My Eye Opening Rant
One reason I got into comedy/Keynote Speaking
One of my most memorable moments, well before I got into comedy, was as a tour guide in Washington, D.C., during summers when I was home between college semesters. I was a great tour guide. I made up jokes and goofed around with the tourists, and I could remember all the city’s facts and figures perfectly. There was another guide, however, a much older woman, let’s just call her Agnes, who was not so on top of it.
She was personable and sweet and you could tell she really loved her job, but
she couldn’t keep the facts straight to save her life. She’d point out the Air and Space Museum and call it the Mint, or tell ‘em that the Jefferson memorial was named after George Jefferson from “The Jeffersons” TV show. OK, maybe I’m exaggerating, but I’m pretty sure, courtesy of Agnes, a lot of tourists left DC convinced that the president lives in the Capitol. (It’s the White House for those of you who took her tour.) She was also constantly correcting herself during the tour until everyone on the bus was completely confused.
She was the nicest woman, but she truly didn’t know, or more likely didn’t remember, her facts.
One day I picked up one of those guides to classes that you
can take around the city, and I saw that Agnes was teaching a class on Washington, DC, facts and figures. I was livid! This woman had a side business making extra money teaching people about stuff she couldn’t keep straight!
My tour guide friend Lauren was standing next to me, and poor
Lauren got an earful. I went off about how this woman could be teaching something that she herself was mixed up about and that the only way she could pull this off was by standing in front of the class reading the facts straight from a history book. She may be as old as the history she’s teaching, but she still doesn’t have a clue about it. I should be teaching that class! I was a top tour guide, and not only that, I was more entertaining!
After my rant was over, Lauren calmly turned to me and simply said, “Well, Jan, she put the class together and you didn’t.”
In that instant I realized the difference between
the people who “do” and the people who “rant.” I could have come up with that class idea but I didn’t, so Agnes gets to make that money and Agnes gets to tell those students any darn facts she feels like.
I’ve remembered that lesson throughout my life and it has pushed me forward to do the things in life that I want to do instead of just rant when other people get to do them.
Jan McInnis is a Keynote Speaker, Comedian, Comedy Writer, and Master of Ceremonies. She has written for Jay Leno’s Tonight Show monologue as well as many other people, places, and groups – radio, TV, syndicated cartoon strips, and even guests on the Jerry Springer show (her parents are proud). For 20+ years she’s traveled country as a keynote speaker and comedian sharing her unique and practical tips on what business leaders can learn from comedians (no, it’s not all about telling jokes). She can be reached at www.TheWorkLady.com, or Jan@TheWorkLady.com She’s also a GREAT Master of Ceremonies. Click here for her emcee site
Some of the stories in this newsletter are taken from Jan’s popular book:
Convention Comedian: Stories and Wisdom From Two Decades of Chicken Dinners and Comedy Clubs.