Elliott Morgan, comedian and Ph.D. candidate in depth psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute, joins us to explore humor and psyche. Elliott grew up a fundamentalist Christian in central Florida and has gone from practicing holy laughter to creating HOLY SH*T, his comedy special on Amazon (also featuring Jung’s debut on the comedic stage). Elliott’s college major, zoology, prepared him to play Goofy at Disney World and Big Bird on Hollywood Blvd.
A recovering Nice Person, Elliott draws on life experiences, relentlessly engages shadow, and uses laughter to turn suffering into soul-making. Hitting rock bottom led to the choice not to fall back into old patterns but to fall forward; Elliott’s new life features avocado toast and other radical practices. Jung, quoting Schopenhauer, said, “A sense of humor is the only divine quality of man,” and Elliott’s storytelling and self-disclosure define the alchemy of fellowship, insight, and human spirit. Elliott’s podcasts, The Valley cast, and The Fundamentalists are additional paths to laughter and transcendence (see YouTube.com/ElliottMorgan). Elliott will perform live in Washington State at the Spokane Comedy Club on June 23 and at the Tacoma Comedy Club on June 24.
Here’s the dream we analyze:
“I am taking a ballet class in a room in a famous building in NYC. The room is shaped like my old apartment in Brooklyn. The building is by the water and there are windows but no good views. It’s dark, rainy, and storming outside. The class becomes full and crowded, too crowded to really dance. I feel content, I feel like I’m home. The room is dark. I can’t make out anyone’s faces, including my ballet teacher’s face. Soon the rain starts to seep into the room. The floors are getting wet. It seems like the room is caving in and I am scared that the old building is falling over from the rain. I worry that the floors are getting ruined with the rain but my ballet teacher doesn’t seem worried. We all leave the room. I am worried we are running out of time and the building will collapse. No one else seems scared. There are two exits: the elevator or the stairs. The elevator looks dangerous because the rain is seeping in and the elevator runs on electricity. The stairwell shows that we are on the 43 or 44th floor of the building. The stairs are flooded and look slippery. But I think the stairs are safer than taking the elevator.”
REFERENCES:
Lionel Corbett. The Soul in Anguish: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1630512354/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_327G0WXK2XAQ3PR7T8BZ
Marie Louise von Franz. The Way of the Dream: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1570620369/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_3ER74ZQBZVA0SPF5NP7Z
Edward Edinger. Anatomy of the Psyche: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0812690095/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_3G82X1F9B7T6V09Y3VM3
Peter Berger. A Rumor of Angels: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004X36R9I/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_9ANFMBF7V8039FY3AAT1
Peter Rollins. Divine Magician, Insurrection: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1451609043/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_488Z4WREDGR4C4D9XMSJ
RESOURCES:
Learn to Analyze your own Dreams: https://thisjungianlife.com/enroll/
On Jung and humor — in one of his writings, I don’t remember which volume or essay, Jung recalled the cook in his parents’ home referring to the chicken whose neck the cook just broke in preparation for the pot. Jung wrote the cook came in to the kitchen stating the chicken died like a Christian. That is one of the funniest statements I have ever considered — it is so absurd — funnier still when I am reminded that Jung’s father was a pastor. I read that passage many years ago — to this day I cannot see a chicken and not laugh.