Frank King is always on the verge of committing suicide. It is a feeling that has plagued him since he was young, passed down from previous generations. When faced with a problem, Frank always sees an option a lot of people do not see, killing himself. 

Where most would see this as a detriment, Frank has turned suicide into a lucrative career as a comedian, public speaker and TED Talker. As The Mental Health Comedian, Frank confronts the standard taboos associated with suicide and speaks openly about it, letting people know that these feelings are not just theirs and creating a dialog that allows people to get the help that they need.

On a personal note, this episode could not have come at a better time. Though you may not hear it in my voice, I was desperately struggling with these feelings myself, and it was because of this discussion that I was able to get help for myself. Frank, in his talking about ending one’s own life, actually helped me overcome those feelings in myself. 

Of course I need to put out a warning, this episode dives pretty deeply into depression, mental illness and, of course, suicide. My suggestion, don’t be afraid to confront it. Knowing that there are others that struggle helps. Knowing that you can use it as a super power is incredibly empowering.

If you are feeling those feelings, then please do the world a favor and call 800 273 8255. You are worthwhile and the world is a better place with you. I think so, you listen to my show and I think you are incredibly special. Thank you.

You can hear and see more of Frank on his website: thementalhealthcomedian.com where you can listen to his TED talks, subscribe to his podcast and even hire him to come and do a keynote for your company. 

This was one of my favorite episodes, it literally saved my life.

We also recorded the sketch: “Not the X-Men”

For more episodes, information, and apply to be on the show, visit: http://sketchcomedypodcastshow.com

Sketch Comedy Podcast Show is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

© Copyright 2021 Stuart Rice

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Frank King is an American comedian who has written for late night talk shows, toured extensively, and has turned his desire to kill himself into a flourishing business performing corporately. He is an advocate for suicide prevention, and speaks to different industries about depression and how to overcome it, while being funny. Frank was also stuck on a boat, you should ask him about it (do not ask him about it).

[00:00:00] spk_1: in this episode, Suicidal superhero frank king. And I came up with a few sketches going to like the X mansion. Right, right. And the training program is not like you go in the danger room and you do all this stuff. It's more of like they just basically bring out all your depression, which

[00:00:17] spk_0: by the way was superman. The one thing he is vulnerable to is a piece of his old planet. Yeah, I think that's instructive because you know, it's like saying, hey, didn't you used to live here?

[00:00:28] spk_1: And it's not and it's not that it's got some sort of radiation. It's just like it causes so

[00:00:32] spk_0: much like immediately I'll be here. You'll never be depressed again. Never have another suicidal thoughts. We can fix this. Yeah, but you know

[00:00:39] spk_1: what, you're also gonna have another side effect. You can

[00:00:42] spk_0: lose your superpower. What? Yeah, no, I'll deal with the crap.

[00:00:45] spk_1: Which one did we pick? You'll find out on this episode of, it's a sketch comedy podcast show. Welcome to sketch comedy podcast show. The one of a kind show where I Stewart rice, invite interesting people to have intriguing conversations and then improvise a comedy sketch based on what was talked about, visit sketch comedy podcast show dot com to subscribe, get links by merchandise and even apply to be on the show, enjoy the show. We enjoyed making it. Thank you so much for listening frank King is always on the verge of committing suicide. It is a feeling that has plagued him since he was young, passed down from previous generations when faced with the problem frank always sees an option. A lot of people do not see killing himself where most would see this as a detriment frank has turned suicide into a lucrative career as a comedian public speaker. And ted talker as the mental health comedian frank, confronts the standard taboos associated with suicide and speaks openly about it, letting people know that they are not alone and creating a dialogue that allows people to get the help that they need. On a personal note, this episode could not have come at a better time though, you may not hear in my voice. I was desperately struggling with these feelings myself and it was because of this discussion that I was able to get help for myself, frank in his talking about ending one's own life. Actually helped me overcome those feelings in myself and of course I need to put out a warning. This episode dives pretty deeply into depression, mental illness and of course suicide. My suggestion, don't be afraid to confront it. Knowing that there are others that struggle helps knowing that you can use it as a superpower is incredibly empowering if you are feeling those feelings. However, then please do the world a favor and call 1 802 738255. You are worthwhile and the world is a better place with you at least I think so you listen to my show and that makes you incredibly special to me. Thank you, You can hear and see more frank on his website, the mental health comedian dot com where you can listen to his ted talks. Subscribe to his podcast and even hire him to come and do a keynote for your company. This was one of my favorite episodes. It literally saved my life and now my conversation with frank king comedian ted speaker and suicidal superhero frank. Thank you so much for hanging out. By the way, we're at the,

[00:03:43] spk_0: I've got the Stockholm syndrome. I'm beginning to like him. He kidnapped was bad.

[00:03:47] spk_1: We're at the Holiday Inn. I'm gonna give it a little bit of a uh, plug plug. Thank you. Hi, I love the

[00:03:54] spk_0: show. It's, you know,

[00:03:56] spk_1: Holiday Inn in chemist Washington. It's brand new allowed us to use this beautiful meeting room. That's frigid.

[00:04:02] spk_0: But yeah, a lot of laws love, but hey, the price was

[00:04:06] spk_1: right frank. Yeah. What makes you interesting? Mm

[00:04:14] spk_0: Well if he, uh, noticed the, was ever mentioned a lifeline, their phone number, um, I've come close enough to killing myself that I know what the barrel of my gun days like.

[00:04:27] spk_1: That's pretty close interesting. That is, that is interesting. That is visceral like that. I can taste it.

[00:04:34] spk_0: Yeah, that's good. I, every now and then somebody said to me, because I've never actually been officially diagnosed with metal illness have to mental illnesses once called major depressive disorder, depression. What it means. Is it, um, it's last two days to two weeks for me. It's about two days and Rikers and it's generally not situation. Um, the other one is called chronic suicidality or chronic suicidal ideation, which means for me, people like me, my tribe. The option of suicides always on the menu as a solution problems large and small. When I say small, my car broke down a couple years ago, I had three thoughts on bit get affected by noon. I could just kill myself. Yeah, that's chronic suicidal. The thing about that is, um, when I speak, I always tell that story and almost always after I get done, I always tell people what will they look you and a generally for everybody. And if you got a question you don't want to ask in front of the entire group like, hey, I'm crazy, can you help me? I'll hang around and oftentimes somebody comes up, they have that chronic suicidality, they didn't know how to name. They just thought there's some kind of freak. And I've had people weeping, you know, a woman said to me, I enjoyed your keynote, but it made me weep. I go ahead and make you weep Because when I've had those thoughts, you know, when you said, get fixed by knowing you could just kill yourself. I've been having those thoughts all my life. And uh when I heard you say that a lot, I realized for the first time in my life, I'm not alone. Right? So it's possible that I steered her far enough off the path of suicide that she'll live a you know, whatever normal life would be the upshot of that is picture this and Billings Montana. Okay. Just just college, I do college suicide prevention as well. University of Montana. Billings, I just finished, I'm standing outside dusk starting snow. They're not far away is a river, you can hear the water kids going to get the truck to take back the hotel. So I think, I think, I think the scene actually triggered this in my head, so snow river dusk and I think about all the people who came up this parade of people who came up after my, it didn't know they had it. I thought they were a freak, you know, perhaps on the path to suicide and it hit me, I'm George bailey and it's a wonderful life because I've been shown with these people's lives, might have been like if I were not there to speak and just decode that for them to let them know. They in fact have something that has a name and there's lots of us and you can survive it and they're not alone. My second thought was oh my God, I can't kill myself because I take all the people with the right and that's

[00:07:21] spk_1: depressing in its own right.

[00:07:23] spk_0: Yeah. Oh God, yeah. My third thought was as a comic if I didn't kill myself, they would chase me through eternity. You couldn't wait a

[00:07:30] spk_1: week, right. So before we go any further, can I talk to you about this? Is that I ask you a question after,

[00:07:37] spk_0: Is that interesting

[00:07:38] spk_1: enough to know? That is really interesting. So um, now focusing on that, that you are a stand up comedian correct? 34 years full

[00:07:47] spk_0: time. Okay.

[00:07:48] spk_1: Um, that is so we were just talking about this that you know when you're a stand up comedian you talk in very violent terms, right? Killed, died. Yeah. And it's, but in your case you were actually, that was a consideration. It wasn't right. Yeah, yeah. And what age did you start to have that? Like that was a thing that started to happen for you.

[00:08:11] spk_0: Let's back up a little bit if you can. Sure. Absolutely. Comedy mom's funding. My sister's funny fourth grade, I told my first joke and the entire student body, the class laughed and I thought I'm going to do this for a living. Um, I did the senior high school talent show senior year. Nobody ever done stand up And that was 75 kind of the best. That's about the time that Leno drove out to L. A. In his car. I was living in his car eating oranges. So many oranges is the mouth cracked on either side.

[00:08:39] spk_1: Uh, not to year I was born, shut

[00:08:43] spk_0: up. And uh and um, then I told my mom I was going to be a comedian because I was going to go straight into comedy. And she comes from a long line of, well everybody the family had an education. The women especially all the all my aunts and all my you know everybody all the women especially had an education uh you know as a as a buffer against hard times. You know lose a husband, husband he's whatever. So she goes well uh you're gonna go to college, whatever you do when you get done. I don't care. You could be a goat herder if you won't be but you're going to be a goat herder with a degree. So what do you as a chapel hill Got two degrees. Actually easy to think I could find police. I you know why? Because there's no right answer bullshit. Hard enough you're going to be.

[00:09:29] spk_1: Um I got through business school using Maslow's hierarchy of needs. I wrote like 18 papers on massive hierarchy of needs. I think I just I went and found words and just switched them and then submitted the paper boy

[00:09:42] spk_0: did it. That's creative writing. So I did. And I had to go through all the way through high school and then she went to north to Arizona went to you and see. But we maintain that relationship four years wow. Yeah. And I was a virgin when I hit the altar bear in mind. Yeah I know how 10,000 women Southern belles 10,000 women at U. N. C. And I it and it was 1970 72 or 75 75 or 79 75 or 79. The reason those years are important. It was the last four years of the sexual revolution. Yeah. I never even got off a shot. Yeah. I mean I heart cries for you. I know I beat it like it owed me money. Yeah. Yeah. Which by the way is my ted talk coming up in november 3rd is okay mental health and the orgasm treat your depression singlehandedly. My, my smartphone is my second favorite handheld device. Um, so I graduated. It's okay for the podcast. We said, okay. I graduated and I don't know. We did always high school all way through college, maintain their relation and when you graduate, that's kind of a pivot point in your life. If you dated that long, it's either get married or you know, go your separate ways, correct? And that's how I got engaged. She goes, look, I'm not gonna keep dating. You're too old. 22. Oh my gosh, I'm not gonna live with you. Which would have been my choice lease with an option to buy, um, uh, marry me or I'm out of here. That's how I got engaged. Okay. Yeah.

[00:11:15] spk_1: Nothing like a shotgun

[00:11:17] spk_0: engagement man. I'm telling you, I'm going going down the aisle. I knew intuition was screaming. You know when he said, do you take, I said I said I do in my head. I heard I'll try, here's the deal. You don't try marriage. You try great metric, you drive Sports illustrated for mother. It doesn't work out right. You know, cancel across the bill. So anyway, the reason I tell you all that just we moved to San Diego. Uh I couldn't find a job. I interviewed 77 times. U. N. C. Has a fabulous placement. So they brought in, you know people from all over the country to interview graduates to get jobs. I interviewed 77 times, literally no second interviews, no job offers. Now I look back and I think well they're probably good at their job. They took one look at me is that this guy is a clown and they're right. Exactly. So her father is in the insurance business. He wrangled a job for me at his insurance company is embarking europe, which was a great job by the way and probably the best one of the insurance business. You're not selling anything. Just marketing.

[00:12:18] spk_1: Uh who knows how to measure marketing really.

[00:12:21] spk_0: Hey look, these are use our business owners policy, let's go to lunch. Um and you get a car and a little suspense kind of, I wish I had kept the job to this day because it was so easy. Anyway, uh in san Diego where we moved to, there was a comedy store. There's one on on on uh in Hollywood, on the male was on Hollywood boulevard. Yeah. Yeah. And so um every time I drove by there I felt this magnetic. Yeah. And so the reason I tell you all that is my third ted talk is called suicide. The secret of my success. Dead man talking. I at that moment after being married to my first wife couple years was doing insurance, hated it in that marriage where I didn't belong a wonderful woman, we just didn't belong together. Sure, miserable. And I realized if that I was going to kill myself sooner rather than later because it runs in my family. My grandmother died by suicide. My mother found her. My great aunt died by suicide. My mother and I found out I was four years old. Oh wow, involved a refrigerator, I'll spare you the details. The old lock type. Um My first ted talk if you go to frank ted talk dot com, you know that you're you are able to take your right to that first ted talk. I came out as depressed and suicidal age 52 in that first ted talk, nobody knew my family, my friends, my wife. It's

[00:13:43] spk_1: one of those things we tend to keep to ourselves right? We don't want to share it because it's a you know, you

[00:13:48] spk_0: don't burden other people with. Right. Exactly. Plus there's a stigma attached, there's a stigma attached to mental illness and a separate stigma attached to toss the suicide.

[00:13:54] spk_1: It's like a double stick.

[00:13:55] spk_0: Yeah, and you know, and I'm a happy guy and I got a great job and I love doing comedy and

[00:14:00] spk_1: people associate sadness with suicide and it's like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[00:14:05] spk_0: I I was most impressed at some of the best times in my life. Sure, Okay. And then we'll get to that in a second. So I'm depressing because I was it was uh it was a winner of 80 four 83 driving on 163 in San Diego. So five o'clock in the afternoon is kind of a low point in my biorhythms. Probably going to some insurance appointment. It's overcast, it's raining and in san Diego. I know it does occasionally. Okay, uh have a range of southern California. Um And I had that the first time I've had that thought I had the thought, just get yourself, I'm like, what are it was the first time I've consciously had a friend of mine who has some condition says, you know the biplanes of the planes that pull the little banner behind them, like that, like that goes across your brain, why don't you just go out and kill yourself? And that was first time I had been depressed, I was depressed in college but didn't know that's what it was, I just thought was pining away from my girlfriend. Sure, but I was I'm sure it was depressed. Yeah, I'm cheating on um the so I realized uh if I didn't and I was not going to open mic night, which is I knew in my heart that's where I belonged. Uh intuition. And I've never haven't ignored my intuition since that first marriage, by the way, um I knew this rebel on. So when I realized I was going to kill myself if I didn't do something, I thought well damn, I could divorce my wife, quit my job. I can try comedy, which is where I think I belong. And if it doesn't work out, I can still kill myself. So

[00:15:51] spk_1: the fact that way it kind of take some weight off your shoulders.

[00:15:54] spk_0: Well you know, you know there's nothing more powerful on the planet that somebody with absolutely nothing to lose. Truth. The metaphor I use is or similarly as you're standing on the edge of a cliff, You're looking at maybe 10 stories beautiful like deep, beautiful. But coming up behind just a raging wild flower. So if you stay where you are, you were definitely going to die. But if you jump, Follow may kill you 10 stories. I mean your terminal velocity or you may hit correctly and swim away. And so I said to somebody, it wasn't really a choice. I mean

[00:16:27] spk_1: no. Yeah, you got to make the jump because you have

[00:16:30] spk_0: to because there's no because you don't die. That's how I opened the ted talk, what would you what would you what audacious thing would you do would you do if you knew for a fact, you have nothing to lose. What dream would you pursue? If you knew by staying put and not pursuing it, you would literally die. And what I've discovered since then is I've met a number of people, entertainers and entrepreneurs have the same basic thought process. I think kate spade and Anthony Bourdain. Both underlying mental illness. Both self medicating. Both of them came to a juncture in their lives. Um Bourdain was at Vassar setting. I don't even know what good school, probably good program. He's probably thinking I graduate, I'll get a good job. But he fell in love with food when he was eight years old and his folks stuck into France and from that moment as soon as he was old enough to get a work permit. As a teenager, he had been working in restaurants and when he went to college faster he was working in two different restaurants. He loved culinary, I'm guessing he came to the junction where he's saying, you know what good school, good major, probably get a good job, but it's not my life right? I'm gonna kill myself. And then I thought, well I'll just go to culinary school if it works out great, if it doesn't hell still kill me, I still do that. Yeah. And kate spade. Uh she was the editor of the accessories, department accessories, accessories at vanity fair by example? Okay, I believe she came to the same juncture, you know, underlying mental illness, self medication, which she said to herself, I'm not supposed to be reviewing other people's fashions. I'm supposed to have my own fashion line, I'm gonna kill myself. Woodman. I didn't establish my own line if it works great, it doesn't. And I've got a comedian friend. We had this conversation, I hope to get in the corporate market out of the clubs. Clubs tough on women because you're traveling, you're living in a condo. Clubs are tough on anybody, anybody. But the living, you're living with two other guys. Two guys. My wife and I traveled together actually. We were on the road 2629 nights in a row. Non stuff, wow, seven years. And she just came along for the ride, which is highly unusual at the time. And you know what? I bought their wife, that was, that was the whole point of going on the road was, you know, as soon as you leave the code, you know the marriage license anymore. Uh so, and I worked with Seinfeld and Dennis Miller and Adam Sandler and Rosie and Ellen de generous and Paula Poundstone and Foxworthy and Ron Hyman opened up, worked with them where they're just comics and live with them in those condos, you know, most times, not hotel, but we actually go home from the show, sit around drinking beer, watching Letterman anyway, um,

[00:19:04] spk_1: make fun and then critique whoever was on Letterman and

[00:19:08] spk_0: Lament The fact that we weren't there. I turned I wrote jokes for Leno by the way for 20 years by facts. Um And I submitted to Leno, Letterman and Conan, there were three at the time a dozen times. Used to do stand up and never got on. My jokes got on but I never do anyway. Oh I was talking to my friend female friend who helped get out of clubs into corporate comedy money is better. They're happy to see you you're special you know a combination like this like the Holiday inn instead of the you know the motel where they ask you are you sure you want the room for the whole night

[00:19:42] spk_1: or you know what county are you gonna be sleeping exactly,

[00:19:45] spk_0: That's comics. Yeah and I've got friends my age still doing it. I'm like you are every now and then if I'm gonna I mean holiday in this, holiday is lovely. Uh but I'll be in like the phoenician in phoenix like five star you know with the grey bathrobe and them and I'll take a photograph posted on facebook and I go if you're 60 years old or better you're still doing comedy clubs, you may be doing it wrong.

[00:20:05] spk_1: Uh

[00:20:07] spk_0: So she said do you want to know frank the real reason I got into stand up full time. I said you're telling me she goes now it's dark. I go I love dark. She goes well I'm working for an association in Washington D. C. And I'm just miserable. My only joy two nights a week open mics. And it hit me. She said that if I didn't get out of the association business it was a good job, I was gonna kill myself. And she she starts speaking to go let me tell you how this comes out. Then you said yourself well I could quit that job. Track comedy. Who works great if it doesn't I'll still kill myself. She goes how do you know that? No honey, I lived it. So I think there are because uh my ted talks the way I feel about Ted talk ted that um all the information is out there for a ted talk. It's what I do is I see a pattern by the way mentally ill people do this all the time. I see a pattern that nobody else is quite recognized yet. And think, wait a minute. And the pattern I saw was one third of entrepreneurs are Reportedly three studies. I read depressed and suicidal and the clinicians believe it's like asleep long hours and unmet expectations. I believe that's probably the case in most of them. But I bet there's a subset where they're not depressed and suicidal because they're entrepreneurs. They are in fact entrepreneurs because they were depressed and suicidal. I was that's what gave me the idea for the Ted X talk. That's all the information is out there. But nobody ever quite I saw it from that perspective. That's like stand up comedy. I can teach you to write jokes. I can teach you perform. I cannot teach you to see the world and process the way I process right? I want a plane delta. It's the day after they said you could use your smartphone and ipad on takeoff or landing if it's in the airplane. But okay, the legend is very southern. She's going through the spiel, you know, if I'm see cushion floor path lighting, oxygen mask. Well, the problem with the iphone ipad FAA thing. It's not written down. She's got to come up with something. So she gets the end of her normal spiel, she knows she's got to say something about the iphone. So there's a long pause and then she gets inspired. And I mean, I'm on the edge of my seat because you know it's him. Yeah, she goes late gentlemen due to new FAA. Regulation, you can almost hear thinking she gets inspired. She goes due to new FAA Regulation if you have small equipment, you can continue playing with it. I am bent over double laughing. No, that's amazing. Yeah. Well, my seat mate look at me like what I go, let's review before I can review. She comes back on. If you have large equipment, you got to shove that under the seat in front of you. So I'm down on my knees.

[00:22:54] spk_1: I

[00:22:56] spk_0: was the only person, everybody heard

[00:22:58] spk_1: that everybody, nobody else caught

[00:23:00] spk_0: that. Yeah because that's the way my brain

[00:23:02] spk_1: processes. I can't imagine I

[00:23:04] spk_0: can't, here's the thing my keep saying my my my second dead dog or third um was called mental of benefits. The evolutionary advantages of mental illness. Because again, I saw a pattern where nobody else that I don't think I've ever seen him. Every time I met a parent with a child who had whatever autism, A. D. D. A. D. H. D. Back or whatever. First paragraph is always about the illness. 2nd paragraph unfailingly was about their superpowers. But he's creative, he's smart, he's funny, he's artistic, he's athletic. And I thought it cannot be a coincidence. So I started doing some research sure enough. Um I believe that mental illness is not this is the opening of the what if those of us living with a mental illness or not living with a genetic mutation but an amazing evolutionary adaptation. And what if mental illness is as Malcolm Gladwell says of such things in his book, David and Goliath a desirable disadvantage. You wouldn't wish it on anybody. But I believe my comedic ability is just the flip side. My mental illnesses. Sure.

[00:24:12] spk_1: I I um I actually agree with what you're saying. I uh people that I know that are that have trauma in their past, right? They're hyper vigilant. And so they can see things that, you know, some of us can't write like that. Uh that blew me away. Was I had a friend were playing this is going to sound so smart, Call of Duty, right? The video game and I'm terrible at it because I'm like running around and the next thing I know I'm okay. Like that's how I play video games. He is like, you gotta watch out for that thing up there, you got to do this, you got to do that. And I'm like, I don't know what you're talking about, but okay. And he's just able to see things in the world anywhere that I can't see. And it's sort of like that superpower that kind of came from this, this place where it was traumatic or whatever it was that he went through, but he actually, it adapted into

[00:25:09] spk_0: like you said, a superpower because and the trauma, a lot of times we got a friend who was in a kind of a violent household, was household, this child and she just didn't talk about being in the household like that. You don't think her whole thing was on, you cannot you cannot make a change unless you can see as possible to make a change. And the problem being a violent household like that is you're not thinking about, Gosh, I wonder if I can fix that. We're not gonna change it. You are constantly on alert. You are not acting, you're just simply reacting. You you never actually proactive, you're always just waiting, you know, to react or whatever happens, you know, so two people walking on, everyone's been traumatized like that and rabbit comes out the, you know, the person has been drawn, but I was like, oh right, right. Or the other person like it's a funny,

[00:26:07] spk_1: yeah, but I mean you're up for the crane kick, you're ready to take out.

[00:26:12] spk_0: She said ever because you go from a one to a nine. All the hormones are dumping you just in your mind, it's an alligator that just came out of the, you know, by the time you realize, oh, it's a bunny, right?

[00:26:26] spk_1: Yeah, and I uh so my uh she's not, she's not gonna watch this, my daughter. Uh the ones you watch is right. Uh but she's got really incredibly high anxiety. She is, you know, using that scale of 1 to 10, she is normally at an eight and then just goes above that or whatever. Um but because of that, she is always super hyper prepared for everything. But there's never a situation she's like hasn't thought through and considered or planned for, it's really interesting because it's a superpower. It's a superpower, but I wouldn't wish it on

[00:27:06] spk_0: anybody. Yeah, well and at the end of my ted dogs, I always try to give you some action items like, you know frank. That's really interesting, but what do we do? One of the middle of benefits where the you know the kid was for example a kid with a D. D. Back in the day. Back in caveman times. These things were survival skills. For example, anthropologists believe most cave people were bipolar because you had four months in the summer to gather enough stuff for eight months in the winter. So they were uber hunters and gatherers. They were hyper sexual, which is a is a to this day. Women of childbearing age are susceptible to bipolar and that's because you have to keep the numbers up in the tribe. So back then bipolar was a survival skill as was uh A. D. D. You know back then pretty much anything to eat and or kill and or eu

[00:27:56] spk_1: it's like Australia.

[00:27:57] spk_0: Yeah exactly. A dangerous land. Uh So if you got a kid nowadays with squirrel, that's funny. However back then velociraptor vast his arrival scale. So they just unfortunately come forward in time to where they in our modern world, those are considered disabilities. But again, what I said then was look, you know that song called I. E. P. Individual education plan, What do you say? Just you know shits and grins. We really make them individual education plans. Got a kid with dyslexia dyslexic have better peripheral vision. They also tend to see things in a panoramic fashion. Most people tend to focus, its like on the news when you see the stuff down on the side like that's how most people see things but dyslexic generally see him in a panoramic view and they had the uncanny ability oftentimes to pick out the anomaly in anything. The joke I wrote for the ted talk was never play where's Waldo for money with a dyslexic because you're going to lose right there. So why not take a kid who's got dyslexia and don't put them in the stem program, science, technology education or engineering mathematics.

[00:29:05] spk_1: You're just setting them up because

[00:29:07] spk_0: every one of those has one right answer why not put them in humanities? And uh and they're great at multi level uh you know multi level complex tasks and art and where there's not a lot of numbers and letters and things by the same token if you have somebody who has O. C. D. And they are you know they are uh attention to detail and very precise stem is great because there's one right answer to every one of those and every one of those disciplines and then steer them in a career path like the O. C. D. To accounting. Where they value someone who has can focus and precision is important and to the penny is important and they'll be rewarded for that. They'll get more. They'll be paid higher than just an average human being because they are great at that. That makes sense.

[00:29:53] spk_1: Yeah it makes complete

[00:29:54] spk_0: sense. So make the I. E. P. Truly an individual don't put every six year old in first grade. Well you know some some six year olds belong in first grade but not all of them.

[00:30:04] spk_1: But I think it goes back to that stigmas that we put a stigma um on exactly that maybe the kids not prepared to go into school yet. There must be something wrong with that kid because now all of a sudden their seven year old in first grade and that kid over there is 5.5 like kids smarter than that. It's not necessarily the case.

[00:30:24] spk_0: Well when I was kid they held you back. There was a huge thing about that held back now if you think about being held back a year by the time you get to high school you're a year older a year bigger. Sure there's a reason the mormon send their their their kids on a two year mission. I know it's to spread the word of the you know the L. D. S. But also if that's a football player And he comes back two years

[00:30:48] spk_1: Later they're eligible pale place for four

[00:30:51] spk_0: years. That's good. Yeah so I mean there is but there's a stigma with being

[00:30:56] spk_1: Why doesn't bringem young not the number one team

[00:30:58] spk_0: in the nation. There's a friend of mine a joke. The because african americans were not allowed into the until they realized they needed a good front line on football and all of a sudden it's okay with everybody. Yeah so you know make it make it into a again, the stick being held back or whatever it is, or put this when, when I was giving special education in the short bus, you know, that kind of thing and their understanding of people I know who, who have a mental illness, who were diagnosed and end up in a special, you know, uh, trend had, It was in an automobile accident, he was 18 months old involved drunk driving and cause I should have never been driving. Um, but it gave him some brain damage and caused me some physical abnormalities. But he's sharp, he's a comic, he's sharp as a tack, but because he sounded a little different and he moved a little different back then, you know, he goes, listen, there's no, there's no pride in being the smartest guy on the short bus. Yes,

[00:31:58] spk_1: Yeah,

[00:31:59] spk_0: because, but he was just label that in the special. So anyway, so I'm sure I was going,

[00:32:04] spk_1: well, you know, it's just about thinking differently. There's just different ways of thinking. Every person has got a different brain that works differently. And right now we are, we're trying to stuff everybody in the square peg Yeah, right. Like that's that's what's happening and it would be kind of neat to see what would happen if we took this child that we actually think is just, you know, borderline, you know, whatever, yeah, whatever. And put them in the right kind of programs, see what happens with them

[00:32:35] spk_0: in my talk. I said, I needed to do your best to mitigate the negative, the issues with the middle of this, but you need to embrace, enhance and energize those special abilities. I met a guy, I was doing a training and had a kid, I was autism. Uh, and um, he said, I said, well, just a curiosity. It's a very special powers because home is amazingly athletic. I go, really here is that we bought a membership to us, um, swim club. But then like a weekend, a week, maybe 10 days, the kid had taught himself to do the Australian Crawl and Breathe on both sides. It took me a month as an adult to work out that breathing on both sides when you're doing the crawl. And uh, I said, I'm on land lightning fast. He said, I gotta tell you stories that were in the special olympics. They're all lined up there, 100 yard dash. The kid's name was Noah and the gun goes off and all the other kids take off toward the finish line. Well, noah doesn't know what the guns all about. It was like, what's that? Yeah. And so his dad said it was like a forest gump run forrest run. So the kid gets the idea run. They got a 20 yard head start. He beats everybody to the finish line, wow. I said, you know, you know what I'm gonna tell you? He goes, I know we're gonna say frank, we need to encourage any sports that he takes great joy in. That's where we need to put our our emphasis. And he said, um, There had been some problems in the neighborhood because he was different 5, 6 years old. And I guess some of the other kids been picking on it. And so gentlemen, I was talking to said, you know, I just went over to the kids house and said, I need to talk to your father and the father comes during and you know, in certain terms, uh listen, your kids are dick and it's got to stop and it did, you know when you, when you meet it, head on, oh yeah, no dance around. You know,

[00:34:29] spk_1: I'm sorry about coming and bothering, you know,

[00:34:33] spk_0: well, and I said to him was okay, here's the thing, he's five or six now lightning fast. Here's where it reduces stigma and bullying in the long term. The kids are good athletically. So let's say your saturday and you're standing on the sand lot and you're picking up teams for football, touch football and these guys are here talking and go, look, we got first pick. So I know this is going to everybody, but no, I know he's a weird kid, but pick him. I'm telling, I'm telling you guys like the amazing wide receiver. So you know it is when you're a kid being picked first has a whole different connotation than being picked last.

[00:35:07] spk_1: I wouldn't

[00:35:08] spk_0: know, nicely done. Yeah, I know I play basketball and I love the game, but I'm not particularly good at it. I got lungs and legs and heart, that's it. Uh And so every now and then we're picking up teams and somebody new has come to the court and their captain, they're picking up teams and they're about to pick me up 61, and they're about maybe a little. I go, no, no, no, hold on, Don't waste a pick. Just pick me number five. Just trust me, you're right. Somebody one day where the plane goes, I'm the worst player on the court. I go, hold on, that's my job.

[00:35:43] spk_1: Hold my beer.

[00:35:45] spk_0: So it's you know, it's you have no limitations. I love the game. Uh like I said, I was playing uh Centralia Washington were living there and there's a there's a loose ball. One of my teammates is pick up standing between me and the loose ball standing flat footed. So I knocked him down on the way to the ball. And I got the ball and he came over. He was past years, man, I'm on your team. You knocked me down. I thought you were standing still. You're not doing anybody any good. And by the way, the guy who knocked you down has an AARP card. Just live with that. Just so anyway, um That's uh c so so fast forward uh comedy for 87 years. Got a job in radio in Raleigh at the rock station. Um It was number one morning show in Raleigh because I've been through there a bunch of times said, hey, if you ever have an opening. So they hired me, I took a number one morning radio show and drove it to number six and 18 months, wow, it's

[00:36:44] spk_1: hard to do.

[00:36:44] spk_0: Yeah, I didn't drive into the ground. I go over to the middle Earth, got fired. Still friends with the program

[00:36:51] spk_1: director. That's not

[00:36:52] spk_0: personal. No, it wasn't. Fuck. He was one of those managers who uh was actually a leader. Okay. When he called me in to fire me, you could tell it pained him when I had my first heart valve replacement because my dad had a bad heart valve died at 40. I had the same thing turned out and I had to replace it. So I got a lot of replaces died at 40. Yeah. He had a bicuspid they already found And it just locks up at some point. I got mine fixed it. I was watching it and got a 60, 1st person through the door after my surgery was my former boss at the radio station, came in. And he's hired me since again for another project and we're still friends. Um And then when I left the radio session uh he said go back on the road doing comedy. Well the comedy road club was disappearing. Was seeking the lower plateau come back up since, Yeah,

[00:37:42] spk_1: This is after the 90s.

[00:37:43] spk_0: It's like mid nineties. Yeah, 94 95 was like this. And so, and I've always been clean, which cost me dearly in the clubs because you know, it's uh tell some jokes we can dance to. Here comes a slow and you can slow dance. I mean beer bars, full halls, honky tonks. Yes, because that was the glue that held the tour together. Not all the clubs all week long, Nice improv, funny bone. Right? So I thought, well I'll be I'll do corporate comedy, the rubber chicken circuit. And man, that money is so much better. I remember my first corporate gig, they flew to Indianapolis putting up in the Marriott. The bellman would come out to get my bags. This never happened at a comedy club gig. Um I'm going to order off the menu for dinner. They're paying for it and I can I use the f word on your podcast, you

[00:38:32] spk_1: can do whatever. Okay, frontal nudity.

[00:38:34] spk_0: Yeah. I said to the bellman who's taking my luggage up, I turned to my go fuck comedy clubs, he looks back at me and goes, yeah, fuck comedy played right along. Got a $10 tip. Absolutely. That's when I made a decision, I was just going to do corporate comedy from that point on. And and and it got really good until about 2000 and 7, 2000 and eight

[00:38:57] spk_1: when everybody didn't have any money

[00:38:59] spk_0: and much off 80% over. Yeah, boom. And we didn't, I didn't have a coke habit or flat screen TVs or see dudes, we just had add up condo in La Hoya has negative cash flow And we, we sunk $300,000 into a $600,000 farms hold all the other real estate figured if I had half equity, I'm bulletproof, but with a 23 $100 a month house payment, I just couldn't keep up. So we file chapter seven and and nearly killed my wife. I mean she was just, and I was in charge of the money. So I'm feeling guilty. I know the Lehman brothers had, you know, the big short and a little something to do with this. But, but I was in charge of the money. So, and mentally ill people tend to be more empathetic. They feel other people's pain more acutely. So, um, I got an ancient roof of my mouth. I can only scratch for the front side of my nickel plated 38. That's when I put the gun in my mouth and then I realized I had a million dollar life insurance policy. That was what I was thinking. See people say suicide too selfish act. It's almost always just a reverse in the mind because I'm thinking she's better off without me, she'll miss me $1 million dollars should be restored financially. Most people think the world would be a better place without. So, but I had told insurance, so I knew that they had two years suicide clause. Right, Okay.

[00:40:16] spk_1: Now they know this might be telling, I know about that clause. How

[00:40:22] spk_0: the hell do you know about that clause? Most people have no idea what they don't pay you to commit suicide, you know, two years. They, why would they have two years? Well, they just don't want you to buy the policy and boil your brain. Right? Yeah. They want you to have to wait. So, uh, call my insurance agent kind caring and obviously very soon soon to be obviously very, uh, you know, perceptive gentlemen. Hey Graham, which in turn away because people have the mental illness, a great actress. The reason I have a screen actors guild card because I'm a great actor. Um, and I said off handedly, Hey, how long about that policy? Because I don't know what check here blocking the keys comes back on. He goes 22 months and then then he goes and no, don't fucking do it. Do not do it because he had gotten those calls and delivered those checks in the past. And, and he said, uh, when he hung up, he told his wife, I think frank's gonna kill himself. So it was 22 months. So two months ago. So here's where chronic suicide is full circle because I was willing to pull the trigger in two months in a day, it allowed me to live to make it for two months. And because I knew that's the thing about suicide, people say to me, why did he want to kill himself? Probably didn't want to kill himself. Probably just wanted to end the pain. And I knew in two months a day, pain will be gone. So that allowed me as long as that's on the table long, my book is gonna be called live life in the exit row, starting the conversation on suicide because that's where I sit and then went to sit in the eggs are of life. Just too bad. Fuck it about, right? There's a show on showtime with Ricky Gervase after life, I think it's called Yeah, I think that's what his wife does. The cancer is terribly depressed, says his boss one day is trying to cheer him up. Look, don't bother, don't you know, if things get too bad, I'll just kill myself. It's kind of my superpower, which I'm looking at the screen going, oh man, somebody on that, they

[00:42:19] spk_1: took my material like what's going,

[00:42:21] spk_0: Somebody either he or someone on the staff has it. And then the next episode, two guys come up to rob him at knifepoint and he goes, well what if I don't give you the wallet and they go, we'll kill you. And he goes, you know, for a lot of people that would be an inducement. And while they're trying to figure out it's a square in the nose because you know, son soo do do exactly what your opponent would never expect, right? Yeah. It's just like what? And I've had those fantasies. I, I was having it yesterday. There's a 76 station near where I live, where I get my guess every morning. And by the way, I told this daydream, good friend of mine and when I got done, he goes, man, I got to get better daydreams because I didn't know not everybody they dream that way. I mean minds in living color with a script and sound bites and blocking and lighting and, and I know what I'm gonna say the news media when it's all over, you know, you shot and killed a guy, you know, good guys, one bad guy zero. And I got a problem with that. I mean, I got that sound bites and that's what happens. I'm in there and somebody comes with a gun robbed the place, I'm gonna make my coffee. You know, and he's screaming at me, I'm still making my coffee. I'm gonna go, you yeah, you know, I've been trying to do that for a decade.

[00:43:31] spk_1: If I can't do it. I'm really curious if you can.

[00:43:35] spk_0: Yeah. And and in my script. I said, you know, if I had known that on this day in this place, it was gonna be death by dumb ass. I would have relaxed for the last 40 years and just waited on, you know, right

[00:43:50] spk_1: man.

[00:43:51] spk_0: But that's, that's, that's how you know, and I've been through that scenario, I can't tell you how many times sometimes through the coffee his face always killed. Um, because I'm here, I mean, you know, you shot him. Yeah, I mean you had, you had the gun and you still shot him. Yeah, well here's, here's a sound bite. Well, you know, he thought the card, I just played my hand. Uh, so uh again, that's part of my superpower is that, you know, it's, it's that, you know, again, the power of somebody who has nothing to lose to stay relaxed in a situation in my mind or somebody's got a gun out there waving around, I'm gonna kill everybody, you know, God, God, bullet drink. Yeah, I mean that's, you know, my wife will get a million bucks. I don't have to commit suicide. You're going to be very socially acceptable. I'll be,

[00:44:38] spk_1: you know, I'll be a hero because yeah, everything's coming up frank taking away. Yeah,

[00:44:44] spk_0: I had the first valve job. I got a human heart valve from a donor, either cadaver or an attorney who wouldn't use it. And then uh, That lasted 18 years and which is a long time for a human value. And then I got, I got a replacement and um, 2012 and double bypass because it was two for Tuesday and Then 2014 had a heart attack. I've driven two miles from the House Park, the head of a warehouse trail, got the dogs out the car, half a mile to up the trail heart attack.

[00:45:17] spk_1: That's a bad place to

[00:45:19] spk_0: do that. Yeah, I mean I have my cell phone but I got t mobile so no service, no service and by the way I get to laugh no matter where. Oh gosh,

[00:45:25] spk_1: that's so true because comedy is based on truth. That's

[00:45:29] spk_0: it. So I realized if I don't get back down the hill, I'm toast, well I'm with the docks and we're pet centered family and I'm like, we're like the marines, we leave nobody behind cause it down that hill and they get back to the street. I mean it could just be really ugly. So I know for if for no other reason I gotta get back to the car, you're doing it for the doctor to get in the car. Um and it's killing me all man. It's killing me and people always ask, you know what you're thinking and you're my family and you know, see a light. I had two weeks ago I did my first ted talk, I'm walking down the hill, I'm crying because a all the time and effort I put into the ted doc and all the lives I could have said if I could have just every bet that dog, what I wish I had been doing down the hill which would have gone viral was even though the phone wasn't working as a phone. I should have recorded a video and saying goodbye to everybody jane. You're the best little sister ever and Andy her husband. You're a dick. I just got you know you love love love your right. Yeah love love because if I made it out and posted that it would have gone viral. God I can't believe I didn't do that. But if I had wanted to die because people think you're depressed and suicidal it's 24 73 65 and that's not especially the therapy and Medicaid. But if I want to die socially acceptable death I've been a bad place saturday. I could've sat down on the trail let the heart attack run its course only the dogs and no, I chose they would find me to think you know well obviously had a heart attack has uh T mobile couldn't get out of the woods and died.

[00:47:08] spk_1: This episode brought to you by Tv level.

[00:47:10] spk_0: Yeah. He's got a new commercials running about how I got this great new system is the best this that and the other like have you heard of Oregon Every time I complained about it for the last 10 years we're putting up new towers. Finally I said Okay name too. We'll have $100 credit. Okay. I know we're running

[00:47:30] spk_1: along. No, no, I know all this stuff is really really great. So, okay. So let's just say something. This is going to touch somebody. Oh yeah, I mean it's gonna, it's gonna definitely like, oh yeah, that's me. That's me. That might even just be me, But it's going to do that for somebody

[00:47:47] spk_0: well and it's not just the suicide reality. Um, had a friend, his wife stay at home, mom depressed on medication but at struggling. So I said, look, you guys sit down and watch my first head dog. He's watching her watching me when it gets done. She goes, hey, I didn't know anybody talked about that kind of thing out loud, much less on video on Youtube. And so we invite, invited to come to coffee. We do a crazy coffee. Klatch all my crazy friends get together and we take off our game faces. But it was a revelation to her that people are actually gave voice to those feelings out loud in public because she is so ashamed and she's improved. She still has depression, but she's improved ever since that day. So maybe somebody watching, who, I can't believe you guys talking about, you know, putting a gun in his mouth being depressed,

[00:48:34] spk_1: you know, whatever. Yeah. So if someone's got those feelings, if someone's experiencing this, what's the best thing for them to do?

[00:48:41] spk_0: Well, let's talk about both of you to do. Um, the depression by the way. If you think maybe so a couple symptoms. One is trouble getting up in the morning, rally in the afternoon. Let their personal hygiene go. Um, don't take joy in social occasions. They used to be a great joy and sleep too much heat to sleep too much. Can't sleep. Eat too much candy. Um, you don't say to them, pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Turn that frown upside down. Have you dried fish oil? Yes, I know. I can't tell how many times I've heard. Have you tried the essential oil? Yes, I'm with this company, please. You know, I'm so excited. Right? Alabama vein right here right now. Um, they say, I'm here for you and me. He said, look, I know you're not lazy. Crazy. You're self absorbed. Mental illness is an illness. Good news, time and treatment, things will get better. I will take time. I'll help you get the treatment. Now, here's the question you gotta ask. This is the one I even struggle with. You gotta ask him flat out already. Having thoughts of suicide, there's an urban legend. You should never mention the s word in front of somebody who's depressed. I love the reasoning. It might give the idea suicide.

[00:49:44] spk_1: What I never thought

[00:49:45] spk_0: of that. Okay, now, how do you know if you don't say the suicidal? How do you know? Well talking about death and dying, Googling death and dying. Death and dying appears as it seems in their artwork or music. Uh, gathering the means to die by suicide. Stockpiling pills, buying a gun, ammunition, giving away prized possessions. They wanna make sure they go to the people they want them to go to. And if they give away a pet, that's top of that pyramid, that's very dangerous. Here's a counterintuitive one. If they're depressed for a long time, that happy beyond measure for no apparent reason, they may have chosen time place, methodist we said, and the pain is finite.

[00:50:20] spk_1: You see the light at the end of the tunnel.

[00:50:24] spk_0: Exactly, right. And in this case train. Uh, but it's the end. I mean, the thing and the problem with that is people want them to be happy and they're happy that they're happy, they don't understand it? Maybe they're happy because like for me, I knew that it was coming to an end. Um, and See that's it. Uh, oh, and what do you say to somebody who is um, here's what you don't say. Somebody who is suicidal, you're being melodramatic. You're just looking for attention. Nobody talks about it ever does 90% of people who are rolling up suicide give hence director and director behavioral and the week leading up to it. So people who talk about it and do it. Um, your job, if you believe then you said you have a plan. If you have a plan. What is your plan? If it's detailed, you need to get them on the phone with the aboriginal lifeline. 100,

[00:51:15] spk_1: 2738 something something anyway. 88

[00:51:19] spk_0: to somebody like

[00:51:21] spk_1: We are doing a terrible job. 8 to

[00:51:26] spk_0: five

[00:51:27] spk_1: to know the other side. The other side. Okay.

[00:51:29] spk_0: 82555, I'm Sorry. Yes,

[00:51:31] spk_1: it'll be, it'll be in the notes to

[00:51:33] spk_0: yeah, if you're younger and there's now a text line because young people are more forthcoming into. Is

[00:51:40] spk_1: there an instagram line

[00:51:41] spk_0: yet? It should be. But text the word connect to 741741. That's the text line. 7417. Lastly they always ask, you always ask would not call the cops. If they're an immediate danger to themselves or others call the cops. Now that's going to buy them three days. Involuntary detention with no shoestrings are belt, they're gonna be pissed. But I'd much rather have a live piston unfriending me. Right? So you need to persist. And if you can't ask the question, are you having thoughts to find somebody who can? And if your intuition tells you, if you just have that random thought pops gonna come self go with your intuition. There's something you've seen or heard your brain is put it together on its own. Always go with your intuition,

[00:52:23] spk_1: that makes sense. Yeah, I mean err on the side of caution

[00:52:26] spk_0: come up. You

[00:52:28] spk_1: know, I mean the worst case scenario in that case is I'm so embarrassed. I'm so sorry.

[00:52:32] spk_0: Right. But

[00:52:33] spk_1: the the other option is you don't have this person

[00:52:38] spk_0: podcast. They list some symptoms and you know what you got like three out of the five or four out of five symptoms is possible. You haven't Thoughts of ending your life. I mean that's because 80% of people, eight out of 10, I want you to interrupt because they're ambivalent about doing it. They want to make a man look, no bullshit. What's wrong? Right. I'm fine. No, no, no, no, that's horseshit. Something is wrong. Let me close the door. You can tell me. Oh,

[00:53:07] spk_1: good stuff. Um, well that was awesome. It's been. I don't know how unusual. You know, that's what the show is. It's so unusual. That's good. Yeah, it's good. I enjoy doing this show because of this exact reason. But it's been, we've had a good conversation. Yeah. Now we gotta come up with a sketch and actually perform. How is that? I mean, I can speak for myself. The story about the flat tire really drew me in and for some reason really spoke to me. If you found frank as compelling as I do, then you probably want to find out more frank. Where can people find out more about you, the mental health comedian,

[00:53:52] spk_0: the mental health comedian, whether it's dot com or on facebook on instagram on twitter is the medical health comedian and all my ted talks are on youtube. I've been franking ted X talks.

[00:54:03] spk_1: No, there will be links to

[00:54:04] spk_0: everything in the, okay, I'll send you the long the clip where I lose the duck on

[00:54:08] spk_1: star search. If you loved everything you heard and you wanted to hear more. There actually is more. All you have to do is go to Youtube dot com. Look up, sketch comedy, podcast show and subscribe. We have all of the complete conversations, including us setting up the sketch coming up with the sketch and then actually recording the sketch. So you can hear the raw sound of what comedy sounds like when it's the sausage that we're making and you can hear it if you want Youtube dot com slash sketch com pod and you can hear all that good stuff. And now our sketch, not the X men with frank King previously on X Men. Mhm. Yeah. Yeah. Mhm. Mhm. Morning. Yeah. Hi Professor X. Yes. Hi. I um I saw the ad that you put out on instagram, which which add the one that you said that you could make you can make anybody into a superhero.

[00:55:27] spk_0: That's not a direct quote, but well,

[00:55:29] spk_1: it says you can you can unleash superpower.

[00:55:32] spk_0: Okay. All right, so here's the way we feel about that. Have you seen the movie wins? Well, when the wizards flowing away in the hot air balloon Glenda, the good Witch says you've always had the power. Exactly.

[00:55:44] spk_1: Oh, so it's within me already. It may be. So I'm a mutant.

[00:55:48] spk_0: What if the mutants? It's not really a mutation. You're not a mutant you're just an adaptation because of, you know, evolution? Tell me about yourself. Tell me. I mean, I like to do this. Message stresses successes. Okay, I'll tell you about your message, telling you struggle

[00:56:04] spk_1: with one of the things I do seem to really be successful. I'm not really good at my job.

[00:56:09] spk_0: Would you, do you feel like a superpower? Make you better at that job?

[00:56:12] spk_1: I don't know. I sell insurance. What do you think?

[00:56:14] spk_0: Are you passionate about insurance?

[00:56:16] spk_1: I don't care about insurance.

[00:56:17] spk_0: It's not going to make you a better insurance salesperson. Okay, Alright. You know what the stresses in your

[00:56:22] spk_1: life? This girlfriend that I dated for four years in college. We were both virgins when we got married, had sex for the first time and it was awful. Now she wants to have sex and I am scared of it. So is this

[00:56:34] spk_0: superpower? You're looking for sexual dynamo or

[00:56:38] spk_1: I mean, I'd prefer flight.

[00:56:40] spk_0: You know, being an ass kicking the good at foreplay. Here's my advice on that. Get some lesbian porn and watch the way the women work on each other. That's the key to turn your life around. Tell me what your your best at. I really like cooking and she was not a superhero competition? Yeah, I see what you're saying. Okay, okay, we'll make a mental state. Have you have you been ever been diagnosed with any sort of mental

[00:57:00] spk_1: element. I was always told growing up don't make your problems, other people's problems.

[00:57:04] spk_0: Sure make your problems are my problems. That what your problem is?

[00:57:07] spk_1: It's hard to make it through the day. I have a hard time waking up in the morning. Yeah, I lay in bed and stare at the ceiling where it's got the little dots and you can see pictures in it.

[00:57:17] spk_0: I'm almost embarrassed to admit I can

[00:57:19] spk_1: No, I'll stare at those for like, like an hour and a half in

[00:57:23] spk_0: the morning. Yeah, we'll talk about the afternoon. Do you rally in the afternoon? Do you

[00:57:26] spk_1: drink about five or 6 cups of coffee in the afternoon to get through the

[00:57:30] spk_0: day? Yeah. Well do you feel like you have depression?

[00:57:33] spk_1: Oh, I don't I wouldn't say that. What do you feel hopeless? I mean, doesn't everybody feel hopeless all the time? It

[00:57:38] spk_0: sounds like to me that you have major depressive disorder. And what's your superpower maybe is something called depressive realism, depressive realism. You see the world far more accurately than people who are neuro normal. It's almost like the matrix. You can see the matrix behind the facades that I believe is your

[00:57:57] spk_1: superpower? Whoa, That is a really cool superpower. I think I already have a code name. Well it is insight. What do you think? Yes, can I join the X men?

[00:58:07] spk_0: I told you before we start we're not the X men because all of us have a mental illness of some kind or other with the Xanax man,

[00:58:15] spk_1: Thank you so much for listening to sketch comedy podcast show. Lovingly produced in Portland Oregon. If you enjoyed the show today, I would love it. If you help me out in one of two ways. The first one's free, just share the show on social media or write a review on wherever you listen to your podcasts, that would be so helpful and so wonderful. And it costs you nothing. The other way you can support the show is financially and I'm just going to give you a little behind the scenes. Uh, there is no money in podcasting. I do this and it costs me money to do it. It's a passion project. But if you'd like to help offset those costs, which I would really appreciate, please head over to Patreon dot com and to reward you for as little as a dollar a month, you'll get all of the bonus material and let me tell you in this episode, there was a ton of things that did not make it into the episode that were still incredibly interesting. And now, for the fun part, sketch comedy podcast show is licensed under creative Commons attribution, noncommercial, no derivatives for the international license. If you'd like to use this work in any way, please contact the show and request permission. Look, life is made up of stories, find interesting people have an intriguing conversation and improvise an adventure all of your own. See you next week.