Dancing is more than what inspirational comedian Judson Laipply is known for, it represents a metaphor he tries to live by and encourages others to live by.
"Life isn't always the party we hoped for, but while we're here, we might as well dance," Laipply said.
He recited his motto before performing for William Woods University students what's he best known for - Evolution of Dance - a routine that has received more than 256 million views on YouTube.
At the beginning of his show, Laipply guaranteed the audience two things: to make them laugh and to make them think.
"I'm here to plant seeds, make you think about things ... If you pause for a second (and think), I've done my job," Laipply said.
Laipply hoped to do so giving students a three-step formula to life.
The first, he said, was "let it go."
"I'm not talking about some "Frozen' sing along," Laipply said.
People should accept what they cannot control and "let it go" because life is constantly changing and evolving, he said.
"When you accept that, life becomes easier for you ... We don't spend enough time focusing on what we can control," Laipply said.
He gave an example to enforce his first step in his formula and to further his point "not to sweat the small stuff."
While Laipply was a waiter, his coworker was serving a very pretentious couple, he said, who would snap whenever they needed something. After numerous snaps, the husband said his potato was bad. Laipply's coworker and the couple's waiter smacked the man's potato, told it to behave and told the man if it started acting up again to let him know.
"People, you're going to have a lot of bad potato moments in your life," Laipply said, adding that those are the moments to let it go.
This was one of the biggest lessons William Woods senior Jamie Palermo said she's going to take away with her.
"(I learned) to look at the big picture and not get caught up on everyday "bad potatoes,'" Palermo said.
Laipply's second point was: if a person cannot let something go, then that person "should do something about it" by using power of choice.
Life may not be fair, Laipply said, but there aren't written rules to life stating that it should be.
"Our lives are created by our choices more than anything else," Laipply said.
If a person doesn't follow steps one or two, he said, then he or she should follow step three.
"If you cannot, will not let something go, and you don't do anything about it, then you should shut up and go away because nobody wants to listen," Laipply said.
He talked about his young niece who was born diabetic and must receive three insulin shots a day. Through the story, Laipply was able to hit home his point about making choices and dealing with circumstances.
While Laipply, a self-proclaimed sugar lover, can eat a doughnut a day, he said the sweet treat could kill his niece.
"As she goes through life, she has to deal with choices she makes on a daily basis," Laipply said.
Before leaving the stage, Laipply left the students with his philosophy that "life is change" and used motion to illustrate that idea with his Evolution of Dance routine, which spans musical movement from Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog" to "Gangnam Style" by Psy.
Brittany Ruess can be reached at (573) 826-2419 or [email protected]