I want to have a librarian themed stand-up comedy act. It is going to have pretty nerdy but very specific jokes. Some of the jokes will be book themed. You might have had to read the books to get them. I think that I have some stand up comedy in my bones. I like to ham it up sometimes. Plus, I could probably see myself going blue without stressing about it too much since my both parents and grandparents are dead. Did that make you uncomfortable? Sorry that was kind of joke. See? First joke executed!
I have two bits planned already. Today, I am going to take you through my first bit.
My working theory is that maybe if I start working on some of my material in this blog, I will follow through and do something with these bits.
The first bit that I have conceived is called “Male Self-Help Author’s Be Like . . . and Female Self-Help Author’s Be Like …”. You get it. It kind of has a Jerry Seinfeld circa 1989 standup comedian vibe. I don’t want to ruin the joke for you but basically it centers on the fact that books written by woman self-help writers and men have a different feels. They have different patterns. Did you ever notice that? Maybe you haven’t. Maybe you don’t read self-help books. Maybe you are what they call “confident”. Maybe you were a “cool kid” in school.
Or maybe you don’t read, I don’t know. That’s on you.
Well, in case, if you don’t read those types of books, this is how it goes with self help books.
Did you ever notice that self-help books written by men and women are different?
There is the pattern that men’s self-help books are in written in. This is how they begin: in self-help books written by men, the author usually has some sort of crisis that is not caused by him. Maybe his parents got divorced when he was a kid or he they was in a car accident where he wasn’t driving. Maybe he has to get divorced because his wife suggested it. Maybe his wife accidently becomes a self-help guru so he has to quit his job as an executive at Disney so he can run her company. Any of these things can be the inciting incidents. What happens next is that the author has a breakthrough. Maybe the breakthrough is in therapy or maybe it is something that he just realizes while recovering from his inciting incident. In any case, then he works really hard while he is recovering and has both gumption and perseverance. He develops a new system for dealing with his life. He studies hard. He succeeds in his chosen endeavor. He decides that his idea is pretty great so he either starts a blog or gets a book deal. He might even get the book deal because his wife is a self-help guru and he used to be high on the Disney food chain. Who knows how these things happen. Early in the book he will make no secret of the fact that he got millions of followers within within minutes of starting his blog. He will probably start a podcast to go along with his blog. Then he will tell you in the second chapter that since beginning his blog two years ago, he now has private audiences with the CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies and is part of Barack Obama’s personal fight club. If you are a woman, you might even decided that while you found him off putting at the beginning of the book, he actually has some pretty good ideas. You might even decide that you will tell other people to read his book. But then, he might crush you by “circling back” and finishing strong by asserting again how amazing he has become due to his methods at the end of the book. You might feel duped for even falling for him the first place.
Women do it totally different.
In self-help books written by women, the author usually resists taking credit for almost anything they have accomplished. Also her story usually starts the author being at their lowest point due to: bulimia, anorexia, alcoholism, imposter syndrome, ADHD, road rage, low self esteem, depression, abuse, credit-card debt, losing a psych med prescription, Adderall addiction, a cheating husband, seasonal affective disorder, and sometimes all of the above at once. After falling to her lowest point, she will maybe take a trip or maybe just travel across town. Then she will have a spiritual breakthrough at an ashram or a “Come to Jesus Moment” in the basement of a church whose teachings she had abandoned. She will mediate or pray and often renew her connection with spirituality. She will take baby steps like a young deer. She will find her confidence again through exploring a new place or by beginning a blog about motherhood. Then she will find love again or reconcile with her husband. Her writing and exploration will reconnect her with her life’s purpose. Her purpose will be to help other women like her. She too will start a blog and a podcast. Her blog and podcast will also be wildly successful but unlike her male self-help counterparts, she won’t take any credit for it. She will credit God or her network of followers that lifted her up while she was at her lowest point for her success. She will probably become friends with Oprah and will probably have appeared on Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday.
See? It’s a different path to self help fame for women and men.
I am a woman so maybe that is why I have a blind spot regarding faults women authors have at the end of the books. Most times I actually like the woman more after reading her book and I just want to read more of her books. So maybe I am the joke here.
In coming weeks, I will share more of my bits with you.
What are you up to this week? Do you read self-help type books? What are your thoughts? Comment below.
