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The Time I Bombed as a Mime
Why you shouldn't be afraid to fail at work
Kevin Hubschmann
June 18, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
Welcome to another edition of the Laugh.Rx newsletter - where we dive into a topic that you’ll hear a lot from me: failure. In a world where we only post our highlights, it’s worth celebrating the lowlights too. Those are the moments we actually grow.
Also, if you’re a FB Marketplace girlie, then YOU MUST check out our Laugh Break this week. Might be my favorite one I’ve shared so far. Top 3 at least.
LAUGHING & DEVELOPMENT
The Case for Bombing at Work
The hardest I ever bombed, I dressed up as a mime and did a five-minute stand up set at our Afterwork Show.
Get it? A mime that talks? It’s ok - no one else did either.
After nearly five minutes of silence, it felt like I was on a reality show called The Biggest Loser - and the show wasn’t about weight loss.
Bombing as a talking mime (2021)
After I wiped off my makeup, I listened back to the set and discovered something surprising: about thirty seconds of actual laughter.
Five minutes of bombing for thirty seconds of laughs?
On paper, that’s a 90% failure rate.
But once the stank wore off, I realized I had something to build on. I struggled through the set so I could grow in that moment, even if it was just 10%.
Here is a great clip of Jerry Seinfeld talking about struggling for the sake of getting better (starting at 1:37):
And this isn’t just true in comedy. It’s true in your own profession.
Anytime you try something new at work - leading a meeting, pitching a client, learning a new system - it might not go the way you hoped.
But was it all bad? Or is there something you can pull from it - something to refine, improve, and build on?
Once I started treating failure as a way to get 10% better, I couldn’t wait to bomb again - just maybe without the mime makeup next time.
The more you struggle, the better you get.
WORKPLACE MEME OF THE WEEK
Disclaimer: These are memes submitted by real attendees from Workday Update describing their year. If you relate to them, please take a lunch break (or a Laugh Break).
TAKE A LAUGH BREAK
Disclaimer: No offense is ever meant - just a laugh I couldn’t keep to myself.
When “Hi, is this available?” on Facebook Marketplace goes wrong…
See ya next week,
