The Conversation: The Book of Awesome author Neil Pasricha laughs it up with Jessica Holmes
The place: Tequila Bookworm at Queen and Portland.
The people: Neil Pasricha and Jessica Holmes.
The subject: Surviving the holidays
For those who prefer not to drink themselves into oblivion over the holidays, there are other ways to survive the stress of the season. Neil Pasricha and Jessica Holmes, for example, are big believers in the power of positive thinking (though they wouldn’t necessarily turn down a strategically spiked eggnog). Pasricha is the relentlessly enthusiastic mind behind the mega-selling phenomenon The Book of Awesome and its sequels, including a new, holiday-themed volume. The books, which began life as a daily blog listing all things you-know-what, have made Pasricha a positivity guru who brings his gospel of awesomeness to conferences and corporate workshops (when he’s not working his day job as a human resources manager in Mississauga). Holmes is best known for her stint on the Royal Canadian Air Farce. Following the publication of her 2010 memoir I Love Your Laugh, she began a second career as a motivational speaker, preaching emotional healing through humour. Holmes is currently onstage in Ross Petty’s holiday panto version of The Wizard of Oz, playing (of course) the Good Witch Splenda.
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- I used to find holidays difficult, but a therapist told me: “Knit and drink, knit and drink.” My relatives are like, “Is that the same scarf you were working on last year? Do you only pull it out when we come?”
- The Conversation: Laugh it Up
- The Conversation: Laugh it Up
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- When you don’t see the sun for a long time, and there are lots of in-laws and Christmas parties—all that can just snowball. It’s a stressful time.
- The Conversation: Laugh it Up
- The Conversation: Laugh it Up
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- I’ve been through a few depressions, and they match up 100 per cent with not having structure. There’s not a lot of work for an actor in December, so I’m relieved and thrilled to be doing this musical.
- The Conversation: Laugh it Up
- The Conversation: Laugh it Up
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- If I wasn’t going to an office every day, I’d be massively unproductive. I would quickly devolve into a caveman who didn’t shave, ate Chicken McNuggets and wore track pants. I need a reason to get up in the morning and put on a shirt.
- The Conversation: Laugh it Up
- The Conversation: Laugh it Up
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- Having fun in the evenings and on weekends writing about awesome things is just a joy that has happened in my life. I don’t identify it as my full-time world. Do I have bad days? Absolutely. But it never gets to the point where I’m like, “Screw it!” That’s just not me.
- The Conversation: Laugh it Up
- The Conversation: Laugh it Up
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- When I first got hired by <em>Air Farce</em>, I took my family to Cuba to celebrate. It was freezing the whole week. Someone took a picture of us huddled on the beach, and I love it because we’re just laughing at how awful it is. Comedy trumps circumstances.
- The Conversation: Laugh it Up
- The Conversation: Laugh it Up
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- The Conversation: Laugh it Up
- The Conversation: Laugh it Up
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BOOK
The Book of (Holiday) Awesome
Neil Pasricha
Available now
THEATRE
The Wizard of Oz
with Jessica Holmes
Nov. 24 to Jan. 6 at the Elgin Theatre
. Pasricha is the relentlessly enthusiastic mind behind the mega-selling phenomenon The Book of Awesome and its sequels, including a new, holiday-themed volume. The books, which began life as a daily blog listing all things you-know-what, have made Pasricha a positivity guru who brings his gospel of awesomeness to conferences and corporate workshops (when he’s not working his day job as a human resources manager in Mississauga). Holmes is best known for her stint on the Royal Canadian Air Farce. Following the publication of her 2010 memoir I Love Your Laugh, she began a second career as a motivational speaker, preaching emotional healing through humour. Holmes is currently onstage in Ross Petty’s holiday panto version of The Wizard of Oz, playing (of course) the Good Witch Splenda.
[gallery columns="6"]
BOOK
The Book of (Holiday) Awesome
Neil Pasricha
Available now
THEATRE
The Wizard of Oz
with Jessica Holmes
Nov. 24 to Jan. 6 at the Elgin Theatre){kind=link}
do you always write for the hype nathan? you should watch what you say about ppl…..