Ed Helms to talk of life, comedy at RTVF’s alumni conference
By Nyshicka Jordan
Staff Reporter

An average day at the office for comedian Ed Helms is all about making his co-workers laugh, he said. Despite the laughter in the office, being a comic comes with stress and hard work, he said.

“In a way, it’s the most fun job in the world because you’re making people laugh,” Helms said. “But it can be terrifying too because you’re in a position where you have to make people laugh.”

Helms, a stand-up comic and a correspondent for Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart,” will be the keynote speaker at for the Fourth Annual Radio-TV-Film Alumni Conference today.

The conference will begin at 9:30 a.m. in the Green Room in Moudy Building South, and Helms will speak at the luncheon at noon in the Student Center, Room 207, and perform two shows at 8:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. in Moudy Building North, Room 141.

The alumni conference’s purpose is to help undergraduates learn ways to be successful in radio, TV and film careers after college by listening to the experiences of alumni who attend, radio-TV-film chairman Roger Cooper said.

Cooper said he met Helms when “The Daily Show” did a segment about a man who got caught in a chimney, and “The Daily Show’s” joke was that it happened because the man watched the movie “Mary Poppins.” Cooper said he was called to be a part of the show to speak in the segment as a “media expert.”

Cooper said after the interview he asked Helms to speak at the conference luncheon because the comic has an understanding of the radio-TV-film major.

“The (radio-TV-film) department likes for speakers to have insight and be entertaining,” Cooper said.

Helms said he was a film major in college and did editing and production before moving full time into comedy.

At the luncheon, Helms said he will talk about his background in television and production, what he has learned from the industry and his career philosophy.

“My philosophy centers around work ethic and focus and making deliberate choices and putting a colossal amount of effort behind it,” Helms said.

Helms said he agreed to be the guest speaker because he is fascinated by the process of achieving one’s goals and he enjoys interacting with college students.

He said students should not believe their dreams are not accessible and that they should not be deterred by fears. If it is looked at the right way, fear can be a motivator, Helms said.

“If you see someone with the job you want, there is no reason you can’t have it because that person was where you are at some point,” Helms said.

After the conference, students and the public can get a dose of Helms’ comedy which he said is his general take about life, absurd day-to-day events and social awkwardness.

Two groups from the radio-TV-film sketch course will perform 15-minute skits as the opening act of each show, radio-TV-film associate professor Richard Allen said.

Krista Adamson, a senior radio-TV-film major, said the groups will perform skits that they have developed in class this semester and that some of the skits will include a cave man who picks up a woman from the prom and teen-age baby who goes to a college interview.

Adamson said she is a fan of “The Daily Show” and said Helms’ visit is a good way to include more students who may not be familiar with the radio-TV-film department.

“I think it is something to get more students involved in the department,” Adamson said. “It’s a little bit more inclusive for students that aren’t majors or minors. A lot of people don’t know what we do over here.”

Tickets for the comedy shows can be purchased for $8 for students and $15 for the general public in Moudy Building South, Room 177. For more information call (817) 257-7630.

n.d.jordan@tcu.edu