Editor’s Letter – Sept/Oct 2022
I recently interviewed comedian Jimmy Carr for his upcoming New Zealand tour in January 2023. This point really has nothing to do with this issue as the interview will appear in the next issue. Sorry. But there is a broader philosophical point that seems apt to bring up now. As part of the interview, we discussed Jimmy’s recent book Before & Laughter which he describes as a self-help book with d**k jokes. Although, if you were reading it for those, you would probably be a bit short-changed. The book is actually a deeply thought-provoking insight into life, purpose and happiness.
At first, it was a bit jarring to accept life lessons from a man that once made contestants pee to trigger a buzzer before answering questions in the game show Distraction, but then again, who better to learn some life lessons from really. And underneath the jokes that some people love to be so offended by is really quite a self-reflective person. In his book and in our discussion, he talks about his quarter-life crisis, leaving a really well-paying and secure job as a marketing manager for an oil company and running away to join the circus that is standup comedy. Ok, he went on to become a world-famous comedian, but even in hindsight that kind of decision seems so foolish, and for the first year he didn’t actually earn anything and bombed on stage a number of times, but he just kept failing until he didn’t anymore and the rest is very funny, but slightly offensive, history.
This concept of a leap of faith, burning-the-boats-at-the-shore kind of existential crisis isn’t just relevant to a career as a stand-up comedian, of course. A lot of the most impactful people that we have interviewed across a wide range of industries, from tech to aerospace to entertainment, have at some point faced a fork in the road. One pathway is clear and comfortable, the other one is obscure and risky but could lead somewhere amazing. It can be painfully hard to leave the good for the great, but maybe it is easier than carrying a backpack of regret around with you. I’m not suggesting you ditch your day job and become a comedian, unless that is, of course, your purpose, but checking in occasionally with your own happiness and where you want to be in life might be a good start.
“I saw that show 50 Things To Do Before You Die. I’d have thought the obvious one was, ‘shout for help.’”- Jimmy Carr
