Spoonful of Laughter
The Workshop
For far too long, diabetes stigma has been performing a one-man show – and not a very good one. We know that comedy has the power to rewrite the story of diabetes, so let’s laugh this stigma right off the stage, together.
An Invitation
We hope that you’ve been laughing and learning alongside us at diaTribe ever since we launched A Spoonful of Laughter just over a year ago. Over 8 million impressions, thousands of comments, and dozens of videos later, we feel even more confident that comedy has the power to positively influence public perceptions and shape cultural narratives – especially as we work to eliminate the stigma and stereotypes faced by too many people living with diabetes.
As we look to the future, we know that to really create a movement around this work, we need to share the Spoonful of Laughter philosophy and learnings far and wide. We want to empower creators, comedians, diabetes organizations, and industry members to try new, playful ways of communicating about diabetes – whether that’s with a well-timed joke, a hilarious pun, or a cheeky story.
That is why we would like to officially invite you to an exciting two-part virtual workshop that diaTribe is hosting, taking place on December 1 from 10am – 12pm PT and December 3 from 10am – 1 pm PT.
Please note this is not a public event – we’ve invited a carefully chosen, and rather magical, if we do say so ourselves, group of creators, comedians, and diabetes organizations who’ve got what it takes to create this kind of comedic alchemy. We’ll come together to learn, connect, and explore the power of comedy to shrink stigma. In these two days, you will:
- Learn the pillars and impacts of using comedy for social change as a messaging strategy.
- Receive insights, tips, messaging, and content ideas generated from the Spoonful of Laughter initiative.
- Spark ideas, connections, and a whole lot of laughter among a broad community of people who aren’t afraid to try some new tactics when it comes to eliminating diabetes stigma.
If you will be joining us for this two-day event, we ask that you please RSVP and complete a short survey below by November 14. As we approach December, keep an eye out for further communications from Matthew Garza (matthew.garza@diaTribe.org).
Agenda*
Meet Our Amazing Facilitators
Brooking Gatewood, The Emergence Collective
Brooking Gatewood is the co-founder and lead coach with the Emergence Collective. In her 18+ years facilitating systemic change, she’s made a craft of powerful conversations that ignite visionaries and help unlikely allies to advance shared goals—for our planet, health, artistry, democracy, and more. Her holistic, collaborative, researched-based approach creates rich and disarming learning environments, equal parts bad joke and good strategy. Both poet and scientist, she’s studied many wonders of How We Human, from anthropology and movement theory in ivory towers to somatic psychology and meditation in canvas yurts and zendos. Some of her design work has been featured in the Stanford Social Innovation Review and Beloved Economies, and she hosts the award-winning Indisposable Podcast. As an artist, she has a MFA and a TedX talk on poetry, collaborates with creatives around the world, and hosts art salons in her hometown when she’s not staring at a river in awe that it flows. From 2017-2021 Brooking facilitated the dSeries Executive Innovation Labs and midwifed the launch of the dStigmatize program, and is beyond delighted to be back supporting the next iteration of this laugh-inducing, culture-changing work.
Tommy Crawford, Dancing Fox
Tommy Crawford is a Poet, Storyteller, and Founder and Creative Director of the International Mischief-Making Organisation, Dancing Fox, who was once described as "Tinkerbell" by Diatribe Foundation's CEO Jim Carroll for "sprinkling magical fairy dust wherever he goes." He has curated and led Playshops all over the world, and has performed at Into The Wild, Shambala and WOMAD festivals — amongst many others — as well as touring his poetry across the UK, Indonesia and New Zealand. During his time at Greenpeace Tommy spearheaded a pirate team who dared to reimagine and articulate the organisation’s story (for the first time in its 40 year history), which later became the corner-stone for Greenpeace’s 10 year strategy, and helped deliver profound and transformational changes in the organisation’s culture. At its core, his work is about alchemy — acting as a bridge between worlds to transform 'what is' into 'what could be'. A big part of this is about co-creating emergent and transformational spaces where the heart is able to finally crack open — allowing the wonder and beauty of the world to flood in, and the bubbling magic that dwells inside each of us to pour out.
Brian Fitzgerald, Dancing Fox
Brian Fitzgerald is a veteran activist turned creative mischief-maker. As Co-Founder of Dancing Fox, he helps social movements tell bolder, more hopeful stories that cut through the noise of fear and division. From delaying a nuclear weapons test and going to sea to save whales with Greenpeace to coaching NGOs in improv-inspired storytelling, Brian’s work is about unlocking the courage and imagination needed for transformative change. As an activist with Greenpeace for over 35 years, Brian served in a wide variety of roles, from canvasser to senior management. A technical innovator, he led the early development of digital activism and social media campaigning. He produced three of Greenpeace’s most successful viral videos of all time, and turned an online whale-naming contest into what advertising guru Russel Davies called "a defining moment in New Media marketing” when he green-lighted the name “Mister Splashy Pants” as a whale-naming competition finalist over strenuous internal objections (and equally strenuous cheers from Reddit). He remains an unapologetic believer in peace, love, and understanding.
Michael Sielaff, Laughtivism
Michael Sielaff is a Los Angeles based actor and teacher with a focus on socially conscious theatre and comedic activism (“Laughtivism”). He is passionate about teaching, performing, and creating more spaces for socially conscious art, character-building improv, and first-person storytelling. He first discovered Theatre of the Oppressed in his time at Gustavus Adolphus College, and was a writer/actor in the socially conscious theater troupe I Am We Are for four years. Sielaff has also trained and performed improv at Second City, Groundlings, iO West, Monkey Butler, and Comedy Sportz. His 16+ years of comedic and dramatic improv experience include performing long form with Soda Jerk & Excelsior, duo with WASP (satire on being a white, straight, protestant), Slim Shady, Date Night, Future Ancestors (laughtivism) and short form with Comedy Sportz main stage. He is the Founder of Rogue and has hosted/produced multiple shows over the past 10 years including Laughtivism LA, the duo show TwoTopia, The Rogue Variety Hour, and Rogue's Storytelling Open Mic. He produced/directed/performed in a 5-city tour with Laughtivism LA, and also writes poetry, coaches storytelling for the formerly homeless, and has hosted 50+ episodes of the web series Fridley Fridays. Photo Credit: Jim McCambridge
Mirage Thrams, Laughtivism
Mirage Thrams also teaches with Michael and the two perform together as the duo improv team Future Ancestors as part of their Laughtivism programming. Mirage is an award-winning cinematographer and director known for her work on Second City revues “It’s Not Funny," “Shade, The Musical,” and ”The Revolution Will Not Be Improvised,” as well as independent variety ensembles "Affirmative Reaction," (an all-black female-led show), and "The Regina Kings." She also is a comedy coach (stand-up, improv, sketch, storytelling) and a well-traveled public speaker.
Kriss Wittman, Wittman Studios
Kriss Wittmann is passionate about witnessing and visualizing the great work happening in our world. Her extensive background in graphic arts, illustration, corporate training and higher education has given her the exceptional ability to visually capture tangible and abstract concepts that allow groups to "see" their stories and create a clear path forward. With her deep listening skill, she captures key concepts, connections, diversity of thought and perspectives in colorful pictures paying close attention to patterns and systems. The process is called Strategic Illustration—and she’s been doing it for business, government, and non-profit clients since 2002. Her client list is extensive, including the The Boeing Company, Hewlett-Packard, Capital One, Comcast, Cargill, University of Colorado Health, Kaiser Permanente, US National Security Agency, the US Army, and the United Nations.
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