listen to.
Of course, I downloaded some TED Talks, but I wanted some comedy as well. Here's the interesting thing, I know that there are a lot of great podcasts, I even know people who do some great podcasts, but I seldom listen to any. The podcasts I do listen to are often online, so I don't think about them that way either. It's been this weird blind spot for me in the last couple of years; I used to listen to a lot when I was commuting in Sydney.
Does anyone else do this sort of thing? You know something is there, you've enjoyed it in the past, but you just forget about it in your day-to-day existence. Surely it can't just be me?
Back in love with Aussie comedy
I decided to hunt on iTunes for some comedy, and came across the Wilosophy with Wil Anderson podcast. Derek and I are both Wil fans: we both listened to his Triple J radio show with Adam Spencer; loved The Glass House and Gruen; and have enjoyed his stand up for years. He also had interviews with a few other people that I thoroughly enjoy listening to - so Wilosophy it was.
As we listened to Wil chat with Judith Lucy, Corinne Grant, Myf Warhurst, Pinky Beecroft and Dr Karl, I was reminded about how much I enjoy Australian comedians - and the Australian sense of humour in general. So much of what we see and hear is American or UK comedy, and whilst I do enjoy a lot of non-Australian comedy, there is something special about comedy that comes from your home.I think it's that you don't need to translate anything; the shared experience of language, products, lifestyle and society just makes the comedy that much easier. There is also something lovely about hearing your own accent in a space that is usually saturated with other accents.
I have subsequently started listening to Wil's other podcast, FOFOP (previously TOFOP), which is introducing me to a whole new set of comedians - many of whom are not Australian. So, I have a list of other podcasts to start downloading too, and hopefully find some other new favourites.
What does this have to do with this blog?
Okay, so Wilosophy is Wil chatting with people about any philosophies they have for life - and there have been some great ones just from the handful of episodes we've listened to so far. But the one that I wrote down in the car when I heard it was from Dr Karl. For anyone who doesn't know, Dr Karl is a beloved Australian medical doctor/scientist who does a weekly show in Triple J, where people call in and ask science related questions. Wil introduced him as being like Bill Nye, for any Americans reading this.
Quite early in their chat, Dr Karl talks about discovering what he was put here to do (it's a great story, go listen to the podcast). He says he is here to:
Liberate people from what holds them back so they can realise their potential.
Can you maybe see how this relates now? I was so happy hearing this phrase, happy enough to write it down! It resonated so strongly with me and what I've been trying to do with my public speaking, dinkylune manifesto and positive decisions work - not to mention this blog and the entire crazy My Year of TED experience.
In reality though, all of the conversations inspired me in some way. I felt like I had found my tribe with the topics they discussed and their ideas on the world. I know that listening to voices that tell you what you want to hear is not challenging, and I still try to find voices that will challenge me as well. Much like TED though, listening to people, who share your values, talk about their lives in open and vulnerable ways helps you remember that you aren't alone; if they can get where they want to be then maybe so can I.
If you're interested in hearing some wonderful (and funny) people talk about how to live a good life, and be a good person - check out Wilosophy with Wil Anderson. If you don't understand Australian humour, you might get a little shocked :-) that's okay too.