Jim Carrey's Cringe Mountain and winning at trends

A tip for TikTok trends I learned as a radio presenter

Author

Erica Mallett
September 10, 2023

Hey Climbers. This Week — Jim Carrey’s Cringe Mountain, how to win at trends (a tip I learned from working as a national radio presenter) and a very clever piece of creative inspo from Ikea.

Jim Carrey’s Cringe Mountain

Did you know that the first time Jim Carrey got on stage to do standup, he was so bad that he pretty much got booed off? Here’s what he said in an interview with People Magazine about it.

“I stood up there, and I did this horrible, corny act. Halfway through it, they started playing the soundtrack of Jesus Christ Superstar, saying, ‘Crucify him, crucify him, crucify him, crucify him!’

Then, the MC took the microphone and pushed Jim Carrey off stage by saying “Totally boring, totally boring.” Ouch. He also got rejected from SNL 3 times. But he kept climbin’. And now he’s Jim Carrey.

So embrace the cringe and keep climbin’.

Climber tip of the week

The secret sauce to doing online trends: what your high school drama teacher knows about going viral.

The ‘Yes, And’ rule.

It’s helped me grow to nearly 100k followers on my main account.

In improv theater, an improviser should always accept what another improviser has stated ("yes…") and then expand on it ("and…"). Here’s what happens when someone just Yeses:

Improviser 1: Oh my god, there’s blood on your shirt!
Improviser 2: Yes, there's blood on my shirt.

Nothing. The story goes nowhere. Now, let’s see what happens when someone Yes, Ands:

Improviser 1: Oh my god, there’s blood on your shirt!
Improviser 2: Yes, and it’s because I fell off the bicycle you gave me. The breaks didn’t work!

Ok! We’ve got drama. We’ve got intrigue. A storyline. Entertainment.

Always Yes, And TikTok trends and topicals.

I learnt this when I was working as a presenter in national radio. If you’re jumping on a TikTok trend or topical story, don’t just repeat what you’ve seen (Yes it). Add to it (And it.) This is what makes people stand out; as trend-toppers, not a trend do-ers.

To show you what I mean, here’s a recent example of Yes, Anding at its best. When Twitter changed its name to X, there was the usual influx of memes about Elon etc. They were all just Yessing.

But then WWF came in and Yes, Anded:

Image credit: WWF

They advanced the conversation and injected their message. So next time you see a trend. Challenge yourself to Yes, And it. Let me know how you go.

Creative Inspo of the week

Ikea’s pretty good at clever advertising. But this one on Oxford Street in London in particular made me smile.

Image credit: Mother

Til next time!

Eri out xoxo