Epic Tiny Victories

A Hopeful Story about Courage, Mental Health, and Reframing Your Life

Launches on 1/1/2026!

It's the story of an anxious, depressed kid who grows up to be a comedian and speaker—and discovers that mental health isn't about being cured, it's about learning to thrive anyway.

Part comedic memoir, part survival guide, and part love letter to anyone who's ever felt like they're barely holding it together—this book is packed with laugh-out-loud moments, raw honesty, and the hard-won tools for rebuilding your life when your brain works against you.

This is the story of someone who has learned how to manage mental health instead of being managed by it.

Mental health stories don't have to be depressing. They can be hilarious, hopeful, and proof that you don't need to be fearless to live a big life.

By Colin Ryan
Moth GrandSLAM Winner | Featured in Reader's Digest's
"The Best Stories in America"

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Some of the Live Performances that inspired the book and have won awards.

This is how 1,000 people found out I was a Christian clown in middle school. And then later, 1 million people found out.

Moth GrandSlam Winner | 2016

Reader’s Digest “The Best Stories in America”

A live performance of the book’s first chapter story, “A Successful Depressive,” in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Tongue & Groove @ Raleigh NC | 2024

Here are a couple of preview photos from the book’s Photo Gallery, to let you know what you’re in for!

  • Ch. 1 "A Successful Depressive"

    My green Dodge Neon with white hubcaps and a crumpled roof… an under-the-radar reason I was depressed.

  • Ch. 3 "Unaccompanied"

    If I was an Unaccompanied Minor, then she was an Unaccompanied Senior…

    My amazing gran, Edmay.

  • Ch. 4 "The F-I-A-S-C-O"

    Have I mentioned I won my 4th-grade spelling bee? In mom-jeans?

  • Ch. 5 "It Ain't Easy Being Wheezy"

    Ch. 5 "It Ain't Easy Being Wheezy"

    “Yeah, I have asthma. I’m still doing gym class — got a problem with that?”

  • Ch. 6 "Saved by the Belle"

    This cool kid went to middle school, and made it about two hours before he revealed he was clown in his local church! It did not go great 😅

  • Ch. 11 "Pamplona Took My Breath Away"

    Feast your eyes on a group that dressed for the Running With The Bulls, but had to walk across a French town first, looking like a cult or a boy band.

  • Ch. 12 "An Accidental Movie Star"

    In a way, this picture defies description! And yet, it demands one! Here is me as Dakota Joe and my trusty puppet-sidekick, Denver!

  • Ch. 14 "My Secret Sentence"

    Here are the two movies I brought up out of nowhere in my FIRST EVER therapy session. Sorry Sam, thanks for not freaking out 😅

  • Ch. 18 "From My Seat to the Stage"

    Performing at the Flynn Theatre after one stand-up comedy course. So yeah, still pretending to be a comedian at this point!

  • Ch. 21 "Finding Life Funny"

    I had to make sure you saw this, so you know, like I did, that beyond a shadow of a doubt there is a giant squirrel outside a campground in the middle of Vermont.

  • Ch. 27 "We Were All 11"

    This story meant something to a lot of people!

    Artist: Donald Suthard

  • Ch. 27 "We Were All 11"

    Having grown up reading stories in Reader’s Digest, you never think someday YOU will be a contributor in pencil sketch!

  • Ch. 29 "Social Anxiety on a Jumbotron"

    This is what it looks like when a stadium of 18,000 people gathers to listen to your speech. (Whether you have impostor syndrome or not.)