These two pranks Jimmy Kimmel pulled on his cousin Micki at the ABC offices for his show are hilarious. The first was on her birthday, the second involved Billy Crystal on April Fools Day.
This has got to be one of the funniest pranks ever pulled on anyone! We are privy to the behind-the-scenes preparations as many of Jimmy’s staff are surprised in various locations throughout the ABC offices of Jimmy Kimmel Live. But Cousin Micki is the main target. It’s her 50th birthday. They obviously went to great lengths to produce this hilarious scenario. A video of it is posted on Jimmy Kimmel’s Instagram account. It is absolutely brilliant! I still laugh out loud every time. They later put it on YouTube, so I was finally able to update this post and embed it here.
Jimmy Kimmel Live posted the video on their YouTube channel with this description: Starting tomorrow a wax figure of Jimmy will be on display at Madame Tussauds Hollywood. At the museum, they have what they call the ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live Experience,’ so we decided to have that here too. We brought ‘Wax Jimmy’ into our office and put it in strange places to surprise staffers with special emphasis on Jimmy’s cousin Micki.
How many times did you hear, “Oh, My God!”? I counted around 18, with Micki yelling out 15 of them. A few people reacted with more profane expressions—understandably so—and they were bleeped out.
Jimmy invited his baby cousin Micki on the show to receive a loving tribute on her 50th birthday. She’s all dressed up and holding 22 balloons. To honor the occasion Jimmy played a funny video of clips from family members, friends and co-workers quoting her saying the silliest things. It’s posted on the Jimmy Kimmel Live Instagram account.
April 1, 2024: Billy Crystal Pranks Cousin Micki for April Fools’ Day.
Jimmy Kimmel posted another funny video on his Instagram with this description: Cousin Micki works in the talent department here at the show and takes care of the guests when they arrive. So we came up with a little ruse and told her that Billy Crystal had to come in early to shoot a comedy bit before the show. That was actually true, but what she didn’t know is that she was in the bit too. Billy told her he got a shot at the doctor that caused him to randomly fall asleep and he needed Micki, who might be the nicest person in the world, to help keep him conscious. Jimmy also posted it on the Jimmy Kimmel Live YouTube Channel.
Enjoy this excellent article on how Transcendental Meditation is benefitting Canadians, especially those with medical issues, ongoing anxieties and even PTSD. Click here to see photos of the people journalist Kate Wilson interviewed for an Edmonton News story published in the Edmonton and Calgary issues of the Alberta Prime Times.
Transcendental meditation (TM) provides benefits to those with medical issues, ongoing anxieties and even PTSD.
By: Kate Wilson for AlbertaPrimeTimes.com (Edmonton and Calgary)
At the Edmonton TM Centre, Ami Stadnick helps clients from all walks of life to better manage a range of issues. Photo Kate Wilson.
Wade McKinley recalls the day he first stepped into a class on Transcendental Meditation (TM). As a young man in Vancouver, he’d been experiencing anxiety and depression, and a friend had recommended enrolling.
“I strolled in not knowing anything and said, Hi, I’d like to learn,” said the Calgary resident.
Now 54, McKinley has been practicing TM for 33 years. He says he values the rest it brings to his nervous system and body.
“There are times when distractions interrupt my peace of mind,” he said, but the stability that twice-daily meditation brings stays with him. “I still do TM exactly the way I was taught, but there’s growth in my experience. The quality of silence and settled-ness, it’s expanded into more aspects of my day.”
Setting the mind to rest
TM is a simple technique based on ancient yogic practices from India and renewed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in the middle of the 20th century. It aims to bring the body and mind into a settled state of rest, without any concentrated effort.
A 1978 study in Hormones and Behaviour showed TM reduced cortisol–the ‘stress hormone’–by 30 per cent. A 1987 study published in Psychosomatic Medicine showed TM reduced hospitalizations and doctor visits among seniors, with the biggest reduction–about 70% –in people over 40.
In his 2018 book Strength in Stillness, longtime TM practitioner Bob Roth said the surge in interest in TM is partly due to an epidemic of chronic stress and related illness, and medication’s inability to prevent or cure it. He points to four decades of science showing TM’s capacity for improving brain and cognitive functioning, cardiovascular health and emotional well-being.
Help with medical issues
For Ruth Yanor, TM provides a priceless “reset button”. Seven years ago, she was weathering the debilitating effects of sleep apnea, in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts.
“I was wrung out from poor quality sleep, and pretty close to not being able to function. Nothing was helping,” said the Edmonton resident.
An incident at a cross-walk–where she was hit and dragged by a truck–sent her to the hospital with rib fractures and lung punctures. An allergy to opioids meant Yanor was only given extra strength Tylenol to deal with her pain, so her physician suggested enrolling in a TM program.
“Meditating would clear things. I could keep the pain out of my mind, until someone would ask ‘how’s your pain’,” she said.
Now 63, Yanor concedes that while TM hasn’t corrected her sleep apnea it has been invaluable in allowing her to function over the day.
“I calm my mind down with TM. It’s so wonderful to have this practice.”
Yanor’s instructor, Ami Stadnick, says the simplicity of TM relies on the mind’s natural capacity to settle, despite its tendency to be distracted.
“It may be a favourite piece of music or a conversation. Our attention, at least momentarily, is (wired) to jump to that,” said Stadnick, a registered psychologist. “We know that if given the opportunity, the mind would rather be in a restful state. TM sets the conditions so the mind will move to finer levels of activity. It is nature at work.”
At the Edmonton TM centre (there are centres across Canada, including in Edmonton and Calgary), Stadnick handles requests ranging from people who need to focus in a stressful workplace, to medical referrals to military veterans wanting a medication-free way to deal with anxiety. As a licensed TM practitioner, Stadnick has continuing access to seminars and follow-up training as needed.
TM is now being offered to Canadian veterans and their families thanks to the Canadian Women’s Wellness Institute and a grant from Veterans Affairs Canada. As part of an overall initiative to bring benefits to people in at-risk situations or who are suffering from PTSD, a TM pilot program has been offering veterans and their family members TM instruction and a twice-daily home practice, along with follow-up meetings.
“We know veterans are not prone to sharing their experiences,” said Stadnick, a TM instructor in the pilot program. “Their peer group is always looking for a way to treat PTSD in a more natural way.”
A 2021 report on the program showed participating veterans, who averaged 51 years of age, went from higher levels of stress, depression, anxiety and anger to significantly lower ones after only 3 months of TM practice. Family members also experienced significant decreases in stress and anxiety levels.
Out of the 36 participants, half reported improvements in general health, depression and fatigue. About 60% indicated a better relationship with their spouse and family members, while 86% reported a considerable reduction in stress.
The program is now extended into 2023 in Vancouver, Victoria, Edmonton, Montreal and Fredericton. If you know any veterans who might like to enrol in the TM program, contact Ami Stadnick at astadnick@tm.org.
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Update from Canadian Women’s Wellness Initiative on their extended grant from Veterans Affairs Canada
In 2019, he also trained in Transcendental Meditation, a simple mental technique that teaches practitioners how to settle their minds and their bodies, and reinforce the mind-body connection. “I did lots of research into different ways to care for your mental health, and I read that meditation can be good for you,” he recalls. “After meditation, I feel so chill, so incredibly peaceful. It helps you achieve a position of wellness, so that you can make the right decisions in life for yourself,” says Bruno.
Read about Mary Oliver (1935-2019) and her astonishing poetry in this memorial acknowledgment to her poetic legacy. It contains links to articles, interviews, and poetry readings, as well as many of her favorite poems I’ve loved and posted over the years.
Female First published an article about Penelope Cruz and how meditation (TM) has been helping her forget the stresses and struggles in her life. I checked and received verification that she was recently taught Transcendental Meditation in Spain. The article has been picked up by many media outlets.
Penelope Cruz uses transcendental meditation to ease any stress in her life.
5 September 2021
Penelope Cruz
The Oscar-winning actress – who has two children, 10-year-old son Leo and eight-year-old daughter Luna, with her actor husband Javier Bardem – first experimented with meditation when she was a teenager but she started taking the practice seriously to decompress from her film sets and to ease any worries she may have.
She said: “I practiced meditation as a teenager, I stopped for a while, then I took the transcendental meditation courses and I chose to dedicate myself to it.”
I practiced meditation as a teenager, I stopped for a while, then I took the Transcendental Meditation courses and I chose to dedicate myself to it.
Penelope Cruz
Penelope is always busy with her career and her family and wants to devote herself as much as she can to her children, although her own mother Encarna keeps telling her to take more time for herself, despite never taking that advice herself when she was raising the ‘Nine’ star and her siblings.
Speaking to Italian publication IO Donna, she said: “I have a trait that I inherited from my mother, who was equally demanding with herself: she was very busy and yet – very generous – she managed to give everything to her three children. Now she says to me: you have to relax, you have to rest, you have to find time for yourself…”
Penelope – who won the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award in 2008 for her performance in Woody Allen’s ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona’ – will have spent 30 years working as an actress and she has to pinch herself each day that her childhood dream came true.
She said: “Acting was my dream since I was – maybe – two years old. A dream that does not bore: with each role you start from scratch.
“So I think: thank you!”
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It is interesting that Penelope Cruz had dreamed of becoming an actor from such an early age. She’s had an amazing career winning many awards. According to Wikipedia she is the first and only Spanish actress to both be nominated for and win an Academy Award as well as receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The Uncarved Blog 