Keep On Keepin' On
and the friendship it nurtured
Written by: Brittany Jordan
Edited by: Christian Hines
Posters made by supporters for a Keep On Keepin' On marathon. Courtesy of Tim Wambach
When Wambach and Berkson aren’t rehearsing for the show, their time is usually spent helping others through KOKO. The foundation has given a handicapped girl a wheelchair and helped a family purchase a elevator for their home.
The family had three children born with cerebral palsy and were all in need of wheelchairs. KOKO helped by providing an elevator for the home to help with accessibility for the children. One daughter told Wambach that the elevator would mean she’d be able to help out with the laundry.
Wambach and says it shows something people take for granted, and here someone else is looking for a way to help out. They also helped a mother buy a clarinet for her daughter, who also had a physical disability. She was not able to afford the instrument because of medical bills.
Wambach’s devotion to making people aware that they’re no different has become his mission.
“I look to see the person and see their personality, and really not discount, and not focus on the disability,” Wambach says. “I feel like you need to do away with the diagnosis and just look at the person and understand the person and try to see what they’re going through.”
Tim Wambach with his comedic partner, Mike Berkson, after a HandicapThis! show. Photo credit: Brittany Jordan
aid. He helped him cope with the many difficulties he was experiencing by having cerebral palsy, a brain developmental disorder that affects muscle coordination.
“The whole thing with Mike was very organic, things just kinda happened,” Wambach says.
He and Berkson bonded during Berkson’s 8th grade trip and found out what life was like living with cerebral palsy. Before becoming Berkson’s aide and friend, Wambach worked with kids with mental disabilities at PARK camp in Evanston for over 10 years.
He didn’t know much about cerebral palsy before working with Berkson and now he has realized that many doctors don’t know much about cerebral palsy either.
“There’s a lot of issues Mike still has problems with that the doctors can’t figure out how to treat,” Wambach says.
In 2010, Wambach and Berkson began a show, HandicapThis!, where they visit high schools and colleges and share their story and educate students and faculty on the inclusion of people with physical disabilities.
Wambach is usually the one doing most of the speaking while Berkson chimes in with witty remarks to create a light-hearted, comedic show all while giving insight on the severity of physical and mental disabilities.
Many of the jokes start with Berkson doing skits, like singing a song by hip-hop star, Fetty Wap, and Wambach commenting by calling him a diva.
Berkson begins one joke by coughing loudly and saying, “I need to stop smoking,” Wambach then blurts out to the audience that he’s joking about the smoking thing, as if that wasn’t already obvious to the audience.
hrough an
unexpected
friendship Tim
Wambach achieved his dream of becoming a public speaker.
Wambach co-founded Keep On Keepin’ On, a non-profit organization that financially aids those that are physically disabled. His passion for raising awareness helped to not only establish a friendship with Mike Berkson , but also, a traveling comedic stage show that raises awareness for those with physical disabilities.
When Berkson was 12, Wambach was his teacher's