Frank King – How Comedy saved him, and now others

Candy Puterbaugh

 

They say laughter is the best medicine.

For Frank King, it not only saved his life, but eventually, many others.

 

Captivating audiences comes naturally to Frank. He takes the stage — a lanky, warm, late-60s guy — with a honeyed drawl and easygoing way. His wisdom wraps you like a hug one. moment and shocks you the next — all laced with a staccato comedy that keeps you laughing.

 

The path to his success was paved with misfortune and humor. At age four, Frank learned his family was hard-wired for suicide when he and his mother found his great aunt’s body.

 

Telling his first joke in fourth grade, he found he was wired for humor as well. The kids laughed and his teacher was hysterical, saying he should be a comedian.

 

Eventually, he did just that. After having considered killing himself many times over the years, today he is stronger than ever, and in demand as a comedian and suicide prevention speaker. With 13 TEDx Talks to his credit, Frank turned his personal battles with depression and suicide into a mission to save lives through humor and storytelling — passing on a spark of life to others facing those same fights.

 

“I try to bring not only ‘haha’ but ‘aha’ moments to my listeners,” he says. “My own came in January 1984 with my first suicidal thought. I was selling insurance, hated it, and married to a woman who didn’t like my idea of becoming a comedian. I was miserable.

I thought, ‘I could kill myself.’”

 

Instead, he sought a divorce and quit his job. “My first open-mic night was April 1st, and I heard a voice in my head say, ‘You’re home.’”

 

That kicked off 2,629 consecutive shows on the road. He pondered becoming an actor, but chose instead to write, direct, produce, and perform his own stand-up show, fulfilling his dream of making a living through comedy while also making a difference. Now he flies coast to coast telling his story and bringing comedy and compassion to those who need

it most.

 

“I’m a comedian in every fiber of my brain,” he says. “The way I’m wired is a gift. I process things differently. I can turn something funny in a flash. When heckled, I can fire back instantly. I think of it as a super power!”

 

“My new wife, Wendy, came along for my ride as a comic, and loved it,” Franks says. “I’ve worked with many well-known comedians, including writing jokes for 20 years for Jay Leno’s The Tonight Show.”

 

His sonorous voice won him work in radio, his writing brought awards as a syndicated humor columnist. Later, he took his comedy routine to cruise ships and corporations.

 

Despite his success, his demons lingered. In 2010 he went bankrupt and again came close to ending his life: “I can tell you what the barrel of a gun tastes like.”

 

Fortunately, he persevered. Four years later he began speaking on suicide prevention. His TEDx Talks include the viral, “A Matter of Laugh or Death.”  His presentations — tailored to high-risk professions like healthcare, dentistry, construction, and law — offer Continuing Education (CE) credits.

 

“It’s not only therapeutic for others, but for me,” he says. “My goal is to save a life a day. One person dies by suicide every nine minutes in our country. Most people don’t want to kill themselves — they just want to end the pain. My job is to talk about my mental illness and suicide. Comedy is the art of connection. My being vulnerable gives people permission to share.”

 

Displaying his phone number onscreen during talks, Frank asks the audience to call a hotline if they’re suicidal, or him if they’re having a bad day. After speaking, he engages with audience members, hearing their stories. One man’s daughter died in his arms, and he was close to jumping off a roof. After hearing Frank, he got help. A woman he’d met on a plane emailed later, thanking Frank for advising her to do what she loved for a living. A recruit at an army base where Frank had appeared admitted having suicidal thoughts to an officer — because Frank had said: “Tell someone.”

 

Like his dad, Frank had a heart attack, though he survived. He’s had two aortic valve replacements. Opening his heart to others — and strengthening it — he began bodybuilding. He’s currently training for his seventh competition. He routinely walks or “rucks,” wearing

a 96-pound vest.

 

Frank and Wendy live in her family home in Springfield, hoping to buy a hobby farm with room for more animals than their current pack of rescues: six cats and two special-needs German Shepherds.

 

On stage and off, Frank wants to share his message with others: “Where there is humor, there is hope. Where there is laughter, there is life. Nobody dies laughing.”

 

 

Candy Puterbaugh is a wife, mother, grandmother, sister, groan-inducing punster, writer, competitive runner, pet lover, and tender of gardens.