Doing Nothing To Win: Humor Article

It was being hailed as the “fight of the decade,” and seeing as I was in my second decade (I was 12), I didn’t want to miss it! Greg, the school bully, was short, stocky, and angry. To me, it seemed like he had huge muscles for a kid. Stephan was as opposite as you could get: nerdy, three times taller than Greg, thinner than a sheet of paper, and incredibly uncoordinated. You could usually see Stephan tripping down the crowded hallways wearing brown corduroy pants with the belt looped a couple times around his waist.

It’s May – which means “Take Your Daughter to Work” Day! Here’s my joke!

Stephan kept his arms straight down at his sides and laid on top of Greg like a dead weight. Greg flailed all over trying to get a good angle to punch him, but try as he might, Greg could not get Stephan off of him or get any momentum behind the few punches he did land. In fact, Greg looked ridiculous, like he was wrestling a mannequin or a sack of potatoes. It’s extremely awkward and it’s also no fun if the potatoes won’t fight back.

After a couple minutes of this bizarre “dirt dance,” Greg got up and stormed off. We all looked around in silence. We couldn’t believe it—Stephan had won! Sure, he had a bloody nose and torn corduroys, but he was walking away from the fight under his own power. Stephan used his head to figure out 

 a unique solution that never even occurred to us, and he probably did it by asking a few questions, like “What am I good at in a fight?” Apparently, laying on top of someone!

In the many years since that day, I’ve honed my question-asking skills a lot. Partly because I’m naturally curious about things, but also, as a comedian, because we find humor by asking many questions and coming up with different, never-thought-about, answers that become punchlines.

In my keynote “Finding the Funny in Change,” I have a segment where I talk about the questions you can ask to see a different angle on a challenge or situation. Asking unique questions helps you come up with unique solutions that you may not have thought of before. That perspective gives you an “aha” moment because so many of us tend to approach challenges with the same standard solutions that everyone else is using.

Throughout your journey on this planet, you’re going to be faced with all sorts of challenges—the “Gregs” of the world (people or situations)—that you think may not end well if you go the traditional route. Instead of tackling the challenge in the same old way, take a pause, put on your “Stephan” hat (or maybe corduroys?), and ask a few different questions. Who knows? You may surprise everyone by conquering the challenge and walking away from it with only a few bruises.