Live Talk with Tourettes Hero

[Robot DeNiro]

A friend of mine has Tourettes, and she's starting to do various different art projects related to her condition.  I think her main aim is to get people to see that Tourettes, while obviously a very difficult affliction to live with, can also be a great springboard for creativity. 

Her verbal tics sometimes have reoccurring themes - for a while it was God, and she put together these pictures, photoshopping her outbursts into photos of real church advertising:







Her latest thing has been to do a mock radio interview, which you can listen to here:

http://soundcloud.com/touretteshero/live-talk-with-touretteshero

I thought I'd share it here, as there is more than a hint  of Cook and Morris's 'Why Bother' about it, although as far as I know neither of those involved have ever heard Why Bother.  I suppose those similarities are inevitable though, as the basic setup is the same, in that you have a voice of authority reacting to an interviewee spouting spontaneous nonsense.

I think it makes for an interesting and entertaining listen, it would be great to find out what other people think.

[Neil]

I'm too exhausted to properly appreciate comedy, or to laugh, currently, but I still really enjoyed that.  Relistening already, and will do so again when rested.  I love the odd tangents, that seem mostly inspired by the Tourettes - yet not all of them are.  At times, it sounds like the Tourettes adds little tags on, that she then has to react to.  Very interesting audio, thank you.

I love her voice, and will definitely be chopping that up as drops for my radio shows, particularly the "byebye."  Fascinating, creative lady. 

[imitationleather]

That was really great.

[Robot DeNiro]

Thanks for the feedback Neil and IL, sorry I've neglected this thread rather.

Tourettes is fascinating really, and I hope this sort of thing will help dispel the myth that it's all about swearing.  It affects each person differently, but certainly with my friend's tics, the swearing is the least interesting part.  She has certain themes that she returns to, like fish, and crisps, and if she talks about those things it can trigger off more tics.  Plus they evolve through time.  For a while she was mentioning bipolar bears, which I guess is a kind of steam of consciousness pun.  That changed to "Bye bye Polar Bear" and now in the Live Talk interview it's changed again to "Bye Baby Bear."

For a while all her tics came in the rhythm of the song "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands".  I can't remember all of them, but two of my favourites were "Derren Brown is in the room, shut your mind" and "Eamon Holmes is in your mum, pull him out"

[Neil]

Thanks for that info, it answers some questions I had.  Yes, it's fascinating, and I'm really very interested in how the brain works.  I had guessed there were certain themes that would occur (can spot a few in that interview), and am also wanting to know more about how it works.  Such as where the ideas come from - in other words, is the tourettes like a seperate other, almost, that provides things TourettesHero wouldn't normally think of?  Ach, it's hard to get my head around it all, because the ideas are so intangible and wooly.  I mean, where do ideas usually come from, anyway?  There's a lot I'm curious about, and want to understand, so I'll keep thinking of a better way to express my curiosity.

I'm also interested to know of any links between OCD and Tourettes, as it seems similar to that condition, in terms of having compulsions, recurring themes/ideas etc.

[eluc55]

"Eamon Holmes is in your mum, pull him out"

This has done nothing to dispel the idea that tourettes is funny.

Seriously, though, the art's a brilliant idea, and I really want to hear this podcast, as it sounds fascinating. I love it when art and technology allow for things that the mainstream media struggle to engage with; will certainly check it out later this weekend.   

[Touretteshero]

Thanks for your responses I've had great feedback from people with and without Tourettes. I'm definitely not trying to dispel the idea that Tourettes is funny but hopefully showing that the humour is not in the swearing. Sharing and laughing at the funny things that I say feels really positive.

I will try and answer some of the questions that have come up from my experience but Tourettes surprises and mystifies me almost every day. Why I say certain things is really interesting to me, most of my tics are random and not linked to anything I've seen or thought. Sometimes they are triggered by the environment or by something I know I'm not meant to say like shouting my pin number at cash points. I would still not describe it as saying what I'm thinking, but neither is what I say nonsense.

The idea of live talk was rather than ignore the tics we would let them lead the conversation and see what strange stories would unfold. The vocal tics are only part of the story as they are accompanied by a range of other strange noises and movements. OCD is linked to Tourettes as is ADHD.

This is quite a brief response as I'm not at home at the moment so need to be quick. Please spread the word about the Touretteshero project. We are inviting  creative people to respond to tics from my collection which you can have a look at by signing up to www.touretteshero.com  this is currently a temporary site the full site should be up and running in the new year.

[Neil]

Touretteshero was kind enough to agree to an interview for CaB Radio, and I played that on Sunday night, and here's the podcast version:

Comedy Chat podcast #6: Having Tourettes Is Like Being Kicked Up The Balls By Michael Jackson's Mum.

Thanks to Touretteshero for agreeing, and to Matt for all his advice and technical assistance, and to Robot DeNiro for making me aware of this project in the first place.  I'm glad to have a deeper understanding of Tourettes, and a real appreciation for the vastly over-looked creative side of it.

[neveragain]

Another vote of greatness here, cheers.

[hummingofevil]

Thank you so much. To be honest I was a little sceptical about this in case it was a bit forced (old cynic me) but I am laughing a lot. I work with a few autistic kids who make me laugh in much the same way but they don't quite have the rapid fire delivery. Some of their support workers look at me a bit funny when I am crying with laughter at their "facts of the day" and random musings, like the only reason you could fine someone with a condition funny is if you are laughing at them. I just find them (the individuals concerned) very funny so I think this approach is far more constructive. Celebrate!

[Erasmus Cunk]

That was an excellent, fascinating interview. Thank you.

[Robot DeNiro]

I've only just got round to listening to Neil's interview, it's really good.  If you haven't listened to it yet I really recommend it -  it's a fascinating and funny insight into a very interesting medical condition that is generally caricatured and belittled by the media.

It didn't half make me want a biscuit though.

[Robot DeNiro]

This is good fun, a video acting out various Tourettes tics.  I'm not sure if they all came from Tourettes Hero or if some are from other people.

http://vimeo.com/17076632

[Mister Six]

Haven't listened to the interview yet, but that is some extraordinarily good photoshopping.

EDIT: Also...

"Derren Brown is in the room, shut your mind"

Brilliant. I might make that into a T-shirt.

[confettiinmyhair]

When I listen to the audio I'm seeing Josie Long in my mind.

[Touretteshero]

Thanks for posting the video Robot DeNiro, I really should have thought of that. These are all tics of mine, which the film makers Chris and Keir selected from the database you can browse many more at www.touretteshero.com. There are loads crying out for a creative response, so spread the word to anyone you think would be interested.

Thanks for all the positive feedback on the interview, glad what I was saying didn't get too lost in all the biscuits.

I'm off to Google, Josie Long.

[Touretteshero]

Check out the latest Touretteshero audio Desert Island Tics. I explore how sound influences my tics with Screechy Badman. http://thescreechybadman.wordpress.com/2011/02/04/screechys-radio-84-desert-island-tics-with-touretteshero/

[The Boston Crab]

Just to say that I didn't reply at the time but I really enjoyed the CaB radio interview. Fascinating and made me aware that my own tics, although largely internalised, are nothing to fear. I know that probably sounds ridiculous but there have been times when I thought I was going mad, my brain stuck on a kind of feedback loop, but it's something which meditation helped with actually kind of being able to notice the thoughts and physical movements occurring and not being afraid of it happening and not being anxious when it does. It's just part of my make-up. Like every human being, there's an infinite stream of simultaneous thoughts but that's nothing to worry about, in itself. That's simply the way a reasonably intelligent brain functions. Err, this is going off-topic, just felt the best place to share it.

[Touretteshero]

Thanks for your post Boston Crab, what you described doesn't sound ridiculous at all. I can completely relate to the fear you described and the feeling of being stuck in a loop. For me, accepting it and developing ways to explain it to others made things much better.

[benjula]

Check out the latest Touretteshero audio Desert Island Tics. I explore how sound influences my tics with Screechy Badman. http://thescreechybadman.wordpress.com/2011/02/04/screechys-radio-84-desert-island-tics-with-touretteshero/

really enjoyed this, thanks.

[Jamesieab]

Thought you lot might like to read this about TH on the beeb site - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12846961

[Neil]

BUMP.  Jess had another chat with Alex Newman, and it's been (rather brilliantly) animated http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSjhW-BRXAc 

Although I can't help depicting the images might take away from the absurdity of conjuring them up on your own brain.  Regardless, it looks fucking ace.

[Neil]

Just another bump to point out that Jess is continuing to educate and inspire people, and you might want to watch her brilliant TEDx talk.  You may also have seen her doing the continuity announcements on Channel 4 this week, as part of their Born Risky/Alternative Voices strand.

[Alberon]

I've been following Jess' blog for some time now. Frankly, her tourettes has been the best source of surreal humour I've seen in a long while.

[Small Man Big Horse]

A huge bump I know, but Jess Thom is doing a stand up gig at the Southbank on September 6th - http://unlimited.southbankcentre.co.uk/events/jess-thom-stand-up-sit-down-roll-over - the missus and I are going, and it'd be lovely if folks joined us.

[Entropy Balsmalch]

Is she the first genuinely self-heckling stand up?

Edit - ah - I see that's the opening joke on her website.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Comedy Chat podcast #6: Having Tourettes Is Like Being Kicked Up The Balls By Michael Jackson's Mum.

Is this available anywhere else Neil? I'd love to hear it if possible.

Back from seeing Jess live tonight and really enjoyed it, for a first ever stand up set it was incredibly impressive, and I liked how she explored various areas of comedy, her surreal section was especially very very funny. I hope she sticks with it, as I'd definitely like to see her perform again.

[Shit Good Nose]

Jess Thom is doing a stand up gig at the Southbank on September 6th

That is nice to hear, because a couple of years after she appeared on that Stephen Fry doc about language, I saw her at Glasgow airport whilst I was waiting for a flight back to Bristol, and she seemed to be in quite a bad way - basically nothing other than "biscuit" was said (literally a few times every minute), and it looked like her body was spasming quite violently for the entire time I was waiting (about an hour) and she was completely confined to her wheelchair, so I wondered if things had "taken a turn for the worst"[nb]bear in mind that was my thought at the time - I knew very very little about tourettes, and still don't really[/nb].

But, with the benefit of this thread, I now assume it was cos she was just exhausted from whatever engagement(s) she was up there for.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Apparently she has the odd bad fit every so often (and had a joke book for an audience member to read out if she needed to go off stage at any point to recover for a short while) but in general she seemed fine and upbeat. There was one minor bad spell on stage where she got locked in to repeating "biscuit / bring bring / cats" a lot, and it looked like she was a bit frustrated, but bar that it went really well.

[Alberon]

That is nice to hear, because a couple of years after she appeared on that Stephen Fry doc about language, I saw her at Glasgow airport whilst I was waiting for a flight back to Bristol, and she seemed to be in quite a bad way - basically nothing other than "biscuit" was said (literally a few times every minute), and it looked like her body was spasming quite violently for the entire time I was waiting (about an hour) and she was completely confined to her wheelchair, so I wondered if things had "taken a turn for the worst"[nb]bear in mind that was my thought at the time - I knew very very little about tourettes, and still don't really[/nb].

But, with the benefit of this thread, I now assume it was cos she was just exhausted from whatever engagement(s) she was up there for.

I've read her blog for years, and I think she's said she does get wound up at airports which makes her tics worse. She also involuntarily claims she has a bomb or a gun when going through security, which can be a problem. Here's part of an entry from her from back in 2012 when she and a friend, who also has tourettes, were on a flight.

Ruth and I ticced a lot of strange and potentially inflammatory things in the airport and on the plane, but everyone was fantastic – security staff, crew, and other passengers. Highlights going through security included:

Ruth: Knife, gun and a bomb.

TH: Claire's got 32 petrol bombs and a spinger spaniel.

When the security man commented on the weight of Ruth's bag my tics helpfully suggested he should, "Take out the child."

The stream of tics continued on the plane, so the safety briefing went like this:

Steward stands up
Ruth: Your penis is showing

Steward puts on yellow life vest
TH: Banana Man

Steward shows oxygen mask
TH: This is a meaningless plastic bag

Steward instructs passengers to put on their own mask before helping others
Ruth and TH: Selfish

Steward shows everyone how to inflate the life jacket
TH: Blow into it like Ricky Martin's underwear

Steward describes what to do in the event of landing on water
TH: Mandatory beach ball in your pocket

Steward draws our attention to the whistle
TH: It's for rounding up sheep

The crew ploughed on as the whole plane rocked with laughter.

Then we were ready for take off.

We taxied down the runway and soared up into the sky with Ruth and me shouting:

"The engine's on fire!" and "Air travel's unnatural!" and "Learner pilot!"

You should read her blog. Before I read it all I knew of Tourettes was that it made all the people with it swear uncontrollably and I didn't even realise that wasn't correct.

http://www.touretteshero.com/