Esquire Magazine interview with Eric Heath on What it feels like to have Tourette's Syndrome

Esquire Magazine Interview with Eric Heath
"What it Feels Like to Have Tourette's Syndrome"

Part of a larger article titled, "What it Feels Like" August 2002, Volume 138 No. 2, Page 83

The magazine cover (featuring Hilary Swank) pitched the article inside as,
"What It Feels Like. . .15 AMAZING TALES OF: Orgies, Gunshots, Exorcisms,
Shark Attacks, Sword-Swallowing, Avalanches, Dwarfs, Giants, And More!

Monkey! Toast! Butter! Boing!
What It Feels Like to Have Tourette's Syndrome
[By Eric Heath, 42, marionette maker]

"Having Tourette's is kind of like having a lightning storm going on inside your body. All of a sudden you'll just shout out a word. Or your whole body will whip to the side violently. You never know when it's going to strike. . ."

". . .I've studied opera, so it's hard to go into stealth mode, especially when a huge operatic "boing!" is coming out of my mouth. There are time you get depressed and don't want to go out in public. But a lot of times people react to it wonderfully. When I shout, "Monkey!" they'll shout it back. It's as if they're saying, "Wow! I don't know why you just shouted 'Monkey!' but it made me feel good."
- AS TOLD TO CAL FUSSMAN

You can read the entire interview (as well as 50+ other tales) in a book
edited by A.J. Jacobs and published by Three Rivers Press
titled Esquire Presents WHAT IT FEELS LIKE To Walk on the Moon, To Be Gored by a Bull, To Survive an Avalanche. . .
the book is available through Amazon.com

A link to Esquire Magazine

Please visit Eric's "About Tourette's Syndrome" page