DJ Remix, Movie Quotes and “But Did You Die, Mr Bond?” - How to Interupt the Anxiety Loop with Humour

My brothers and sister take the mickey out of me all the time. They call me DJ Remix or the Remix King.

Not because I’m good with decks or have a musical bone in my body, (I ran out of Piano class as a Kid after falling asleep at the Piano, so there was no hope for me) but because I have a special talent for getting songs completely muddled up and somehow managing to sing two different songs at the same time, completely tone deaf.

I’m not sure if music dyslexia is a real medical condition, but if it is… I definitely have it!

Although I like to think of myself as a lyrical genius, The English answer to Eminem! or maybe more Vanilla ice 😜

Glastonbury 2000

I once, famously, and still painfully, embarrassed myself among my friends at Glastonbury festival the year I left school. Slightly drunk and feeling very confident. I announced that Travis who were on the pyramid stage and singing a cover version of Britney Spears’ “Hit Me Baby One More Time.”....

I was certain and even doubled down.

Turns out… I thought it was the Backstreet Boys on stage. 🙈

To this day, I hang my head in shame. Some mistakes never leave you. At least I redeemed myself crowd surfing to Cyprus Hill.

It’s Not Just Music

Unfortunately, my remix ability doesn’t stop with songs. It also extends into famous movie quotes.I have an impressive talent for blending completely different films into one chaotic cinematic universe. For example: There’s the iconic James Bond line in Goldfinger where Blofeld says:

“No, Mr Bond. I expect you to die.”

And then there’s the moment in The Hangover 2 when Mr Chow responds to Phil with:

“But did you die?” In his high pitched Chinese accent.

Two legendary lines.

Two completely different films.

My brain?

Naturally decided to combine them.

What On Earth Has This Got To Do With Anxiety?

Good question.

In previous blogs, I’ve spoken about the anxiety loop. The cycle of sensationss → questioning what if → monitoring → more sensations → panic.

And how recovery isn’t about stopping symptoms, but about interrupting the pattern.

One of the ways I learned to do that was with humour, trying to make light of the way I was feeling.

Specifically… very badly quoted humour.

My Very Own Anxiety Interrupt

After a while with Anxiety you get to know the different sensations in your body as they come up and you have enough internal data to know, even with how uncomfortable sensations are, at some point they will pass. When a sensation would hit, dizziness, tight chest, adrenaline, that awful “something’s wrong” feeling, instead of panicking, I’d say to myself:

In my best high-pitched Mr Chow voice:

“But did you die…?”

Then I’d immediately add:

“…Mr Bond.” In a dramatic, villain-style Blofeld voice.

Completely wrong.

Utter nonsense.

Two movies.

Two accents.

One very confused inner monologue.

And every single time… it made me laugh.

Why It Actually Helped

The irony wasn’t lost on me.I knew I was getting the quote wrong and could hear my brothers voices in my head, telling me I'd misquoted it

That was the point.

It softened the seriousness my mind was placing on the sensation.

Instead of:

“This feels dangerous, I'm going to die.”

It became:

“Alright calm down, DJ Remix.” with an image in my mind of an evil Mr Chow mocking me.

The little snigger to myself didn’t cure my anxiety.

But it broke the spell and interupted the pattern. It shifted me out of fear and back into perspective. I wasn't dying, I was uncomfortable and experiencing nervous arousal.

It was a a way to remind myself I'd survived this sensation before and nothing bad happened apart from some serious discomfort.

Dark Humour, Probably Inherited

I think I inherited my dad’s military-style gallows humour. When you are in the trenches and things get uncomfortable, scary, or intense, humour can become a pressure release valve.

Not denial that something is happening.

Not avoidance and running away.

Just a reminder that not every sensation deserves a courtroom trial. Sometimes it deserves a badly mixed movie quote.

In combat soldiers can't panic, they also can't emotionally process everything in the moment so without humour the nervous system woud collapse under the weight of reality they are facing. Laughing helps to reduce stress even in a stressful environment.

Final Thoughts from DJ Remix

At the start Anxiety can remove any joy from your life, you are consumed by it, but to recover we have to teach ourselves to relax again and come back into our bodies and humour and laughing at ourselves can help with that.

Sometimes healing looks like:

• laughing at your own mind

• talking back to fear

• deliberately not getting the quote right

Because when anxiety demands certainty, humour brings flexibility. And sometimes, in the middle of a racing heart and shaky legs, the most powerful question you can ask is:

“But did you die, Mr Bond?” Even if absolutely no one in Hollywood ever said it.

I'll be back with more anxiety tips and tricks in another blog soon.

Until then remember the only way out is through!

Peace be thy journey! Cool runnings!