From Emma – Stress-B-Gone

In show business, we’re no strangers to stress.

Producing theatre of any kind is stressful. Producing original theatre is extra stressful because there are no familiar tunes or characters for audiences to latch onto before deciding to come, no famous one-liners from the script that they can quote to themselves ahead of time. On top of that, with education programs to teach, other productions to prepare, next season to plan for, and a crazy snowy winter whose effects we’re still feeling… yeah. We know that stress fella.

I have a note on my computer entitled “Make-it-better funnies and smiles.” It’s a collection of links to various YouTube videos, many of them musical, some of them beautiful, some of them ridiculous, all of them instant pick-me-ups.

Here are some. From the G-rated portion of the list. (the not-safe-for-work portion of the list is substantially longer…)

We start out with the Barenaked Ladies song “Odds Are,” as produced by the fabulous folks at RoosterTeeth. Jubilant and ridiculous – may require two viewings to catch all of the news ticker jokes at the bottom of the screen.

Off to a good start, we mosey on over to the Piano Guys. Pretty much all of their work is stellar – they love making music, and they love making it fun to watch. Check out more of their videos for piano-covered-in-ice, skydiving with a cello, Darth Vader on accordion, and more.

No list would be complete without funny cat videos. So, here is a funny cat video.

Here’s a duet that’s out of this world (pause for groans). Recorded while astronaut Chris Hadfield was doing that International Space Station thing, this is a great tribute to human ingenuity, wonder, scientific endeavor, and dear lord, we are so totally living in the future.

And pretty much anything by OK Go is smile-inducing (other music videos include awesome choreography with treadmills, a percussion-instrument-Chevy Sonic, and some very well-trained dogs), but this one in particular is my go-to in times of stress. No fancy camera tricks or effects, just a lot of careful thought, set up, good timing, and a little bit of luck. Beautiful.