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Xpect Performance
Dedicated to hearing unique guests sharing their stories of success, but more importantly, their learning experiences. The Xpect Performance Podcast encourages story telling and sharing that is vulnerable and relatable to inspire you to live the life that you know you're capable of living.
Xpect Performance
#80- Barry Hilton: When the Laughs Fade- Reflections on Mental Health and Comedy
In this episode of the Xpect Performance Podcast, I sit down with South African comedy icon Barry Hilton for a conversation that goes far beyond the punchlines. Barry reflects on living intentionally, the role humour plays in coping with life’s challenges, and the unseen craft behind crowd work and connection.
We unpack the reality of dealing with negative feedback, the pressure of maintaining an on-stage persona, and the emotional mismatch many performers experience between who they are in public and who they are in private. Barry speaks candidly about comedy’s relationship with depression, the flawed pursuit of constant happiness, and why discomfort and criticism are often part of the deal.
The conversation closes with Barry sharing the thinking behind his new keynote and the deeper message he hopes to leave audiences with — one rooted in honesty, perspective, and embracing life’s ultimate ironies. This is a thoughtful, human conversation about performance, identity, and what it really means to live well.
Check Barry out below:
Barry Hilton (@barry_hilton) | TikTok
Chapters:
(00:00) Living Intentionally
(18:15) The Importance of Humour
(24:15) Crowd Work
(30:00) Dealing with Negative Feedback
(37:00) The Happiness Fallacy
(41:20) Talking on Comedy vs Depression
(48:00) The On-Stage Persona Mismatch
(51:30) It's Part of the Deal
(58:00) The Ultimate Irony of Life
(62:30) Barry's New Keynote
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Much love,
Clint