Small Steps Lead to Big Places.

I’d just walked off stage from the single most agonizing time I’ve ever had on a stage. I had crashed, burned, and imploded in front of my first paying audience at a theatre in New Jersey.

I always try to find the words to describe how truly awful my performance was that fateful night. There is “dying” on stage, which I certainly did, but then there’s dying and stinking up the room for a horrifically long TWO hours and 15 minutes that night.

Nothing worked that night. Not a single joke. Not the opening. Not the middle. Not the end. My show was about as funny as someone getting up there and torturing puppies for a couple hours.

To put it more succinctly, I gave new definition that night to what it means to SUCK SHIT.

I felt truly awful and humiliated both during and immediately after the show and went quickly to disappear and hide in my dressing room.

But then came a knock on my door. It was a dear friend of mine whom I’d asked to fly in and evaluate me. (Prior to my on-stage death, I thought I was getting good after a year of trying to work out the show. I thought I was successfully FAILING my way forward).

Anyway, he comes in and asks, “You okay?”

Eh. I say.

“You’ve got to stop. You’re humiliating yourself. And you’re not funny. I’m funnier than you and I’m a talent agent. You’ve got to stop,” he says with genuine care and concern.

He was being a friend trying to protect me. And he was right. I wasn’t funny. He was funnier than me. And I most definitely was humiliating myself. And had been for a year.

I told him I wanted to be alone if that was alright. And so he left.

Then comes another knock on the dressing room door.

Another dear friend of mine, Martin Latulippe
.

FK. I did NOT want to see him. I felt so embarrassed.

Martin was a young motivational speaker whom I’d been mentoring a bit. He’d flown all the way from Canada at my request.

He comes in and asks, “You okay?”

I let out a deep sigh.

“This is the best I’ve ever seen of you!” he says to me.

WTF?!, I’m thinking. I say, “You liked my show?!?”

“No, your show isn’t good Patrick!.. It needs a lot of work,” he replies.

I’m confused. So I ask, “Then why are you saying it’s the best you’ve ever seen of me?”

“Because now I know you’ve got huuuugge balls Patrick. You need a wheelbarrow to carry your balls in!” he says nodding his head and smiling a bit.

It did take courage to fail all year in front of people the way I had been, but I was done with all the failure. I was ready to finally quit. Every failure had hurt. Every bad “show” had left me wanting to curl up in bed and get a job at TacoBell.

Martin continued. “Patrick, I can see now that you’ve got the balls to go from being a SOMEBODY in speaking, to a NOBODY in theatre to reach for your dream. That takes huge courage. I’ve never seen anyone do that.”

I did have a very successful speaking career. But I was trying to reinvent myself in theatre.

“Thank you Martin. But it’s not working,” I said. “I suck. I’m not funny. I can’t even tell a good story well.”

But then Martin says, “Brother, you keep taking SMALL steps on this dream and you’re going to go BIG places.”

I was too emotionally beat up from my godawful self-imposed public humiliation to be encouraged by Martin’s words that night. I just wanted to go home, give up, and never think about my stupid theatre dream again.

And so that’s the state I went home in.

But…

… A month later, I got a phone call completely out of the blue.

(Basil King said, “Be bold and mighty forces come to your rescue.”)

“Hi Patrick, remember me, Jeff Thompson?”

Jeff was a guy I went to college with who was a comedian and wildly funny! I was sure he’d be on SNL eventually.

Anyhow, Jeff told me I’d just popped into his mind (after 12 years) and thought to call and see what I was up to.

Jeff tells me about a theatre festival in San Francisco called The Fringe Festival. He tells me you can get in it with no talent, no show, no resume – just a matter of getting your name pulled out of the hat because it was a lottery.

“No talent required” really got my attention!

I decided it was a sign from the Universe that I should try again. Take another small step. If I got in, I’d have 6 months to work on the show.

All I had to do is send in my application and brave more public humiliation.

To “make a long story short”, I did get in and it’s at that very Festival where I was discovered by an HBO Comedy Festival talent scout.

She and other execs selected me as their choice for the funniest new theatre act in America that year.

Since then, I’ve done more than 400 shows in some of the finest theatres there are around the world. I’ve had the extreme joy of performing it live for more than 100,000.

And people telling me I’m funny and a good storyteller. All saying it like I’m a natural.

Which brings me back to Martin…

Martin finally saw my show again this past December in Toronto, 15 years after that fateful night. I thanked him from the bottom of my heart for telling me to keep going that night, for being my champion when I really needed it. We took this photo together.

I love this guy so much. He went on in his life to become one of the world’s top motivational speakers and charitable leaders. All heart that guy.

Listen…

You are going to come to a moment when you want to give up. When you’re convinced you’re not good enough. When you feel like you’re all alone and getting run over by your dream.

But don’t give up. Because if you give up, you are guaranteed that your dream will never happen.

As long as you’re still trying, still believing even a little, your dream has a chance to become real.

And the Universe can still send you angels and magical assistance just when you need most.

If you might desire angels and magical support right now, to keep going or to get started, please look at blisschampions.com. You’ll see how I’m helping others realize their most desired ambitions and how I could support you as well. Part of my purpose on earth is to help others birth their greatest dreams.

We all need someone who’s got our back.

Most importantly….

Always remember what Martin said, “You keep taking SMALL steps on this dream and you’re going to go BIG places.”

Love,

Patrick