Still reeling from the sudden death this week of my beloved boy, McLovin Ogata. Around the house he was Protector-In-Chief, Food Tester Extraordinaire and Pro-Level Head Scratch Enthusiast.
Adding to the sorrow, his sister Nala passed away just two months prior. What a gut punch.
Almost immediately afterwards, I had to do previously-booked shows on the other side of the planet and try to be funny, despite my world ending. Would I even be able to be funny? Could I make it though the whole show without breaking down?
But the interesting thing about comedy is its ability to heal. In both the spectating and in the doing. Laughter, indeed, was good medicine. At least for the time I was on stage. I am back to being a wreck now.
Still, comedy can absolutely be transformational; it can give people skills that will help them through life even outside of comedy.
And that’s where my friends at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood are doing the good work.
For the better part of four decades, Laugh Factory owner Jamie Masada has been operating a Summer comedy camp for kids. He and the Laugh Factory Comedy Camp have helped over a thousand children harness their creativity to build their self-confidence.
Some of these kids have gone on to careers in comedy and show biz (Nick Cannon, Amanda Bynes, Tiffany Haddish), but all of them have emerged more confident, more powerful humans. They get mentored by comics who in the past have included Richard Pryor, Rodney Dangerfield and even Tiffany herself.
There’s still some room in the 10-week journey which begins this week. FREE. OF. CHARGE. If you know of a kid who would like to get involved, start the process BY CLICKING THIS LINK.
Also, they give the kids free lunch every day. So there’s that, too. McLovin would have liked that part.
Much Aloha Brother.
Mahalo Myk.
Great read buddy, sorry for your losses, but thanks for honoring them by writing this for us to read!!!!
Thank Bijan
Wow! Incredible courage on your part to not cancel the show.As a comedy hobbyist myself, I basically just do it for healing and self-confidence.That’s really great that they are offering comedy classes for kids at the Comedy Store.
Well, dog ERs are crazy expensive.
Paul, I’m sorry for your loss!! I feel your pain, as we lost our baby not to long ago as well! Just keep making people laugh the way you do. I miss seeing you & hope one of these days you might come to Reno to do a show!!
Sorry for your loss too. I’ll keep trying to spread cheer.
The hardest thing next to this is when you know it is a part of someone you idolize.
So so sorry.
Thanks so much for writing about this so we all know how valuable our time is while we are around. 🙁
A.Z.
Hug your loved ones!
Paul, I can’t imagine the pain you must be going through. Losing a parent is difficult enough, but a child? Please accept my deepest sympathies. I’ll be praying for you and the rest of your family. Take care.
Gary these were my dogs. But they were my world.
Hey man, I get it & mad hugs to you guys. We lost Rumpelstiltskin Wonder Pug 6 mos ago right before the holidays (& my bday)😪. We were devastated. He was such a great dog. Everyone loved him; we couldn’t go to events without being stopped every couple of feet for folks to get them a helping of Rumpy.
Hang in there.
Thanks for sending the pic of Rumpy on Facebook. What a smile…
your spotless dog with the leash was found hiding in a closet. do you want to save it?
hahaha good memories but I think you can let that one go.