Ben Freeberg:        Hello, everyone, welcome. This is Expert Open Radio, I am Ben Freeberg. We are the hosts of TEDxAsburyPark, and today, we are here with my co-host and speaker Cory Kahaney who-

Cory Kahaney:        Woo hoo.

Ben Freeberg:        Will appear at this year's TEDx conference, which will be on May 18th. Welcome, Cory.

Cory Kahaney:        Thank you so much, Ben, for having me.

Ben Freeberg:        Of course. We are excited for you to both be a speaker and also help bring a little bit of fun into the afternoon.

Cory Kahaney:        That is what I'm planning to do, copious amounts of fun is my plan.

Ben Freeberg:        That sounds great. To start off, do you mind telling the audience a little bit about yourself?

Cory Kahaney:        I am a veteran comedian, I think I can say that without any apology. I've been doing stand-up comedy for 26 years. I'm pretty pleased with my career because I hit every milestone that I had intended to. The highlights for me have been I did Stephen Colbert, I did Letterman, I did a special on Comedy Central, and many other things. But it has paid for me to live in New York City, to put one kid through college, and then a second kid through private school. So, I fit into a very small category of comedians. I'm sort of a middle class comic.

        You know, there's a lot of very famous comedians who make a butt load of money, and then there's people like me that, we're just very reliable, we get the job done, we make a good living. I couldn't have hoped for any more out of my career. So, I'm very pleased.

Ben Freeberg:        So, we're excited to have you also give a talk, which, from what I understand, is going to be a little bit of a mix between something that was pretty serious and a pretty big moment of your life, and also how you were able to use comedy to get through it. So, do you mind sharing a little bit about what this talk is going to be about and why you're excited to share the story?

Cory Kahaney:        Well, I'm excited to share the story, and, actually, I think it makes a lot of sense if you know anything about comedy because all comedy or the best comedy comes from tragedy. And there's a formula, tragedy plus time equals comedy. And I would have to say that I discovered my secret power was comedy at a very, very crucial moment in my life. I was sadly in a very unhappy marriage for a long time, and I'm a domestic violence survivor. Domestic violence has a pattern, the person who is being abused does everything they can to avoid abuse and the person who abuses is like a powder keg. This pattern goes on and on for years and years, and one day it got really bad and I would have to say the stakes were very, very high. My husband was so angry that he had a jagged piece of wood in his hand, and he was holding it over my face. And I'll go into the story a lot more on how it sort of built to that.

Ben Freeberg:        Right.

Cory Kahaney:        And it was a moment where I sort of saw the world very clearly. I was going to have a gash across my face for life if I let this continue. I had this moment where I saw how ludicrous and hilarious it was at the same time because it was going to ruin his life as much as it was going to ruin my life.  And I looked up at him and I said, "Okay, go ahead. Carve up my face, but good luck getting laid after that."

Ben Freeberg:        That's right.

Cory Kahaney:        It wasn't ... Yeah, exactly. I'm glad you're laughing. It wasn't a particularly funny joke, but very much ... it interrupted the mindset of what was happening. He kind of looked at me, I don't think that he laughed or chuckled, but he immediately dropped the jagged piece of wood that he had ripped out of the wall. It was, in many ways, a perfect joke because I tapped into his male sexuality and what was at stake.  And at the same time, I saved my face. And at the same time, I actually changed the paradigm and the dynamic in that moment.  And I realized that we all have that power. It's not that I'm a professional comedian, although, granted, this led me to be a professional comedian, but almost everyone that you talk to who has gone through trauma or really scary moments or chaotic moments has been able to see something ironic, something that is ridiculous. And if you can go there with your mind, you can survive it. That is really the core of my talk, that if we look for comedy, if we're aware of it and we zero in on it, we are no longer trapped.

Ben Freeberg:        It's an incredible story. So, what do you attribute it to, was it more just taking both of you out of the moment and realizing that there's just ... this isn't just what's going to happen between the two of us here, and you get your anger out or whatever it is, it's this is going to affect both of you for the rest of your life and you hit him where it hurts? Or was it just finding ... trying to find humor in the situation or a little bit of a mix?

Cory Kahaney:        Probably a little bit of a mix. I think I also had very little choice, if you know what I'm saying. I could have just begged and pleaded and cried, but we were at a point where he was going to really cut my face badly, and the only thing I could do was sort of just become in the moment. In that moment, I was able to see that if it was going to happen, it was going to happen, meaning if he was going to go through with it.  I could at least ... The only thing I had at my disposal was words and thought, and they happened to be funny at that time because it was ridiculous. I attribute that to just always being a person who looked for the funny, probably.

Ben Freeberg:        That was how I used a similar idea to help me fight cancer, where if you-

Cory Kahaney:        Right.

Ben Freeberg:        Find the funny in being told that me as a young, healthy 25 year old had to eat like a pregnant woman, I mean, if you can't find humor in that, then the whole thing's going to be pretty tough.

Cory Kahaney:        Yes, and I remember when you were telling me the story because there were aspects to the story that were funny. I was in Israel on birthright-somebody had to buy me a first class ticket. Now, as a Jewish person, I realize that that would be part of the discussion, and it was just very ... but you know, it made-

Ben Freeberg:        That's right.

Cory Kahaney:        Me relax into the story and really be able to hear your journey without being so afraid for you.  I was able to take in the information and ride the story with you because you showed me the parts of the story that were actually ironic and silly and absurd. That is, I think, what I strive for in my life and what has allowed me to do all kinds of scary things.  You see, at the core of my story, that joke allowed me to leave that marriage. If I could save myself from that, there really wasn't anything I wasn't going to try or face. In a sense, it broke the pattern that we had been on for a long time. I'm not going to say he never lost his temper again, but I also knew that I could hang up the phone all of a sudden, like when he was being abusive in a phone call. I didn't know I could do that. It was like, wait a second-he's being ridiculous, I'm hanging up the phone. And yes, he would call back, but each time he would call back, it might be a little bit less abusive.

Ben Freeberg:        And I'm so glad you did. So, if there are people listening that may unfortunately be in similar situations, either in your exact situation or something similar they're struggling with, what advice do you have for them ... how do you find the humor in it in the moment or how do you create that escape? What do you think some things they could do to start off?

Cory Kahaney:        I think it's become aware of your situation, look for it, look around. I'm not telling anyone else who is right now in a violent relationship to use a joke to try and save themselves because it has to come from a place where you feel like you can do it or you really have nothing else to lose. But if you're in a difficult situation, start joking about it with your friends.

Cory Kahaney:        I'll give an example. I had a friend that was going through a terrible custody battle, and I was sitting there with her and these vicious and venomous texts were going back and forth. He finally, the husband, wrote, "What are you going to do when this is settled, Marie?" And I grabbed her phone, and I wrote, and I typed in, "Kickboxing."  There was silence for about three minutes, and he texted back, "I will have half the money for you on Friday."It was like, it was what we're looking for from the president right now, just come a little bit-come a little bit over the line towards our side. This is, of course, if you're listening, we are in the middle of a shutdown and trying to negotiate some kind of an impasse.

        I interrupted the fight with humor. It's also how I cope with any difficulties I have in my marriage today. I mean, if my husband and I are really fighting, if one of us can get to something funny, we look at each other, we smile, we laugh, and we know we're going to be okay, and it's ... I'm not saying that the issue is resolved, but as long as you can find some sort of a mutual humor there, there's humanity. If there's humanity, I still love him, he still loves me.

Ben Freeberg:        That's pretty powerful. So, have you shared this with other people who fight domestic abuse?

Cory Kahaney:        You know, I didn't feel comfortable until now to talk about it. I used to do fundraisers for women shelters and for organizations that helped women that were in dire circumstances. I would often privately on the side share with one of them or one of the leaders that this was something I went through and I had a tremendous affinity for them. But this is the first time that I felt like I could start talking about it. How that happened is my daughter who was part of that marriage is now a grownup and has moved ... she's moved on, she's actually married and has a life, and I don't feel like there's anything to lose now, and I also feel very calm and able to discuss it.

        I will say this, that for anyone who is doing comedy, there is a certain amount of time you have to wait before you can do material about painful circumstances because what happens is, is as long as you're still affected by the issue, be it angry or sad or feeling betrayed, whatever, it comes out in the comedy. So, you need a certain amount of time to heal before you can actually start joking about it on stage. I think that the same holds true for a talk, and I needed the time to heal, to now I can talk about it with a certain amount of humor, irony, what have you.

Ben Freeberg:        And we really appreciate that, that you are because I really do feel that this is going to be quite helpful and impactful for a number of folks in different situations.

Ben Freeberg:        Changing gears, if you have any advice for folks who want to get started or continue their career in comedy or becoming a TED speaker. I mean, you've had quite a bit of experience from cruises to clubs all over the country. Where should people get started or how should they do it?

Cory Kahaney:        Well, everybody gets started in their own way. There's a lot of people who get told on Thanksgiving, "Oh my God, you're so funny, you should be a comedian." And that is not a good enough reason to be a comedian. It is one of the hardest and most gut wrenching fields you can go into. Oftentimes, particularly female comics, young, will come up to me, and they'll tell me something that was horrible that happened, unfair, and I always say to them, "Well, just take it to human resources and they'll handle it." And they look at me, and I'm like, "Yeah there's no rhyme or reason."  Oftentimes, it never makes sense why this one gets ahead and that one doesn't. It's a calling, and I know that sounds so corny, but you do stand-up because you are drawn to do stand-up and you feel that's the best way to express yourself. You get the most gratification out of doing stand-up. If you have other things that fulfill you, I highly recommend going in that direction. But if you feel the calling and stand-up is the only thing that really floats your boat, then you just have to do it.

        There's many ways you can start. I mean, you can take a class, you can go to an open mic, and I would suggest doing both of those things and do it as young as you possibly can. It's not something I recommend starting at too late in age because we all agree, it's 10 years before you really can call yourself a comedian, I think.  And I encourage people that feel the calling to carpe diem, start now.

Cory Kahaney:        I am teaching Kahaney:        A class for people that have been going at it for a little ...sort of how to work on your first TV set. There's always mentors out there that you can find that will take you to the next level, if you are looking.

Ben Freeberg:        So, that leads me into the last question we have for you is if people listening what to further develop their relationship with you or the idea of this talk in general, what do you recommend they do?

Cory Kahaney:        Well, you can reach me on Twitter at CoryCajones, that is, if you knew my act, would make more sense. But you can also just 'Cory Kahaney' will take you right to me at Twitter. There's not a lot of Cory Kahaney’s. And I have a website, and it's corykahaney.com, and there's a button there that says 'contact Cory'. I am very visible on the New York City club scene, particularly Gotham Comedy Club and the Comic Strip and the West Side Comedy Club. Those are the places that you can always find me.

Ben Freeberg:        Great to hear.

Ben Freeberg:        Well, Cory, thank you so much for the time. And to our listeners-

Cory Kahaney:        Thank you.

Ben Freeberg:        you've been listening to Expert Open Radio. So, this is a reminder to get your tickets for our ... what we now officially are the largest and highest rated TEDx conference on the East Coast, TEDxAsburyPark on May 18th, 2019 where you will get to hear Cory talk for a decent amount on both this incredible topic we just shared and also help introduce some of our other very qualified speakers.

Ben Freeberg:        So, Cory, thank you again, and we will see you soon.

Cory Kahaney:        Yeah, come, we'll have a lot of laughs.