Finding Joy in Speech and Song
Life, laughter and lyrics
Developing my Humorous Speech
Hi there,
I’m enjoying tweaking, memorizing and rehearsing my Toastmasters humorous speech, in advance of the club contest next week.
The Joy and Uncertainty of Writing Humor
Writing humor is always a risk. Will people laugh? Will I remember my lines?
Will I deliver them well? Will the speech be within the allotted time? You’re eliminated if you speak for less than five minutes or for even one second more than seven and a half minutes.
I love when the audience laughs! Writing and delivering a speech that causes laughter is such a buzz! Once you’ve had that thrill, you want to do it again.
Paddy: Man’s Best Friend (The Dog, not the Whiskey)
Our dog, Paddy, is beside me in the office as I type. He had an X-ray on Friday as he has had a bit of a limp. We wanted to check nothing was broken. He’s grand. It’s a soft tissue injury, probably from charging around the garden like a mad thing. We need to rest him for ten days. Rest a collie! The most energetic, engaging, playful dog!
Halloween with the Hound
The Hound did not like Halloween last night. Fireworks were going off outside and he was pacing and unsettled. We brought him up to our bedroom, where he slept on the floor beside me, my hand petting him to reassure him that all was well. Then another bang outside and he’d go around to Ruth’s side of the bed; alternating between us.
Our Christmas Song: It’s a Wonderful Life (A Christmas Tale)
We now have the final mix of our Christmas song, It’s a Wonderful Life (A Christmas Tale)! [#ItsAWonderfulLifeAChristmasTale]. Working with Zac Ware, Andrea Patron, Corinne Schmidiger, and our brilliant singer and songwriting collaborator The Rayne, is a joy. The song has Zac Ware on guitar and Clive Jenner on drums, both from The Proclaimers (#TheProclaimers). Andrea Patron works his magic with the trumpet and The Rayne sings our song with feeling, clarity and passion. Corinne Schmidiger hits all the right notes with her backing vocals, and I have a barely audible short speaking role which we hope will please aficionados of the movie. We hope you have fun finding it!
Spotify Debut: My New Artist Journey
In the last week too, I have become an artist on Spotify! I’m wearing my ‘L-plates’ here, but I’m delighted to have my own tiny nook on the vast music and vocal platform. Please click on it and follow me! Here’s the link.
Or search for Joe Armstrong (you’ll find several) and choose the picture with the leaves. My first upload is my poem ‘We Are Leaves’ accompanied by Paul Hulm on guitar.
I’ll also be able to add a playlist of songs I have written that have been released, ‘Every Moment’, ‘So Glad I Married You’ and, soon, ‘It’s a Wonderful Life (A Christmas Tale)’. My ‘Joe the Human Podcast’ is already on Spotify, as is my ‘Losing My Religion Podcast’. I’m not sure whether to group them all under my own name, Joe Armstrong, on Spotify. I’d welcome any advice on whether to do that.
A Joyful Cycling Break
I enjoyed a 27km cycle with my cycling buddy Dermot yesterday morning. I wore my Polar heart monitor. It was a gentle ride, but I hadn’t been out for a while and I didn’t want to get the ticker beating too fast. My highest speed was 40km an hour but my average was a conversational 17km per hour. My average heartbeat was 101bpm and my highest was 124bpm, all well within the safe range for me.
Life is short. Enjoy every moment!
Happy days,
Joe
#ItsAWonderfulLifeAChristmasTale
Listen to our love song/wedding song/wedding anniversary song So Glad I Married You on Spotify or YouTube, sung by The Rayne.
Listen to our marriage proposal song/ wedding engagement song /love song Every Moment, sung by The Rayne.
Joe’s acclaimed first memoir In My Gut, I Don’t Believe is available on Amazon in Kindle, Paperback, Hardback and Audible editions. His second memoir Saved by a Woman is available on Amazon in Kindle, Paperback, and Hardback editions.
