I’ve been travelling across the country in crappy cars and rentals performing Stand Up for thirty-five years, through blizzards, downpours, sweltering heat, driving for days to perform my act. And I was on the road to keep growing as a creative type, writer, as a person and to pay my rent. I managed to get into Stand Up Comedy be in some of the toughest bars in Canada and get sober!!! Who does that? Not me. My soul did. A higher version of me asked me to get sober because… I had a higher purpose. My broken train wreck self still wants to get hammered. The point I’m making is, body, mind and soul. I’ve done the body mind thing, bought the T-shirt. I’m in the third phase of my life, the part that wants to evolve to my highest level not perform in High Level. thank you very much.
OK. I’ve been sharing my shtick forever and I have material that worked at corporate venues, bars and comedy clubs and all the while, while I was trying to find who I really was. They call it stage legs. What that means is: once your absolute terror of being in front of an audience is no longer noticeable; (it never goes away, the terror. It’s like closure. Whoever coined that word was devoid of emotion. Ever have your heart broken, lose a parent, or a pet? It’s the closest you can get to combat without actually being shot.) Anyway, most people have their night terrors in the privacy of their bungalows, under a blanket with cookies and snacks close by incase they get upset. Comedians have their night terrors front and center in front of an audience, under the lights, in front of other comedians; because the greatest joy, in the world to other comedians is watching other comedians crash and burn. Seriously. I was performing at a Cowboy fundraiser and the first comedian was on stage and this 300 pound giant redneck gets on stage and grabs the comedian’s Mic and shouts: “you are the absolute worst comic in the %#+!! world and you suck and I hope you die of cancer.” Oh, did I mention we were doing a cancer fundraiser? I tell the two bouncers at the bar to get the idiot off the stage. They say, “good idea!” The bouncers run up on stage and grab the comedian!!!
So, what I want to share is that I’ve done the bars gigs and clubs and the entire time I performed in them, a voice in me was asking me, who Paul Sveen really was? The real Paul Sveen. I’m a spiritual being having a human experience. I believe we’re all miracles and capable of anything and that humor heals our deepest wounds. It’s just that what my soul wants to share is not funny. I’m not sure if anyone has read my first novel. The Angel’s Claw?” Yeah, the last thing my homage to God is…is funny. Ex Sociopaths hunting down current sociopath’s and giving them a near death experience. “You’ve been great goodnight!!!
Again, my point is, the things that I’ve healed from: alcoholism, drug addiction, overeating, shame, bullying, regret, rage, self doubt, approval, control, fear, PTSD, is what my soul wants to talk about and I will be sharing in the real Paul Sveen who believes humor heals. I’ll be developing my stories and the healing messages in them, for audiences that also believe they’re not junk, that they’re also here to heal through joy, laughter, forgiveness, personal breakthroughs and that their humor does heal and that we can learn the lessons from our souls; because the lessons from our ego are way highly overrated. Healing through laughter. It’s who I am.
If you have any questions: paulsveen@shaw.ca