An Audience of One and Jim Carrey

I bumped into my neighbour/friend yesterday. A lovely man who is very supportive (and his wife) of my creative endeavours. We chatted outside the post office on a grey Vancouver evening. He commented on how much time and effort I put into my work. He loved my last newsletter (join my email list to receive), blogs & videos. Complimenting me on them. My effort showed. It was nice to hear. I thanked him and told him I kept putting my work out there in the hopes that people will read or listen. Trying not to allow the results (or lack of) to chafe at me like a tight pair of jeans. 

He then told me a story of he and Jim Carrey. Yes, the real Jim Carrey. He had been chatting with him that morning and I guess he was on his mind. My neighbour had worked with Jim back when he had started appearing on "In Living Color". He had directed him in a documentary before his break out on to the world stage. Part of the documentary included filming Jim in action on stage. It was the 100th time Jim had performed this particular comedy routine. There was a lot riding on this documentary for all involved. There were limited funds for filming and crew. There wasn’t the luxury of several ‘takes’. Jim had to nail it. My neighbour said he took solace in the fact that Jim had performed this routine 99 times. He was about to perform his 100th on camera – which he nailed, of course. It was Jim Carrey after all. But he also told me this. Of those 99 times, Jim had performed his comedy routine. 99 public performances. Jim had stated he couldn’t count the number of times he had performed it to an audience of one. One person. Maybe two. Sometimes 20 or 30. But often, one. Jim Carrey! The genius comedian! Performing for one bored person in the audience, picking his teeth and slurping a beer. With that, my neighbour encouraged me to continue to put my work out into the world with the same effort. Because my audience was my audience whether it be 1 or 10,000. 

What great advice! I’ve always had that attitude for my live performance but never have applied it to my online audience.

The advice is good for all areas of our life. We live our life. Do things to the best of our ability. Do good when no one is watching. For even if the only member of our audience is a snoring pet beagle, we still perform to the best of our ability. 

To the person who is reading this. Thank you. You inspire me. If you would like to receive my periodic News Letters, like my neighbour, click here.

Just for you and for Valentines Day here is my latest Samsung Galaxy Video ... Yes! They're back! Enjoy My Funny Valentine.