My very 1st stand-up routine ever!

This has been a lifelong pattern (with many different punchlines.. it’s not always about the Rabbi), I entertain people everywhere I go, and then I get asked if I do standup, and I just shyly say no. But I never actually had a good reason why!

My older brother’s yelled at me before for injecting humor into every conversation… even the serious ones. I can’t help it.

I remember when I was in high school, there was a comedy club that opened up about 2 miles from my school, and they offered comedy courses, and I thought of going… but didn’t.

I’ve never taken a step to do this officially, and I’m guessing it’s just because of a fear. I can’t say exactly what the voices in my head were saying, but they were chatting up a storm. I’m guessing it was something along these lines:

And that sucks! Because I like making people laugh more than I like sex!

I can listen to comedy all day long (inlcuding on bathroom breaks), and yet doing standup comedy was never officially on my bucket list… That’s how much I was afraid of it.

So at the end of October I’m at this party in San Diego (Oh heck- I’ll give full credit– I’m at the after party for The Internet Marketing Party – which has connected me with so many people) and I turn something that someone says into a joke…

“That’s what I’m talking about!” an angry voice booms behind me. I turn around, and Joshua Pellicier is standing there. “You’re being funny again. You’re always funny. You were funny at the mastermind. You’re hillarious on Facebook. Your blog is funny. Every time I see you, you’re funny!”

“Uhhh… thanks bro!”

“No man… this is what you need to do! You ARE funny. This WordPress thing… it’s great that that’s going well for you, but THIS is what you need to be doing! This is what you were put on the planet for!”

I thanked him again… being modest (and I’m generally not modest), but he went on and on for what felt like 20 straight minutes (It was probably 5 straight minutes of talking where I had no reply) about how I need to do comedy– standup, movies, tv shows, etc…

So I said “Ok… I’ll do it.”

Since I always keep my word, I also posted it on Twitter/Facebook, so it’s official.

I still had a bunch to do in Cali, so I didn’t have time to mess with comedy. Then when I got back to Austin, life happened… so I didn’t have time to mess with that… but… when I had posted on Social Media I said “towards the end of this month” (November). I still had no clue what clubs to go to, or what one does to perform.

One of the other things I wanted to do when I was back in Austin was get practicing on my public speaking, so I also said I’d sign up for Toast Masters.

I Skype my friend Kathryn and ask what she thinks of toastmasters… her reply? That she’s actually researching a bunch of toastmasters for a blog post she’s posting the next day.

Not only was she ahead of me on the research (as in, she already had all the local ones sorted into which ones are near), but she found this one: Toastmasters Laughing Matters – a Toastmasters chapter that has an emphasis on humor.

As far as I was concerned, there were no other Toastmasters chapters in the universe… this little bit of serendipity (which is how many of my decisions are made) led me to find my Toastmasters chapter… which was meeting the next day. Easy decision!

I went, told many jokes, and during Table Topics, I told a funny story about my 1st time at a gay club (visiting my older gay brother) and having some hot chick come and make out with me (yes, she was female… not a tranny!) I also told them I was going to do standup this month. Turns out that many of them have done standup, and they told me which clubs have open-mic on which nights. So.. I signed up.

How I get things done traditionally (as compared to talk about them) is make it real… sign up for something… get paid to complete something… whatever… so long as there’s a deadline, and someone other than me.

So, I let everyone know that on Sunday I’m going to do my 1st standup comedy ever… the letting know being done publicly on Facebook of course.

This Toastmasters actually has a stand up comedy session as well as the regular presentations, so I signed up to be the stand up act for Thursday… and I wrote my act that day.

I memorized my 3 minute act in the car within an hour, and when I performed it to that crowd, the reaction was great. I was hooked.

When Sunday came around, more than 20 of my friends showed up. About 1/3 of the audience was my friends… including some people that never make it out in public! I was really humbled.

The video below is my act. Let me just fill you in on some of the other things that happened just before I went up…

So, this one guy says he’s been meaning to do some “Crowd work” so he is going to do some… He walks to the edge of the stage, leans towards the closest couple to the stage and says “So, why are you here tonight?”

The guy from the couple takes the microphone and says “I’m here to see Ori Bengal… the funniest man in this room!” It was my friend Bryant Jones, and that poor comedian lost all his momentum for his act… he had no reply to Bryant, and even when he went back to his notes, you could see he was demoralized.

As this happened, I blushed and scooched (had to look up how to spell that) down in my seat as everyone laughed at Bryant’s reply. I whispered to my buddy “Wow.. no pressure or anything!”

The next comedian up takes the stage and starts off “Who is this Whory, funniest guy in the room? I already don’t like you!”

So… now the intro will make more sense to you And with that… here’s me popping my comedy cherry (Also, I was the only clean act of the night, and one of very few that didn’t require notes on the stage).

I want to point out though, that it’s easy to quote motivational speakers, or speak up on the topics of passion, “Yeah! Do what you love! Confront your fears!” – but I don’t just tell you that… I’m taking my own advice.

As far as comedy goes, my family hasn’t been all that supportive. My parents have told me that I don’t have to be the class clown. My older brother has frowned at me for always trying to be funny, and has interrupted my jokes on many times, to spare people a punchline he suspected (not always accurately) would be inappropriate. My younger brother just groans and makes it sound like torture…. however, when I posted on Facebook that I’m going to do comedy, he said “Way to go!” and gave me permission to use his life story (which would definitely make for some interesting comedy… but that’s another blog post).

I just emailed them that I was doing this, and that was that. I wrote about this kind of thing recently in Have no regrets, don’t listen to people! Other people don’t know your passions. They don’t know what you can really do if you really wanted to.

I can actually see doing this as a career. I’m not worried about if it pays or not (what Mom and Dad would bring up if I said “Ok.. I’m going to be a comedian!”)… it’s just something I can see myself doing morning to night. Wow… picture it.. making people laugh every day.

My friend Kate put on a Robin Williams DVD the other day for me, and I imagined what it would be like to perform for over 3,000 people at a time.

So… there you have it… I knocked out a bucket-list item that was so freaky for me that I never even bothered to put it on my bucket-list. I plan on doing it again and again… The hypothetical plan is to do this 3 or 4 times a week with the same act, and then a new act the next week… rinse and repeat.

Why? Because I listened to interviews with Jerry Seinfeld, and I listened to Steve Martin’s Autobiography (Kathryn gifted it to me when I announced that I was going to do this) — and it seems both of them attribute their massive success to non-stop repetition… just keep at it. So, that’s what I’m signing up for.

So what’d you think of my 1st time up?
Got anything you want to do that you’ve been scared to, but should confront?

Buying cough syrup would be simpler, but Terra said this will probably cure me in about 12 hours.

Terra’s site is Time and Truffles

We met at a U2 concert in New Delhi, India. You were walking backwards & stopped to light my cigarette w/ your Elvis Zippo. We became instant friends. You were Indian and I was American. You loved to take advantage of my ignorance and told me that chai was some magical potion that would make me feel like I was flying. You took me to your chai walla and bought me a glass. My head spun and I fell into your arms, your dirty fingers to my lips. “Shhhhhh…,” you whispered, “here comes a dragon.”

Will serendipity ever show an end?  I think and hope not.  You see, just recently, over the past two months, I’ve mentioned to a few friends that I’d love to get into writing short stories.  Just random ones… maybe make a form that people can submit raw ideas… like what you do with an improv troupe…. and I’d flesh out the story.  Only an hour or two a day.

This was a wonderful opportunity.  How we met immediately came to me, and this was my response:

I don’t remember being Indian… I thought it was in Spain… when I was wearing my rainbow bright socks, and a sweatband while rollerskating (yeah… quads) the wrong way while everyone else was running from the bulls…. you threw down a massive chain of salami links from the 2nd story, and swung me to safety. When I finished climbing through the window, I took my skates off, caught by breath, and jumped on you in gratitude… which was when the aged floor crumbled under the combined weight, and we fell through into the marshmallow fluff factory below. A sticky situation indeed. The rest of the evening was spent drinking good Spanish wine, enjoying pleasant conversation about our mutual world travels, and trying to remove the remaining fluff.

Lisa and I became fast friends… speaking in our first conversation as if we’ve been friends forever. Many personal topics were broached.  Many personal questions were asked.  Many stories of world travels were shared.

For those people out there who try to differentiate between Social Media, and the real world.. I urge you not to.  Sure, you can do certain things in person that you can’t do over the web… but the people out there– they are your friends, your lovers, your clients, your audience, your believers, your community.  And you can always meet up in person later.

Are there memorable people that you’ve connected with instantly through Facebook?

Hit play, sit back, enjoy, and of course, leave a comment to let me know what you thought.

Click the play button, or download it to your mp3 player of choice.
[wpaudio url="http://couchsurfingori.com/wp-content/uploads/movies/05-25-201-The-Epic-Tale-of-One-way-ticket-to-maui.mp3" text="Reading of The Epic Tale of 1 Way Ticket to Maui"]

“Seriously?  I hardly  know what I’m doing next week.”

“Over the last 2 weeks I’ve been thinking about that business idea you mentioned the other month… a lot… and you’re working Terra’s website anyways– why don’t I buy you a 1 way ticket, come stay with us, and if you want to get back, you have to finish the project, and get some sales!”

“Well, damn! For story-telling purposes alone, I have to say yes!”

And thus, I agreed to come visit Craig Allen and Terra Rose Ganem in Hawaii…. Hawaii is one of those places where “You’re supposed to go” — like “You’re supposed to go to college” — it’s the poster-child for vacations.  I’ve always wanted to go, but I never bothered planning.

It was always too overwhelming…. if I would go, what would I do there?  Which Island would I go to?  Where will I stay?  How long should I go for? It’s probably really expensive.  So I never bothered planning it out, or researching it.

Yet, one phone call from a friend, and all those things were cast aside.

I’ve been meaning to write to you about this for the last 3 weeks, ’cause that’s all the notice I had… but there’s been too much reality, and thousands of miles to cover.

“It’s hard to know with you… but are you by any chance going to drive through Dallas on Friday?”  Kathryn asked me.

“No!  I’m driving to Des Moines”

“Dallas is on the way to Des Moines”

“Then, yes, I’m going to drive through Dallas on Friday…. can we make it Thursday then?”

and thus I had a passenger.  My car is generally messy, but lately it’s been more so.  You see, on my drive from South Florida to Austin, to speak at SXSW this March, my trunk decided to stop working.

I have not fixed this issue yet.

Now, instead of everything being scattered across my whole car, it’s all scattered in my front and back seats… which doesn’t make my car very passenger friendly (in all honesty, this happens even when my trunk does work).  Space would have to be cleared out.

While couch surfing with David Gonzalez — I actually just popped in for the evening, because I had my shoes shipped to his house…. I had forgotten 2 pairs in Costa Rica, and Brendan (whom I stayed with in Costa Rica) had agreed to send them — I started emptying out my car, so I can reorganize it and make room for Kathryn.

I was listening to an audio book (Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming the Obstacles Between Vision and Reality – I highly recommend it!), and doing my car-emptying thing, when all of a sudden two cop cars show up, and block me in. Step 1: Pause the audio book.

“Hi there.  How can I help you?”

“I don’t know…. we had one of the neighbors call in.  They think you may be living out of your car.”

“Well…. in their defense, I kind of am.  You see, for the last 5 years, I’ve been traveling around, completely based on ‘Who’s couch am I crashing on next?’  and it’s granted me many awesome adventures– staying with UFC cage fighters, staying at an all girls’ college, finding mentors, meeting heads of industries… and I have all my stuff in my car…. So, you could say that I’m living out of my car.  However… I’m staying right there (point to David’s house), and am about to go on this amazing road trip, but I promised someone I’d give them a ride to Dallas, and since my trunk stopped working, I have to empty stuff out in order to make room for this passenger!”

By the time David came out of his house, waving his arms and shouting “it’s ok! He’s staying with me!”, the cops were already engaged in my story, and were just asking questions about “What are you doing in Hawaii?”  ”What are you speaking on in Iowa?” “So then what happened?”

One lesson that I’ve learned is to be cool to cops… they’re just people. Most people attack them with fear and anger… humor, and dignity are really nice to receive sometime.  Story telling is a wonderful distraction, and I tell them the stories as I would tell them to my best friends.  I entertain, and engage… and you know what?  I’ve been pulled over speeding in construction zones, while speaking on the phone, and the car being a little hazy.

Before leaving Austin, I stopped by Craig’s storage unit, and got his BCD (Scuba diving equipment).  Then I got Kathryn, then dropped her off, then camped out in Fort Worth for 2 days working on projects, then I hauled ass to Kansas.

It was a long drive, and I did need to nap on the side of the road for 30 minutes. I arrived at 1:30am, but Deb, the event organizer, said I could couch surf with her, but not to wake her up if I get there as late as 12:30.

I slept in my car.  Woke up early, changed clothes in the parking lot, and befriended the guy the maintenance guy for the parking facility. I actually was in a hurry, ’cause I was speaking that day, and I still needed to write my presentation…. But I love story telling, and I love helping someone get excited about their passions, and open up new possibilities for them.  So… I spent an hour talking to this guy.

The event was the 140Conf.  I am a big fan of the 140Conf, because it attracts an amazing crowd, and Jeff Pulver is just amazing…. Google him, interact with him, whatever… the guy is amazing.  He’s the reason that you can make VOIP calls for free, and he has a heart the size of the United States. I’ve spoken at numerous 140Conf events. In fact, one of the ones I spoke at was the 140Conf Small Town, in Hutchinson Kansas.

At this point in this blog post, I would like to remind you that the title of the book I’m writing is “Creating Serendipity”… and now back to what happened-

When I spoke at the 140Conf small town, I met Joe Cheray. When Joe saw that I was speaking at the 140Conf in Iowa, she asked if I think she should pitch a submission to the 140Conf in Iowa.  She seemed a little nervous, which of course made me say “Absolutely!”

Why would I say absolutely if someone is nervous? Because it’s a chance to confront a fear, and grow! We should all do the things that make us grow (unless it’s things that create Thyroid issues… ’cause that kind of growth is bad, and I was referring to personal growth, not physical growth)

I offered to help out if she needs to bounce ideas, convert her story to a presentation, practice on someone….   She said she may take me up on that.  She had asked me to review a few notes.  But they were her notes.. I didn’t get the entire story until I saw Joe present.

Joe’s story, in a nutshell:  She was in an abusive relationship, her child has cerebral palsy, and is two years slow.  Her man was abusive to her and their son.  She left him.  She and her son were even homeless for a bit.  Her ex’s cat bit her one time, also, breaking her finger, causing nerve damage…. she had to learn how to type using her non-dominant hand.

Joe had asked me and the organizers if I could sit in the front row, center while she spoke.  I agreed, and made it happen, and was there with a smile, and helpful body language.

After Joe’s speech, during lunch, I told her that she needs to speak.  Professionally, and to more people.  That many more people can benefit from watching her present.

Joe started telling me about her schedule, and some other things.  I interrupted and said that there’s two things she should know.  The first one is that I’m always right, thus, I’m right that she should speak more.  The second thing is that I’ve studied a lot about people, and I can tell from her vocalization and body language that she is just making excuses as to why she can’t… she should focus on why she can.

That night, I couchsurfed with Deb, who organized the event.  In the morning, we were speaking about the event, and I asked about what kind of feedback it got.  Deb told me that it went great, but the most touching thing was that as soon as lunch time, 3 people had already said that Joe’s story made them cry.

I told her of my conversation with Joe the previous day.  We tried to figure out what we can do to make Joe want to be a speaker, and to help her be a better speaker.  Deb suggested we connect Joe with Gigi Belcmonico, who teaches The Bombshell Factor… She teaches women how to have more presence, and carry themselves better.

I thought it was a great idea.  I had seen Gigi present at the 140Conf smalltown, but my schedule was so jam packed, that I wanted to say “Great… good idea… good luck with that… but I gotta deal with my own stuff, so, let me know how it goes.”  I didn’t.

I had never actually had a full conversation with Gigi.  We are friends on Facebook and Twitter… but we’ve never had a conversation.

Now, my conversation with Deb was in person, mind you, not over the phone or skype, or social media.  When we finished that part of the talk, I looked at my laptop, and nothing exciting was new.  I looked up at the TV, which had an all day marathon on Nostradamus, which was quite fascinating.

I glimpsed back down at my laptop, and there was something new.  That small red circle with a white 1 in the center of it.  The notification of a new Facebook message.

“Uhhh… Deb?”

“Yeah?”

“I got a new Facebook message”

“Yeah, so?  You always get new Facebook messages.”

“Yeah…. but this one is from Gigi Belmonico”

Silence.  We just look at each other in shocked disbelief, and I continued.

“I don’t even know what it says.  Just thought it was very strange that we just mentioned her LESS than one minute ago, and I’ve never had a conversation with her, and I have a message from her.”

I clicked on Gigi’s avatar to see “Hello Ori !Nice job!!
Ori are you coming through KC today?
It would be so fun to break bread with you! XOXOGigi”

I replied that it wasn’t on my original plans, but sounds fun.

It was a 4 hour drive, and it was not on my way.  I looked at the map, and decided that since I was heading to San Diego before Hawaii, LA would be a good target, and half way seemed to be Colorado.  I figured I would find a couch while driving to Colorado…. but I now had a detour, because how could I turn away such a unique coincidence?

Before leaving town, I had lunch with Deb and Ben. Ben had reached out after seeing my presentation – he was watching the live stream – and loved my message, and antics. So, we met up. Even more awesomeness was that he gave me a tour of his office, which was on the 15th or 20th floor of this building, so had a wonderful view of Des Moines. It was a real treat!

I couldn’t stay too long though, because as far as I was concerned, I was given a sign. I was supposed to go to Kansas City , to meet Gigi Belconico, and convince her to help Joe.

The drive was lovely, and I even got tons of Facebook comments from this lovely photo I shot with my phone:

Have I mentioned that my new phone that I got in March is an Android Phone (Samsung Epic — pretty good… I should probably root it to make it work better), has a camera, wifi, and Facebook?  This has been a blast, because I can share photos and videos from my life as they happen… unlike my old Palm Treo 700.

So, I’m driving South to Kansas City, and I decide this might be a good time to figure out where I’ll stay tonight.

The usual text to Ping.Fm (a site that pushes my text out to twitter, facebook, and linkedin) was sent, but I didn’t actually check to see if people were replying…. instead, I texted my little brother.

In March, he had texted me and said that he had a couch for me for when I made it out to Colorado. My 1st thoughts, when he told me, were “Whatever… I have a huge network all over the globe.  Plus when the heck do I go to Colorado?”

Now I was going to Colorado though… why not get some new blood?  Someone who doesn’t know me from the world of Internet Marketing, or from my antics.

Itay (my “little” (6’2 245 lbs of solid muscle) brother) texted me back a name and a number.  I asked for more details, and he just texted back that she’s a psychologist, and liked my story.

That’s good enough for me.  I called Michele, and left a voicemail. When we spoke, she agreed that I could crash there… even when I told her I probably won’t arrive until 6AM, since a serendipitous pit stop just came up.

I met Gigi for Gate’s BBQ — which is reputed as being some of the best BBQ in Kansas City. We feasted on Burnt Ends.

Pleasantries were exchanged, and I proceeded to tell Gigi about Joe.  Gigi had watched the live stream of the presentations – and thus saw mine – but had not seen Joe’s.  When I told her of the strange timing of her communication to me, and all that preceded that, she agreed to sponsor Joe with some coaching– should they be compatible.

We chatted about other things, and I gave her all sorts of resources that she could use for some of her own goals… we chatted for over 2 hours, and then I recalled that I had to get on the road.

It was a lengthy drive, another 13 hours on top of the 4 I had driven that morning.  That gave me time though to finally finish the audio book that I had started in Austin before getting on this road trip.

The news said that it was starting to snow.  It was certainly cold, and rainy.  I took a nap, as to not smash into anything, and arrived at 7AM… now one hour farther back in time (Time Zones do trip me out sometimes– for example, right now it’s 1:15AM here in Maui, and in California, where I just was this morning, it’s 4:15AM, and in Austin, where I was a week or 2 prior, it’s 6:15AM).

Michele was cool.  Her home was quaint, and filled from wall to wall with keepsakes and memories from her world travels.  She had been to so many places, that I feel like a homebody!

We chatted for a bit, then I had to pass out. When I woke, I agreed that I’d help her upgrade her router, and fix her internet.  I definitely love to deliver value to those I stay with, and Michele was not a technophile.

Instant Karma — as soon as I finished doing the upgrade, there was all of a sudden an extra Cat5 (network cable) available, and I was able to use that to get on the internet.

I don’t think I told you yet, but my computer has been having issues for a long time.  In February, the fans sounded like wood chippers, and my WiFi was not working too well.

Not too well evolved into hardly ever.  I came up with a workaround, which was getting my new phone on the network, and tethering in that way.  After a while, that stopped working. I was running out of ways to get on the internet, and my computer was running very hot.  It would actually hurt to use it sometimes, and it would crash often (don’t believe all those people that tell you that Apple computers don’t crash).

One workaround that I came up with for the crashing thing, was to put ice trays on my computer, and manually cool it that way. Michele offered me ice-packs (you know.. those silver baggies that are filled with some gel, that you freeze, and they keep stuff cold.) and they seemed to work wonderfully.

What luck, right?  I got ice packs to deal with the over heating, and I got wired internet and an extra cable to get on the web with.  On top of that, I was told by everyone that I’m basically snowed in, and that it would be foolish to try and make it through the mountains.

Michele and I spent the evening discussing her business, and exchanging stories of travel and adventure. The next morning I was off to Las Vegas.

I quickly got a couch offer by my friends Larry & Oksana, whom I met at Burning Man, though I knew of them previously through Craig Allen & Caleb Jennings.  What was even cooler was that Jim Kwik was also staying with them while he was in town to speak at TedX.

Vegas was fun, as it always is.  I told countless jokes to Jim and Alex, and Larry and Oksana. Other than jokes, I got to impress with my eating skills at the all you can eat Sushi place (I can eat a lot more than most people would think I could).

I was considering catching the TedX talks, but I had to get my computer fixed. The matter was no longer acceptable. Even tethering was no longer working, and the computer was running on ice packs.  I would have to go to The Apple Store.

The “Genius” at the Apple Store ran diagnostics on my machine, and basically decreed that I was spot on– dead airport (Mac Wifi card), and a dead left fan. This was the 2nd Apple Store that I hit that morning, because the 1st one was too busy for anyone to see me.  This store did not have the parts, though the guy did write down the part numbers for me.

I called Frys and Best Buys, they were useless. I needed these parts ASAP, so I got on the road and drove to LA.

China, whom I met in Costa Rica, said that I can crash with her at her new home at the ledge of a cliff.  I’ve been wanting to see it, so I coordinated with her, and she texted me the address, and the phone number for the nearest Apple Store.

The Apple store people would not tell me if they had the parts, “A computer has to come in, be checked in by a technician, and be diagnosed before we can tell you about parts.”

After yet another confirmation, I was told that they too don’t have the parts.  One Apple store near by did have the airport card, but no one’s got the fans.

When I went there, they said that they can not sell me the part. They have to install it for me… except that my case was a tiny bit dinged up, so they wouldn’t work on it.

Get this… Apple won’t work on my computer, and they won’t sell me the parts to do my own work on my computer!  It took 4 Apple Stores to figure this out!   Angry? Yes!

I was told that I might have some luck with a 3rd party repair company… and one of my clients actually sells many OEM (generic) parts.  I thought I’d call him.

Once again, no luck… though he did recommend a store.. a store that I won’t name, because the guy I spoke to was really helpful.

He told me that it would be $104 an hour to work on the computer, and that they can’t sell me a part, they have to install it… and unlike the Apple Store, here I would be billed for the diagnostics.  Frustrated, I pleaded my case, “… and then they wouldn’t even work on my computer, but they won’t sell me the parts!  What the heck am I supposed to do?  I mean, I don’t care how the case turns out!  I’ve been building computers from scratch since 6th grade… I just want the damn part!”

“Well… I’m not telling you this as a representative of ___________ (company name), and this is not the company’s answer, nor would I tell you this if you walked in… but if you were my buddy, and we were speaking after work hours, and outside of the office, and you told me that this is what you’re going to do anyways, and you just needed to know where to get the parts… and I was not in the office… then this is what I would tell you.”

He proceeded to tell me a great idea… take the Apple part numbers, put them into Google, and press the Shopping button. I not only bought the 2 parts that I needed, but since I was going to have the computer taken apart, I also got myself a larger harddrive that spins at a faster speed…. thus, my computer should un faster.

My time with China was amazing… she’s also an intuitive reader, and gave me a reading. Between what she read from my energy, and what the cards told her, I was basically very intuitive, empathic, and smart… I have a lot of skills and knowledge, but I need to get grounded, and get past all the noise in my head, and all the other peoples’ energies that I pick up… meditation would help with this.

Additionally, the cards said I need to stop being so self-critical, and I need to trust my heart and intuition more.

When I left China’s place, I went to Hollywood, to SANG – the Speaker Author Networking Group.  I felt like such a mere mortal amongst the superstars that were there.  As Larry Benet, the event organizer, said “70 of the most influential people on the planet” – and invited me to stay for the day (they had more people than 70 during the event, but this was the last day, so some people had to travel back home).

I did not stay, because I had to get my ass to San Diego for the Internet Marketing Party San Diego inaugural event.  I had only dropped by to say hi, and to get Kate Buck Jr, who was in full attendance.

The party was well worth the drive. It was what I wish my 10 year high school reunion had been like.  Tons of talented people who are very business minded, positive, supportive, exciting, interesting, excited, motivated…… Frank Kern was the featured speaker, and I got to get on stage when David Gonzalez (the same one whose house I nearly got arrested in front of in Austin… He is the founder of Internet Marketing Party) gave acknowledgements for those that helped make the party a reality.

It was like a reunion… other than Craig, who was in Hawaii, so many of my friends, and former couches, were there.  I had a most wonderful evening. After a Peanut Butter Burger at 2AM, me and some friends went on the rooftop of a hotel… which was actually locked, but one of our group picked the lock, so we can have this incredible view.  Good times.

The next day, the fan arrived, and my computer no longer needed ice packs! Tethering was also working again.

2 days later, my airport came in, and I no longer needed to be wired in.

I was mostly in work mode, cranking out client projects.  I did not know what I would do with my car yet.  That’s a friggin story!

I thought I was going to lend the car to my buddy Russell… but my plates are expired, and the state of Georgia was being a bunch of pricks.  You see, you can’t get your tags renewed unless you get your emissions done.  If you’re not in town though, you can get an exemption…. or so I was told.

They only give you an exemption if you’re in the military, are a student, or… are on a very specific business trip.

Before heading to Costa Rica in late November, I mailed them everything they needed to give me my business exemption, and they still did not mail me my tags.

This time, I called to see what’s up…. it turns out that business exemption…. your business has to be located in Georgia.

My company is a Delaware company, and I run it from where ever I am.

They do not give exemptions for just traveling, and that since I’m not doing my business in Georgia, that they won’t help me. In fact, when I asked if perhaps I could take an emissions test in California, and mail them the results, I was specifically told that the only way they will renew my tags is if I drive my car to Atlanta, and get my emissions done there.

So.. where to store the car?

After asking, and having some people give replies, I decided that even if a friend wanted to give me their garage, it’s just not worth the hassle….

I looked up Car Storage, and found a place that will watch my car, disconnect the battery, turn on the engine every month….. all for $90 a month– way less than the cost of any inconvenience any friend would go through to watch the car.

Rob took me to drop off my car, and we then went to Lestat’s – my favorite coffee place.  We also brought with us Craig’s surfboard, which was being stored at Rob’s place.

I bought a surfboard case, and I filled it with the surfboard, and my clothes — for padding.  I will now have a surfboard to use in Hawaii– as will Craig and Terra.

The flight was uneventful, and I landed in Maui.  Craig and Terra found me quickly.  Craig lifted my hat off my head, and Terra put a Lei on me.  It was made of real flowers, and smelled incredible ( I am still sniffing it at the moment ).

So… got my bag, got the surfboard, got some lunch — the Mahi Mahi and Ahi here are fresh, so I had some blackened Ahi — yum!

We then went to the beach, since who the hell goes to Hawaii and doesn’t go to the beach, right?

Following that, was a small nap for me next to the saltwater pool, and then work.

Tomorrow morning I start training with Terra…. she says she can get me to a 7 minute mile!  Currently, I run 11.5 minute miles, and she’s been running since she was 12, so I believe her.

It’s just one more thing to be excited about.

So… here I am… in Hawaii, with no return ticket back to the mainland USA.  My plans are to get a lot of work done, get my run way faster, and learn to meditate.

An entire journey was started because a friend knew that I would go for it, because a 1 way ticket would make a great story.  By the way… a 1 way ticket to Hawaii on a Tuesday was only $240 + taxes (total $268).  So… don’t think that a Hawaiian vacation is out of your reach.  If you want to go somewhere, start by planning what you would do there if you could go… the rest will take care of itself.

Is there anywhere you’ve gone with a 1 way ticket?  Any place you’d want to go on a 1 way ticket?

Jason  is funny, and fearless, and smart (He has experience in selling magic tricks at bars, he was a PI, he is a marketer and copywriter… many of these things combined let him be confident, and know how to read people, and know what to say…. plus he has more street smart than most people I know– and that’s a lot of people), so he was a natural at this. Here is his first show!

I was lucky enough to get to be there in person to show support for a friend. There’s not much better than being able to show support for your friends in their big dreams. Jason is also the only other person I’ve ever met who’s taken shrooms and gone to a stripper club (his experience sounded way more painful than mine).

Anyways….not only was he funny, but his marketing superpowers are able to help these comedians– Louie Anderson and Kyle Cease. Jason has been out to Vegas a few times since to hang with Louie. How cool is that?

So… as I started this post with, Jason gave up the peace, quiet, and beauty of La Jolla to go to LA to work on comedy with Kyle Cease. I know he’s going to crush it!

The other day Jmo posts “Check out this spoof that we just filmed for Rebecca Black’s Music Video, Friday” –And he posted this video.

Ok… cute… funny…. but I didn’t see the original, so… I googled it, and here’s what I found…. Good luck watching the whole thing- *shiver*

I couldn’t watch the whole thing.. But heck, I’m not her demographic, right? I think it’s intended for teenagers. This girl is in 8th grade after all.
Well, at the time of writing this blog post (Saturday the 19th, 11AM CST), she is approaching 22 million views!

I watched it all the way through at a later attempt. Now, I’d tell you what I thought, but someone already said it word for word, so I’ll embed that! (Language warning)

I think Kingsley said it all, but how did I find his video? Well… People on facebook were commenting about Jmo & Kyle’s spoof, “have you seen this guy?”

His video – at the time of this writing – has over 2 million views!

So, here’s the point of my article:
We all know by now what a Meme is. An idea that explodes into popularity and takes on a life of its own, being adopted into popular culture…. for example, the Budweiser Wazzzzup (which actually didn’t do that much for selling beer… it is considered a failed campaign), currently Charlie Sheen is a meme, Starwars Kid, Double Rainbow (And I can never get enough of the Double Rainbow Autotune remix)….

Oh heck… speaking of Charlie Sheen being a meme, I just posted this video the other day on Facebook, ’cause my friend Espree Devora gave me a bag of Tiger’s Blood. – which goes right with the point of this article.

Rebecca Black has become an instant Meme. Her song begot spoofs, covers, and spoof images. This took the 80′s/90′s bands years to do…. The technology just wasn’t there to spread ideas like wildfire.

So now because of all the infrastructure that got laid down due to the dot com boom, everyone has wireless and broadband internet. Because of the human desire for the latest and greatest, and corporation’s desires to capitalize on that, we now have broadband internet on our cell phones, and tablet devices. This is what makes it possible for people to take a photo, video, or soundbite and turn it into a worldwide sensation…. while we’re sitting on the crapper!

Additionally, there is a braid made of multiple threads that is what really amazes me. Computers have gotten so small, fast, and efficient… information can spread so fast…. this combination has allowed for massive growth in education and jobs for programmers of all sorts. So now a booming market is in programs to do anything you can think of. Notable here – record, remix, and edit music and video.

Also, since the internet now gives us such a massive selection in any product that we want, user interface and elegant design are now standard parts of a product’s design… or at least are largely responsible for a product’s success or demise. You can learn a lot about this trend in Daniel Pink’s book “A Whole New Mind”

Just look at Apple for example. Everything they do is so elegant. I just got to unbox an Imac… it was sleek, only had 1 cable, barely took up any room…. There’s a reason that people wait in line for 8 hours to get the latest iPhone or iPad.

As much as I like to bash Apple, the more I study them, the more I realize that they are absolutely brilliant, and they already have changed the course of humanity, and will continue to do so. I can bitch and moan about them, but they deserve every penny they get.

Daniel Burrus’s must read book, Flash Foresight talks about trends – dematerialization, advances in speed, product intelligence, and more… So, that’s why smart phones these days can do more than a computer could do 10 years ago, but cost less, and can fit in our pocket.

So, now you have tiny devices (iPad) that have massive computing power, a massive selection of software that is designed to be easy and elegant to use, and you can now sit by a lake, edit a video, and post it on to the web. And when I say edit a video, I mean, create a broadcast-quality masterpiece.

Add to that mix that the younger generation take to new technology (Did you know that 80% of children under 5 years old are already using the internet?), and the fact that all these kids are growing up on shows that make singing and dancing a part of their lives (Hanna Montana, iCarly, VicTORIous, and countless others) and you have this incredible tsunami of content creation…. that Rebecca Black was just hit by.

The new generation is ready to express themselves… and unlike any previous generation, today’s teens were raised with the easy-to use technology to let them create, and remix content, and put it out there for the world to see. Justin Bieber is a perfect example… but today’s culture is about remixing.

It’s not just kids… they just help spark fires faster. Kyle Cease and Jason Moffatt are an example of grownups (if you want to call them that) that jumped onto the viral train.

You have to be quick if you want to catch a train. Another week, and nobody’s going to care about Rebecca Black’s song “Friday”. Notice we haven’t heard anything in a while about Baloon Boy (I jumped on that one, and made some Baloon Boy shirts, and even a “top 5 Baloon Boy Tattoos” spoof) — some people do it for fun, some people do it for their grasp at fame.

All in all, it’s just what people do these days…. Is it mean? Well…. she made the song to be famous, and it worked. She’s got her world-wide fame… even if it’s for sucking… and she’s quickly moving up on the charts. On the Itunes top 100, she’s already at 19 (at the time of this writing— I predict #1 in another day or 2) — passing up songs by Katy Perry, Usher, Cee-Lo, Enrique Iglesias, Ke$ha, Bruno Mars, Black Eyed Peas, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and Pink.

In Rebecca Black’s Good Morning America Interview (posted at the bottom of this article), she says hat the hurtful comments did make her cry some…. but I predict she’s going to cry all the way to the bank.

Rebecca has talent… this particular song is just auto-tuned, and the lyrics are practically insulting:
Kickin’ in the front seat
Sittin’ in the back seat
Gotta make my mind up
Which seat can I take?
—-
Yesterday was Thursday, Thursday
Today i-is Friday, Friday (Partyin’)
We-we-we so excited
We so excited
We gonna have a ball today
Tomorrow is Saturday
And Sunday comes after…wards

So…. I think she has a bright future if she leverages it.

I think this Ted.com talk really explains what’s going on:

I do think that copyright law is going to have to change, otherwise you will not see remixes that have Rebbeca and Ice Cube together, along with clips from the Friday movie. And this is how people express themselves now.

I recently spoke at SXSW (South By South West- a massive event in Austin, TX) and I gave my 7 keys to happiness… I’m not saying what they all are in this post, ’cause I’m sharing my presentation in a few days…. but, I will reveal that point number 5 was to share. Share everything with the world! If you don’t want to share the going-ons in your life, then share your talent or hobby.

I said that what’s the worst that could happen? You get one ass-hat who says you suck? So what? What about all the people that think you’re awesome? What about all the people that wish they had the balls to post as you did? And let’s say you’re epically bad….. and everyone shares it in a viral fashion, like the Double Rainbow guy, or the Sunny D and Rum, Yum Yum lady…. Then you’re famous. You can leverage that and get a book deal, or a recording contract…

While I poke fun at this horrible song, I don’t poke fun at Rebecca… whom I see having a very very bright future. Kudos to her for having the balls to post it, and for keeping it up despite all the nay-sayers…

He who laughs last…. thinks slowest.

Every person that tries to bring her down, is only letting more people know about her song, and thus is growing her notoriety. It’s like back when I was working at One Model Place and we’d have photographer contests. Many photographers would go and vote “1″ on other photographers’ images… thinking that they are bringing down their scores.

In actuality, the contest was not based on average score… but rather the overall score. So every single point helped, and all these guys that were trying to hurt their competitors were actually helping them.

So… in summary….. Share your talent with the world. You’re likely to get remixed and laughed at…. but who the hell hasn’t been mocked when trying to do a great thing? The Wright Brothers were certainly mocked, as was Thomas Edison…

You survived yesterday, you survived today, chances are good you’ll be around tomorrow. Shit happens, and there is often a price to pay to get to greatness.

That aside, here’s some more awesome Rebecca Black spoofs and covers, and her interview…. But I bet by the time this posts, new ones will have already arrived on the web.

Here’s an amazing cover that makes the song not be annoying…. Epic Mullet Guy covers Rebbeca Black’s Friday-

Wow! That’s talent! Poor guy has that much talent, and only 162,000 views in 3 days. Poor thing.

This one was a blast Mashup with Friday the movie AND a mix with Ice Cube

I used to go to Raves– so this Dubstep version caught my attention…. it’s pretty well executed-

Bob Dylan version-

This kid did a cover, and got 146,000 views so far– ’cause RyanSeacrest.com posted his video.

Fried Eggs (more original than many of the others)

Emo-

Heavy Metal-

Using Video editing to make a dance video to match-

BeatBox

One of the better spoofs (audio and video wise) “Saturday”

This guy’s cover is pretty decent– makes it sound like a mix of Pink Floyd, The Cure, and some other bands

Friday– an acting masterclass

Pop Rock- (not bad… think Dashboard Confessional) –

Accoustic and Banjo cover!

This Meatloaf Version is awesome

Another dramatic, but talented cover-

Hitler finds out it’s Friday (This friggin clip gets spoofed for every meme! The one they did of Hitler Finds Out Baloon Boy Is A Hoax was the best!)

This kid deserves to be made fun of even more than Rebecca does:

These guys did a decent acoustic set- and had fun with the video:

Rebecca’s interview on Good Morning America:

If you want to kill time, go look up Rebecca Black Friday on YouTube…. hint– you’ll find a whole other set if you try things like Rebecca Black Friday Piano Cover / Rebecca Black Drum Cover / Rebecca Black Dance Party / Rebecca Black Spoken Word—- each one of these has dozens of covers in that genre.

This girl has started an entire industry! I think it’s amazing. If nothing else, you can make a drinking game out of it