In 2011, Shane Burcaw founded Laughing at My Nightmare (LAMN) with his cousin Sarah as a way to spread a message of positivity and to give people what they really needed: a good laugh. Since then, LAMN has inspired, helped and tickled the funny bone of hundreds of thousands of people.
Those who know him, love him, but, in the event that you haven't met him yet, we happily invite you to get to know the four-time beneficiary of Style's fourth annual Best Of celebration, Shane Burcaw.
Last year, you told us your goal was world domination. How close did you get?
It turns out that complete world domination takes a bit longer than I initially estimated. However, both my nonprofit and my personal writing career have been keeping me busy throughout the last year!
At Laughing At My Nightmare, we've been growing tremendously as a company, which has allowed us to provide dozens of vital equipment grants to people living with muscular dystrophy! We did our biggest project ever back in January, providing an outdoor elevator for a family in eastern Pennsylvania. With this elevator, their daughter can now easily access her home in her power wheelchair. We couldn't do these sorts of life-changing grants without the generous support of our donors, so I'd like to publicly give a huge THANK YOU to all of them.
I'm also super excited to announce that I have two more books coming out! The first is a children's picture book called Not So Different, which will be out on November 7. The book is designed to make the topic of disability approachable for kids and answer the many questions they often have about being in a wheelchair. The next book is a sequel to my first memoir, another raunchy, silly and hopefully thought-provoking collection of stories from my life. That will be out in late 2018!
A lot has happened this past year, especially legislatively, and you recently opened up to your followers on social media about how health care reform could affect you. What would you like readers to take away from that?
I try not to get too political in my writing, but recent health care reform efforts are an issue that hit way too close to home for me and hundreds of thousands of people like me who were born with severe disabilities. It seems ludicrous that we even need reminders like this, but I'd encourage people to make decisions with compassion and empathy for all people. I think that's a goal we can all aim for, regardless of political affiliation.
Many of your followers have probably noticed that you're linked to someone new romantically. What's something about your relationship that people might not know or expect?
Yes, my lovely girlfriend Hannah and I have just recently celebrated our one-year anniversary! Let's see, something people wouldn't expect… we went on a date to NYC last summer and got stranded in the city overnight because my wheelchair decided to die. It was a ridiculous, hilarious adventure, and to make it even better, it was about 128 degrees in the city that day. Hannah and I love to travel and seek out the best restaurants in every location we visit.
The Style team loves receiving emails from LAMN that someone new has benefited from the donations and support, and has received a life-changing piece of equipment. Ballpark, how many of those gifts has your organization been able to provide in the last year? Who is eligible for a No More Nightmares grant?
We've done about 30 grants in the past two years! These grants are given to people with any form of muscular dystrophy in order to help them obtain equipment to make life more healthy, comfortable and productive. Some examples of items we've given include beds, vehicle modifications, computers, ramps, wheelchairs and lots more!
Where have your travels taken you this past year? Locally, what are you excited for?
Our speaking schedule has been jam-packed in the last year! We took a trip out to the beautiful state of Washington last summer to speak at a large community conference about disability empowerment. We spoke everywhere from high schools in Chicago to fifth graders right here in Bethlehem! Sarah and I now have over 100 speaking engagements under our belts, and we've loved every single one of them. Over the next few months, we have a handful of talks at local schools and teacher conferences that we're getting excited about!
You have several tattoos. What does each one mean to you?
Yes! I have a “safe camp” symbol behind my right ear. This simple marking was used by traveling hobos back in the day to mark houses that were welcoming to other travelers. I think that concept is pretty cool.
I have a T-Rex doing a burnout in a wheelchair on my thigh. There's no significant meaning behind this one—I actually pledged to get it for a fundraising campaign that we did a few years ago. Bad idea? Probably. Do I regret it? Nope!
My third tattoo is the phrase “Hope springs eternal” on the back of my neck, a small part of a poem by Alexander Pope. It reminds me that there is always a reason for optimism, even in the worst situations.
Is there anything more worthy of an eye roll than someone talking at length about their tattoos?
Okay, now for the serious stuff: how fun was that puppy photo shoot with Alison Conklin?
I've never been so happy to be covered in pee and drool.
