funny with a cause

Big Daddy Tazz came to our little town on Wednesday to do his thing - making people laugh. The event was to raise awareness of mental illness, which is Tazz's "cause." He had us laughing about his suicide attempts, his bi-polar diagnosis, and his son's ADD. I know, sounds a little lacking in taste, but we were laughing so hard we had sore bellies and sore cheeks later. He encourages people to talk about these things by making them funny, you see.

I've seen Tazz perform before at a couple of different venues, and on TV. This particular time he was only performing for about 80 people, and I think his act still gets better every time. Afterwards he had a bit of a Q & A for those that wanted to ask him questions about his experiences. I was struck by how this is a person who, like Nick from the previous post, has learned to use his personal challenges to make other people's lives better. He responded to all the questions with humour, respect, and a gentle manner that made it feel like all questions were good questions. You could sense that he'd worked really hard to get where he is, and that he didn't take it for granted. In fact he talked about some of the struggles he still has, and how making other people laugh is a form of medication for him. So thanks, Tazz, for an evening of inspired laughter... and for saying my singing was "phenomenal." ;-)