joel salom | comedian + juggler

failure is important

Children are brutally honest. I remember doing a kid's party years ago as a favour for my mum. I turned up and it was a 3 year old’s party. I didn't have kids at the time. I didn't know what a 3 year old was. But I was a big personality, I had image + presence. I had a red suit + bright red hair. It was supposed to be in a park, distilled by a big space but then it rained and so it ended up being in their apartment. There were eight, 3 year old’s sitting on all the parents' laps in a circle waiting for the ‘funny man’ to come in. I slowly poked my head around the corner, thinking I’d just ease myself in. Often, my big red hair would be enough to get a laugh. As I slowly turned my head around the corner, I made a few gentle funny faces. One kid started to cry, then another. Soon enough, 90% of them were crying and I thought “wow, you're really not very good at this”.

Failure is important. You follow an idea path that’s not logical or linear and just watch things unfold rather than get stuck to a course. There's always a fear of failure and you become more and more comfortable with that.

words by joel salom

@chukachuks | https://www.chukachuks.com/

edited + curated by cassie douglas