June 19, 2024 • 27 mins
"I needed to do something to celebrate - I showed up." Speaker, Energizer, Author, Interrupter, King of Cheers . . . . Cameron Hughes.
This Canadian crowd-pleaser has been the spark at otherwise ho-hum events for decades!
You've seen him on many JumboTron screens at sporting events, getting up to dance and making the crowd go wild. He generally has a very serious look on his face and it's hilarious and contagious.
He has been around the world and back again, paid by sports teams to energize fans at over 1500 events and counting. He's danced on Tennis Courts, in conference rooms, and all places in between.
Check out his TEDx "Who Are You Cheering For?"
His book is 'King of Cheer; stories of showing up'
Why did he have a large fruit upon his head?
Does he worry what other people think ?
What about the times his interrupting behavior fell short?
What does it mean to actively Show Up?
Website: CameronHughes.tv
This Canadian crowd-pleaser has been the spark at otherwise ho-hum events for decades!
You've seen him on many JumboTron screens at sporting events, getting up to dance and making the crowd go wild. He generally has a very serious look on his face and it's hilarious and contagious.
He has been around the world and back again, paid by sports teams to energize fans at over 1500 events and counting. He's danced on Tennis Courts, in conference rooms, and all places in between.
Check out his TEDx "Who Are You Cheering For?"
His book is 'King of Cheer; stories of showing up'
Why did he have a large fruit upon his head?
Does he worry what other people think ?
What about the times his interrupting behavior fell short?
What does it mean to actively Show Up?
Website: CameronHughes.tv
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
I did a talk recently where aguy came up to me and I asked
the audience who they're cheering for.At the end, I challenged them,
and he came up to me andhe said, I was planning to get
in my car and drive three hoursback home, but my grandmother lives half
an hour away, so I'm goingto go a surprise her because of you.
And I said, not because ofme, because you open your heart.
That's up to you. I suggestedit, and I told the VP
(00:23):
who hired me that story, andhe was on the virgineers because that makes
his team better people. Stranger Connectionsis the embodiment of Lisa david Olsen's perspective
of we're all just friends who justsimply haven't met yet. It's an exploration
of the weirdly wonderful side of lifein a look at the single commonality we
have with each other, our differences. Slip off your shoes, pour a
(00:46):
cup of your favorite and let's meetthis week's barrel of quirks. Welcome to
Stranger Connections, where I celebrate wonderfullyweird people and quirky stories. I'm your
curious beast and host Lisa David All, don't forget to subscribe, leave a
lovely review while you're here, andcheck out my latest guest, mister Cameron
(01:07):
Hughes. Now you've seen the guy. Whether you believe me or not.
When once I explain to you whothis dude is, you're gonna go yeah,
I remember him. I saw him, all right. He is called
the King of Cheer. He isa Canadian crowd igniter. Eh, he's
a speaker, a sports entertainer,and he has a TEDx as well as
(01:30):
a book. Please welcome Cameron Hughes. Yay, thank you so much.
I was also just recently called themagic mic of hockey, which was a
little weird, but I'll take it. Oh, I guess you'd like to
puck around there hey on the ice. Sure, without the odds, but
the spirit is there. That's allthat matters. Right. Your teed X
(01:51):
was fantastic and I enjoyed. Ifound a clip where they showed that you
were joining a and what you didwas you are kind of a heckler at
the conference, and so go ahead, and let's explain what you do by
talking about that video. Yeah.So my whole thing is to surprise,
(02:12):
interrupt and shake up the sort ofspontaneous human interaction, right. I think
we're also programmed to you go anevent, this is going to happen,
and that's going to happen. Andmy whole thing is to shake it up,
to be different and show fans andaudiences something you know, they didn't
expect at the surprise element, right, so they remember something different. So
at this corporate event, I gotup and started to heckle the host and
(02:37):
said, let's have some more fun. And everyone in the audience is like,
is this guy for real? What'sright? You're seeing what we're thinking.
Well, that's sort of the funnypart. Is the whole idea is,
you know, we we know yougo to conferences and they can be
great and they can be boring,they can be everything in between. So
my whole idea is to shock ashock and and it's pretty funny the reactions
(03:02):
you get because they have no ideawho I am. And then by the
time I maybe get up and maybeshow some videos like oh, maybe they've
seen the video or they have noidea. But the whole idea is,
as you know, is to changepeople's state, right, And I think
that companies and teams that have broughtme in realize, like, we want
people to leave here having felts more, like having come alive more and by
(03:25):
just having me Like ladies and gentlemen, please welcome that. It could work,
But is it gonna be as memorable? I don't think so exactly.
And they may think that you looklike that guy they've seen on what is
the big camera called at the sportsevent assumpthing tron, Yeah, jumbo tron.
They may think, oh, thatguy looks like that guy, doesn't
(03:45):
he Or if he would whip hisshirt around over his head, I think
I might recognize him. So thatis where people will recognize you. You
get the crowd going, you startclapping, and explain how that even started.
Yeah. I was at an Autowaset hockey game and was like minus
two hundred out and I was tryingto figure out some stuff in my life.
I was going through some academic issues, let's call them. And I
(04:12):
was at the game and I wasbored and I was upset. No one
was cheering, and I got upand started to go nuts, and the
crowd loved it. And the executivefrom the team was like, Hey,
we want you to come back andI was like, what do you want
me to do? And thirty yearslater, I, you know, toured
the world. So I joke withpeople that, you know, when my
high school guidance counselor said to followmy dreams, I listened. So in
(04:34):
that moment, you know, we'veall had that moment, just like in
that video where they hired you tocome to the conference and you yelled out
something like, my god, anotherPowerPoint slide. This is boring, you
know, accurate. We all thinkit. And that's why I call myself
an interactive speaker. I don't comein with PowerPoint tech can fail us,
(04:55):
and I'm playing with the people ina different way, and it is what
is re member. We remember howwe feel. So in that moment when
you first had that urge of likeI gotta jazz this up, I'm sure
some people whipped out phones, somepeople made room for the crazy dude.
You know what came over. Youjust said I'm going for it. This
(05:16):
was thirty years ago at a hockeygame where there was no video cameras,
there's no video boards. There wasjust like, oh, all I have
is fifteen seconds of footage. ButI think it's like two things one is
you look at like that was thirtyyears ago. Why does it still work?
Because we all want that human connection, right, I mean more than
ever. And I think it workedbecause I had this actual feeling in my
(05:39):
gut that I need I need todo something right. And we've all been
to the event, the wedding,the corporate event, the birthday party where
you're like, who's going to doit? Right? Is it you?
And then you're like, when youdo it, the crowd celebrates you.
Right, They're like, oh,thank you for being the person that took
the chance, thank you for changingthe energy. Right. And I think
(06:00):
that, you know, in thisworld, people are celebrated that do that,
and I think they should be,you know, and I think that
we're so worried about what everyone elsethinks. It's very cliche to say that,
but it's true, right and theend of the day, I you
know, in a lot of mytalks, I talk about how when you
do get up, when you dotake the chance, the crowd wherever that
looks like for you, not justtalking at a stadium, but we'll cheer
(06:24):
you on and support you. Givethem a reason to cheer for you,
right, And you know, wecan join in and cheer, or we
can be just shy and introverted inthe moment and just enjoy watching both.
That's it. I mean, II think that I wouldn't have a career
if there were people that were justenjoyed watching too. Right, gotta have
an audience to be a performer.You've got to have an audience. But
(06:46):
one thing I wanted to ask youreal quick is you just said you do
interactive speaking, But like, soI ask you know, speaking agents and
all that stuff, like why docompanies still go with safe? I'm not
saying they always do, but whybecause prediction ble is going to match our
policy manual, it's going to matchthe people who are paying them, who
(07:06):
say it has to be in thismaybe not a box but a nice oval.
And we have to be predictable andsafe because gosh forbid we do anything
a little bit shaky up, LikeI never swear when I'm on a corporate
stage, but in the day job, I sure drop it. It's they
(07:27):
want to make sure that whoever hiredyou, they want to make sure that
it reflects well on them. Soyeah, they don't lose their job.
There's that. So unfortunately, playingit safe and playing it predictable and making
sure you are on for forty twominutes and not forty three or something like
that is the usual way. Butyou know, and I know our feedback
(07:48):
is, wow, we're still talkingabout that story you shared. We're still
talking about that interactive thing that wedid together. They're not saying that data
point on side three really rocked ourwhole mission statement. What right? I
mean, that's the thing is there'syou know, after a thirty forty however
(08:09):
long those our talks are, it'slike what they can't leave with everything?
But what are those nuggets that youlike? Every audience member is going to
take something different, right, butthey're going to take away the nugget because
they remembered you, remember you.How can they take away your nugget?
Yeah, that's right. And Ithink that that's why teams bring me in
(08:30):
in the sports world, because you'regoing to go to a game on a
Wednesday night in I don't know,Minnesota against the team and it's not you
know, it's not the weekend.So we need to add value to the
fans, our customers experience so thatthey can remember that, oh wow,
that was so much fun. Soto pay me or other entertainers or whatever
(08:52):
that might be, is the rightbusiness model right to add to that expand
audience experience. What about a timeit didn't go so well? Which time
I mean the eight hospital visits atthe sporting events or this is what I
want to hear, Cameron. Imean, yeah, I mean I performed
(09:13):
once at a hockey game and Ifell down the stairs and everyone thought I
was part of a bit and Iwas like, this is not a bit
and I still feel my ankle.That was like fifteen years ago when I
came back in the second period oncrutches and I got the crowd going and
they still paid me, So thatwas good. Where did you get crutches?
The trainer was like, your,well, go out and go.
(09:33):
You know, these ice ice myfoot and you know, I've sprained my
knee, I've been dehydrated, I'veyou know, I think in the speaking
world, I've probably you know,moments where you get I do a dance
contest if the time and spirit permits, and I've had like people that just
(09:54):
like were uncontrollable in the room.But it works because it's funny. But
right, it's like you said,it's not predictable, but they sure as
heck. Remember, you know,I can't remember their names. But these
two people like, you know,just going on their own and just not
stopping, you know what I mean. And you're like, well, was
(10:18):
that an issue? No, actually, it was kind of part of my
message. Right Yet, you bringup this great point of in the comedic
stand up world right now, thebig blow up is those who are,
especially TikTok famous for playing with thecrowd. So I'm an improv ninja and
I've I've played with crowds for overtwo decades, but I'm not doing true
(10:43):
stand up. I'm doing improv,which I need the audience ideas to create
a sketch in the moment. Somestand up people are now becoming bigger in
the sense of video, famous forplaying with the crowd. Then they can't
stop the crowd. Let's say thenext stand up comes out and they're not
wanting to play with the heckler orhey, are you two dating? They
(11:05):
don't want the interact if they havea standard set, and there's nothing wrong
with that. That's the big dealis, like you said, you couldn't
get the people to stop. That'swhat's going on in the comedic world right
now. They're blaming Matt Rife,of course, and they're saying that's not
my style, and now I haveto follow that or everybody, every audience
thinks that's what I'm here for isfor you to yell something at me.
(11:26):
Yeah, I mean, well weall know as speakers, you don't really
want people to yell until you askthem to, right, that would be
nice, It's like you know,I mean, that would be nice exactly.
But you know, for me,it's like especially at a game when
I'm performing. I'm in Edton performingat the Stanley Cup Finals. I mean,
my whole gig. The reason tobring me in is to provide energy.
And what does energy look like,right? I mean energy looks like
(11:50):
standing up, yelling, cheering,dancing, you know, swirling t shirts,
ripping off your jersey. Whatever.That looks like. The has given
them extra permission. We're at theat a high level of competition, if
the stakes are high, so theybring me in to go, let's just
push it right, so they wantit. They want it even more on
(12:11):
the corporate stage. I mean,we we all know that there's a there's
a balance, there's a line there'san edge, right, and and I
I I know because I I dobelieve I have a bit an edge,
But I also know that there's aline that you have to get to and
then not push. And I thinkthat's the that's when you get asked bat
(12:35):
right, or that is a fantasticroll up. Yes, that's how you
get asked back. That is thebig deal. You can go out there
and just do the thing. Butyeah, you know, I think you
did a ted X and it wasfantastic and people need to you know.
I'll certainly be dropping those links.But it's it's great that you did your
stick because I've done a few andI was told and I was, I
(12:58):
was yelling at you yours. Iwas told I couldn't play with the audience
because I had that in my teTeX. My last one was last fall,
latest one. Of course, Icould do more, and I had some
impromit moments and they said, no, we can't, we cannot do that.
But I know with yours, theyknew ahead of time and they had
the cameras set, so they toldme it's because there wouldn't be microphones that
(13:22):
way, there wouldn't be camera set. I was like, so'll set them,
so'll do it. I'm kind ofwell, I want to play.
You bring up a good point oflike why are you bringing you in in
the first place. The organizers ofthe tet X I did you know,
they didn't give me a lot ofwarning. They saw a video of mine
and said, we need your energyat our event. We need something different,
(13:43):
we need to push it. Sothey oh, he was asked to
be there. He didn't have toapply. I get it. Okay,
Oh, I don't know what isthat? What does apply mean? I've
never applied for a job. Comeon this American word, because I've never
because I've never been qualified to doanything. But it was amazing because on
the first initial zoom talk with theten X organizers, they were like,
(14:05):
yeah, we want you to interruptthe host. And I had five weeks
to prepare. I was in themiddle of the crazy time. And as
soon as they said that, Iwas like, I'm in. You get
me. Oh that's perfect. You'relike, oh that yeah, I'm there
man. But also, but thebiggest, one of my biggest takeaways in
my world is set me. Setyou up for success, right, Yeah,
(14:26):
So if you're coming to do atalk about improvisation and comedy and letting
go. Well, then you needto write like whatever stage that is.
I mean, that's that's why I'vehad these back and forth with vps and
HR people who were like, Oh, I don't think our CEO, you
know, Jennifer or Bob or Larrywhoever it is, or VP or I
(14:48):
don't think they're going to want todo the interruption camera. And then you
get there on the rehearsal and youbring it up and they're like, oh,
what a great idea. The HRpeople were protecting the energy. Yes,
when when all that leader wants isto shake up the energy. Why
that conference in Palm Desert to changethe energy of your team and your culture.
(15:11):
Yes, go right to the goright up to your camera right now
and talk to Bob the corporate guy, and tell why they meet us.
Bob, Bob, come on.You know it's that that fear factor and
you see the people on the sideof the stage who brought you in and
and and in that moment of likethat tension the tension is is the magic
mm hmmm, because the tension iswhat you know, John and Julie leave
(15:33):
that conference feeling ah, they didsomething different for us. They wanted to
celebrate us more by bringing in youknow, people like us or you know
that that do something a little different. They aren't gonna just be show slides
or I win an Olympic medal like, no disrespect to any any speaker,
that's not my point. Correct,No, just because their losers doesn't mean
(15:54):
we're gonna pass shade on them.But truly, but truly, it's when
they feel something together, we experienceit together. So we see Cameron get
up and boogie and shake up theconference. At that next break, I
am more likely to speak to someoneI normally wouldn't because we're standing together,
(16:15):
and I'm going to say that washilarious. I didn't see that coming.
And that new person is going tosay to me, right, I think
I've seen him on the youtubes orwhatever. Now I'm talking to somebody I
haven't talked to before. That isa connection you cannot get through data and
slides and graphs. Yeah, thatis when we actually communicate as a team
on a different level. And nowwe have a new interaction. I'm always
(16:38):
gonna remember Bob, Julian Steve.I believe it was because we were there
together, and I might see themat the store the next day. Hey,
we were at that conference together.I normally wouldn't because we didn't have
that light moment where we all connectedon the same level. Yeah. And
I think on that note is youcan't like everyone's so worried about ROI,
Like, if I hire what's them? Well, your ROI is making people
(17:02):
feel pretty good about their life andtheir energy and their spirit. And if
you do that, I think weknow what the ROI is. You're going
to come and you're going to beperformed better. And I did a talk
recently where a guy came up tome and I asked the audience who they're
cheering for. At the end,I challenged them, and he came up
to me and he said, Iwas planning to get in my car and
drive three hours back home, butmy grandmother lives half an hour away,
(17:22):
so I'm going to go surprise herbecause of you. And I said,
not because of me, because youopen your heart. That's up to you.
I suggested it, and I toldthe VP who hired me that story,
and he was on the virgin teersbecause that makes his team better people,
makes us all right. I meanThat's what my challenge is to every
audience. It's opened your heart abit more. That's it, you know.
(17:45):
And I think that that's when wecelebrate the human spirit more. And
that's isn't that the goal? Yes? And it's again evoking a feeling and
not making you compare yourselves to thenext person at the same table. It's
a feeling of realness and humanness andconnection. That is beautiful. Give me
(18:10):
the quick list of all the thingsyou've done, because I've got some written
down. The sports. We've gottwo thousand events just about something like that.
Sixteen hundred and four. I madeup the four I've done four in
the last two weeks. I've doneevents in ten countries. Sporting events,
two Olympics, eight US Open,tennis, five NBA finals. You know,
(18:33):
one thing I'm proud of is I'vespoken to four or five hundred thousand
high school kids at one point whenin my late twenties early thirties. That
was I just toured and did schoolsand it was amazing. Done a lot
of cool company events, hosted aTV show. I was a guest host
on Katie Kirk. Can you believethat, Katie? No, that's great.
See her. We did a bunchof segments together. And the rumors
(18:56):
of her and I are not true. I don't care to anyone says don't
give up. Keep them on.She's married, she's she's awesome. We
had a lot of fun sounds andtravel shows and hosting and went to Hollywood
and tried to make it and upsand downs and it hits and misses,
some commercials, some commercials. AndI wrote a book, and yeah,
let's talk about the book. Wherecan we find that? We can find
(19:18):
it in dumpsters across the on wecan find it online at Cameron Hughes dot
TV on Amazon. I'm really proudof it. Despite that, I you
know, and I'm not sure whatwas harder launching it during COVID or writing
it, but yeah, I did. Books are different now, the whole
process is all different. Everybody's thebest seller because I got a hundred of
(19:40):
my friends to click like at thesame hour. But sorry to interrupt you,
no, don't do it. Whydo people do that? It's a
lame. You're not you're not aboutseller. You're not in the airport shop.
So that does not that doesn't count. But I did once go to
an Airport shop with my book andput it beside the is Michelle Obama,
(20:00):
maybe Malcolm Gladwell, and I putmine and I joke. I took a
picture and I tweeted it out andsaid you follow your dreams, kids,
and then I wrote something like inbrackets like sort of sarcastic to point out
it was a joke, but peoplethought it was real, and I was
like, oh, lot them,that's on you, baby. Yeah.
But the book is called King ofCheer Stories of Showing Up. Great title.
(20:26):
Yeah, I mean I think that, you know, I've talked to
a lot of young people, youknow, that are starting out, and
I just keep that's all I say, Like, show up at the cocktail
parties, show up at the networkingevents, show up at the show up,
show up, show up. Andmy life is a series of events
of showing up that led to this, led to that led to this.
And people think it's like some magicalthing, and yeah it is. It's
(20:48):
it's commitment to doing it, andit's showing up with a smile and a
good attitude as well. But that'sso it starts getting your you know,
it does. It's not that complicatedin that sense in a sense, but
it's also a choice. You arechoosing, so make that choice. Life
is so short. Yeah, chooseto show up and give it everything you
(21:08):
have and then the opportunities will flow. And that's my career. It's a
series of connecting the dots that someonesaw me here and the next thing I
know, I do a Ted Talkand Prague. I get hired to do
sixty days in Prague this past yearand someone sees me there and brings me
here like it's like fantastic. Imean, that's great. All right,
(21:32):
you're in Canada, I'm in Minnesota. Let's let's choose some words to say
about about Hoser Hoser howser boat.It's syrup and caramel. It is not
syrup caramel. Caramel. Caramel likea camel, but it's a caramel.
(21:57):
That okay, Krispy Crunch, hearthat is? I don't sounds like a
cereal. It's a chocolate bar,a delicatessen. I want one Tim Morton's.
Oh is that a restaurant. It'sa coffee shop named after a hockey
player. Oh do you have thequick trips? Quick trip? No,
(22:21):
we have the timbits little tiny donuts. Oh, quick trip it's a gas
station. I don't know who cameup with it, but I hope they
got promoted. And before I askyou to share a deer or a prank
story, should we maybe have acheering kind of dance for the people who
watch on video. If you havea should watch you dance? Well?
(22:47):
I wrote an old Lady White rapfor you since I can't buy music,
so I thought I could lay downthe beat and uh, all right,
let's see. Oh this is real, this is happening, this is amazing.
Okay, And by the way,I can't play it. And as
soon as my husband here says he'sgonna burst in because he hates it.
So hopefully, Hey, hey,have you heard the news? Get on
(23:12):
your feet with Cameron Hughes. Yeah, you gonna shake off those blues,
joined the king up. Cheer CameronHughes, big fish. Did he come?
Yeah? He did? You obviouslynever want him to ever be on
(23:33):
your show again. Sorry, hedoesn't know us, Cameron not sorry,
Thank you for that. Can Itell you a quick story, would you
please? I did at a corporateevent and I asked for a volunteer and
there was three hundred and fifty peoplenobody put up their hands. It was
sixty five percent women. Finally thiswoman put up her hand. She gets
(23:56):
up and I got her dancing infront of the whole room, gave her
T shirts and she tore them around, got the whole crowd going, and
I asked her at the end ona mic I said, how did that
feel? She goes awful and thenshe's like and so amazing, And I
go, why'd you do it?Because because I've always wanted to. I
love that? And two years agoshe hired me a keynote at her company.
(24:18):
Hell yeah, dance again? No, I sure as heck did.
Yes. The the hashtag at theconference became dance like Michelle, the point
being. The point being is backto you doing your your quote unquote fun
silly little rap. It's silly,it's fun, it's life. Michelle got
up and took a chance. Yes, she wanted that energy, and the
(24:41):
crowd gave it to her and celebratedher. Yes, her life. She
said it changed her life, andI'm like, I didn't change your life.
You did by saying yes to it. A choice again, back to
the choice, because you are You'readrenaline goes up, You're releasing all the
good natural serotone and in all thethings. It's such a buzz. It's
affordable, it's legal, do thethings, dance with Cameron, dance for
(25:04):
Cameron, write stupid raps for Cameron. Do it? Has anyone ever written
you a little rap before? It'saffordable and legal? I love that.
No, I don't think so.I've had some kids like write some cool
little poems for me, but nota rap. So thank you. It's
an old ladies love you. I'llbe talking about in my journal today.
So thank you. Ooh I madehis journal. Well, please share with
(25:29):
me if you've ever had a dareor a prank that you've done or had
done to you, or you haveone of those legendary tales. That's how
I wrap up every episode. Ilove that question. When I was at
university, my roommate was playing footballfor the team and it was a small
liberal arts college but a couple thousandpeople, and he said, Cam,
(25:49):
the week before the games are reallyboring, you need to do something.
And he kind of dared me.He's like, I'm like, what do
you want me to do? Hegoes, I don't know, just I
dare you to do something, soI thought about it all week, and
then on the Friday, I wentto the local grocery store. I bought
a watermelon from my massive head,and grocery store guy was like what.
I went back to my apartment.I got a purple cape, purple paint
(26:14):
signs with Dean of Fence painted inmy face. My body wore the cape
and I became known as melon Headat university for five years, and that
gave me the tools of learning howto work a crowd, learning how to
listen to a crowd, having theconfidence to get up in front of the
crowd. Yes, I was wearinga watermelon and a cape and purple paint.
Eventually I took that off and justbecame me. That's the difference.
(26:38):
And when we are on a stage, we can pretend to be Melonhead,
we can pretend to be somebody else. Michelle was brave enough to say,
I'm just going to be the dancingGale. I'm just going to put away
ego and worry and concern, andit changed her life. And everybody needs
to read King of Cheer and findCameron Hughes all over social media. Very
(26:59):
easy to find you. And Iam honored to have chatted with you,
even though you talk funnier than Minnesotan'sCameron Hughes. Thank you, and remember
we can only be strangers once,and I invite you to stay weird if
you can. I'm in, I'mlocked and loaded. Borderline illegal, legal,
legal. Thank you. I loveyour spirit. This has been Stranger
(27:22):
Connections with Lisa David Olson
I did a talk recently where aguy came up to me and I asked
the audience who they're cheering for.At the end, I challenged them,
and he came up to me andhe said, I was planning to get
in my car and drive three hoursback home, but my grandmother lives half
an hour away, so I'm goingto go a surprise her because of you.
And I said, not because ofme, because you open your heart.
That's up to you. I suggestedit, and I told the VP
(00:23):
who hired me that story, andhe was on the virgineers because that makes
his team better people. Stranger Connectionsis the embodiment of Lisa david Olsen's perspective
of we're all just friends who justsimply haven't met yet. It's an exploration
of the weirdly wonderful side of lifein a look at the single commonality we
have with each other, our differences. Slip off your shoes, pour a
(00:46):
cup of your favorite and let's meetthis week's barrel of quirks. Welcome to
Stranger Connections, where I celebrate wonderfullyweird people and quirky stories. I'm your
curious beast and host Lisa David All, don't forget to subscribe, leave a
lovely review while you're here, andcheck out my latest guest, mister Cameron
(01:07):
Hughes. Now you've seen the guy. Whether you believe me or not.
When once I explain to you whothis dude is, you're gonna go yeah,
I remember him. I saw him, all right. He is called
the King of Cheer. He isa Canadian crowd igniter. Eh, he's
a speaker, a sports entertainer,and he has a TEDx as well as
(01:30):
a book. Please welcome Cameron Hughes. Yay, thank you so much.
I was also just recently called themagic mic of hockey, which was a
little weird, but I'll take it. Oh, I guess you'd like to
puck around there hey on the ice. Sure, without the odds, but
the spirit is there. That's allthat matters. Right. Your teed X
(01:51):
was fantastic and I enjoyed. Ifound a clip where they showed that you
were joining a and what you didwas you are kind of a heckler at
the conference, and so go ahead, and let's explain what you do by
talking about that video. Yeah.So my whole thing is to surprise,
(02:12):
interrupt and shake up the sort ofspontaneous human interaction, right. I think
we're also programmed to you go anevent, this is going to happen,
and that's going to happen. Andmy whole thing is to shake it up,
to be different and show fans andaudiences something you know, they didn't
expect at the surprise element, right, so they remember something different. So
at this corporate event, I gotup and started to heckle the host and
(02:37):
said, let's have some more fun. And everyone in the audience is like,
is this guy for real? What'sright? You're seeing what we're thinking.
Well, that's sort of the funnypart. Is the whole idea is,
you know, we we know yougo to conferences and they can be
great and they can be boring,they can be everything in between. So
my whole idea is to shock ashock and and it's pretty funny the reactions
(03:02):
you get because they have no ideawho I am. And then by the
time I maybe get up and maybeshow some videos like oh, maybe they've
seen the video or they have noidea. But the whole idea is,
as you know, is to changepeople's state, right, And I think
that companies and teams that have broughtme in realize, like, we want
people to leave here having felts more, like having come alive more and by
(03:25):
just having me Like ladies and gentlemen, please welcome that. It could work,
But is it gonna be as memorable? I don't think so exactly.
And they may think that you looklike that guy they've seen on what is
the big camera called at the sportsevent assumpthing tron, Yeah, jumbo tron.
They may think, oh, thatguy looks like that guy, doesn't
(03:45):
he Or if he would whip hisshirt around over his head, I think
I might recognize him. So thatis where people will recognize you. You
get the crowd going, you startclapping, and explain how that even started.
Yeah. I was at an Autowaset hockey game and was like minus
two hundred out and I was tryingto figure out some stuff in my life.
I was going through some academic issues, let's call them. And I
(04:12):
was at the game and I wasbored and I was upset. No one
was cheering, and I got upand started to go nuts, and the
crowd loved it. And the executivefrom the team was like, Hey,
we want you to come back andI was like, what do you want
me to do? And thirty yearslater, I, you know, toured
the world. So I joke withpeople that, you know, when my
high school guidance counselor said to followmy dreams, I listened. So in
(04:34):
that moment, you know, we'veall had that moment, just like in
that video where they hired you tocome to the conference and you yelled out
something like, my god, anotherPowerPoint slide. This is boring, you
know, accurate. We all thinkit. And that's why I call myself
an interactive speaker. I don't comein with PowerPoint tech can fail us,
(04:55):
and I'm playing with the people ina different way, and it is what
is re member. We remember howwe feel. So in that moment when
you first had that urge of likeI gotta jazz this up, I'm sure
some people whipped out phones, somepeople made room for the crazy dude.
You know what came over. Youjust said I'm going for it. This
(05:16):
was thirty years ago at a hockeygame where there was no video cameras,
there's no video boards. There wasjust like, oh, all I have
is fifteen seconds of footage. ButI think it's like two things one is
you look at like that was thirtyyears ago. Why does it still work?
Because we all want that human connection, right, I mean more than
ever. And I think it workedbecause I had this actual feeling in my
(05:39):
gut that I need I need todo something right. And we've all been
to the event, the wedding,the corporate event, the birthday party where
you're like, who's going to doit? Right? Is it you?
And then you're like, when youdo it, the crowd celebrates you.
Right, They're like, oh,thank you for being the person that took
the chance, thank you for changingthe energy. Right. And I think
(06:00):
that, you know, in thisworld, people are celebrated that do that,
and I think they should be,you know, and I think that
we're so worried about what everyone elsethinks. It's very cliche to say that,
but it's true, right and theend of the day, I you
know, in a lot of mytalks, I talk about how when you
do get up, when you dotake the chance, the crowd wherever that
looks like for you, not justtalking at a stadium, but we'll cheer
(06:24):
you on and support you. Givethem a reason to cheer for you,
right, And you know, wecan join in and cheer, or we
can be just shy and introverted inthe moment and just enjoy watching both.
That's it. I mean, II think that I wouldn't have a career
if there were people that were justenjoyed watching too. Right, gotta have
an audience to be a performer.You've got to have an audience. But
(06:46):
one thing I wanted to ask youreal quick is you just said you do
interactive speaking, But like, soI ask you know, speaking agents and
all that stuff, like why docompanies still go with safe? I'm not
saying they always do, but whybecause prediction ble is going to match our
policy manual, it's going to matchthe people who are paying them, who
(07:06):
say it has to be in thismaybe not a box but a nice oval.
And we have to be predictable andsafe because gosh forbid we do anything
a little bit shaky up, LikeI never swear when I'm on a corporate
stage, but in the day job, I sure drop it. It's they
(07:27):
want to make sure that whoever hiredyou, they want to make sure that
it reflects well on them. Soyeah, they don't lose their job.
There's that. So unfortunately, playingit safe and playing it predictable and making
sure you are on for forty twominutes and not forty three or something like
that is the usual way. Butyou know, and I know our feedback
(07:48):
is, wow, we're still talkingabout that story you shared. We're still
talking about that interactive thing that wedid together. They're not saying that data
point on side three really rocked ourwhole mission statement. What right? I
mean, that's the thing is there'syou know, after a thirty forty however
(08:09):
long those our talks are, it'slike what they can't leave with everything?
But what are those nuggets that youlike? Every audience member is going to
take something different, right, butthey're going to take away the nugget because
they remembered you, remember you.How can they take away your nugget?
Yeah, that's right. And Ithink that that's why teams bring me in
(08:30):
in the sports world, because you'regoing to go to a game on a
Wednesday night in I don't know,Minnesota against the team and it's not you
know, it's not the weekend.So we need to add value to the
fans, our customers experience so thatthey can remember that, oh wow,
that was so much fun. Soto pay me or other entertainers or whatever
(08:52):
that might be, is the rightbusiness model right to add to that expand
audience experience. What about a timeit didn't go so well? Which time
I mean the eight hospital visits atthe sporting events or this is what I
want to hear, Cameron. Imean, yeah, I mean I performed
(09:13):
once at a hockey game and Ifell down the stairs and everyone thought I
was part of a bit and Iwas like, this is not a bit
and I still feel my ankle.That was like fifteen years ago when I
came back in the second period oncrutches and I got the crowd going and
they still paid me, So thatwas good. Where did you get crutches?
The trainer was like, your,well, go out and go.
(09:33):
You know, these ice ice myfoot and you know, I've sprained my
knee, I've been dehydrated, I'veyou know, I think in the speaking
world, I've probably you know,moments where you get I do a dance
contest if the time and spirit permits, and I've had like people that just
(09:54):
like were uncontrollable in the room.But it works because it's funny. But
right, it's like you said,it's not predictable, but they sure as
heck. Remember, you know,I can't remember their names. But these
two people like, you know,just going on their own and just not
stopping, you know what I mean. And you're like, well, was
(10:18):
that an issue? No, actually, it was kind of part of my
message. Right Yet, you bringup this great point of in the comedic
stand up world right now, thebig blow up is those who are,
especially TikTok famous for playing with thecrowd. So I'm an improv ninja and
I've I've played with crowds for overtwo decades, but I'm not doing true
(10:43):
stand up. I'm doing improv,which I need the audience ideas to create
a sketch in the moment. Somestand up people are now becoming bigger in
the sense of video, famous forplaying with the crowd. Then they can't
stop the crowd. Let's say thenext stand up comes out and they're not
wanting to play with the heckler orhey, are you two dating? They
(11:05):
don't want the interact if they havea standard set, and there's nothing wrong
with that. That's the big dealis, like you said, you couldn't
get the people to stop. That'swhat's going on in the comedic world right
now. They're blaming Matt Rife,of course, and they're saying that's not
my style, and now I haveto follow that or everybody, every audience
thinks that's what I'm here for isfor you to yell something at me.
(11:26):
Yeah, I mean, well weall know as speakers, you don't really
want people to yell until you askthem to, right, that would be
nice, It's like you know,I mean, that would be nice exactly.
But you know, for me,it's like especially at a game when
I'm performing. I'm in Edton performingat the Stanley Cup Finals. I mean,
my whole gig. The reason tobring me in is to provide energy.
And what does energy look like,right? I mean energy looks like
(11:50):
standing up, yelling, cheering,dancing, you know, swirling t shirts,
ripping off your jersey. Whatever.That looks like. The has given
them extra permission. We're at theat a high level of competition, if
the stakes are high, so theybring me in to go, let's just
push it right, so they wantit. They want it even more on
(12:11):
the corporate stage. I mean,we we all know that there's a there's
a balance, there's a line there'san edge, right, and and I
I I know because I I dobelieve I have a bit an edge,
But I also know that there's aline that you have to get to and
then not push. And I thinkthat's the that's when you get asked bat
(12:35):
right, or that is a fantasticroll up. Yes, that's how you
get asked back. That is thebig deal. You can go out there
and just do the thing. Butyeah, you know, I think you
did a ted X and it wasfantastic and people need to you know.
I'll certainly be dropping those links.But it's it's great that you did your
stick because I've done a few andI was told and I was, I
(12:58):
was yelling at you yours. Iwas told I couldn't play with the audience
because I had that in my teTeX. My last one was last fall,
latest one. Of course, Icould do more, and I had some
impromit moments and they said, no, we can't, we cannot do that.
But I know with yours, theyknew ahead of time and they had
the cameras set, so they toldme it's because there wouldn't be microphones that
(13:22):
way, there wouldn't be camera set. I was like, so'll set them,
so'll do it. I'm kind ofwell, I want to play.
You bring up a good point oflike why are you bringing you in in
the first place. The organizers ofthe tet X I did you know,
they didn't give me a lot ofwarning. They saw a video of mine
and said, we need your energyat our event. We need something different,
(13:43):
we need to push it. Sothey oh, he was asked to
be there. He didn't have toapply. I get it. Okay,
Oh, I don't know what isthat? What does apply mean? I've
never applied for a job. Comeon this American word, because I've never
because I've never been qualified to doanything. But it was amazing because on
the first initial zoom talk with theten X organizers, they were like,
(14:05):
yeah, we want you to interruptthe host. And I had five weeks
to prepare. I was in themiddle of the crazy time. And as
soon as they said that, Iwas like, I'm in. You get
me. Oh that's perfect. You'relike, oh that yeah, I'm there
man. But also, but thebiggest, one of my biggest takeaways in
my world is set me. Setyou up for success, right, Yeah,
(14:26):
So if you're coming to do atalk about improvisation and comedy and letting
go. Well, then you needto write like whatever stage that is.
I mean, that's that's why I'vehad these back and forth with vps and
HR people who were like, Oh, I don't think our CEO, you
know, Jennifer or Bob or Larrywhoever it is, or VP or I
(14:48):
don't think they're going to want todo the interruption camera. And then you
get there on the rehearsal and youbring it up and they're like, oh,
what a great idea. The HRpeople were protecting the energy. Yes,
when when all that leader wants isto shake up the energy. Why
that conference in Palm Desert to changethe energy of your team and your culture.
(15:11):
Yes, go right to the goright up to your camera right now
and talk to Bob the corporate guy, and tell why they meet us.
Bob, Bob, come on.You know it's that that fear factor and
you see the people on the sideof the stage who brought you in and
and and in that moment of likethat tension the tension is is the magic
mm hmmm, because the tension iswhat you know, John and Julie leave
(15:33):
that conference feeling ah, they didsomething different for us. They wanted to
celebrate us more by bringing in youknow, people like us or you know
that that do something a little different. They aren't gonna just be show slides
or I win an Olympic medal like, no disrespect to any any speaker,
that's not my point. Correct,No, just because their losers doesn't mean
(15:54):
we're gonna pass shade on them.But truly, but truly, it's when
they feel something together, we experienceit together. So we see Cameron get
up and boogie and shake up theconference. At that next break, I
am more likely to speak to someoneI normally wouldn't because we're standing together,
(16:15):
and I'm going to say that washilarious. I didn't see that coming.
And that new person is going tosay to me, right, I think
I've seen him on the youtubes orwhatever. Now I'm talking to somebody I
haven't talked to before. That isa connection you cannot get through data and
slides and graphs. Yeah, thatis when we actually communicate as a team
on a different level. And nowwe have a new interaction. I'm always
(16:38):
gonna remember Bob, Julian Steve.I believe it was because we were there
together, and I might see themat the store the next day. Hey,
we were at that conference together.I normally wouldn't because we didn't have
that light moment where we all connectedon the same level. Yeah. And
I think on that note is youcan't like everyone's so worried about ROI,
Like, if I hire what's them? Well, your ROI is making people
(17:02):
feel pretty good about their life andtheir energy and their spirit. And if
you do that, I think weknow what the ROI is. You're going
to come and you're going to beperformed better. And I did a talk
recently where a guy came up tome and I asked the audience who they're
cheering for. At the end,I challenged them, and he came up
to me and he said, Iwas planning to get in my car and
drive three hours back home, butmy grandmother lives half an hour away,
(17:22):
so I'm going to go surprise herbecause of you. And I said,
not because of me, because youopen your heart. That's up to you.
I suggested it, and I toldthe VP who hired me that story,
and he was on the virgin teersbecause that makes his team better people,
makes us all right. I meanThat's what my challenge is to every
audience. It's opened your heart abit more. That's it, you know.
(17:45):
And I think that that's when wecelebrate the human spirit more. And
that's isn't that the goal? Yes? And it's again evoking a feeling and
not making you compare yourselves to thenext person at the same table. It's
a feeling of realness and humanness andconnection. That is beautiful. Give me
(18:10):
the quick list of all the thingsyou've done, because I've got some written
down. The sports. We've gottwo thousand events just about something like that.
Sixteen hundred and four. I madeup the four I've done four in
the last two weeks. I've doneevents in ten countries. Sporting events,
two Olympics, eight US Open,tennis, five NBA finals. You know,
(18:33):
one thing I'm proud of is I'vespoken to four or five hundred thousand
high school kids at one point whenin my late twenties early thirties. That
was I just toured and did schoolsand it was amazing. Done a lot
of cool company events, hosted aTV show. I was a guest host
on Katie Kirk. Can you believethat, Katie? No, that's great.
See her. We did a bunchof segments together. And the rumors
(18:56):
of her and I are not true. I don't care to anyone says don't
give up. Keep them on.She's married, she's she's awesome. We
had a lot of fun sounds andtravel shows and hosting and went to Hollywood
and tried to make it and upsand downs and it hits and misses,
some commercials, some commercials. AndI wrote a book, and yeah,
let's talk about the book. Wherecan we find that? We can find
(19:18):
it in dumpsters across the on wecan find it online at Cameron Hughes dot
TV on Amazon. I'm really proudof it. Despite that, I you
know, and I'm not sure whatwas harder launching it during COVID or writing
it, but yeah, I did. Books are different now, the whole
process is all different. Everybody's thebest seller because I got a hundred of
(19:40):
my friends to click like at thesame hour. But sorry to interrupt you,
no, don't do it. Whydo people do that? It's a
lame. You're not you're not aboutseller. You're not in the airport shop.
So that does not that doesn't count. But I did once go to
an Airport shop with my book andput it beside the is Michelle Obama,
(20:00):
maybe Malcolm Gladwell, and I putmine and I joke. I took a
picture and I tweeted it out andsaid you follow your dreams, kids,
and then I wrote something like inbrackets like sort of sarcastic to point out
it was a joke, but peoplethought it was real, and I was
like, oh, lot them,that's on you, baby. Yeah.
But the book is called King ofCheer Stories of Showing Up. Great title.
(20:26):
Yeah, I mean I think that, you know, I've talked to
a lot of young people, youknow, that are starting out, and
I just keep that's all I say, Like, show up at the cocktail
parties, show up at the networkingevents, show up at the show up,
show up, show up. Andmy life is a series of events
of showing up that led to this, led to that led to this.
And people think it's like some magicalthing, and yeah it is. It's
(20:48):
it's commitment to doing it, andit's showing up with a smile and a
good attitude as well. But that'sso it starts getting your you know,
it does. It's not that complicatedin that sense in a sense, but
it's also a choice. You arechoosing, so make that choice. Life
is so short. Yeah, chooseto show up and give it everything you
(21:08):
have and then the opportunities will flow. And that's my career. It's a
series of connecting the dots that someonesaw me here and the next thing I
know, I do a Ted Talkand Prague. I get hired to do
sixty days in Prague this past yearand someone sees me there and brings me
here like it's like fantastic. Imean, that's great. All right,
(21:32):
you're in Canada, I'm in Minnesota. Let's let's choose some words to say
about about Hoser Hoser howser boat.It's syrup and caramel. It is not
syrup caramel. Caramel. Caramel likea camel, but it's a caramel.
(21:57):
That okay, Krispy Crunch, hearthat is? I don't sounds like a
cereal. It's a chocolate bar,a delicatessen. I want one Tim Morton's.
Oh is that a restaurant. It'sa coffee shop named after a hockey
player. Oh do you have thequick trips? Quick trip? No,
(22:21):
we have the timbits little tiny donuts. Oh, quick trip it's a gas
station. I don't know who cameup with it, but I hope they
got promoted. And before I askyou to share a deer or a prank
story, should we maybe have acheering kind of dance for the people who
watch on video. If you havea should watch you dance? Well?
(22:47):
I wrote an old Lady White rapfor you since I can't buy music,
so I thought I could lay downthe beat and uh, all right,
let's see. Oh this is real, this is happening, this is amazing.
Okay, And by the way,I can't play it. And as
soon as my husband here says he'sgonna burst in because he hates it.
So hopefully, Hey, hey,have you heard the news? Get on
(23:12):
your feet with Cameron Hughes. Yeah, you gonna shake off those blues,
joined the king up. Cheer CameronHughes, big fish. Did he come?
Yeah? He did? You obviouslynever want him to ever be on
(23:33):
your show again. Sorry, hedoesn't know us, Cameron not sorry,
Thank you for that. Can Itell you a quick story, would you
please? I did at a corporateevent and I asked for a volunteer and
there was three hundred and fifty peoplenobody put up their hands. It was
sixty five percent women. Finally thiswoman put up her hand. She gets
(23:56):
up and I got her dancing infront of the whole room, gave her
T shirts and she tore them around, got the whole crowd going, and
I asked her at the end ona mic I said, how did that
feel? She goes awful and thenshe's like and so amazing, And I
go, why'd you do it?Because because I've always wanted to. I
love that? And two years agoshe hired me a keynote at her company.
(24:18):
Hell yeah, dance again? No, I sure as heck did.
Yes. The the hashtag at theconference became dance like Michelle, the point
being. The point being is backto you doing your your quote unquote fun
silly little rap. It's silly,it's fun, it's life. Michelle got
up and took a chance. Yes, she wanted that energy, and the
(24:41):
crowd gave it to her and celebratedher. Yes, her life. She
said it changed her life, andI'm like, I didn't change your life.
You did by saying yes to it. A choice again, back to
the choice, because you are You'readrenaline goes up, You're releasing all the
good natural serotone and in all thethings. It's such a buzz. It's
affordable, it's legal, do thethings, dance with Cameron, dance for
(25:04):
Cameron, write stupid raps for Cameron. Do it? Has anyone ever written
you a little rap before? It'saffordable and legal? I love that.
No, I don't think so.I've had some kids like write some cool
little poems for me, but nota rap. So thank you. It's
an old ladies love you. I'llbe talking about in my journal today.
So thank you. Ooh I madehis journal. Well, please share with
(25:29):
me if you've ever had a dareor a prank that you've done or had
done to you, or you haveone of those legendary tales. That's how
I wrap up every episode. Ilove that question. When I was at
university, my roommate was playing footballfor the team and it was a small
liberal arts college but a couple thousandpeople, and he said, Cam,
(25:49):
the week before the games are reallyboring, you need to do something.
And he kind of dared me.He's like, I'm like, what do
you want me to do? Hegoes, I don't know, just I
dare you to do something, soI thought about it all week, and
then on the Friday, I wentto the local grocery store. I bought
a watermelon from my massive head,and grocery store guy was like what.
I went back to my apartment.I got a purple cape, purple paint
(26:14):
signs with Dean of Fence painted inmy face. My body wore the cape
and I became known as melon Headat university for five years, and that
gave me the tools of learning howto work a crowd, learning how to
listen to a crowd, having theconfidence to get up in front of the
crowd. Yes, I was wearinga watermelon and a cape and purple paint.
Eventually I took that off and justbecame me. That's the difference.
(26:38):
And when we are on a stage, we can pretend to be Melonhead,
we can pretend to be somebody else. Michelle was brave enough to say,
I'm just going to be the dancingGale. I'm just going to put away
ego and worry and concern, andit changed her life. And everybody needs
to read King of Cheer and findCameron Hughes all over social media. Very
(26:59):
easy to find you. And Iam honored to have chatted with you,
even though you talk funnier than Minnesotan'sCameron Hughes. Thank you, and remember
we can only be strangers once,and I invite you to stay weird if
you can. I'm in, I'mlocked and loaded. Borderline illegal, legal,
legal. Thank you. I loveyour spirit. This has been Stranger
(27:22):
Connections with Lisa David Olson
Popular Podcasts
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com