This right here is my childhood diary.
I found this a few years ago, and I went through it. Age five, 3’2″, 30 pounds.
I’m about the same now.
But the big thing is down in the right-hand corner.
My wishes: to go to LA and be a famous comedian.
Excuse me.
This is the new Sam.
What happened? What the– Aah!
Now, cut through a whole lot of more stories and a whole lot of years of struggling
and suffering. The day I turn 18, I get a call from Showtime.
“Can you give us 30 solid minutes?” “Yes, sir.”
So I had to adjust. If you look at me back then, and you wouldn’t think this is the
kind of thing that you are going to see on TV and in show business.
I had to get edgy.
I got to focus.
I started taking chances-
Go for it
… even though I didn’t know where I was going.
I’m calling GEICO right now.
I’ll make coffee.
Get to know GEICO.
Everyone’s invited. We got different kinds of people.
Every step is brand new, and I don’t know where I’m going.
All I know is I’ve got to pivot.
I’ll be your backup.
I don’t mind.
I’ve worked with Oscar winners, Emmy winners, Grammy winners, and I did
stand-up on the road for over 15 years.
Hi. How are you?
Hold my hair. Ugh.
Now, for my career, it’s all been about the risk.
I will eat all of you.
If it weren’t for risks-
You’re being a baby
… I would have never gotten on stage for the first time.
I would have never gotten that TV special.
I would have never gone on the road, and I wouldn’t be standing here right now if
it weren’t for risks.
Through the course of my life, I was constantly adapting, innovating, changing,
and bouncing when something would hit me so that I could figure out what to do
next. So I started to put the pieces together and learn that at the core of it,
what I was doing was improvising.
So that’s why I developed this system, and I call it The Pivot Principle.
See, the pivot principle is you taking life’s curve balls and turning them
into your biggest advantages by staying present, saying yes, and
daring to push forward when everything else seems to be telling you to stop.
Well, Larry. That’s a million-dollar idea you got there.
Now, I have gotten a chance to do a lot of cool things in my life.
They didn’t coven out their fair share of pain and-
Ow
… isolation and rejection.
You can call me Sweetwater.
No. No. You cannot give yourself a nickname.
And facing all that I would have to face to get to do what I wanted to do.
We’ve all got things to hide.
All I know is whenever something shows up, I’ve got to duck and I’ve got to move.
I’ve got to pivot.
I love how he got the audience involved and brought them on stage, and I just
feel like I had a smile on my face the whole time.
Really fun, energetic, inspirational.
Because when the odds are stacked against you, and I promise you they will be, your
ability to adapt, create, and connect
is your superpower. The misstep is something you can correct.
If you trip on something on the way to somewhere, you’re going to remember it on
the way back and you’re going to sidestep.
So in this class,
missteps get applause.
If somebody has the courage to step out and try something, then that courage needs
to be rewarded.
Brandon is somebody that you feel like you can trust.
He gives that friendly energy and makes you feel like you’re in a safe
environment to grow, to really open your eyes and say, “Okay, how can
I change and embrace the things that I’m afraid of in order to move forward
and open up new possibilities?”
The rubber wall’s the thing that keeps you safe, because what’s on the other side
of that rubber wall could change your life.
The rubber wall is made up of fear,
imposter syndrome,
questions. Seems crazy to say it, but embracing fear
eliminates fear, and there is nothing
to be afraid of more than somebody who is fearless.
The tenets of improv give you that ability to listen, be open
to suggestion, and make a change as a result.
Brandon really brought light to how we pivot and change through every
situation and every moment of every day.
So many things work out for us when we just let go rather
than trying to control what’s happening.
You’re already improvising, in your conversations,
your decision-making,
your parenting.
The question is,
are you doing it on purpose?
