Hello dear listeners, First of all, we wish you a super 2021, as this is our first episode this year. To lighten up things we talked to Carmine Rodi, a trainer and standup comedian. Sometimes humor is the best way to bring awareness to certain topics, and youth work has some particularities that Carmine explored in a very humorous way. In the work kit that youth workers and trainers use, comedy and humor can be very useful tools to engage and connect with others, to create bridges, to allow further engagement and deepen hard subjects. The practice of using humor can develop the competences of reading a room, being attuned to the effects of the humor being used and being conscious of the power that words can have in others. This can enhance the ability of public speaking, of being more at ease and connected to the energy in the group and to step up clear boundaries. We talked about the very thin line between making jokes and offending someone, and as Carmine explained very well context is key in this, all that is heard by others travels through their experiences, their values, their lives, and something that might be funny to some can be offensive to others. But humor is a natural human trait that can be a way to experiment and to better cope with our own mistakes. It’s a sign of confidence and openness when we can laugh at ourselves, so we hope you can all enjoy the funny aspects of international youth work, that in reality (spoiler alert), don’t really suck.   Links to Carmine's work Professional site: https://carminerodi.net/ Blog on storytelling, the impact on popular culture and... stuff: https://carminerodi.blog/ Facebook page for storytelling workshops and related activities: https://www.facebook.com/nothing.of.the.cat/ Carmine comedian page: https://www.facebook.com/carminestandup/ workshops on Storytelling in Education (starting NEXT WEEK!): https://www.salto-youth.net/tools/european-training-calendar/training/online-workshops-the-art-and-science-of-storytelling-feb-mar-2021.9081/ online workshops on comedy and humor (starting in April 2021): https://www.facebook.com/ThisWorkshopisaJoke/   Books mentioned in the episode: "The humor code" by Peter McGraw and Joel Warner "The new comedy bibble" by Judy Carter