-My mom always said,
"If you're bored, you're boring."
And I always thought she was right
because how could you be bored with something as amazing
as a human brain attached to your head?
I'm not a science guy.
And I don't know much about the brain,
but I've always been fascinated by one simple story.
It's the story of a patient that sees a doctor
because of chest pains and a high heart rate.
The doctor gives the patient a pill to take once a day
and by the next week the patient feels better.
No chest pains and lower heart rate.
And the doctor reveals the pill is just a capsule of sugar.
The truth is that the patient's brain
did most of the work, if not all of it.
This is called the placebo effect.
And it's also the basic premise of "Dumbo the Flying Elephant"
and his relationship to the magic feather.
But then I woke up one day and I was 18 years old
and I was bored!
I'm not sure if this was a gradual thing
or something that happened in an instant.
I couldn't attribute it to any specific aspect of my life,
but I also couldn't deny the fact
that I was indeed bored.
Now, for others this single solitary moment could be seen
as merely a fleeting thought met by another distraction,
but for me, it's by my mother's thesis
that I was now boring!
[ Chuckles lightly ]
Quickly, I got to thinking.
This boredom must stop. Surely, I'm not boring.
Therefore something must have changed.
This is my life! This is my brain!
I must act swiftly and turn myself into who I really am.
I started to imagine the possibilities.
I could start an Internet company.
I could run for office.
I can explore an exotic island.
I could become an international spy!
The possibilities are literally limitless.
[ Footsteps clomping ]
-That's a negative upstairs.
-How could she disappear! It's impossible!
-Have you checked the 18-year-old male in residence?
-If he knows anything we're gonna have to eliminate him!
-Let's find out.
[ Spy music playing ]
-Aww!
[ Engine starts ]
-Get back here! -Get him!
-Get back here!
Get -- You -- -You go!
-[ Grunts ]
-[ Sighs ]
[ Thump ]
-Oh, please don't hurt me. Oh.
-No...of course not. I was just --
-I need water!
-Yes, water will be good, water, right.
Just...water.
Stay right there.
Okay, think, Zach, think.
There is a mermaid in the back of this truck
that you just stole from two men that broke into your house
and now she needs water.
Water, Zach.
[ Cellphone ringing ]
-Hello?
Whoa. Bi-- Hey. Slow down, big fella.
All right? [ Scoffs ]
You found a what!?
-And like that...
I was no longer bored.