The Stress Prescription

The Stress Prescription

Don’t be shy. You can check out my Laugh Long and Prosper podcast on Spotify or Soundcloud.

‘Laugh Long and Prosper’ is shelf help with a smile, stressbusters with a smirk, and information with a wink wink. You get the point.

The Stress Prescription

‘Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere.’

-Glenn Turner

Recently, I read a book called The Stress Prescription.

To worry or not to worry – that is the question.

Did you know that in some cases, worrying about a bad thing happening can cause you more stress overall than the bad thing actually happening?

By constantly worrying about an upcoming event, we repeatedly re-live a worst-case scenario when in fact, things work out better than we anticipated.

We also worry about too much that is out of our control.

A new study published in Nature Communications supports this theory. Perhaps you haven’t kept up your subscription of Nature Communications so I will fill you in!

In the study, researchers took 45 volunteers, broke them up into 3 groups and asked them to play a computer game.

In the computer game, the participants would turn over rocks.

Some rocks had snakes underneath them.

In the first group, if a participant found a snake underneath a rock, nothing would happen. Everything would remain the same and the participant would continue to play the game.

In the second group, if the participants found a snake underneath a rock, they were given a small but uncomfortable electrical shock to their hand. Ouch.

In the third group, if the participants found a snake under a rock, they were given a small but uncomfortable electrical shock to their hand, but only some of the time.

All of the participants were measured for stress symptoms which included signs like increased heart rate, pupil dilation and sweating.

Which group do you think showed the most symptoms of psychological stress?

If you guessed the third group (the group of participants who were shocked occasionally) you would be correct.

It turns out that worrying about a bad outcome can actually be worse than the bad outcome itself.

Increased heart rate, pupil dilation and sweating weren’t the only side effects, however. Participants were slower when it came to making decisions. Their overall performance was worse.

This is sometimes known as anticipation stress.

It is hard to convince worriers of this but you are no better off whether you worry or not.

In fact, you might be worse off.

Research has shown that long lasting worry and stress over time can lead to issues like ulcers, heart attacks, cancer and Alzheimer’s, to name a few.

So how do we minimize the stress element when something might or might not happen?

One researcher in the previous study noted:

What this research implies for us is that telling people what we know is important. Reducing the range and number of things that are uncertain and focusing on what is known will reduce stress even if you can’t completely remove uncertainty. The research also implies that telling people certain bad news (you are going to get an electric shock, or a reduction in sales etc.) is better than leaving people wondering.”

As the study would suggest, knowing that you are always going to get the shock can be better than knowing that you are randomly going to get the shock.

The study also suggests that telling people bad news is sometimes better than leaving them wondering.

Uber apps are a perfect example of relieving people’s minds by giving them immediate information.

Even though we have no real control as to when the Uber cab is going to arrive and our cab is sometimes late, we still feel better when we can see the little image of the Uber cab driving towards us and the little box beside it with the minutes counting down.

Many public transit systems have electronic boards that tell commuters when buses and trains are going to arrive.

I’m not a worrier (no really, I’m not hahaha) but I know a lot of people who are. At the very least, I would like to try and minimize their anxiety stress with these two last quotes.

Worry is a total waste of time. It doesn’t change anything. All it does is steal your joy and keep you very busy doing nothing.”

-Anonymous

If the problem has a solution, worrying is pointless. In the end the problem will be solved. If the problem has no solution, there is no reason to worry, because it can’t be solved.” -Zen proverb

Until next time, laugh long and prosper…and try not to worry!

If you would like to catch up on any of my other Laugh Long and Prosper episodes, voted one of the best podcasts of 2021 in Canada by CTV, check me out.

Until next time folks, Laugh Long and Prosper!

Judy-Croon-laugh-long-pro$per-sig-logo

Feel free to take a listen!

Laugh Long and Prosper podcast on Spotify or Soundcloud

Wayne Gretsky – Hockey and Humour

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Mary and the Motel from Hell

Mary and the Motel from Hell

Don’t be shy. You can check out my Laugh Long and Prosper podcast on Spotify or Soundcloud.

‘Laugh Long and Prosper’ is shelf help with a smile, stressbusters with a smirk, and information with a wink wink. You get the point.

Yes, there is a lot of bad stuff going on in our world and lately it seems like even more than usual. But these are the times that I like to lean on a quote by the incredible sage, Mr. Rogers. He said, ‘’When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’’’

Over the next few blog entries, I would like to tell you about some of the helpers who work for City Street Outreach.

City Street Outreach  is a local outreach program that is a 100 percent volunteer-run, donation- based and all-inclusive registered charity providing food, clothing and assistance to those in need and/ or living in poverty across the greater Toronto area.

I’m proud to say that in a very small way, I am part of this organization. I’m hardly a saint. In fact, I volunteer for very selfish reasons. It has been good for me emotionally, physically and mentally.

In my last blog, I told you about Alex and Grace, the co-founders of City Street Outreach.  

In this entry, I would like to tell you about one of the first volunteers whom I met on the front lines. Her name is Mary. I want to tell you a tale about Mary and the Motel from Hell.

I met Mary on one of the first nights that I volunteered for City Street Outreach a few years ago.

Mary is physically one of the strongest women that I have ever known.

She could pick up 3 cases of water and 2 cases of pet food without blinking an eye.

Meanwhile I was crumbling under one can of cat food.

Mary is incredibly strong in another way. She never asks for help for herself. She always asks for help for others and no matter what you give Mary (big or small), she is always very appreciative.  You would never guess the kind of adversity that Mary faces every day because she always greets you with a smile, a laugh and/or a thank you. In spite of her circumstances, Mary is one of the most grateful and positive people that I have ever met.

I remember the first time I took City Street Outreach supplies to the place where Mary lived.

Mary and her family were living in a motel room off of Kingston Road in Scarborough. The place should have been condemned years ago. The owner clearly did not care about her tenants. It was only after a newspaper article shamed the owner and local politicians that the place was finally condemned. Thank goodness Mary and the other tenants were relocated to more humane residences.

Mary, her husband, daughter and mother all lived in one of the cramped motel rooms for years! It was an oven in the summer and an ice box in the winter. A hole the size of a basketball was in the bathroom floor and had never been fixed, despite numerous requests.

On top of this, the entire building was crawling with vermin.

Mary once said that a rat crawled out of another tenant’s toilet and ran out of the guy’s room.

The tenant, a big guy who didn’t scare easily, was understandably freaked out.

Sadly, these were everyday occurrences at that motel.

Vulnerable people like Mary and her family trying to eke out some semblance of a normal life while being surrounded by violence, sexual abuse and drug use that ran rampant throughout the building.

Despite this, Mary made the motel a home for her family. 

Her husband, Bobby was amazing with the animals in the complex- from domestic to not-so-domestic. From dogs and cats to abandoned baby raccoons and squirrels, he did his best to help with what little resources he had.

Bobby also tried to make their motel room a home. One Christmas, he strung a small string of Christmas lights outside their motel window, only to hear from the motel owner that it needed to be taken down immediately because it was a fire hazard. One little string of lights.

It’s a small miracle that the entire complex didn’t go up in flames over the years due to the owner’s incredible negligence.

Amidst the chaos, Mary was the beacon of hope for her own family and for many of the other families and individuals in that motel complex. 

She became the main contact person there for City Street Outreach. Whenever City Street Outreach delivered food or dry goods, Mary would make it her mission to fairly distribute whatever there was to whomever needed it.

Once a week, I would also swing by with goods from City Street Outreach.

Honestly, before volunteering for City Street Outreach, I passed by that motel so many times over the years.

I’m ashamed to say it, but I probably would have been afraid if my car broke down in front of it.

Now I was driving into the back of the pitch-black complex (because of course, why would outdoor light bulbs be replaced?) and there would be Mary smiling, patiently waiting for me.

I am so grateful to my friends and family with whom I shared stories about Mary and the Motel from Hell. They regularly loaded me up with food and donations to give to Mary and the other tenants. I hope those donations made life temporarily a little easier for the recipients.   

One Christmas Eve, my dear friend Val and her husband, Greg, took Christmas dinner over to Mary and her family. I have no doubt that whatever Mary received, she shared and tried to stretch it with those around her.

As I mentioned earlier, Mary and the other tenants were finally able to be relocated to better living residences after the motel owner was fined and the place was condemned.

I regularly see Mary on the City Street Outreach circuit. She continues to volunteer and take care of her own family as well as so many others. She is a local hero.

Sadly, she still puts me to shame when it comes to unloading furniture or a truckload of pet food but Mary works tirelessly to make things just a little easier for those who struggle day to day to make ends meet.

Finally, I should add that a lot of the volunteers like Mary at City Street Outreach are or have been recipients of the food and dry goods that the organization distributes. A lot of these people are only too happy to help others as soon as they gain some traction. 

As the saying goes, ‘They don’t need a hand out, they need a hand up.’

Mary is a super star.

She chooses to lead with love, compassion, gratitude and humor.

I think she would make Mr. Rogers proud.

If you would like to catch up on any of my other Laugh Long and Prosper episodes, voted one of the best podcasts of 2021 in Canada by CTV, check me out.

Until next time folks, Laugh Long and Prosper!

Judy-Croon-laugh-long-pro$per-sig-logo

Feel free to take a listen!

Laugh Long and Prosper podcast on Spotify or Soundcloud

Wayne Gretsky – Hockey and Humour

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Alex • Grace • City Street Outreach

Alex • Grace • City Street Outreach

Don’t be shy. You can check out my Laugh Long and Prosper podcast on Spotify or Soundcloud.

‘Laugh Long and Prosper’ is shelf help with a smile, stressbusters with a smirk, and information with a wink wink. You get the point.

 City Street Outreach came from Alex’s dream. Alex and Grace are Angels

About 10 years ago, I interviewed a gentleman on my podcast by the name of Alex Smirnus.

Alex had a dream in which he and his wife, Grace, were driving around the city delivering coffee, sandwiches, blankets and words of encouragement to Toronto’s most vulnerable.

Alex realized his dream when he started City Street Outreach. 10 years later, City Street Outreach has turned into a local outreach program that is a 100 percent volunteer-run, donation- based and all-inclusive registered charity providing food, clothing and assistance to those in need and/ or living in poverty across the greater Toronto area.

On average, City Street Outreach feeds over 4000 hungry mouths every week.

There are more than 50 volunteers and 15 community outreach/ low-income housing locations.

Over 6000 pounds of food are rescued on a weekly basis.

Companies like Costco, Tim Horton’s, Sleep Country Canada, Little Caesar’s Pizza, Second Harvest, Just Socks Foundation, Socks for Souls, Freedom Pet Supplies have all come on board to help those in need.

Recently, Sleep Country Canada joined the cause and donated beds to some of our many vulnerable friends who are sleeping on floors.

On a number of occasions, we have dropped off furniture to people who are fortunate to get some form of subsidized housing but do not have a stick of furniture in their apartments.

Donated beds go quickly and this generous offering from Sleep Country Canada has a huge impact.   Again, this comes down to people like Alex and Grace and volunteers like Louise who work to establish relationships with individuals and businesses in our community in hopes that they can help.

After my interview with Alex so many years ago, I became inspired to join City Street Outreach as a volunteer. Once a week, I would join the other volunteers just outside City Hall and help to hand out sandwiches, coffee and clothing to those less fortunate.

I graduated to picking up bread from local bakeries, like the incredible COB’s bakery, to donate to various locations.

I was also thrilled to take on the pet portfolio. Sean and friends at  Freedom Pet Foods  started giving us dog and cat food every couple of months to help our most vulnerable four-legged friends. So many times, I would see our street friends feed their pets before they even fed themselves. Now we can help them both.

I’ve been so inspired by Alex and Grace that earlier this year, I put together a comedy fundraiser with my very funny friends,  Martha Chaves, Evan Carter and Cathy Boyd. My good pal Linda McEwan from Sotheby’s sponsored the event and my wonderful friend Elaine Lindsay from Trool Social was kind enough to handle the social media. The evening was a great success and every penny went to City Street Outreach.

Speaking of help,  family, friends, neighbors and strangers have come together over the years to donate money, time, clothing, food, small household items, furniture (i.e., basically anything that I can fit into my car) to City Street Outreach. I am eternally grateful for their generosity. 

People always ask me, “How can I help?”

Here are a few suggestions if you feel inclined…

  • You can make a donation via the website. Again, City Street Outreach is 100 % volunteer based.
  • You can come volunteer with us!
  • You can buy Tim Horton’s cards for 10 dollars each. Hand them out to our street friends who are in need.  These cards are invaluable to our friends, as they can get they get a sandwich or a coffee, and some warmth and comfort, if only temporarily. 
  • Share some kindness and respect. For our less fortunate friends, there is dignity in feeling like they are part of the clan because, sadly, they are often treated like they are not.

Over the past ten years, City Street Outreach has grown to be an absolute lifeline for so many.

It wouldn’t have been possible without the dedication of its two founders, Alex and Grace,

two humble people with full time jobs who have made it their mission to be out on the streets of Toronto countless nights a week, helping others. They have inspired many.

They are angels and I am not the first person to say that.

Even some of my most skeptical comedic friends have met them and said the same thing.

Each and every day Alex and Grace quietly make it their mission to serve.

Good people (with great senses of humour, I may add) who are doing amazing things for those less fortunate.

I think I have become a better person just by knowing them.

If you would like to catch up on any of my other Laugh Long and Prosper episodes, voted one of the best podcasts of 2021 in Canada by CTV, check me out.

Until next time folks, Laugh Long and Prosper!

Judy-Croon-laugh-long-pro$per-sig-logo

Feel free to take a listen!

Laugh Long and Prosper podcast on Spotify or Soundcloud

Wayne Gretsky – Hockey and Humour

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How I got started in stand-up comedy

How I got started in stand-up comedy

Don’t be shy. You can check out my Laugh Long and Prosper podcast on Spotify or Soundcloud.

‘Laugh Long and Prosper’ is shelf help with a smile, stressbusters with a smirk, and information with a wink wink. You get the point.

Don’t be shy. You can check out my Laugh Long and Prosper podcast on Spotify or Soundcloud.

‘Laugh Long and Prosper’ is shelf help with a smile, stressbusters with a smirk, and information with a wink wink. You get the point.

How I got started in stand-up comedy

It seems like millions of years ago.  I’m pretty sure that I was doing open mics during the Precambrian era.

By the way, I never had any intention of becoming a comedian.
For my whole life, I wanted to be a veterinarian.
Unfortunately, during my second year of university, 70 percent of my fruit flies and 50 percent of my final mark flew out of the biology class window.

I was devastated. I went home and cried my eyes out.
As I was weeping hysterically, comedian Joan Rivers was on late night tv doing stand-up.
That’s when the lightbulb went off.
I know what I’m going to do! I’m going to become a stand-up comedian!

To my parents’ horror, I quit university the next day.
I signed up for an improv class at The Loose Moose Theatre created by the legendary Keith Johnstone.
Unfortunately, I never got a chance to work with Keith but I was trained by some of his best students. Unfortunately, to a science nerd like myself, improv seemed so difficult.
Nerds like me like to work alone.
Fortunately, that worked out perfectly for stand up.
Luckily, nerds love formulas. Stand up has a formula! Eureka! Improv has formulas as well but I didn’t learn those until much later in life.
I loved the idea of working alone and carefully crafting the words for my monologue- which unfortunately, on some nights, probably seemed more like a Shakespearean soliloquy. However, I did not give up. 

The comedy bug bit me. Those few laughs that I got in the beginning fueled my craving for more laughs. I drove from Calgary to Boise, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and every small town in between. The incidents that happened during those road trips are too much to mention in one blog so I will share two quick stories.

Once such tale involved a one-nighter outside of Boise, Idaho.  There were probably about 10 people in the audience. After the show, the two other comics and myself piled into the cars of the 10 audience members and drove waaaaaay up into the woods. Through the pitch-black forests, we drove on dirt roads for what seemed like an eternity. We finally arrived at a desolate cabin.
This could have turned into a scene from Get Out.
Instead, the host walked around and lit candles. He cracked open a window. We could hear a raging creek just outside.
Underneath the window was a beautiful baby grand piano.
The host sat down at the baby grand and proceeded to play Chaka’s Khan’s Through the Fire. This very white man with a beard, baseball cap and lumber jacket played this beautiful soulful song. A reminder to never judge a book by its plaid cover.

During another road trip- this time in Seattle, a female comic from San Francisco said that I could use her apartment while she was traveling across the country.  I had never met her before. I thought it was a very generous offer. I arrived at the apartment in the middle of the night. It was a pretty sketchy part of town but I was just grateful for the accommodation.
When I opened the front door and turned on a light in the kitchen, 8000 cockroaches came out to greet me.
To top it off, there was a note on the kitchen table from my host that said, ‘Hi Judy, welcome. By the way, a repairman is going to swing by tomorrow to replace the wall-to-wall carpeting. Do you mind helping him lift up the carpeting?’

Uhhhh, that would be a HARD NO.
I should have known that the offer was too good to be true. I checked out of the roach motel and checked into Motel 6.

After working in the states for a few months, I returned to Calgary, loaded up my car again and moved to Toronto. Using Toronto as my base, I became one of five female comedians doing stand-up comedy across the country full time.

Comedy led to a radio gig which led to motivational speaking and coaching gigs.

As I’ve said on a number of occasions, I even got a chance to work with Joan Rivers at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto. It’s as if my life came around full circle.
This nerdy veterinarian wannabe could have never predicted how things were going to turn out. My only advice to kids or adults nowadays based on my experiences is to always keep trying new things.
If you are truly unhappy with what you are doing in life, pick a hobby.
At the very least, you will forge some new skills and perhaps, even make some lifelong friends with people who share your passion.
At the very most and if you have the courage- you might just find what you were truly meant to be doing.
As Tina Fey says in her wonderful book entitled; Bossy Pants, ‘Start with a YES and see where that takes you.’

Until next time folks, Laugh Long and Prosper!

Judy-Croon-laugh-long-pro$per-sig-logo

Feel free to take a listen!

If you would like to catch up on any of my other Laugh Long and Prosper episodes, voted one of the best podcasts of 2021 in Canada by CTV, check me out.

Laugh Long and Prosper podcast on Spotify or Soundcloud

Wayne Gretsky – Hockey and Humour

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Who Will Cry When You Die?

Who Will Cry When You Die?

Don’t be shy. You can check out my Laugh Long and Prosper podcast on Spotify or Soundcloud.

‘Laugh Long and Prosper’ is shelf help with a smile, stressbusters with a smirk, and information with a wink wink. You get the point.

 

Who Will Cry When You Die?

Life Lessons from The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari

By Robin Sharma

I recently read a great book called Who Will Cry When You Die? Life Lessons from The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma.

By the way, I would like to thank my neighbour Jayne for dropping it in my mailbox. She thought it would be something that I could include in my blogs and keynotes and boy, was she right!

Robin Sharma is probably better known for his bestseller; The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari but this addition to the series is also full of great takeaways.

Sharma is one of the world’s leading experts on leadership, elite performance and self-mastery. He’s also Canadian! Yay, eh? He used to be a litigation lawyer. Now he is a popular author and motivational speaker.

The first thing that I will say about Who Will Cry When You Die is the way that the book is laid out.

The chapters are super short, 2-4 pages each.

The chapters fit on four pages. The table of contents fit on five pages. You can flip through them and see what chapters you want to read. The chapters aren’t dependent on each other.

It’s a small book that you can have on your nightstand and refer to on a regular basis.

On so many levels this book is easy. Its full of small, bite sized pieces of wisdom that you can really sink your teeth and mind into. Yes, you may have heard a lot of this advice before but I guarantee you that there are at least, a few things in this book that you haven’t heard.

The titles of the chapters are enticing and just knowing that the chapters are so short is also enticing.

Titles like: Discover Your Calling, Practice Tough Love, Bless Your Money, Remember The Rule of 21 and two of my favourites, Schedule Worry Breaks and Cure Your Monkey Mind.

Schedule Worry Breaks (Chapter 12) tells a beautiful story that Sharma’s father told him.

Sharma says his father was a very wise man who had a lot of influence over his life.

One day he told Sharma that the Sanskrit character for a funeral pyre is strikingly similar to the Sanskrit character for worry. He said that’s because One burns the dead while the other burns the living.

Woah, hello….mic drop! I think I fell off of my chair when I read that.

Also, chapter 40 entitled Cure Your Monkey Mind was a great read and contains a very practical exercise.

It describes the problem that most of our minds suffer from that is jumping from task to task.

As Sharma says, “It’s like unchained monkeys, rushing from place to place without any pause for peace.”

Sharma calls the exercise to fix this ‘focussed reading’. He says every time your mind wanders from the page that you are reading make a checkmark in the right-hand margin of the page. He says that by doing this, you will increase your awareness of how well or how poorly you concentrate. Once you become aware of how much your mind strays, you can then build the skills you need for a quieter mind.

I tried the exercise while I was reading the chapter and indeed, it calmed my ‘monkey brain’ but for some reason, I can’t stop eating bananas.

So now, what about that title, Who Will Cry When You Die?

Sharma addresses this question in Chapter 101, Live Fully So You Can Die Happy.

Sharma says that too many people live their lives backwards. He says that they spend their days striving to get the things that will make them happy instead of realizing that happiness is not a place that you reach but a state that you create.

He says that one of the ways to create this happiness is to commit yourself to making a difference in other people’s lives. To give back – from the beginning. The purpose of life is a life of purpose.

Sharma ends Who Will Cry When You Die with a beautiful quote. Here is part of it.  

This is the true joy in life, being used for a purpose, recognized by yourself as a mighty one, being a true force of Nature instead of a feverish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and, as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.

~ George Bernard Shaw

While there is still time, I would like to say thank you to writers George Bernard Shaw and Robin Sharma for reminding me of this incredibly important lesson.

If you would like to catch up on any of my other Laugh Long and Prosper episodes, voted one of the best podcasts of 2021 in Canada by CTV, check me out.

Until next time folks, Laugh Long and Prosper!

Judy-Croon-laugh-long-pro$per-sig-logo

Feel free to take a listen!

Laugh Long and Prosper podcast on Spotify or Soundcloud

Wayne Gretsky – Hockey and Humour

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How Comedy Keynotes and Joan Rivers Changed My Life

How Comedy Keynotes and Joan Rivers Changed My Life

‘Laugh Long and Prosper’ is shelf help with a smile, stressbusters with a smirk, and information with a wink wink. You get the point. Don’t be shy. You can check out my Laugh Long and Prosper podcast on Spotify or Soundcloud.  ‘Laugh Long and Prosper’ is shelf help with a smile, stressbusters with a smirk, and information with a wink wink. You get the point.

How Comedy, Keynotes and Joan Rivers Changed My Life

I was honored when fellow comedian and writer Brandy Ford recently asked me to write an article for her brand-new magazine.

I asked her what the magazine would be about?
She said she wanted to have a focus on strong female role models, inspirations and motivational queens.
I don’t know if I fit the bill for any of those things but I can tell you a story about one of the greatest interviews and evenings of my life and how I got there.
If this inspires someone to live their dreams to the max, then that is truly a bonus.
At the very least, I hope this is a good story.

One of the greatest gifts that my parents gave my two sisters and I was a sense of humour.
They were both funny people.
However, as funny as they were, they were also very strict.
By the time my sisters and I reached ten years old, they started interrogating us about what we were going to do with the rest of our lives. Oh yeah, they were super old school.

My two sisters said that they wanted to be teachers.
I said I wanted to be a veterinarian.
Unfortunately, during my second year of university, 70 percent of my fruit flies and 60 percent of my final mark flew out of the biology class window.
I was devastated.
I went home that night, threw myself on the living room carpet and bawled my eyes out.
In the background, the tv was on. A comedian named Joan Rivers was doing stand-up comedy.
That’s when a lightbulb went off for me. Stand-up comedy- what a great idea!
Even though I didn’t have any prior experience (minor detail), I loaded up my car and drove down from Calgary to the states for three months.

I got on open mic comedy nights in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and every city along the west coast in between.
When I came back to Calgary, I packed up my car once again and moved to Toronto.
I started doing stand- up comedy at Yuk Yuks. I was one of five female comics in the country at the time doing stand- up full time.

After about seven years of full-time comedy, I decided that I should probably have another side hustle – just in case.
I enrolled in a radio course at Humber College in Toronto.
What I lacked in radio experience, I made up for in comedic experience.
This experience led to co-hosting radio gigs in Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Los Angeles.
I never stopped doing stand- up comedy in the meantime. I always did both. Radio by morning and stand-up comedy by night.

It was when I was working in Toronto in 2011 when I was approached by Howard Szigeti of Unique Lives who asked me if I would like to host an evening with Joan Rivers at Roy Thomson Hall?
Would I???

As I chatted with Joan on stage, the whole time I couldn’t stop thinking about that fateful night so many years ago when I was crying in front of the tv set. On the same night that my dream of becoming a veterinarian ended, Joan Rivers inspired a new dream for me and I never looked back.

Stand-up comedy led to morning radio which led to corporate motivational speaking, A Tedx talk and teaching stand-up comedy at Second City. I even got to ‘how to’ book about stand-up comedy based on my experiences with my wonderful Second City students.

I got to do everything that I wanted to do in life so I decided to give a little bit back and donate my time to various charities including a local group that helps Toronto’s homeless and most vulnerable called City Street Outreach. This is an amazing organization started by an earth angel by the name of Alex Smirnus and his wonderful wife, Grace.

So, in closing, here is the advice that I would like to offer to any tear-filled teenager who feels like their dream is over– don’t treat your obstacle as a stop sign…treat it as a merge. Maybe you’re supposed to do something slightly or completely different and that’s okay!

Who knows? Maybe one day, you’ll get to meet your Joan Rivers.

I sure wish Ms. Rivers was around today to make us laugh at a time when the world seems to need her humour the most. 

By the way, for any aspiring comedians and/or Joan Rivers fans, here are seven things that I learned from Joan during our interview together May 18th 2011 at Roy Thomson Hall.

Until next time folks, Laugh Long and Prosper!

Judy-Croon-laugh-long-pro$per-sig-logo

Feel free to take a listen!

If you would like to catch up on any of my other Laugh Long and Prosper episodes, voted one of the best podcasts of 2021 in Canada by CTV, check me out.

Laugh Long and Prosper podcast on Spotify or Soundcloud

Wayne Gretsky – Hockey and Humour

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Today’s blog is sponsored by: TROOL Social knows that to be visible online you have to be fully committed, congruent in who you are and what you do.
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