Motivational/Education Speaker and a unique comedian --> comic@billpicard.com or (207) 809-4538

Motivational Speaker
 

Unique comedian
 

Local comedian Picard focuses on funny side of life
07/06

It’s a rainy Wednesday night outside the Comedy Connection.  Inside the Portland waterfront facility, about a dozen individuals of all shapes, sizes, sexes, and colors take the brick background stage.  Some are good, but some not so good.  But one stands out, or perhaps sits out, a little more then the others.

North Turner native Bill Picard rolls up the stage via a ramp set off to one side.  The master of ceremonies, who introduced him as "one of the funniest men I have ever met", adjusts the microphone slightly to wheelchair height.  The 36-year-old University of Maine graduate lets loose a big smile and begins tapping buttons on his talking keyboard.

HMOs a target
    The jokes start coming, many about his personal journey through a medical, social and bureaucratic quagmire while dealing with people's misconceptions about his cerebral palsy.  Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) come in for some particularly stinging commentary.
    "Who came up with the doctor’s referral idea?" he asks.  Was it the [expletive deleted] HMOs?  I hate those [expletive deleted].  I was going to class one day when my wheelchair broke.  I had to call my doctor to get a referral to have someone come fix it.  A week later it finally got fixed, so he made me miss all of my classes that week.  I sent him all of my school work for that week, so he could do it. Ha, ha, ha! That [expletive deleted] sent me back a note saying that is not covered by your HMO"!

He's on a roll
    The nervous laughter accompanying his first few jokes becomes freer, easier, and louder as the audience warms to his delivery. His routine pokes fun at himself and situations he has encountered during a lifetime "helping people to realize that I am just like everybody else, and I don't let my cerebral palsy get in the way of what I do."
     Picard joins in with Horshack-type laughter (remember the TV show "Welcome Back Kotter") of his own, an annoying habit in some comics but somehow endearing Picard to the crowd the same way Red Skelton entranced audiences when redheaded clown cracked up at his own jokes.  At the end of his performance, Picard cruises off the stage to what is undoubtedly the largest round of applause of the night.

Comedy a tool
"I have been a motivational/educational speaker for more that 10 years, exposing people to a different way of looking at things," Picard answers when asked why he has turned to stand-up comedy.  "I do this by sharing and motivating my audience through humorous approach because laughter eases tension. Stand-up comedy is a different way to break down the misconceptions that people have about disabilities and other differences.  When people understand my jokes and laugh it feels great."
    Picard is a newcomer to stand-up comedy with just a few months of experience under his belt.  "I have been wanting to do this for seven years and last year I saw a flyer about a comedy workshop," he remembers.  "I took the workshop because it was something that i wanted to do and show people anything is possible."  His first appearance following the workshop was May 13.  He gave another four performances this past summer and hopes to appear in additional shows at comedy clubs and universities throughout New England "Then, who knows?" he wrote.  "I am taking it one day at a time and living my life."  To see when Picard performs, call the Comedy Connection at 774-5554.