You may have seen Kathy Buckley on Comedy Central joking about hearing loss. “I haven’t had a date in years,” the hearing impaired comedian laments. “I don’t know if it’s because I can’t hear the phone or what.”
The five-time nominee as Best Stand-Up Actress in the American Comedy Awards hasn’t stopped joking around. She’s hard at work at another comedy routine, “Puberty at 50,” and she’s working on her third book, which will be an inspirational book about the power of words.
Growing Up Hearing Impaired
In her autobiography, Kathy shares the dark side of growing up hearing impaired. She was labeled “mentally retarded” and placed in a classroom for children with developmental delays. It was several years before professionals figured out the actual diagnosis of hearing loss. “And they called me slow?” Kathy quipped—she worked that line into her comedy routines.
Laughter as a Saving Grace
Before the age of 30, Kathy had been through a series of unfortunate events. She was molested as a child, had several accidents at work, was run over by a Jeep while lying on the beach, and to top it all off, was diagnosed with cervical cancer.
Laughter was her saving grace—she used wisecracks to make people at ease and take control of situations when she had difficulty hearing. While working as a masseuse, she had a two-hour session with a woman who was recovering from a car accident; by using laughter, Kathy found the power of connection. It was a stint as a stand-up comedian at a charity contest for children with cerebral palsy that lead her down the road to her career in comedy.
Fame Through Stand-Up
One comedy routine lead to another, and soon Kathy became famous on the comedy circuit. She has been on several TV shows, HBO, CNN, and had even created a play about her life. Her books, If You Could Hear What I See and Don’t Buck with Me are filled with her trademark witty and wry humor.
Today Kathy Buckley bills herself as an inspirational speaker and has done countless speaking gigs teaching people to focus on the positive and follow their hearts. She is a speaker for Anthony Robbins’s Life Mastery Classes.
Reaching out to Hearing Impaired Kids
One project that is dear to her own heart is her work with No Limits, an after-school program in Culver City, California. Kathy has been involved with the low-income theatre group for 13 years, teaching deaf and hearing impaired kids about self-esteem and lessons about life. “We serve 50 families a year, and there are hundreds on a waiting list,” Kathy said.
Kathy feels strongly that language and communication are vital skills for deaf and hard-of-hearing children. “If you don’t give kids language, they can’t express what’s in their heart. I don’t care whether you sign, mime, or sing—give kids the ability to communicate. Every child should be able to tell his parents what’s in his heart.”
See Related Articles
Learn more about Miranda Medina, a woman making waves in the deaf community with her documentaries about the deaf, in Filipino Filmmaker Showcases Deaf Community in Silent Odyssey: A Journey into the Deaf World.
See Suzanne Robitaille Helps Others Find Success Through Assistive Technology to learn how a journalist is promoting assistive technology for the deaf and hearing impaired.
