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 Walter: Sobre ser louco o suficiente

Filmed:
1,851,774 views

No Full Spectrum Auditions do TED, o comediante Joshua Walters, que é bipolar, define a linha entre a doença mental e a "habilidade" mental. Nesta apresentação divertida que nos faz refletir, ele pergunta: Qual é o equilíbrio exato entre medicar a loucura e estar no extremo maníaco da criatividade e impulso?
- 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.

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My name is Joshua Walters.
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Meu nome é Joshua Walters.
00:18
I'm a performer.
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Sou um artista.
00:21
(Beatboxing)
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(Batendo na caixa)
00:30
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
00:33
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
00:37
But as far as being a performer,
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Mas além de ser um artista,
00:40
I'm also diagnosed
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eu também fui diagnosticado
00:43
bipolar.
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como bipolar.
00:50
I reframe that as a positive
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Eu tomo isso como positivo,
00:52
because the crazier I get onstage,
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pois quanto mais louco sou no palco,
00:54
the more entertaining I become.
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mais interessante eu fico.
00:57
When I was 16 in San Francisco,
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Quando eu tinha 16 anos em São Francisco,
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I had my breakthrough manic episode
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tive meu episódio maníaco revelador
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in which I thought I was Jesus Christ.
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em que pensava que era Jesus Cristo.
01:05
Maybe you thought that was scary,
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Talvez vocês achem que isso seja assustador,
01:09
but actually there's no amount of drugs you can take
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mas na verdade não há drogas o suficiente
01:12
that can get you as high
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que façam você viajar tanto
01:14
as if you think you're Jesus Christ.
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quanto pensar que você é Jesus Cristo.
01:16
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
01:20
I was sent to a place,
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Fui mandado para um lugar,
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a psych ward,
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uma ala psiquiátrica,
01:25
and in the psych ward,
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e na ala psiquiátrica,
01:27
everyone is doing their own one-man show.
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cada um faz o seu show particular.
01:31
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
01:36
There's no audience like this
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Não há plateia como essa
01:38
to justify their rehearsal time.
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para justificar o seu tempo de ensaio.
01:41
They're just practicing.
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Eles apenas praticam.
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One day they'll get here.
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Um dia eles chegam aqui.
01:47
Now when I got out,
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Agora, quando eu saí,
01:49
I was diagnosed
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eu fui diagnosticado
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and I was given medications
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e eu fui medicado
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by a psychiatrist.
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por um psiquiatra.
01:55
"Okay, Josh, why don't we give you some --
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"OK, Josh, por que não lhe damos --
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why don't we give you some Zyprexa.
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por que não lhe damos Zyprexa?
02:00
Okay? Mmhmm?
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OK? Hein?
02:05
At least that's what it says on my pen."
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Pelo menos é o que diz na minha caneta."
02:07
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
02:12
Some of you are in the field, I can see.
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Pelo visto alguns de vocês são do ramo.
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I can feel your noise.
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Eu consigo sentir seu barulho.
02:19
The first half of high school
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A primeira metade do colegial
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was the struggle of the manic episode,
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foi a luta com o primeiro episódio maníaco,
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and the second half
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e a segunda metade
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was the overmedications of these drugs,
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foi o excesso de medicação com essas drogas,
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where I was sleeping through high school.
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quando eu dormia durante o colegial.
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The second half was just one big nap, pretty much, in class.
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A segunda metade foi uma grande soneca em aula.
02:37
When I got out
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Quando eu acabei
02:39
I had a choice.
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eu tinha uma escolha.
02:41
I could either deny
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Eu poderia negar
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my mental illness
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minha doença mental
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or embrace
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ou abraçar
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my mental skillness.
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minha habilidade mental.
02:52
(Bugle sound)
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(Corneta)
02:56
There's a movement going on right now
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Há um movimento acontecendo agora
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to reframe mental illness as a positive --
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para reclassificar a doença mental como positiva --
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at least the hypomanic edge part of it.
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pelo menos a parte hipomaníaca dela.
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Now if you don't know what hypomania is,
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Mas se vocês não sabem o que é hipomania,
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it's like an engine that's out of control,
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é como um motor fora de controle,
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maybe a Ferrari engine, with no breaks.
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talvez um motor de Ferrari, sem freios.
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Many of the speakers here, many of you in the audience,
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Muitos dos que falaram aqui, muitos de vocês na plateia,
03:15
have that creative edge,
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têm esse lado criativo,
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if you know what I'm talking about.
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se vocês sabem do que estou falando.
03:19
You're driven to do something
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Vocês são impulsionados a fazer algo
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that everyone has told you is impossible.
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que todo mundo diz que é impossível.
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And there's a book -- John Gartner.
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E há um livro -- John Gartner.
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John Gartner wrote this book called "The Hypomanic Edge"
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John Gartner escreveu o livro "The Hypomanic Edge"
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in which Christopher Columbus and Ted Turner and Steve Jobs
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no qual Cristóvão Colombo, Ted Turner e Steve Jobs
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and all these business minds
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e todas as mentes de negócios
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have this edge to compete.
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têm essa sede de competir.
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A different book was written not too long ago
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Um livro diferente foi escrito não faz muito tempo
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in the mid-90s
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na metade dos anos 90
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called "Touched With Fire" by Kay Redfield Jamison
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chamado "Touched With Fire" de Kay Redfield Jamison
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in which it was looked at in a creative sense
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no qual isso foi visto de uma maneira criativa
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in which Mozart and Beethoven and Van Gogh
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onde Mozart, Beethoven e Van Gogh
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all have this manic depression that they were suffering with.
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-- todos sofreram com essa depressão maníaca.
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Some of them committed suicide.
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Alguns deles cometeram suicídio.
03:53
So it wasn't all
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Então não é só
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the good side of the illness.
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o lado bom da doença.
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Now recently,
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Recentemente,
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there's been development in this field.
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houve avanço nesse campo.
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And there was an article written in the New York Times,
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E há um artigo no New York Times,
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September 2010,
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de setembro de 2010,
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that stated:
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que dizia:
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"Just Manic Enough."
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"Só Maníaco o Bastante."
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Just be manic enough
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Ser maníaco o bastante
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in which investors who are looking for entrepreneurs
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para atrair investidores que procuram empresários
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that have this kind of spectrum --
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que têm esse tipo de espectro --
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you know what I'm talking about --
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vocês sabem do que estou falando --
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not maybe full bipolar,
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pode não ser totalmente bipolar,
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but they're in the bipolar spectrum --
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mas eles estão no espectro bipolar --
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where on one side,
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onde por um lado,
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maybe you think you're Jesus,
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talvez eles pensem que são Jesus,
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and on the other side
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e por outro lado
04:40
maybe they just make you a lot of money.
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talvez eles ganhem um monte de dinheiro para você.
04:42
(Laughter)
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(Risos)
04:45
Your call. Your call.
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Você decide. Você decide.
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And everyone's somewhere in the middle.
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E todo mundo está em algum lugar no meio.
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Everyone's somewhere in the middle.
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Todo mundo está em algum lugar no meio.
04:53
So maybe, you know,
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Então talvez, vocês sabem,
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there's no such thing
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não exista mesmo
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as crazy,
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a loucura,
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and being diagnosed with a mental illness
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e ser diagnosticado com uma doença mental
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doesn't mean you're crazy.
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não significa que você seja louco.
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But maybe it just means
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Mas talvez isso signifique
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you're more sensitive
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que você é mais sensível
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to what most people can't see
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ao que a maioria das pessoas não podem
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or feel.
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ver ou sentir.
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Maybe no one's really crazy.
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Talvez ninguém seja realmente louco.
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Everyone is just a little bit mad.
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Todo mundo é apenas um pouco maluco.
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How much
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O quanto
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depends on where you fall in the spectrum.
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depende onde você está no espectro.
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How much
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O quanto
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depends on how lucky you are.
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depende de como você tem sorte.
05:39
Thank you.
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Obrigado.
05:41
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)

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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