Changing Hearts and Minds Through Laughter with Myq Kaplan: PYP 360

Myq Kaplan is a stand-up comedian who also happens to be vegan (or is it the other way around?)

He's performed on the Tonight Show, Conan, the Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Seth Meyers, the Late Late Show with James Corden, in his own half-hour Comedy Central Presents special, and in his own one-hour special on Netflix and Amazon, Small, Dork, and Handsome.

I was introduced to Myq's cerebral brand of comedy by my daughter, who has memorized his entire published body of work word for word, so I don't need him anymore (sorry, Myq).

In case you're wondering about the centrality of veganism to his life and work, his first album, which was one of iTunes top 10 comedy albums of the year in 2010, is called “Vegan Mind Meld.”

He also contributed an essay to The Reducetarian Solution (edited by another Plant Yourself guest, Brian Kateman), in which he points out that eating a vegan meal and thinking that you're deprived is really focusing on all the things that aren't on the plate. And that no matter what you eat, there are lots of things not on your plate. So chill.

Myq and I talked about the theory of comedy (he uses big words like “benign violation” and “theory”), and how being funny can help people shift their perspectives on serious issues.

Myq uses language in very thoughtful ways; for example, he pointed out the difference between asking someone “Do you eat chicken?” and “Do you eat chickens?”

I asked about the cliche that comedians had troubled childhoods, and we talked about that fact that maybe plumbers also have troubled childhoods but their job is to fix leaks rather than talk about their childhoods, so we don't notice quite as much. And I didn't even make a pun about comedians' (wise)cracks.

We also explored how the comedic method – which often starts with looking for what's strange, weird, annoying, or crazy in a situation – contributed to his veganism and allows him to talk about it in non-threatening ways.

And we spent a fair bit of time chewing on his spiritual interests and practices, and how spending time on self-development can help us escape from the “Infinite Mirror of Assholes” that we can live within.

Enjoy, add your voice to the conversation via the comment box below, and please share – that's how we spread our message and spread our roots.

Links

Myq Kaplan's website

The Humor Code, by Peter McGraw and Joel Warner

The Braindead Megaphone, by George Saunders

Becoming Nobody: Ram Dass on dying

How to Fight, and How to Love, by Thich Nhat Hanh

The Lathe of Heaven, by Ursula K. Le Guin

4-page Introduction from the new Josh/Howie book – needs a title (leave suggestions in comments or Plant Yourself Facebook page or just email me at [email protected])

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