Film Courage: What is the will to risk?
John Vorhaus, Author/Speaker/Artist/Screenwriter: What is the will to risk? Somebody asked me Do you think anyone can be funny? I said I think anyone can be funny, I’m not sure everyone is willing to risk being funny, because the will to risk implies the will to fail. If I try this and it doesn’t work there will be consequences. If my fear of consequence is quite great then my will to risk is quite low because the fear of negative consequences (bad outcomes) will keep me from taking chances. As an example you might be terribly funny and you might want to do stand-up comedy but you have to have the will to risk to get from the floor to the stage, even if it’s only six inches, that’s a big step up. The only way you can take that step is if you can bring your mind around to the idea that this outcome doesn’t matter. It might be a bad outcome, it might hurt me emotionally but for the sake of my goals, it’s a step I have to take. The whole math of it is if you have a clear sense of your goals and you can link those goals to actions, then the combination of goal and action will give you the will to risk because you will see quite clearly. In order to achieve this goal I have to take this action. I understand that there’s a risk of a possible negative outcome but I also understand that if I don’t take this action, I can’t achieve that goal and that’s a known bad outcome. I fight against theoretical or possible bad outcomes with the knowledge that taking no action is itself…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
BIO:
John Vorhaus is best known for his comedy-writing classic, The Comic Toolbox: How to be Funny Even if You’re Not. He has taught and trained writers in 37 countries on five continents at last count, and created TV shows of his own in Nicaragua, Romania and elsewhere. His writing credits include dozens of teleplays and screenplays, plus seven novels and some two dozen works of non-fiction. His latest book is the little book of STANDUP. Vorhaus is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and a member of the Writers Guild of America. He lives in Southern California and secretly controls the world from JohnVorhaus.com.
Advertisement – contains affiliate links
(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)
More affiliates:
Camera we use for interviews – https://buff.ly/3rWqrra
Sound we use for interviews – https://amzn.to/2tbFlM9
Other books on Amazon that Film Courage recommends – https://buff.ly/3o0oE5o
