Meet Alex Cunningham

We were lucky to catch up with Alex Cunningham recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Alex , you’ve got such an interesting story, but before we jump into that, let’s first talk about a topic near and dear to us – generosity. We think success, happiness and wellbeing depends on authentic generosity and empathy and so we’d love to hear about how you become such a generous person – where do you think your generosity comes from?

My dad, for sure. I got to see my dad be such a great person. It didn’t matter what you needed, he would help you. The was the type of person that always stopped to help the car that’s broken down on the side of the road. I try to be that person for people. I have always tried to help people even if it means putting myself out, because I saw my dad do that time and time again. Sure, I’ve been taken advantage of; but at the end of the day, I’d rather know that I didn’t let one bad experience keep me from helping someone that truly needed it.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I’m a standup comedian. Or at least I pretend to be. Really, I’m just an entertainer in a way. Although anytime you use that phrase people assume you pop out of oversized birthday cakes in a thong at an 80 year olds birthday party.

But being a comedian has changed over the years. It’s not just doing shows in clubs hoping to get booked for a movie or TV show. Now we are also content creators. I make shorts and reels for my channels to help grow my audience and spread a little bit of laughter in all the craziness of today’s world.

I’ve said it time and time again; we all have something we are dealing with in life, and if my goofy videos or my set on stage can distract from the pressure of someone’s everyday, it’s worth it to me. I’ve always been a firm believer in helping people and this feels like my way of giving back. While it’s not a physical thing, I thinking giving back some positivity is very important.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Oh, that’s a great question! I didn’t realize it at the time, but when I was young, going back to childhood, I was always talking. Getting in trouble in school for always talking. I was learning communication. I was learning how to talk to people in a way that they understood. I think that’s a skill we are losing as a society. People do not verbally communicate as much because they are too busy texting. I was very lucky to not have that as a kid. But that alone wasn’t enough.

I also learned very young that no one is going to do it for you. If you want something, you have to go out and get it. And I’m not saying people won’t help along the way, because trust me, I have received so much help in this journey of life from some really amazing people, but what I mean is, going out there and making it happen. My wife has been a huge supporter in my life, she pushes me to work hard every day. But support can only go so far, you have to put in the work for yourself.

Lastly, I’m not a good researcher. I can’t read very well. I’m more of a doer, figure it out along the way, type of person. I tend to just jump in head first. I think that’s gotten me pretty far in life. I like hands on experience. Any time I’ve tried to “get prepared” for something, I tend to never feel ready and 9/10 times, I just don’t start. So just jumping in blind and hoping for the best has worked for me. I do have to admit I have a pretty good problem solving way of thinking and maybe that helps.

So if you simplify it: Communication, work ethic, and problem solving are the skills I’d work on if you’re trying to get into this industry.

What would you advise – going all in on your strengths or investing on areas where you aren’t as strong to be more well-rounded?

I like the idea of playing to your strengths, but in the back of my head I hear a voice saying “work the weak muscle.” I love doing what is fun and easy. But that’s not where growth happens. Growth happens when things are hard. That’s when you really find out who you are as a person.

As a comic, I’d love to just do crowd work all the time because I’m good at it. But when I find myself falling into that groove, I see how my writing really begins to struggle. I’m not a great writer, but that’s what matters, being well rounded. Knowing how to jump from pre written jokes into crowd work and back is so important. I’ve been in rooms that want ‘jokes’ then other rooms want to feel like they are part of the show. Having the tools to figure that out and give them what they want is important in my opinion.

So absolutely, work on that you’re not good at. Be the best version of whatever it is you’re trying to be

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Realalexcunningham.com
• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/Therealalexcunningham
• Facebook: https://Facebook.com/therealalexcunningham
• Youtube: https://YouTube.com/@therealalexcunningham
• Other: https://TikTok.com/realalexcunningham