Humble Pie – How An Audience of Six People Changed My Life Forever

May of 2016 marked twenty years for The Panic Squad Improv Comedy, the company I own and act with. This weekend myself and some of the other founding members will perform a Panic Squad reunion show as part of the annual alumni weekend at Trinity Western University in Langley, BC, Canada. That’s where this journey began for me. TWU is where I first saw improv comedy and met the friends who would launch into this adventure alongside me.

With the reunion show drawing near, I’ve been reflecting on twenty years of performing clean comedy across North America. Front and center in the reflection pool is a key moment at the beginning of our career that defined who we are and impacted our trajectory over the next twenty years. Here’s the story behind that decisive moment and a challenge for you to take hold of your own work with resolve and excellence.

The Beginning

The Panic Squad was created through a combination of talented performers from two of the top improv teams in Trinity Western University’s improv league, 11:07. A number of us had graduated and simply wanted to find way to keep doing what we loved. Perform clean improv comedy.

We were young, funny, accustomed to success on stage and ready to take on the world. Little did we know we were about to be served our first big slice of humble pie. The first of many throughout our career.

Humble pie rarely tastes good, but it’s usually good for you.

Our first self-promoted public show was a partnership with a local coffee house and theatre called Club 316. Tickets were $2 each and the five Panic Squad actors were splitting the profits with the house.

Six people attended that first show. Two were one of the actor’s parents. Two were another actor’s roommates. The last two were strangers who actually attended the show without the obligation of family or friendship.

An audience of six, four of whom we already knew. Humble Pie.

It was hard on us. I remember sitting backstage with the other actors feeling dejected and not really wanting to perform a 90-minute comedy show for six people. We could have easily cancelled the show and refunded the audience. We wouldn’t be taking a huge financial hit since our half of door sales equaled a whopping $1.20 each. Surely our friends and family would understand, and we could live with two strangers hating us forever.

I think there was a part of each of us that really wanted to get out of there, rent a movie featuring successful comedians, eat hot wings and lick our wounds (Actually, I recommend against licking your wounds after eating hot wings. I imagine it would only complicate things.).

Instead we dug in encouraged each other. We talked about what The Panic Squad stood for and who we wanted to be as entertainers, both now and in the future. As different as we were individually, we shared a desire to consistently perform with excellence. The quality of our show has always been important to us.

What happened next has been a defining moment in my life.

We decided that night to never let the size of the audience dictate the quality of our performance. We decided to give those six people the best improv show they had ever seen.  We weren’t going to let pride wreck an opportunity to do something we loved, and do it well.

We took the stage and performed our hearts out for an audience of six people.

A few months later we were packing the room and breaking fire codes with over 500 people coming out to see us. We discovered that when you work hard to create excellence, excellence will work hard on your behalf.

What started in 1996 as a way to keep doing something we loved and make a little extra money became our career in 2001. Three of us left our jobs and made the leap to full time comedy. It was risky, terrifying, challenging and so rewarding.

Since that first show for six people in 1996 The Panic Squad has performed across Canada and in 38 states. We’ve entertained audiences ranging from the original six to over 35,000. We’ve shared the stage with inspiring leaders and some of the top Christian artists from around the world. We’ve made great friends and have built lasting relationships with pastors, conference directors, fellow entertainers and fans along the way. Best of all, we have impacted hundreds of thousands of people with incredibly clean and funny improv comedy.

Unexpected Impact

Some of the most rewarding moments of our career have not been the milestones of success but the moments where we played a part in impacting an individual life.

I have a file of emails and letters that are priceless to me. Notes from students struggling at school or at home who were impacted by a message from the stage or a short conversation off-stage. Pastors telling of new families attending their church following a comedy outreach event the week before. A couple on their way to divorce who laughed together for the first time in far too long and left the show holding hands. Many others, struggling with depression, heartache or simply the weight of life who really needed a laugh and found it at a Panic Squad show.

An Important Question

As I reflect on the challenges, opportunities and impact of the last twenty years performing comedy with The Panic Squad I can’t help but ask myself,

“What if we had cancelled that first show?”

What if we had decided we weren’t up to the task and had given up. What if we had determined we were above performing for such a small crowd and called it a night? Peace out. Or what if we had reluctantly performed out of obligation, but had held back and given the audience less than our best?

Would The Panic Squad have ever gotten off the ground? Would I have missed out on 20 years of growth, opportunity and impact? Would I still be performing today?

How about you?

Take a moment to reflect on The Panic Squad’s decision to never let the size of our audience dictate the quality of our performance.  How might our decision relate to your own work? Does the status attached to your work, to your audience, affect the amount of effort and passion you commit?

Their will be times when you are feeling tired and defeated. The work that excellence demands won’t seem worth the effort. Well it is. Excellence is worth the effort regardless of the situation surrounding you. When you base your effort on what you hope to gain, you will rarely be satisfied. It’s more likely you will become bitter or jaded.  Pursue excellence based on who you are and who you hope to be. If you’re a Christian like I am, pursue excellence because God asks for our best in everything we do.

Here we go again

The funny thing is, in many ways I’ve come full circle and feel like I’m writing this to myself as I begin a new chapter alongside my comedy with The Panic Squad. I started this blog and wrote a book on Improv and Leadership this summer. I have put an immense amount time and effort into these projects.

To be honest with you, my list of subscribers is growing more slowly than I would like it to. To be completely vulnerable with you, my book sales have been less than I had projected and hoped for. Am I disheartened at times? Sure. Do I battle through feeling discouraged or inadequate? Definitely.

Will I give up? Not a chance.

Will I continue to pour my best into what I have now? Absolutely

Do I relish the opportunity to learn, stretch, grow and move forward? You bet.

While the circumstances are not ideal, those decisions are easy for me now. Because twenty years ago I performed my heart out for six people and it changed my life.