I had heard of Helping Hands through Tony and Cliona Ring who go out to meet, talk and feed those living on the streets. I had heard also that they were doing a charity boxing event and needed and MC between one thing and another I got a call from Mary Williams and she asked if I would do it. (Tony’s wife Deirdre had suggested me)
I was delighted. When it set in than I’d be doing this I did briefly get that crumpling feeling you get when stress hits. Even though I truly wanted to do this I still was very nervous. It was the fact that it was my first time doing it and that I wanted to make sure everyone had a good time and that things ran smoothly. It’s one thing with the few times I’ve done standup where it’s my own material so who cares if it doesn’t go over well. This was an event for someone else. I added more pressure to myself thinking of what an amazing cause this is. Every time I had a chance to think about it over the next couple of weeks the same nerves kicked in.
It was at its worst the day of the event when I was getting dressed. I started to use the nerves as a positive and tell myself how they’d be gone as soon as I got on stage like all the other times I’ve had to speak in public. I said yes to the nerves because whether it went well or badly I had done it…
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