ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Joshua Walters - Comedian, activist
Joshua Walters is a bipolar comedian whose work explores language, creativity, beatboxing and madness ...

Why you should listen

Joshua Walters is a comedian, poet, educator and performer. He incorporates elements of spoken word and beatbox into his shows in a mash-up of comedy, intimate reflection and unpredictable antics. In the last two years, Walters has performed at theaters and universities throughout North America, Europe and the Middle East.

His eclectic combination of performance disciplines and activity as an educator in mental health has given Walters a national platform and audience. In 2002, Walters co-founded the DBSA (Depression Bipolar Support Alliance) Young Adults Chapter in San Francisco, one of the few support groups specifically for mentally ill young adults in the country. As a facilitator, Walters developed humor to address the subject of mental illness, reframing it as a positive. Walters speaks as a mental health educator and has engaged in mental health advocacy at conventions and in classrooms nationwide.

More profile about the speaker
Joshua Walters | Speaker | TED.com
Full Spectrum Auditions

Joshua Walters: On being just crazy enough

Joshua Walters: ésser suficientment boig

Filmed:
1,851,774 views

A les TED's Full Spectrum Auditions, el comediant Joshua Walters, que és bipolar, concilia la malatia mental i l'habilitat mental. En aquesta divertida xerrada que invita a la reflexió, pregunta: Quin és l'equilibri adequat entre medicar la bogeria i experimentar la part maníaca de la creativitat i l'energia?
- Comedian, activist
Joshua Walters is a bipolar comedian whose work explores language, creativity, beatboxing and madness ... Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:15
My namenom is JoshuaJosuè WaltersWalters.
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El meu nom és Joshua Walters
00:18
I'm a performerIntèrpret.
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Sóc artista.
00:21
(BeatboxingBeatboxing)
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(Fa beatbox)
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(LaughterRiure)
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(Rialles)
00:33
(ApplauseAplaudiments)
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(Aplaudiments)
00:37
But as farlluny as beingser a performerIntèrpret,
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Però, a més de ser artista,
00:40
I'm alsotambé diagnoseddiagnosticat
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també em van diagnosticar
00:43
bipolarbipolar.
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un trastorn bipolar.
00:50
I reframeReframe that as a positivepositiu
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Jo ho considero positiu,
00:52
because the craziermés boig I get onstagel'escenari,
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perquè com més boig
em torno a l'escenari,
00:54
the more entertainingentretingut I becomeconvertir-se en.
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més divertit esdevinc.
00:57
When I was 16 in SanSan FranciscoFrancisco,
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Quan tenia 16 anys,
a San Francisco,
00:59
I had my breakthroughavenç manicmaníac episodeepisodi
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vaig patir un episodi maníac
01:01
in whichquin I thought I was JesusJesús ChristCrist.
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en què pensava que era Jesucrist.
01:05
Maybe you thought that was scaryasustadizo,
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Potser penseu que allò feia por,
01:09
but actuallyen realitat there's no amountquantitat of drugsdrogues you can take
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però, de fet, no hi ha
cap droga en el món
01:12
that can get you as highalt
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que et pugui col·locar tant
01:14
as if you think you're JesusJesús ChristCrist.
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com per a que creguis
que ets Jesucrist.
01:16
(LaughterRiure)
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(Rialles)
01:20
I was sentenviat to a placelloc,
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Em van enviar a un lloc,
01:23
a psychPsych wardsala,
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un hospital psiquiàtric
01:25
and in the psychPsych wardsala,
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i al psiquiàtric
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everyonetothom is doing theirels seus ownpropi one-manunipersonal showespectacle.
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tothom protagonitza
el seu espectacle particular.
01:31
(LaughterRiure)
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(Rialles)
01:36
There's no audienceaudiència like this
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No hi ha un públic com vosaltres
01:38
to justifyjustificar theirels seus rehearsalassaig time.
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que justifiqui el temps d'assaig.
01:41
They're just practicingpracticant.
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Practiquen, i prou.
01:43
One day they'llho faran get here.
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Algun dia arribaran ací.
01:47
Now when I got out,
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Bé, quan vaig eixir
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I was diagnoseddiagnosticat
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un psiquiatra
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and I was givendonat medicationsmedicaments
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em va diagnosticar
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by a psychiatristpsiquiatra.
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i em va medicar.
01:55
"Okay, JoshJosh, why don't we give you some --
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"Molt bé, Josh,
què et pareix si et donem...
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why don't we give you some ZyprexaZyprexa.
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Què et pareix si et donem Zyprexa?
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Okay? MmhmmMmhmm?
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Bé? Sí?
02:05
At leastmenys that's what it saysdiu on my penbolígraf."
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Almenys, això posa en el meu bolígraf"
02:07
(LaughterRiure)
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(Rialles)
02:12
Some of you are in the fieldcamp, I can see.
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Alguns de vosaltres sou del gremi,
ja ho veig.
02:15
I can feel your noisesoroll.
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Us puc sentir des d'aquí.
02:19
The first halfla meitat of highalt schoolescola
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La primera meitat de l'institut
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was the strugglelluita of the manicmaníac episodeepisodi,
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la vaig passar lluitant
contra els episodes maníacs,
02:25
and the secondsegon halfla meitat
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i la segona meitat,
02:27
was the overmedicationsovermedications of these drugsdrogues,
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contra la medicació excessiva
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where I was sleepingdorment througha través highalt schoolescola.
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que va fer que em passés
tot l'institut dormint.
02:32
The secondsegon halfla meitat was just one biggran napmigdiada, prettybonic much, in classclasse.
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La segona meitat va ser, pràcticament,
una llarga migdiada a classe.
02:37
When I got out
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Quan vaig acabar
02:39
I had a choiceelecció.
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havia de decidir.
02:41
I could eithertampoc denynegar
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O bé negava
02:44
my mentalmentals illnessmalaltia
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la meua malatia mental
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or embraceabraçada
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o acceptava
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my mentalmentals skillnessskillness.
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la meua habilitat mental.
02:52
(BugleBúgula soundso)
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(So d'una corneta)
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There's a movementmoviment going on right now
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Actualment existeix un moviment
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to reframeReframe mentalmentals illnessmalaltia as a positivepositiu --
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per replantejar les malalties mentals
com una cosa positiva,
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at leastmenys the hypomanichypomanic edgevora partpart of it.
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almenys la part hipomaníaca.
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Now if you don't know what hypomaniahypomania is,
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Bé, si no sabeu què és la hipomania,
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it's like an enginemotor that's out of controlcontrol,
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és com un motor fora de control,
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maybe a FerrariFerrari enginemotor, with no breakstrencaments.
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potser un motor Ferrari, sense frens.
03:12
ManyMolts of the speakersaltaveus here, manymolts of you in the audienceaudiència,
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Molts dels que parlaran ací,
molts de vosaltres, al públic,
03:15
have that creativecreatiu edgevora,
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teniu aquest talent creatiu,
03:17
if you know what I'm talkingparlar about.
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si sabeu de què parlo.
03:19
You're drivenimpulsat to do something
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Sentiu la necessitat de fer una cosa
03:21
that everyonetothom has told you is impossibleimpossible.
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que tothom us diu que és impossible.
03:23
And there's a bookllibre -- JohnJohn GartnerGartner.
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I hi ha un llibre: John Gartner.
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JohnJohn GartnerGartner wroteva escriure this bookllibre calledanomenat "The HypomanicHypomanic EdgeVora"
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John Gartner va escriure un llibre anomenat "The Hypomanic Edge"
03:28
in whichquin ChristopherChristopher ColumbusColom and TedTed TurnerTurner and SteveSteve JobsLlocs de treball
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en què Cristòfor Colom i Ted Turner i Steve Jobs
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and all these businessnegocis mindsments
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i tots els genis dels negocis
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have this edgevora to competecompetir.
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tenen aquest talent per a competir.
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A differentdiferent bookllibre was writtenescrit not too long agofa
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Es va escriure un llibre diferent no fa molt,
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in the mid-mid-90s
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a meitat dels anys 90,
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calledanomenat "TouchedTocat With FireFoc" by KayKay RedfieldRedfield JamisonJamison
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anomentat "Touched by Fire" de Kay Redfield Jamison
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in whichquin it was lookedmirava at in a creativecreatiu sensesentit
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en què açò es tractava en un sentit creatiu
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in whichquin MozartMozart and BeethovenBeethoven and VanVan GoghGogh
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en què Mozart, Beethoven i Van Gogh,
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all have this manicmaníac depressiondepressió that they were sufferingpatiment with.
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tots tres patien aquesta despressió maníaca.
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Some of them committedcompromès suicidesuïcidi.
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Alguns es van suicidar.
03:53
So it wasn'tno ho era all
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Així que no tot era
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the good sidecostat of the illnessmalaltia.
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la part positiva de la malaltia.
03:58
Now recentlyrecentment,
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Recentment
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there's been developmentdesenvolupament in this fieldcamp.
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hi ha hagut avanços en aquest camp.
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And there was an articlearticle writtenescrit in the NewNou YorkYork TimesVegades,
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I es va publicar un article al New York Times,
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SeptemberSetembre 2010,
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en setembre de 2010,
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that statedva declarar:
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que afirmava:
04:12
"Just ManicManíac EnoughProu."
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"Suficientment boig"
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Just be manicmaníac enoughsuficient
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Sigues suficientment boig
04:16
in whichquin investorsinversors who are looking for entrepreneursempresaris
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perquè els inversos que busque emprenedors
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that have this kindamable of spectrumespectre --
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que es troben en eixe tipus d'espectre
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you know what I'm talkingparlar about --
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—sabeu què vull dir—
04:24
not maybe fullple bipolarbipolar,
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potser no totalment bipolars,
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but they're in the bipolarbipolar spectrumespectre --
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però es mouen en l'espectre de la bipolaritat,
04:31
where on one sidecostat,
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on, d'una banda,
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maybe you think you're JesusJesús,
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potser penses que ets Jesús;
04:37
and on the other sidecostat
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i d'altra banda,
04:40
maybe they just make you a lot of moneydiners.
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potser et facen guanyar molts diners.
04:42
(LaughterRiure)
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(Rialles)
04:45
Your call. Your call.
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Tu decideixes. Tu decideixes.
04:48
And everyone'stothom somewhereen algun lloc in the middlemig.
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I tothom està en algún punt intermedi.
04:50
Everyone'sDe tots somewhereen algun lloc in the middlemig.
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Tothom està en algún punt intermedi.
04:53
So maybe, you know,
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Així que, sabeu? Potser
04:56
there's no suchtal thing
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no existeix
04:58
as crazyboig,
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allò d'estar boig
05:00
and beingser diagnoseddiagnosticat with a mentalmentals illnessmalaltia
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i que et diagnostiquen una malatia mental
05:03
doesn't mean you're crazyboig.
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no vol dir que estigues boig.
05:05
But maybe it just meanssignifica
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Potser vol dir
05:07
you're more sensitivesensible
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que ets més sensible
05:09
to what mostla majoria people can't see
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a allò que la majoria de gent no pot veure
05:11
or feel.
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o sentir.
05:13
Maybe no one'sun really crazyboig.
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Potser ningú està boig en realitat.
05:17
EveryoneTothom is just a little bitpoc madboig.
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Tothom està un poc guillat.
05:26
How much
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Com de guillat
05:29
dependsdepèn on where you fallcaure in the spectrumespectre.
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depén d'on hages caigut en l'espectre.
05:33
How much
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Com de guillat
05:35
dependsdepèn on how luckyafortunat you are.
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depén de la teua sort.
05:39
Thank you.
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Gràcies
05:41
(ApplauseAplaudiments)
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(Aplaudiments)
Translated by Guillermo Parra
Reviewed by Fran Ontanaya

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Joshua Walters - Comedian, activist
Joshua Walters is a bipolar comedian whose work explores language, creativity, beatboxing and madness ...

Why you should listen

Joshua Walters is a comedian, poet, educator and performer. He incorporates elements of spoken word and beatbox into his shows in a mash-up of comedy, intimate reflection and unpredictable antics. In the last two years, Walters has performed at theaters and universities throughout North America, Europe and the Middle East.

His eclectic combination of performance disciplines and activity as an educator in mental health has given Walters a national platform and audience. In 2002, Walters co-founded the DBSA (Depression Bipolar Support Alliance) Young Adults Chapter in San Francisco, one of the few support groups specifically for mentally ill young adults in the country. As a facilitator, Walters developed humor to address the subject of mental illness, reframing it as a positive. Walters speaks as a mental health educator and has engaged in mental health advocacy at conventions and in classrooms nationwide.

More profile about the speaker
Joshua Walters | Speaker | TED.com