Epic Tiny Victories

A Hopeful Memoir about Depression, Anxiety, and Reframing Your Life

Launches on 2/1/2026!

Colin is a kid with depression and anxiety.

Colin grows up to be a successful speaker, comedian, and author.

But here’s the thing: Colin still has depression and anxiety.

And now they’re threatening to take away everything he’s worked so hard to build.

Epic Tiny Victories is the story of Colin’s journey to figure out how to manage mental health—rather than being managed by it.

It’s a not-at-all-depressing book about mental health. (And it’s psychologist-approved.)

Told entirely as a funny, true story, Epic Tiny Victories offers real insights and lots of laughs to remind you that there is nothing more epic than realizing you are enough.

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

CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER

Or Read a Free Chapter (below)

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.)