How the Phillie Phanatic Saved My Life | Dave Raymond | Ep 097

🗣️ In 1978, Dave Raymond became the FIRST person to ever wear the Phillie Phanatic costume. He had no training, no acting experience, and his only direction? "Go have fun. G-rated fun."

For 16 years, he brought joy to millions. He danced with nuns. He handed babies to strangers. He knocked over ground crews. He made the Phanatic an icon.

But behind the mask, his life was falling apart.

When tragedy struck, Dave told the Phillies he had to quit. But during his final appearances, something unexpected happened:

"When I got out of the costume, I felt a tick better."

The Phanatic saved his life.

Key insights:
🗣️ His deaf mom taught him physical comedy - becoming his greatest gift when he needed it most
🗣️ "Go have fun" was his only direction - he made it up as he went
🗣️ The fanatic puts the FUN in funerals - powerful fun works everywhere
🗣️ Philadelphia fans threw snowballs at Santa because "Santa sucked that day"
🗣️ He handed babies to strangers for laughs (yes, really)
🗣️ Vodka + water = the secret to cleaning mascot costumes
🗣️ When you're in crisis, your brain tells you things feel "legitimate" that aren't
🗣️ A 17-year-old girl told him she was thinking about ending her life - after hearing his story, she changed her mind

POWERFUL FUN methodology:
🗣️ F = Force (Fun isn't just for break time - it's a tool everywhere)
🗣️ U = Universal (It works at funerals, hospitals, layoffs - anywhere)
🗣️ N = No (Learning to overcome the "fun killers" who say "don't do that")

🎥  Check out this episode on Youtube for photos and videos of Dave in action! https://youtu.be/fj_mmB4pE0Q?si=rtkAT6AvY32ci9ll

Resources: 

Website: DaveRaymondSpeaks.com - https://daveraymondspeaks.com/ 

Book: "The Power of Fun" - https://daveraymondspeaks.com/the-book/

Chapters:
[00:00] Introduction & Hosts Preview
[02:15] Growing Up with Tubby Raymond
[04:19] Becoming the First Phillie Phanatic
[06:08] Meeting the Muppet People
[07:23] First Day: "Go Have Fun"
[10:18] Creating the Ground Crew Routine
[13:50] Dancing with Nuns from "Nunsense"
[16:10] Why Mascots Matter
[19:24] Vodka Spray Cleaning Trick
[22:34] The Baby Story
[25:13] How His Deaf Mom Taught Him Physical Comedy
[28:18] When Everything Changed
[32:51] How the Phanatic Saved His Life
[37:15] POWERFUL FUN Explained
[45:37] The Girl Who Needed His Story
[47:32] Writing the Book
[50:47] Why Santa Deserved Those Snowballs
[52:35] Outro

Connect with Gurus and Game Changers: 🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GurusAndGameChangers 📲 Instagram - Stacey: https://www.instagram.com/staceymgrant/ 📲 Instagram - Mark: https://www.instagram.com/mark_lubragge_onair/

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⚠️ This conversation includes frank discussions about loss, grief, and mental health struggles. If you're struggling, please reach out to someone you trust.

Transcript

Stacey - Host (00:02): 

So Mark, I have heard that you do not like baseball. Is that true? 

Mark - Host (00:06):
 That is true. I am an Eagle fan. unAmerican 

Stacey - Host (00:09): UnAmerican. 

Mark - Host (00:10): She's a bit un-American. 

Stacey - Host (00:11): That's 

Mark - Host (00:11): Fair. 

Stacey - Host (00:12):
 Yeah. But I do, I'm sorry I cut you off. 

Mark - Host (00:14): No, no, go ahead. 

Stacey - Host (00:15): No, you're little sensitive. 

Mark - Host (00:16):
 I we're about to agree on something. 

Stacey - Host (00:18):
 However, I do love baseball and one of my favorite parts of baseball is watching the Philly fanatic 

because I'm, 

Mark - Host (00:24):
 That's what I was going to say. 

Stacey - Host (00:24):
 I'm Philadelphia fan. Run around in the antics. So I was so excited when I learned that today's guest, 

Mark - Host (00:30): Today's guest studio, 

Stacey - Host (00:30): 

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Mark - Host (00:33): 

Yes. And then he went on to create mascots for over a hundred other franchises, and he trains the people that are going to be the mascots for those franchises. And he understands more than anyone else the power that fun has in you having a wonderfully happy, joyful, productive life. 

Stacey - Host (00:50):
 He does have a caveat, dark story that he's going to tell us about hopefully. So I'm really, really excited to 

talk to Dave Raymond 

Mark - Host (00:56):
 Behind the Mask kind of thing at some level, but it all ends well. So let's get to it. 

Stacey - Host (01:06): Hi, I'm 

Mark - Host (01:06):
 Stacey, and I am Mark. And this is the gurus at Game Changers podcast. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (01:13): 

Dave, welcome to the show, buddy. Oh, thanks, mark. Stacy, it's wonderful. We were just talking about how great it is to be live and folks who consume podcasts. I think they enjoy seeing the people in the room as opposed to panels on Zoom. So thank you for inviting me and suggesting live would be better. I we love having you here, and I have to apologize to everybody. They hear my voice. Just so that I was in Los Angeles just a few days ago, and that's when the Phillies clinched the National League Eastern Division. I screamed my lungs out. It's only been a few days since then, so I apologize. I may clear my throat occasionally, but it's all because I'm a passionate Phils, it was totally worth kind 

Stacey - Host (01:50):
 Of raspy, sexy. We we're here for it's, 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (01:53): Let's go with that. 

Stacey - Host (01:54): 

Let's go with that. But being in person, I didn't even know what to wear today. I didn't know whether to wear Phillies red or University of Delaware Blue he stuff because Blue, yeah, blue hen through and through that was going to come up. 

Mark - Host (02:05): What's going to come up? 

Stacey - Host (02:06):
 What do I do? So I mean, I do have to kind of mention that you grew up with Tubby Raymond, who is a 

legend at University of Delaware. How did that apply to where you ended up? 

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Well, he would probably be the one if people were thinking about it would be the last one to suggest, go be a furry Muppet for your career. I could imagine. And truly he did not. However, 

(02:30): 

My whole life, I wanted to be him. So from probably five or six years old, all I thought about was Delaware football. I didn't think about Major League baseball players or NFL players. I was just into his players and I was going to all the games. And so I went to school. I got to play football for him in my sophomore year when that dream was coming true, he said, Hey, look, I know you want to be a football coach. I'm happy to help you, but you're a lifeguard in the summer. Why don't I help you get a job with the Phillies? Because he had access. He knew the Carpenter family, and he sent me off and he said, you'll never know who you'll meet or what might happen. And that really did lead to the fanatic. And then when I became the fanatic, he kept telling me, get off that ledge because if you hurt yourself, your mother's never going to forgive me. 

Stacey - Host (03:22):
 You mean when you're standing on the dugout? Yeah. Well, I 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (03:24): 

Was trying to get noticed and I was trying to do things that got me noticed. That was his advice. He thought, well, he's going to kill himself. And then I said, well, they'll never forget me. He was a small guy, and I have his small jeans too, but he frightened 350 pound lineman to death with one comment. So he legend wouldn't be the guy that you would think, but he would go to the fillers games and he would call me and tell me something was funny, and it was just so out of character for him. Of course, my mom was, she loved the Phillies. We went to Phillies games all the time because we knew that the owners got to sit in the owner's box. But then when the fanatic started to grow up, it was part of the Raymonds and the carpenters were together. 

Stacey - Host (04:10): Oh my God. It 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (04:10): Was really a special time. 

Stacey - Host (04:13):
 I follow up. What's the trajectory? So your dad got your job at the Phillies. How did the fanatic get born? 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (04:19): 

It was supposed to be this two year internship starting in 1976. I truly did everything they asked me to do. I was either cleaning toilets, stocking shelves, so I had to go back to school the following year. And the Phillies had not given me an offer. And at that point I said, I don't want to be a football coach because that could be my career. I interned with Eddie Wade, who became general manager for the Phillies. They kept calling me and I didn't want to call 'em back. I thought they were just saying, Hey, we don't have anything for you this summer. Maybe we'll have something for you when you graduate. So I finally called 'em back and the admin there, Chrissy Leggo at the time, who just the craziness of life actually lives in my development now. We've been best friends forever. And she said, I'm going to put Frank on. Frank Sullivan was the head of promotions, and what I want you to do is say no, that's all she said. And she clicked. And then Frank gets on and Frank's, Hey, Hey Dave, how you doing? Listen, do you want to 

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come back this summer? We got a spot for you. And I'm like, what real? I get to come back again. Yes. And Mr. Giles just wants you to do one thing. And I said, okay, what's that? You need to go to New York, get fitted for the costume. 

(05:23): 

And I paused and I said, my dad's voice in my ear, do whatever they ask me to do. Whatever they ask, prove your value, then you'll be valuable. And I'm like, wait, I don't understand. And then Frank said, listen, just go to New York and get fitted for the costume. And I did that. I took the train and 

Stacey - Host (05:42): Was it the costume? 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (05:43): No, it wasn't there. 

Stacey - Host (05:44): I 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (05:44): 

Walked in expecting to see the costume. I didn't know. I hadn't seen the costume, hadn't seen did you? I just went, I did what they told me to do, and I walked out and I realized that I'm meeting the Muppet people because when I walked in, I met Bonnie Erickson through our conversation. She was one of Jim Henson's original designer. She helped create Ms. Piggy, the Statler and Waldorf, the two old men puppets. 

Stacey - Host (06:07): Very cool. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (06:08): 

But I'm nervous now. I'm like, well, I'm going to have to audition. I mean, what are they going to ask me to do? And Bonnie said, just stand up on that riser. And she measured me, or they measured me. And then they said, we're done. It was 20 minutes. And they handed me the design drawing. And I remember going out there, oh my gosh, I'm going to be a Muppet. And then I thought for a second said, no, no, no, no. Hey dad, they're going to pay me to be a Muppet. No, dad was not going to be called. He did not call that. I didn't want him say, no, no, son of mine. I didn't want to do that. So I got on the train and I remember not thinking about our fans. And our fans are the Kleenex brand of bad fans. Right. But I'm a fan, so all that's a bunch of garbage. So never once did I think, gosh, our fans, they're so mean. You mean 

Stacey - Host (06:57): Philadelphia fans? 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (06:59): 

Yeah, the Phillies and Eagles fans, they threw snowballs at Santa Claus once. And I actually was there as a kid in Franklin Field, and guess what? Santa sucked that day. And of course we booed him. And of course we threw snowballs at him because he deserved it. This is a true Philly fan here. And that's exactly right. Mark. I was thinking, this is going to be easy. Are people going to throw snowballs at me? Well, no, because 

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You weren't thinking about that. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (07:23): 

No, I was thinking, I'm a Phillies fan. I know that. And I hadn't thought about the fact that when I first went out, they weren't going to say, oh, that's a Phillies fan. But in my heart was, so I'm thinking, this'll be easy for me, the last step was the costume was delayed. I didn't get to see it until the very morning. I was supposed to wear it the first time. And then I think, wait, I've had no practice. Halloween is like my only experience. I've never acted. I don't know what I'm doing. I wasn't even thinking about acting. And then I started getting nervous, like, well, I'm a Phillies fan, but they're going to see this and maybe they're not going to like this. And that's when Bill Jaws, I met with him and he saw me with this fear in my face, and I said, Hey, look, I'm a little concerned. And he said, I need you to go have fun. And that jacked me up. I said, I'm a college student. I'm a professional idiot. I know how to have fun. 

Mark - Host (08:19): I love it. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (08:19): 

And I went running out of his office and he screamed at me, G-rated fun. So he said, have fun. There are some limits. And Bill, he pushed the limits of what, I mean, some of the stuff with the Hot Pants patrol, which we called them Usherette, would've been a little bit less appropriate in today's world. So he pushed those limits, but he wanted to have something completely wholesome, driven for families. And that's what his initiative with the Fanatic was all about that. 

Mark - Host (08:52): 

I dunno if it was you. I heard somewhere that you said you were a fan, so you were accepted. Was it hip hop? There was somebody who was a mascot for a Philly team that got in hot water. He said, I don't like Philadelphia sports. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (09:07):
 Well, I don't know if hip hop, the first mascot for the Sixers was Big Shot, which was really a good one. 

And the performer, the best friend 

Mark - Host (09:17): Of 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (09:18): 

Big Shot was Joe Kempo. And he was a dj, so he understood music and dance, and he did a really good job. I don't know when hip hop came in, they used to say it looked like a rabbit on crack, and it was a gymnast, bill Roth, all these guys are friends of mine. And he did an amazing physical job, but he did look a little scary. I think the rap against him was, he just looked rabbit, looked very scary. 

Mark - Host (09:46):
 So definitely not one of your creations. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (09:47): 

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No. Well, no. And Pat Cro, she's a good friend of mine, and he asked me to come in and help. And I got 

voted out by the people that were in charge and said, no, we don't want to do soft and furry, 

Mark - Host (09:58): Which 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (09:59):
 That's not what we do. We don't make it. We tell them what they need to do to get it visually to come to 

Stacey - Host (10:05): Shape, and 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (10:07): Then we build that. 

Stacey - Host (10:07):
 And that's kind of what I want to find out too. So you put the costume on for the first time you walk onto 

the field, and what happens and how do you know what to do? 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (10:18):
 Well, the best thing was it's kind of a nebulous direction. Go have fun. 

Speaker 4 (10:25): And 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (10:25): 

I knew that it needed to be G-rated. Well, I had three Stooges, Foghorn, Leghorn, Roadrunner. Those were all my favorite cartoons. Daffy Duck was one of my favorite cartoon characters. And truly, I think he was my first inspiration about I wanted to be frenetic. So I think of Daffy Duck, and you'll see some of the old Daffy Duck cartoons. He comes into a room and he looks around and then he suddenly starts bouncing. I mean literally bouncing off the walls and the ceiling. And then he ends up next to you, Stacey looks at you and then grabs you and goes, give 

Stacey - Host (10:54): Big kiss. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (10:55): And then there's the saliva's flying. 

Speaker 4 (10:57): And 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (10:57):
 Then he goes, woo-hoo. And he starts banging around again. So I thought, okay, I'm going to be phonetic. 

I'm going to stop. 

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I'm 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (11:03): 

Going to hug people. I'm going to kiss people. I'm going to stick my tongue out. And the only thing I forgot about was how physically demanding this ended up being. And I was thinking, I'm an athlete. This won't be hard. And the very first night, that's what I did. And I started getting good responses with that, popping people on the head, high fiving the kid, hugging the girlfriend, and pushing the boyfriend away. Those were the things that were going through my head. And I worked my way all the way down to what they used to have in Veteran Stadium was a picnic area. Picnic tables down along the left field and the right field line. And I worked my way down there and I'm like, oh my gosh, I can't breathe. So I'd just been out for 15 minutes in the suit. Yes. And I went 15 minutes. How can I, I'm a player, 

Stacey - Host (11:49):
 The air is here, right? Or something. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (11:51): 

You go on the hottest summer day, go put a bag over your head, put on your heaviest winter clothing and go run for a mile. That's what it feels like. And it's dangerous, which I found out later. And it just so happened that the third out was made, got to hear that one and went, I've got to get, I know my exit was behind home plate, so I just jumped over the railing. I said, I can't walk back up the stands, I just can't do it. And as soon as I jumped over the railing, everybody's like, oh, it is like a streaker. Jumped on the field. They're all going, what's he doing? And an umpire just kind of gave me a little wave. And I wave back at him and people laughed. And then I said, wait, they like this. I got a break. And when acting is being discussed in that regard, you've broken that wall, 

Stacey - Host (12:38): The fourth wall. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (12:40): 

And so I went out, took a break, and Bill called me up and said, that was amazing. And I said, because there's a phone down there. And I said, what? He said, I said, I just needed to take a break, Mr. John. So this was my easy way. He said, well do more of that in between innings. And then that fifth inning, he called just before the fifth inning when the ground crew goes out and back in those days, and they still do it today. Today they rake the whole infield. Well, there's no dirt infield. It was just dirt aprons around every base. So they would rake that apron and change the bases to a new white. The bases are dusted with white. So they changed 'em fifth inning. He said, go out with the ground crew. Just go out, help him. And when I went over to first base, one of the kids got done with the base, turned and started to run, and he truly tripped on the fanatics foot and fell on his face base went ting, my gosh. People went crazy. Says, okay, well, I got to knock the ground crew down. And that routine continues today. At the bottom of the fifth inning, the fanatic comes out and he does something that is his space. 

(13:42):
 And it was all because Bill just said, go out and see what happens. And then we, for years, at least the 

next two years, we did routines with the ground crew. 

Mark - Host (13:49): What was the one joke 

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That the land, well, I was doing a dance in the dugout, and I had a big case unbeknownst to the audience in the case was a little person with a saxophone. So when the song broke, it might've been Bruce Springsteen and I opened the box, he comes out and starts, he was in a box lip syncing the saxophone. And everybody's going like, wait a minute. What is happening? There was a little person stuffed in that box. Everyone was horrified. He was just scratching their ass. So that was my biggest failure. But then dancing with the nuns from nonsense was the most 

Stacey - Host (14:23): The best. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (14:23): Inappropriate but amazing. 

Stacey - Host (14:25): Everybody 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (14:26): 

Loved it because the fans thought the cast of nonsense came into the game, told us they were going to be there, and they said, we don't want to be announced as the cast of nonsense until after we come into the stands. So Dan was already, so I went to them and said, oh, look in the seventh inning after, take me at the ballgame. So the bottom of the seventh, I'm going to be on the dugout. I want the nuns to come down and dance with me. And I had Shake your groove thing or something. Well, the nuns come in and sit the two innings before, and they're wreaking havoc because one of the nuns is calling the beer guy over and they're buying a beer and they're passing the beer. Nice 

Speaker 4 (15:07): Nuns. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (15:07): 

And the South Philly fans are like, some of them are like, what's going on? I'm going to go to Father McGee and I'm going to tell 'em. And they're just laughing and they're goofing around and they're joking with the fans. And then, so as soon as the Indians, I wave and they all come running down, and one of them did a split. Oh my God. They're throwing their habits around like CanCan girls. Were they real nuns? They weren't, no, they were 

Stacey - Host (15:30): All actors. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (15:32):
 Nonsense was a plate they stayed on for, it had to be two years. 

Stacey - Host (15:37): So that irreverence 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (15:38): 

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Was really kind of, and here's the funny thing about Phil's fans. People are aghast. I am looking at their faces and they're either wetting their pants laughing or they've got their mouths open. This is the end of the world. And we stop and we grab hands, and Dan Baker says, ladies and gentlemen, a big round applause for the cast of nonsense. Everybody booed, booed because they wished that they were nuns now destroyed. And this is a Philadelphia fan, Phil. They're bowing. They're going, oh, darn it. You got, I thought these 

Mark - Host (16:10): 

Were real nuns. It's fascinating what the fanatic did or the concept of a mascot. We'll say that, I don't like baseball. I follow the Phillies. If they're doing well, band, it's not your jam. It's not my thing. I'm a football guy through and through Go Birds, 

Stacey - Host (16:24): Can't you? Like both? 

Mark - Host (16:25): 

I can. I don't have time. I don't have time to watch that many games. But the beauty of any mascot is it gives people a reason who don't necessarily love the sport to go to the stadium to bring their kids to the stadium, to enjoy the experience of going to a game, even though they may not care about what's on the field. I think that it makes it fun. You disagree? No, I totally agree. I disagree. No, I'm so used to you disagreeing. This is why it works. This is why it works. You have to have the contrarian view. All right, good. No, 

Stacey - Host (16:55): I totally agree. 

Mark - Host (16:56):
 Because at some level, for people in those stands, you were the show. 

Stacey - Host (16:59):
 I have caught myself out of Phillies game watching the Fanatic, what's he going to do next? 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (17:05): 

And I'm the same way. I mean, people are always talking about the transition and the handoff to one of my best friends in the world, a brother from another mother, Tom Bgo, who is the fanatics best friend for 31 years. And I go to the games and I'm looking for him. And of course I know the basic schedule, so I know when and where most likely he's coming out. I tell Tom all the time, he's doing something spontaneously in the crowd, and I'm thinking, oh, I would have the, and then he does it. He 

Stacey - Host (17:32): Does it. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (17:32): 

And then I would have the fanatic and he does it. And I'm like, it's so cool. That's awesome. Because we do, one of the reasons why we're friends is that we think alike. We're very similar in our likes and our dislikes. And for five years, he was the fanatics best friend, friend's backup. I was getting tired at that 

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point with doing the same character, kind of feeling like creatively on an island, trying to find other people that could help. And he showed up and just reinvigorated me where he was selecting the music that I was going to use in the fifth inning. He would give me an idea, then I'd multiplying the idea. And it's the first time I think I had a real collaborator who understood what it was like to be in costume. And Tom had never done a game. So when we handed it off to him in 93, I spent a few months in 94 just working with him. He didn't need training. He just needed some confidence to go out and be able to do. And we talked all the time about the fanatic as if he's our brother, which he is, and what he would do and what he wouldn't do. And Tom has for 31 years, has stewarded that character. He has had to reflect the personality that I created, which is harder. That personality came from my head and my heart, and I just did it and then found out what worked and kept it. He had to embody that first. I see a little bit of me in him, but there's no jealousy. It's like, 

Stacey - Host (18:59): Well, 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (19:00): 

I'm only jealous when he gets a scene with Tina Fey on 30 Rock, or he's massaging your shoulders when Baldwin breaks into the room. But he all shares that with me, this is what happened, this episode. And I miss the fans, and I used to miss the performance, but that's where my speaking has 

Stacey - Host (19:19): Completely 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (19:20):
 Been able to scratch that itch. And I, yeah. Amazing speaker. 

Stacey - Host (19:24):
 I have one more logistical question about the fanatic. So is there just one costume? Oh God, no. That 

thing gets, well, I know because I've danced with the fanatic at whatever events, not just the games. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (19:36): Is 

Stacey - Host (19:36): It always the same 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (19:37): Thousands and thousands of 

Stacey - Host (19:37):
 The same fanatic goes, or there are different fanatics that go to the events? No, 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (19:41): We have backup best friends. 

Stacey - Host (19:43): 

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Dave Raymond (Guest) (19:44):
 Fanatic needs. Is that possible? Needs a family keep, 

Stacey - Host (19:47):
 I don't think you and I danced. I might've danced with Tom, but probably somebody else. Well, you tell 

me 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (19:50): What year it was. 

Stacey - Host (19:51): I don't remember. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (19:51):
 Yeah. Okay. We don't want, was it a while ago? Was it a while back? If anything, after 93, 

Stacey - Host (19:57): I think it was after 93, 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (19:59): The fanatic was 

Stacey - Host (20:00):
 Best, but then it might not, might be Tom right Best, it might be a different best friend. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (20:03): 

Well, in the beginning there was one costume, and the design of that costume was improved a lot from trial and error. I didn't know about textiles, but I understood what football was using to be able to make things cooler. And virtually all of it was canvas. The canvas would start to rot because it was wet all the time. 

Stacey - Host (20:24): It smelled it. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (20:24): 

It smelled mildewy. When they said I couldn't clean it in the beginning until my mom said, no, you can clean it. Take those feathers out of the tail. And she put it in a bathtub with Woolite. We dried it off. And I called up New York and I said, we washed it. They said, you did. What'd you do? And I told 'em, that's what we did ever since, because it smelled so bad. I was negatively affecting. You don't want to distract the audience. Yeah, well, the audience thinks that it's just been hugged by a toilet that's going to distract you. They've 

Stacey - Host (20:54): 

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Dave Raymond (Guest) (20:54):
 You're like, Dave, from afar, we love you. Come here, hug me. And then I'm like, whoa, get away. So 

over time, 

Stacey - Host (21:02):
 You changed up the costume. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (21:03): 

My collaboration with the people in New York. Materials and different things were substituted. We learned all kinds of techniques to make it smell better, which is vodka and water is the best one. Spray bottle with one part vodka the cheapest. You can buy the $6 bottle of vodka and two parts water, and you spray it inside the costume in between cleanings that kills bacteria and doesn't leave an odor. 

Speaker 4 (21:27): Where 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (21:28):
 Friz, it's like if you want to smell something that sounds smells like body odor and Fabrice, 

Speaker 4 (21:35): Over 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (21:35):
 The years, we probably had a dozen performers, but only two main performers in 49 years. That's crazy. 

Which is really cool. Consistency is what makes him great. 

Stacey - Host (21:44): Yeah, it's awesome. 

Mark - Host (21:45):
 I have one more fanatic related question. 

Stacey - Host (21:47):
 I got another one too. Go ahead. Maybe the same one, but then we'll move 

Mark - Host (21:50): On. Mine's dark, 

Stacey - Host (21:51): I promise. 

Mark - Host (21:51): Oh good. Are you dark? 

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No, mine's lighter. 

Mark - Host (21:53): Okay, 

Stacey - Host (21:54): Let's start with the dark. 

Mark - Host (21:54):
 No, I'll start with the dark. 

Stacey - Host (21:55): Go the dark. 

Mark - Host (21:56):
 I'm just curious. So I'm sure you've had your instances in the fans working with the fans 

Speaker 4 (22:00): Where 

Mark - Host (22:01):
 Baby is crying or a kid gets scared, that's just normal. But is there something that you did that you're like, 

I shouldn't have done that. I regret that. What are those? 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (22:09):
 Trial by error. Thank God nobody died. 

Stacey - Host (22:13): 

This episode is brought to you by Mainline Studios in the podcast factory where great content feels right at home. Located in beautiful Wayne, Pennsylvania, our creative rental space offers high-end tech in a space that feels like your best friend's living room. Book your session or a free tour@mainlinevideostudio.com and back to the show. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (22:34): 

But I had a routine that I just loved, and I think it's one of the funniest routines that the fanatic has ever done. And I'm on the dugout and I have access to people sitting in the front row. People have things, they have 

Stacey - Host (22:51): Hats. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (22:51):
 Hats, they have handbags, they have popcorn, they've got food, they have novelty items. So what I would 

do, I would notice that there would be a baby. Someone would be holding a five week old, one month old 

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baby, and I would come over to them to see the baby, and I wouldn't reach out for the baby, but many times they'd hand me the baby. So now I take the baby and I've got the baby, and I look, I got a baby, and then I walk down, and then I would notice somebody with a glove. Oh, okay, let me give you the baby. I'm taking the glove. Now. The mother is all the way down there going, my five week old baby's down the hands of some guy who now I got a glove and I'm like the glove. And then, oh, there's the pocketbook. I'm going to take the pocketbook. And meanwhile, all the fans are watching the mother start to get up and move around. And she gets all the way to the person with the baby. And I've done another exchange. Here's the pocketbook, I'm taking the baby back. And I go back and where's the mother? And she's waving. Oh, okay. And then I would come over and then I realized it's not a good idea to give a baby to somebody else who is not part of their family. 

(24:03):
 And I probably did that a half a dozen times. And then of course, it's 

Stacey - Host (24:06): Hilarious. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (24:07):
 It is hilarious. And people are going nuts. And I thought, and over the years, I figured I could do it a 

different way. It doesn't have to be a baby, just something of value. A pocketbook is a great 

Stacey - Host (24:15): One. Yes. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (24:16): 

And so I would edit. That's great. But yeah, those things give me shivers down my back. I would take pictures with people thousands of times, and I would want to do something different. So the little boy, always a little boy, I'd pick them up and flip them upside down and hold them by the knees. And they would take that picture while the kid's hanging. And then I realized, what if I drop that kid on a, 

Stacey - Host (24:37):
 You drop the kid. That's a problem. Yeah. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (24:39): 

Bingo. Yeah, that's a problem. That's exactly where I was thinking, well, I dropped this kid on the head. No. Okay, let's not do that anymore. But I probably did that hundreds of times before I realized this is not a good idea, because I wasn't trained. I started learning about safety. Fortunately, a radar started. And that's what I tell young performers. You will have a voice in your head that's saying, this is probably not a good idea. And you ignore it because something's funny. You got to edit it. As soon as it says this isn't a good idea, you just stop it. 

Stacey - Host (25:13): 

And a lot of that stuff that you do, you can't talk. So you have to use your hands and your body. And I love the way the belly doing the belly. And that part of that you said you had told me before, came from your mom. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (25:27): 

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Yeah. Well, this is a skillset that, so my mom went from a hearing woman to a deaf woman like that. At 

Stacey - Host (25:34): What age? 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (25:35):
 She was 29 and I was three. And it was Minnies. So Huey Lewis, he can't sing. Minnies is not unlike 

some of these spectrum issues where it affects people differently. 

Speaker 4 (25:48): With 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (25:48): 

My mom, she lost all of her hearing and it was a nerve disorder, which was a positive thing because she could get some relief with hearing aids, but that only amplified sounds. So she learned how to read lips. So at the youngest of age that I can't remember, I'm being instructed that I need to get in front of my mom to communicate with her. So I'm doing that. And then I started realizing that I could entertain her. So I was always doing silly things and Hey mom, I just got back from school. You know what I learned? They told me I'm a superstar and I see that she's laughing. So that just, I think built, we had a really good relationship and both my brother and sister were doing the same thing, but they were older than I was. 

Stacey - Host (26:31): Were you signing too? 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (26:32): 

No, I learned a little bit. But what was great about her condition was I didn't have to sign for her to understand me as long as I was in front of her and she could see my lips. As soon as she couldn't see my lips over her, I was yelling for her. And it wasn't until she got sick that she decided she, and she worked with the deaf, she became an empowered woman right in front of her eyes. She finished her second degree at Delaware, became a certified interpreter for the deaf, and then when counsel deaf kids in Delaware, and she was just amazing, but the hearing world looked at her as a deaf person. But the deaf world looked at her as a hearing person because she had such great verbal, 

Speaker 4 (27:13): She 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (27:13): 

Could speak well. And when she would take her hearing aid off, it would be great tone with her hearing aid on you, take her hearing aid off and you'd get a deeper tone that resonated more deeply because she couldn't hear herself. So when she got sick, she decided, and it was hurting her hearing even more, she said, I'm going to be a deaf woman. And she took her hearing aids off for eight months of her struggle. All of her deaf friends would come over. And I started learning a lot more American sign language. And then for fun, she taught me all the dirty signs. 

Stacey - Host (27:44):
 Do you have a hundred, 120 different mascots that you've helped develop? 

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Yeah. And then you would, and thousands of performers who took my bootcamp training, but also my clients when they were looking for performers, finding them. And that was my most fun thing to do. I could see the passion in young people's faces that I had in the beginning. 

Stacey - Host (28:07): 

You have said, which we talked about in the beginning of the show, that all the joy that you brought to everybody, all the entertaining that you brought to everyone being the Philadelphia fanatic, also saved your life. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (28:18): 

Wow. Yes. I had a Leave it to Beaver Life. It was the perfect existence. I mean, I was somebody because my dad was a local icon. I was getting attention. I got to be a pretty good athlete. And then I get this amazing job and I'm like, I would look at other people and say, why are people sad? I had no concept. My mom was not feeling well and was dizzy, and her neck was stiff. We thought Rez was coming back. Dad was coaching, had practiced at a particular her time when she needed to get the MRI. So I took her to her to the MRI appointment, we're ruling out the bad stuff, 

(28:56): 

And mom and I had a great conversation. She went in, she got the test. Two weeks go by, we're going to meet in Wilmington, right on Pennsylvania Avenue and Wilmington, the doctor's office, and the doctor's going to tell us how we can help your mom. So I'm thinking, oh, great. Well, it's been years and we're going to have maybe her hearing. And we get into this room and I'm like, Hey, hi, Debbie, Chris. Hey mom, how you doing? We're sitting here and mom's all the way to my right and my brother and sister, my left, my dad is just to my right. And the doctor starts talking like he's telling us about getting a cup of coffee at Wawa and says, your mom has a grade four glioblastoma brain tumor. And he puts his hand and says, it's about half the size of my fist. And unfortunately it's in an area of her brain we cannot reach with surgery. And he paused and he said, your mom's got eight months to live. 

Speaker 4 (29:45): How 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (29:45): 

Fast I put my hands out in a nonverbal like no, looked at my brother and sister for support, and it's like looking in a mirror. I mean, it was cold and painful just from the head to the toe, just hitching her completely confused. And I looked at Dad, who was my hero, and he had his head down because he knew this was coming, but he wasn't telling us. And I looked at mom, and mom was old school. She got married in the thirties. Dad said, Susie, I want to get married. I want you to come raise our family while I build my career. So really old school, well, she's looking at this doctor, it's the Lord. And she passed away almost eight months to the day of that diagnosis, because I get it, okay, I got eight months. What am I going to do in eight months? And all the time I was spending time with her. She was saying, don't forget about your family. I had a wife of seven years and a young two month old son who my mom had dedicated some of her last months to see Kyle Bourne, which that's a power of fun photo. She's holding Kyle. Her face is all puffed up with the anti, well, really the steroids that caused that, but reduce any pain. And she had a big smile on her face, and I just never forget that. 

(31:03):
 And she passes and then I go, oh, I'm going to pull together with my family, just like my mom said. And 

my marriage fell apart three weeks after my mom's three weeks memorial service. So it's, I'm like, wow. 

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It's hard to explain. There is benefits to being able to be with somebody that you love, that you know is going to die, but it doesn't make the fact that they leave you any easier, whatever your faith is. And I'm a Christian, and I know my mom's pain and discomfort was happening. In fact, I had a doctor, Dr. Bernie Siegel in exceptional cancer patients. Mom and I were going to that website. And one of the things it said, I'll never forget it said, sometimes your loved one is staying for you. 

Speaker 4 (31:50): Make 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (31:50):
 Sure you tell them when you're done. We're good. Don't worry about us. And I had that conversation with 

her because we were reading the same stuff. And she passed away three days later. 

Stacey - Host (32:02): Wow. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (32:02): 

Because I could see, she said, you're not helping me to the bathroom. My son's not going to do that for me. And because I was in to do everything. And so there was a good part of that. But then getting kicked in the teeth with what I thought was where my support was going to come from, and I was a mess. I had slipped into hopelessness and I was considering suicide. But at the time, it felt like a legitimate way to solve it. You're selfish, but you don't think it's selfish. You just want the pain to stop. And I went to the Phillies during the same time and said, I have to quit. How can I do this? And there were a couple of appearances I had to do before the schedule would get to the point where they said, okay, we got you covered. Which they said, well, then those appearances, I started paying attention. 

Speaker 4 (32:51): And 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (32:51): 

I realized when I got out of the costume, I felt a tick better. And if you read Martin Seligman about positive psychology, he said, when I started in psychology as a psychiatrist, it was our job to make them miserable, less miserable. 

Stacey - Host (33:05): But 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (33:06): 

That was a good thing because if you make them less miserable, then they're not thinking about things for self-harm. So I didn't know positive psychology. This was many, many years later. So I thought I was lucky. I went, wait, I feel better. And I went to the Phillies and said, no, no, no, no. People are telling me they love me. People are saying, you're the best. Come take a picture. Wow, fanatic. Thank you. And I'm absorbing that as his best friend. It is happening both of us at the same time. 

(33:31):
 And I just said, that day turned into a week and I felt like crap. It didn't lift me up. Just I stopped thinking 

about self-harm because I had an answer that was a solution that was better than when you start thinking, 

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well, I couldn't do that. Right? What I got a son out of your, and look how great my job is. You start getting perspective because then your brain is working more on survival mode. And the thing that's beautiful is, I speak about this on stage during my keynote and the final part of this. I say, here's the most amazing thing that I can share with you. It was my mom who gave me a skillset that I had no idea was valuable, that allowed me to create this personality that for 48 years has bringing, I say, a beacon of hope and love for people, not just joy, but that personality that my mom helped me create was there to help me overcome the brutality of seeing her lose a battle of cancer. It's like, you can't. And I always go, I love you at that point, because my dad's the hero. But it was my mom was the giant shoulders we stood on. And everything my dad did was made better because her. 

Stacey - Host (34:49): 

Wow. And we talked about it. And you said that you were in therapy at the time. For those people who are in that place, they don't tell their therapist that sometimes that they're feeling that low, that they want their life to end. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (35:03): 

No. And so I was working with a therapist, Dr. Bob, and I just loved him because we were talking about my inability to give up control. I loved him. He helped me so much because I engaged him prior, because I knew my marriage was struggling a little bit, but I had stopped talking to him when, because the marriage ended and I had just stopped talking to him. And again, what happens to you is you just start to retract. Even though I understood and liked being with my therapist, I just gave up. That's why I was going to give up on the job. I only said this publicly was in the HBO O real sports story. And my wife and family are watching that, and my kids are there. This is a big deal that they're going to do a story. And Mary Carillo said, you were thinking about suicide? And I said, yes. And those things. She interviewed me for like six hours and it's only a 12 minute spot. And we get done. And is a week later, my wife came to me and Sandy goes, you've never told me that before. 

Speaker 4 (36:12): And 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (36:13):
 I said, because I've never really thought that much about it until I've started at Sheridan. I realized how 

scary it was, and then you put it away. And so what my thing was, I need to tell people about this 

Stacey - Host (36:26): Because 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (36:27): 

I wasn't doing that until about eight, nine years ago. And I was going to training, public speaking training, heroic public speaking in Lambertville, Michael and Amy Port. And it was Amy who said, David, you have to tell that story. And then when I showed her how I was going to tell it, she goes, what's the next slide? I don't know. She goes, you have to tell 'em you're okay. So I show a slide of my family and say, this is what powerful fun did for me. And the FUNA powerful fund, which we'll get into, is a principle that I developed specifically because I was in a situation where I didn't know positive psychology. I didn't know I was in control. I thought these forces are in control, but it's how you respond to them. And then I've deeply studied positive psychology, and that's what I'm trying to teach people. 

Mark - Host (37:15): 

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I love it. So let's get into that acronym, powerful, fun, FUN. Tell us what it stands for, what it means, and 

the psychology behind 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (37:22): 

It. Well, we even have a contextual model because we do happiness training and we get in deeply into it. But it's simply put is the fun that you know, the fun that we all know, the fun that we're conditioned, that we grew up with is not powerful, fun. And in the realm of powerful, fun, silliness is a vitally important ingredient. When we're doing training and we are asking people to do a workshop and we give them a particular part to work with their team, someone will come back and say, well, I was thinking about this and I just thought it was really silly. And I stop and I go, perfect. When your brain tells you it's silly, it is a wonderful ingredient to start with because your brain doesn't value silliness. So in powerful, fun, F stands for, it's a force. It's not something that use at off time or break time or vacations only. It is a force everywhere and anywhere you decide to use it. And once you do that, you start to see its value. U stands for universal, which it works everywhere. So the fanatic has gone to so many funerals that we started to say the fanatic puts the FUN in funerals. 

(38:37): 

And many times it was about celebrating a Phillies fan, but many other times it was just celebrating the family's love and connection to them. And you come in at a time in a funeral when it's appropriate. It's when you're telling stories, when you're playing music, when you're having food, you're not a pallbearer. 

(38:53): 

So powerful fun is where do you use the fanatic, A funeral where it will most fit. It's engineered, it's designed, it's iterated, it's edited, and then it's delivered. But it works everywhere. So if it works at a funeral or walking into a hospital room where the fanatic continues to do, we're a family is dealing with tragedy that we can't absorb. And when you go there, the parents, when you leave, say, thank you for giving us the best medicine we could have ever had. I mean, so that's where I started seeing it work. I said, well, if it works there, excuse me, it works in a corporate world. Well, that's the easiest thing in the world to make you a better business. Just show up, care for your employees, make sure you value fun in the things that you do. Don't give up what you're supposed to be doing to be great. 

(39:36): 

Fun is one tool. It's not a single source. It's one tool. Powerful, fun with showing up, being prepared, studying, understanding your client, knowing what you're selling, asking questions. You have to do all that. But do it in a way where you're injecting the powerful fun. N is the most difficult one to explain to people, but it stands for, no, I looked at it as the battle cry of the fun killer when I was younger. Don't let the fanatic do that. You can't go there. You can't do that. Where the Phillies would let me do any of that, I go to an event and Karen, the producer would say, don't mess with the VIPs because we're raising money with 'em. I don't want you to upset them. No, you have to mess the VIPs. Exactly. Don't go up on the bandstand. Don't say that to him. Don't go up on the Exactly, because don't go up the bandstand. Don't mess with the models on the runway. I put on my super suit, I right over the VIPs, I jump on the bandstand and I would do a Pratt fall on the runway with the models. And everybody had a great time. 

Stacey - Host (40:32): Oh my God, 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (40:33):
 Except for Karen. Well, nobody told the fanatic not to do that stuff. Exactly told me. And I said, well, I 

should say, well, I'm going to discuss it with the fanatic and I don't have a lot of control, so 

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He doesn't listen to me. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (40:44): Well, then she would call the Phillies, 

Mark - Host (40:46): Karen 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (40:46):
 Called the Phillies and say, I don't know what you're doing, but this kid's not listening. 

Stacey - Host (40:51): She's irreverent. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (40:52): Meanwhile, she raised more money 

Stacey - Host (40:55): Because 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (40:55): 

They wrote a bigger, so this is the best event we've ever had. So what I realized, I have to get Karen on my side, so, so you have to work at this and you have to share it in a way where people know you are an expert. So I would say, why don't you want me to work with VIPs? She would tell me why. I'd say, well, I do this a lot and I'm going to make them really happy. And when they're happier, they'll write a bigger check. People have no trust for, I've got a bull in a China shop. I need to make sure he doesn't screw this up. Meanwhile, I got to say, well, no, you have an angel who is going to do great things for you and bring you and your organization along into an environment where people go, I've never been to an event like that. So when you are practicing powerful fun, you have to learn it yourself. Try it at home, put your oxygen mask on first. 

(41:46): 

Understand it's a force and it works everywhere. But you really do have to understand where you're going, what you're doing, and what the outcome's supposed to be. You need to do it in a way that is not going to offend. It's a lot easier to be appropriate. And if you just look at who your fans are, who your audience is, and the fanatics and Muppet, Muppet, Muppets don't offend. So it might smell a little bit, but so the FUN is a process that I don't know how you'll use it, mark. I don't know how you will use it, Stacy, because let's just say I love to skydive and you're frightened of heights. The pursuit of happiness is a individual personal effort. It's not a path. You're working at it. So how you do things, you may love to be in a quiet meadow reading a book. I might like to go out and have a catch with a baseball. You might like, I got to do a cold plunge. That's my happy place. Right? Other people go, I, I'm not doing that. 

(42:46): 

So recognize that powerful fun is a process that I know that works. But if I say one person, I always say in my keynote, you can't tell people how to do your powerful. Yeah, tell me where fun won't work. That gets 'em started. He goes, well, I lay people off. And I said, well, you know what, it's, that's a tough question, but I'll tell you what. Being human while you lay people off is a path to figuring out how you do it in a 

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way that they'll walk away and feel better about themselves. Even though you just let them go. That may not happen when you let them go. But what if you follow up with the people that you let go see how they're doing, let them complain, give them an outlet. And after a while, that person came back to me after this conference we had and said, here's a couple of things I thought I might try perfect, and they may not work, but I love this one. It's the thinking. And so it works everywhere, but the person who knows that environment the best is the one that's going to come up with it. And those are usually leaders. 

Stacey - Host (43:45): Leaders 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (43:45): Should know their people. 

Stacey - Host (43:47):
 So difference between just regular fun and powerful fun, 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (43:51): 

They actually can be the exact same thing. So the fun that becomes powerful, fun at a surprise birthday party, the gap, the doing gap is between, this is the way my brain sees fun. Now I'm going to do the work that brings me over to powerful fun. So our contextual model actually is a smiley face by accident because I did it on a napkin. And it's just you're moving from surprise birthday parties, vacations, break time silliness to the other side is saving lives, 

Stacey - Host (44:23): Making 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (44:24):
 Communities better, making the world a better place, making businesses more effective. It's a bigger 

purpose. (44:31): 

And each one of those uses of fun require personalized individual effort. I knew how important the message was when I gave a talk at the Freedoms Foundation in Valley Forge, and they were all high school kids from all over the country. And I could tell when there was a kid that wanted to ask me something personal, they would hang back. This looked like you with a ponytail and you were 17. She came up to me, everybody left. She goes, hi, she's just bubbly and happy. I said, hi, how are you? And she goes, I just wanted to share something with you. And I said, okay. She goes, I've been thinking a lot about suicide and after hearing you talk, I don't think I'm going to think of that that way anymore. And it hit me like a ton of bricks, and I didn't want to look shocked. And she was from Fort Lauderdale, don't remember her name. I remember Fort Lauderdale. And she said, and I said, oh, could you do me a favor? She goes, yeah, sure. I said, when you get home, I want you to find somebody in your family or a close friend that you trust. Tell them the same thing. 

(45:37):
 She goes, okay. She turns out and walks away. And I just remember seeing her ponytail 

Speaker 4 (45:42): Swish 

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Back and forth and went, wow. At that age, they might've been where I was, but they don't appear to be upset. They're internalizing it. And she's just was so cavalier. And I went, this is why young people, especially today, are deciding to take their own lives and no one around them knows. And that's the biggest issue. 

Stacey - Host (46:03):
 Yeah, that's the scary part. That's the scary part. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (46:05): 

And so going to talk to somebody or you thinking everyone in their circle right now that's hearing this of somebody that has been off, you need to go to them and ask 'em how they're doing. And then when they say, I'm fine, say No, no, really, I really want to know how you're doing because it takes some effort to get somebody to share something that they don't want to share with anybody. And maybe you're the one that they'll share. And that saves the life. 

Mark - Host (46:27):
 We had prior guests say to Brett, Cotter talking about that. Just reach out. You just don't know. Just check 

in. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (46:32): 

I wanted to perform again. I had a pretty good message. Then I went to training and realized I should be sharing stuff that haven't been sharing. And it was frightening because if you're a keynote speaker and you lose control emotionally, you disengage because your audience starts thinking about you. If you're being interviewed, losing your composure for this is fine because that's part of that experience. 

(46:59): 

It took me a long while to be able to deliver it with passion and emotion, but not get overwhelmed with the emotion because, and that's what I'm so proud of, is that I can really lift my mom up and if I start crying, they're going to forget about my mom. They're going to see me up on stage crying. They go, I hope Dave is okay, which is a perfect human emotion, but it distracts from your message. This has got to be about them and not about me. And as soon as they start worrying about you, they're internalizing this message is theirs. 

Stacey - Host (47:28): That's interesting. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (47:29): So it's hard. 

Stacey - Host (47:30):
 You wrote the book too. You wrote a book. So tell us about your book. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (47:32): 

Well, a shout out to Jim Salisbury because now he's no longer working. He's retired at being a broadcaster for NBC Sports Philadelphia. And I reached out for help. I had 390 pages written, and I went to Jimmy and I didn't know that he was an English teacher, and that's what he really wanted to do. He said, I'll help 

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you. And I said, well, I want to put your name on the book. He said, no, I can't because my agreement, you're too close to the Phillies. You'd be considered, even though you're not employed by them, I'm not allowed to have a contract with somebody who's part of the organization. I said, okay, well, I'll pay you. Nope. I'm going to be your English teacher. So we took those 390 pages and either in person or on the phone for three months, he went through line by line by line. What he did for me was he made it, somebody read it and it's their story. And it's a hundred pages. It's 

Stacey - Host (48:26): Called the Power 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (48:27):
 Fund, and it's a book that I didn't want Jeff to have any of my money. So I didn't put on Amazon. I did not 

write it. 

Stacey - Host (48:35):
 You didn't want Jeff Phases to make any money on it. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (48:37): 

No. He's got enough. He doesn't need a few cents from my book. So what I did was it's on my website that the only place you can buy it. And I really thought of it as an adjunct to my speaking because basically a take home, a detailed take home version of my keynote that will extend the value of what I deliver. If they also read the book, I only sell it on my website's. 

Stacey - Host (48:58):
 That, and then you do speaking 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (49:00): And 

Stacey - Host (49:00):
 How else are you out there? What else do you want to say? 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (49:04): 

We do training and we're just about to roll out asynchronous online happiness training. It will be out. Matter of fact, we're doing ads on Odyssey probably in a month. Those ads will start rolling. We have it all set up. We're just taking a few kinks out of it. And I love that because it's going to be an easy price point. You can go take the course and you get a lot of resources about what you can read and do deeper dives. So I'm excited about that. 

Mark - Host (49:28):
 Well, you are very, having watched footage of you on stage, very good at connecting with an audience 

and very good at best 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (49:35): In 

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Audience years. Very good. Thank so I would love to see you speak in person. For 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (49:40): 

Sure. Yeah, we'll get you out there. I'm doing a couple, we're kind of on the off season now, and I'm starting on the end of this month, and I have about six or seven throughout the September, October and leading November. And then, so it's great. It's great because it's been about a month since I've been on stage, which this is the off time, and I do a lot of rehearsal anyway, but I'm dying to get out 

Stacey - Host (50:03):
 There. Dying to get back out there. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (50:04):
 Oh my God. I mean, the Santa Sucks is one of my favorite lines because I do it with a lot more emotion to 

give people a feel about what we're like a Philadelphia sports fans talking to audiences that are not 

Mark - Host (50:16): Philadelphia 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (50:17):
 Sports fans. But there are always sports fans in the audience that can relate 

Mark - Host (50:21):
 And we have a bad brand. So 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (50:23): 

Yeah. I them to know it's so overdone. Yeah, totally. But mean, if you come out and you're drunk and dirty and you're wearing a Santa outfit, we're running right out of town. There's kids here. This is the Santa that's in Times Square, which I still can't believe. Parents take. They're kids to those characters. He was inappropriate and 

Stacey - Host (50:47): He got pelted 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (50:47):
 As he should have. He needed a couple. 

Stacey - Host (50:49): Snowballs 

Mark - Host (50:49):
 Are slim. If you ever spent any time at the 700 level at the vet, there is some truth to the brand. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (50:56): 

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So fun. And Jeffrey Lu's done a great job of changing that narrative by treating the fans with respect and giving them great service. Not that the Eagles didn't give us great service, but the vet started to become a character all unto itself. And the character was dirty, inebriated and mean. 

Stacey - Host (51:16):
 There's a drunk jail in the basement. I've heard about that 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (51:19):
 Prison because when it was first built, it was a palace and it got old. 

Mark - Host (51:24):
 Yeah, for sure. So where can people reach you? Is it Dr, Dr? Is it Dave? Raymond Speaks? 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (51:31): 

Dr. Raymond, where can you speak that? Well, I'm changing my URL. It's dave raymond speaks.com and you can find out, matter of fact, the training page will be up shortly and you'll be able to take that class right from the training page. And we do a lot of live training for corporate folks. Fantastic. And employees, 

Stacey - Host (51:51): Thank you for Thank 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (51:52): You. 

Stacey - Host (51:53):
 Helping people and coming in here and being so entertaining and making us laugh over the years. Thank 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (51:59): You. You're 

Stacey - Host (52:00): Wonderful. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (52:01):
 And thank the Phillies for taking great care of the Big Green guy, and he's going to be going hopefully 

long after we're all gone, he'll still be there. 

Stacey - Host (52:09):
 We didn't talk about gritty. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (52:10): Oh, we didn't talk about gritty. We 

Stacey - Host (52:12): 

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Dave Raymond (Guest) (52:15):
 Well, all you do is look at gritty and understand him in the middle. Ah. 

Stacey - Host (52:19): He's face every 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (52:19): Primal screen. 

Stacey - Host (52:20): Only a mother would love. 

Dave Raymond (Guest) (52:21): Yes. Right, exactly. And 

Mark - Host (52:22):
 We're his mother. I love how you put that. That's great. Well, thanks for being the show. We really 

appreciate it. Thanks. Thanks, Stacy. You be well. My pleasure. Thank you guys for watching. 

Stacey - Host (52:35): 

You're still here. You're still listening. Thanks for listening to the Gurus and Game Changers podcast. While you're here, if you enjoyed it, please take a minute to rate this episode and leave us a quick review. We want to know what you thought of the show and what you took from it and how it might've helped you. We read and appreciate every comment. Thanks. See you next week.