Second city
Question:
Last night i went to second city, one of the country’s leading comedy troupes, fitst home to bill murray, the belushi brothers and many more. Following the regular show, there is a 45 improv show. One of the games they play is called quirks…..6 people at a party a host and 5 guests wiht a weird quirk of some sort…..before asking for recoomendations for quirks, one of the performers said, try and be original…some of the great ideas we’ve had..thinks hes a piec of wood, etc……ones we get all the time…." has tourette syndrome" Woa I thought how terrible….after thinking about it…I realized it isnt second city’s fault..they take recommendations….but why is it that so many people offer toureete syndrome as a quirk so often????? Do they find us funny? Is it politically correct to make fun of us??? What???? Chaim
Response:
Nancy B. Powers (hicex…@gvi.net) wrote: : Chaim, : I think this may fall into the category of "any publicity is good : publicity." I is : never right from an ethical standpoint in my book to make fun of anyone. : But, : one battle we face is getting the word out that there is Tourette Syndrome. : How many people in that audience had never heard of it before? I bet : there were a few : at least. : It sounds like the comedian was trying to discourage people from using : TS. : Maybe we could learn to laugh with them instead of being the brunt. May be : should : shut up now before I dig myself in any deeper! : Chaim Shapiro <ucsha…@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu> wrote in article : <5hmrmn$…@news.ecn.bgu.edu>… : > Last night i went to second city, one of the country’s leading : > comedy troupes, fitst home to bill murray, the belushi brothers and many : > more. Following the regular show, there is a 45 improv show. One of the : > games they play is called quirks…..6 people at a party a host and 5 : > guests wiht a weird quirk of some sort…..before asking for : > recoomendations for quirks, one of the performers said, try and be : > original…some of the great ideas we’ve had..thinks hes a piec of wood, : > etc……ones we get all the time…." has tourette syndrome" : > Woa I thought how terrible….after thinking about it…I realized : > it isnt second city’s fault..they take recommendations….but why is it : > that so many people offer toureete syndrome as a quirk so often????? Do : > they find us funny? Is it politically correct to make fun of us??? : > What???? : > Chaim : > Nancy thanks for the reply..and i do belive that he was trying to disourage it…….but what he was saying was that they get it all the time..a common theme..which means people in the audience throw it out there a lot…..and why do they do that? because they like alughing at US! Chaim
Response:
DReeves728 (dreeves…@aol.com) wrote:
: ucsha…@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu (Chaim Shapiro) wrote: : >but what he was saying was that they get it all the : >time..a common theme..which means people in the audience throw it out : >there a lot…..and why do they do that? because they like alughing at : US! : >Chaim : Chaim, : They don’t like laughing at people with TS, in particular, but at : anybody that will take the focus off of them. I learned a long time ago : that some people must tear others down in order to (in their own minds) : build themselves up. Their own insecurity is showing! : Debbie Reeves good point Debbie,…..but why ts???? arent there hundreds of ohter things they could make fun of..(and im not saying that would be right..) the fact that they choose to use ts as something to ridicule..well tht says something i think Chaim
Response:
It is sad but true (or outrageous but true) that in spite of all of this "poltical correctness" that there are groups of people that it is o.k. to make fun of. i.e: Christians, overweight people, "ugly" people or anyone who is perceived to be "different" who dosen’t fit the criteria of a socially recoginized disability. You would never see a comedian (except maybe Howard Stern) mocking the blind, mentally handicapped or wheelchair bound person. That would be considered cruel. Yet it seems to be just fine to insult (often in person) someone belonging to one of the "socially unacceptable" groups. One day a friend of mine who is very overweight was in the dairy section of the supermarket. As she started to pick up a pound of butter she heard a woman behind her say "Now you put that down! Your cholesterol must be sky-high!" When she turned around, this stranger began to berate her about her weight! Fortunately (for the rude woman) a store employee had overheard the remarks, and intervened. The last thing that my friend heard as she walked away was the box boy telling the woman that it was "not a good idea to make personal remarks to strangers". Amen! My friend was more than capable of tearing her up…… Nevertheless, she went home and cried for most of the day. The upshot is, that unless you can get society as a whole to add your particular group to the don’t-make-fun-of fear/pity list, you are going to remain a target. So I suppose that we have to either get more mean, or more pathetic – and quite frankly, neither one appeals to me. Or, we can mantain our dignity in the face of ignorance. P.S. (Cultivating an imperious cold stare dosen’t hurt either -It works for me!). -Karen (Mother of the girl who would rather ROAR than MOOOOOO!)
Response:
ucsha…@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu (Chaim Shapiro) wrote: >but what he was saying was that they get it all the >time..a common theme..which means people in the audience throw it out >there a lot…..and why do they do that? because they like alughing at US! >Chaim
Chaim, They don’t like laughing at people with TS, in particular, but at anybody that will take the focus off of them. I learned a long time ago that some people must tear others down in order to (in their own minds) build themselves up. Their own insecurity is showing! Debbie Reeves
Response:
Hi — I see it a little differently — truly; ‘not just playing devil’s advocate — Some of us DO have a little extra spark: CREATIVITY! MOST of us have at *least* a perspective on things which, IS quirky/ unique — sometimes perceived as different and interesting, seven funny — by those who adhere to the status quo. I think this recognition often amounts to a positive acknowledgement of our differences, and may be the "normal’s way of giving us a "place"in their social milieu — a category,(a positive one, for a change!), which they need, because that is how they deal with things in general. As Mr. Ho stated the other nite:"Regards to my Tourettic Self that so many of you have mentioned, I DO identify with having that..i love that side of myself..i know what other people in this site mean when they say they have this different perspective on topics (sports, people, movies, friends, history,) anything, that NO other "normal" person could imagine or relate to..and THIS is Good! it makes us different in a good way…My friends love me for it…they call me random…naturally funny with no artificial flavoring or coloring…and that’s GREAT!…" Shoosie also wrote on this subject the same night:"…there is something else in there that’s not just tics. Either that, or I and hundreds of other tourettics have something strange and undiscovered in addition to TS. But the fact that so many tourettics share this "strange and undiscovered" thing, lead me to believe that it’s really a part of the TS spectrum. Perhaps you’ll see it that way someday, perhaps not. Technically speaking, TS is a disorder. Disease is progressive or curable, and not ordinarily congenital, I think. TS is genetic, and therefore (I think) not technically a disease. You don’t catch it or acquire it, you’re born with those genes, and either you express them or you don’t. But neither disease nor disorder describes this other "something" of which I’m speaking. If you experience what I’m talking about, or if you become aware of something in you that may be different from anyone you meet besides other tourettics, then you’ll probably be inclined to agree. On the other hand, many tourettics claim not to experience what so many of us are discussing with this sense of wonder…" This is something utterly our own, it’s a mutually-recognizeable GOOD difference! we should acknowledge and cultivate it! NARH
