Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6jxvAUVGYc Starts at: 01:23:08 (jump to 01:23:08)
Ryan Sickler: Trauma Story and Comedy as Therapy
[01:23:08] All right. [01:23:13] Hey, this is Ryan Sickler, uh, from The Honeydew Podcast, and, uh, you know, my show, I, I [01:23:19] say highlighting the lowlights. [01:23:20] My show is all about, uh, finding that lightness in the dark and, you know, laughing about [01:23:26] your trauma. [01:23:27] Actually, I, I honestly, my whole family has been funny. [01:23:31] They’ve always dealt with trauma in a, in a humorous way. [01:23:36] I mean, at one point, we had a family death pool, okay? [01:23:39] So, everyone was, you know, trying to bring light to all this darkness, and, um, I just [01:23:46] never realized that wasn’t what everyone did, you know, until you get later in life and [01:23:51] you start talking about it. [01:23:52] But the podcast, uh, was just starting a new show, and, um, I had realized that I had to [01:23:57] reconnect with my mother after, like, 25 years or something like that, um, and I wanted [01:24:03] to talk about people’s stories and their lives and how fucked up we all are and how it’s just [01:24:09] really healthy to laugh about these things. [01:24:11] Uh, and that’s where this show was born. [01:24:13] I’ve been pleasantly surprised and blown away of how many messages I receive and how many, [01:24:19] um, emails I receive about how much the show has helped people. [01:24:23] People tell me it saved their lives and, you know, uh, especially with. [01:24:27] the stereotype of men [01:24:29] not going to therapy [01:24:31] and being too macho, which actually I guess [01:24:33] is not a stereotype. The therapist I go to [01:24:35] tell me that that happens. Go to therapy. [01:24:38] Therapy is good. Therapy is [01:24:39] healthy. We’ve talked about EMDR therapy [01:24:42] which Dr. Drew recommended [01:24:44] and how wonderful that therapy [01:24:45] is and people messaging [01:24:47] me saying, I went because [01:24:49] you talked about it. [01:24:51] So [01:24:51] be open about your trauma. [01:24:55] My quick back story [01:24:57] born Baltimore [01:24:58] I have two brothers. I’m a fraternal [01:25:01] twin. My parents [01:25:03] split. My mom did not [01:25:05] want me [01:25:06] told the court [01:25:09] that she would take my [01:25:11] twin brother and then she did [01:25:13] if he wanted to and then she did want my younger [01:25:15] brother. My dad of course loved all of [01:25:17] us equally and wanted us all to be together [01:25:19] so he got full custody [01:25:21] and child support in 1989 [01:25:23] because it was a lady judge. What’s up judge? [01:25:25] Still appreciate you for that. [01:25:27] So [01:25:28] live with my dad. My dad dies of a heart [01:25:31] attack when I’m 16 and now [01:25:33] we’re on our own. We [01:25:35] raise ourselves. We go to school. [01:25:37] We I mean we’re there [01:25:39] every day. I get good grades. [01:25:41] I play all sports. [01:25:43] My brother’s same way. Good [01:25:45] kids raised right wanted to be [01:25:47] you know [01:25:49] we ended up making our mom [01:25:51] look good, but really what we were doing was [01:25:53] is wanting to [01:25:55] live the way our dad’s [01:25:57] and our grandmother had taught us to live [01:25:59] and you know at the time [01:26:01] my dad’s mom was alive. My grandma [01:26:03] and we were in communication [01:26:05] with her all the time. She didn’t drive. She [01:26:07] lived in a little row home right outside Baltimore [01:26:09] City and in the county [01:26:11] and when we graduated high [01:26:13] school, my brother and I, my twin brother and I went [01:26:15] to live with her. My younger brother stayed [01:26:17] with my mom [01:26:17] and we were in that house. God, [01:26:21] she would come home maybe on Sundays to do some [01:26:23] laundry or something like that and then [01:26:25] bounce. So we raised each other and did [01:26:27] everything we could. Our house was the place that [01:26:29] everyone would come. I say house [01:26:31] it was a it was a duplex on my line [01:26:33] to so [01:26:34] anyway [01:26:35] moving with my grandmom. She dies. [01:26:39] She has a heart attack right in front [01:26:41] of us. I’m giving her CPR mouth to mouth [01:26:43] all of it [01:26:45] whole time. I’m in junior college [01:26:47] all Juco [01:26:48] and I end [01:26:51] up moving to California to pursue [01:26:53] comedy and go to college. I end up [01:26:55] having to go back because right when I went [01:26:57] to California or excuse [01:26:59] me, the Northridge quake hit in 1994 [01:27:01] went back to Maryland [01:27:03] was not going to give up on [01:27:05] college finished at Towson State [01:27:07] only a semester later than I [01:27:09] planned, especially with everything I [01:27:11] had gone through stuck it out [01:27:13] all the while dreaming of doing comedy [01:27:15] coming back, you [01:27:18] know, and I moved back here [01:27:20] to California [01:27:20] the late [01:27:24] 1900s and [01:27:25] you know, I’ve been [01:27:27] in this game 20 years now. So [01:27:29] you know, you just got [01:27:31] to stay in it. You got to grind. You got [01:27:33] to hustle. You got to believe. I tell my daughter [01:27:35] all the time. Just believe [01:27:37] you have got to believe it. [01:27:39] If you believe it, then you’ll go for [01:27:41] it. Then when you go for it, you got [01:27:43] to stay. You got to stay. You got [01:27:45] to hustle. We got their uppercuts and elbows [01:27:47] shit is definitely going to happen. [01:27:49] Life doesn’t give a fuck [01:27:51] what we all think about [01:27:53] or want to do. Look at this year. Look at 2020 [01:27:55] you think the world cares or [01:27:57] I’m excuse me. You think life cares [01:27:59] about what our world plans are [01:28:01] for the whole planet. Nope doesn’t give a [01:28:03] shit. So live your life, [01:28:04] you know, be good to yourself. I have to [01:28:07] remember that one too. I’m so easy to get down [01:28:09] on myself and rarely [01:28:10] do I go over in the mirror and look at myself [01:28:13] and say, hey man, good thing. So I’m going to say it to you [01:28:15] all. This is a great thing you’re doing. I’m [01:28:17] honored to be a part of this. Thank you [01:28:19] Tyler and make sure you [01:28:21] subscribe to the hundred new podcast [01:28:23] come laugh at the [01:28:24] pain with us over here and highlight the low [01:28:27] lights. [01:28:29] Hey, this is Ryan [01:28:31] Sickler from the honeydew podcast [01:28:33] and you know my [01:28:35] show I say highlighting the low lights [01:28:37] my show is all about [01:28:38] finding that lightness in the dark [01:28:41] and you know [01:28:42] all right guys, we’re