Rainn Wilson's ‘Quest To Be Happier” And The Power Of Comedy

Hey, everybody, I'm Diane Brady. I'm backstage at the under 30 summit in Cleveland with Rainn Wilson.

I'm not under 30, Dwight.

No, you're not. You're not under 30, but you are the. I'm not going to say elder statesman. You are the guy who's here to convey excellence and intelligence.

I like elder statesman. I would go with elder statesman.

Okay, can we say the.

Can we say the under 60 conference, then? I'll get right in.

The under 60. This is the under 60 portion of the under 30 event. And in addition to being an elder statesman, you're also an actor and author. Anything else you want to add you don't like?

I'm a philanthropist and activist.

Philanthropist and activist. And we already. I. It's funny. You want.

I'm a 4.0 USTA tennis player.

Is that good?

Yeah.

Formerly 14.

No, now. Right now.

Okay, good.

Yeah. I play in leagues. I play tennis in leagues. Yeah.

We can discuss that if there's time, if you want, but I think we should start. You know, when I was.

I'm here to talk about my tennis game. I don't want to talk about entrepreneurship and social change and spirituality and big ideas.

What was your favorite? No, I. You know, what I want to talk about was you talk about this correlation between humor and pain, and I think about John Cleese, and he said when he did therapy, he stopped being funny and he was worried about his career. Do you ever think about that? Are you as funny as you are now that you're further along in your spiritual journey?

I was deep into therapy while playing Dwight and doing some other comic roles like the Rocker and Cooties and the show mom, et cetera. So hopefully people still find me funny. But, yeah, it's. It's a. It's interesting. You know, Arthur Brooks, in his new book, talks about it a lot, and there's an issue.

Mr. Happiness. That's how I think of Arthur Brooks.

Mr. Happiness.

The Harvard guy.

Yeah. Yeah. And. But there's a counteractive property to humor and trauma. So if you're in pain, depression, and trauma, if you turn to comedy, it kind of obliterates your. The difficult depressive feelings that you might be having. So as a kid growing up, I had undergone some, you know, depression and anxiety. I didn't have a great home life. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great.

Your mother abandoned you, and you're a toddler abandoned in the jungles of Nicaragua. What else do you want to add? I mean, that sounds pretty good. To me.

How about in the suburbs of Seattle.

Loveless marriage of your dad.

Wow, you did your research. Stalker.

But other than that. Other than that, yeah, Mrs. Whatever. No, go ahead. As you were saying.

Yeah, but this, so yeah, this somewhat traumatized, ennui ridden, you know, kind of lost, anxious kid with a lot of self hatred in the suburbs. I turned to memorizing John Cleese skits.

And Monty Python pre therapy, John Cleese.

Pre therapy, John Cleese and Saturday Night Live sketches. And I found out that I could be pretty funny and a clown and make people laugh. And I just went in that direction because it was a hell of a lot better direction to go in than the other.

If you could go back to that 16 year old kid, what would you say to him? 16 year old. You the one who's like full of the pain but. But very funny. Class clown. Just keep going, do what you're doing.

Yeah, I think, I think that everyone, unless you're kind of a weird narcissist, everyone, but you're not a little bit I am. But unless you are, people have a limited idea of their capacity, a far more limited self definition. And I would say, like the idea to me at 16 that I would have written three books and started a media company and be talking at lectures like this as well as starring in, in things like would have been just beyond my wildest dreams. I just wanted to like maybe play some goofy roles on a community theater, you know, and be in, I don't know, you know, Oklahoma or something and get a little paycheck of $273. That's kind of how I viewed myself. So I think that, you know, I would have said that to myself and I would say that to any young person. Like be careful of limiting yourself with your own constraints that you've built up inside your head.

Would you say you're happy now? How do you define it?

So happiness is not something that you achieve? I am happier and I'm on the quest to be happier. So in aggregate there is a great deal of joy. There's also suffering difficulty and setbacks, some anxiety and some depression along the way. And that's natural. So I think this is a common misconception as one like achieves happiness and it's just like you're in this kind of like blissed out state all the time. But I've learned some things that make my life better. Like for instance, this morning I wanted to sit around and watch the war in Israel on the cnn, but instead I went down to the gym and it was a very light workout, but I need to be in my body and that reduces my anxiety and gives me focus. And so I am happier by 1% by having done that. So if you live your life by just making little choices that make you happier, then the aggregate is greater well being.

You know, we don't talk about faith a lot because it's almost a verboten subject, but you talk a lot about being part of the Baha' I faith, which is also. That's what you grew up in, Right? That was almost the disconnect there. I feel like I am stalking you. It's called Google. But what's the role of that in your life now?

The Baha' I faith is the most important thing in my life. Yeah.

And it wasn't when you. So how did. When you. I know we can't synthesize a whole book in the space of 30 seconds, but when you think about the journey of what it means to you, just talk a bit about that. Because I feel like we don't get the opportunity to really talk about the role faith plays in our lives.

That's a great question, and thank you very much for asking it because you're 100% right. Especially in the more secular, materialist, kind of blue state, coastal America, faith is almost a dirty word. And rediscovering my faith, reading the great holy texts of the world, being on a spiritual journey and on a spiritual path helped me so much personally, but also expanded my vision and my capacity was raised and it helped give my life kind of meaning and focus. And so every morning I, you know, I turn, I pray to God, I meditate, I connect with my higher power. And I think that this helps give me resilience and like I said, focus and meaning. So it's super, super important to me. And I think that contemporary society, I say in my book Soul Boom, I say, we've thrown the spiritual baby out with the religious bathwater. You know, we've rejected religion sometimes for a very good reason, like, oh, they're corrupt and they're hypocrit and they're judgmental and that's all good. But what have we lost by jettisoning religion? And there are some spiritual tools and spiritual kind of community based transcendence that can be found through a religious and spiritual practice. I don't want to separate religion and spirituality, but they're both important in their way.

What about comedy as a tool now? Because that was a tool for you, right?

Yeah. Comedy is a mental health tool. That's why so many comedians are so screwed up. They went to it as a survival mechanism. It's a way of seeing the world. If they weren't able to see the world through some skewed lens, they might be dead. A lot of the comedians that are.

Working today, what is it for you at this point? It's just part of who you are, I guess.

Yeah, I just. I'm just a weird kid with a big head from suburban Seattle. And, you know, I have a weird way of seeing the world, and I've been really lucky to play some great comedic roles. And it's part of who I am. It always will be.

Long live weird. Thanks for joining us.

Yeah, thanks for having me. What a delight speaking with you.

Thank you.