David Roche comes on stage at a middle school, and the students\' eyes open wide; some of them gasp. He acknowledges their reaction, and more: He asks them to say out loud, \"What happened to your face?\"

He then explains how he was born with a severe facial disfigurement—swollen and entangled blood vessels on the left side of his face and neck. Surgeries and radiation therapy didn\'t fix the problem; they just left radiation burns on his temple and eyelid.

Roche quickly makes connections with them. After all, he says, \"Everybody feels like they\'re disfigured.\" He taps into the children\'s own insecurities and reassures them. There are nods and smiles and laughs and even some tears. \"What else,\" he asks, \"is more important to a 12-year-old seeking to find a sense of self and a place in the world among his or her peers? Afterward, the children often talk about their self-perceived flaws and it\'s clear that in many cases, those perceptions have contributed to diminished self-image.\"

Roche even gets them laughing, saying things to them like, \"When I was a kid, I thought about starting a gang of all us disfigured guys. . . . maybe just go to Nordstrom and hang out at the makeover counter.\"

This is David Roche\'s life now. He and his wife, Marlena, who is not disfigured, facilitate \"Love at Second Sight,\" a program aimed specifically at middle-school students, a program determined to show that there\'s more to a person than an outward appearance.

Roche has an entire one-man show—\"The Church of 80 Percent Sincerity,\" which he\'s taken to schools, churches, synagogues, theaters, clubs, and even the White House.

Roche didn\'t come to immediately to being so public. The oldest of seven children, he attended Catholic schools through college, became a computer programmer and then a massage therapist, got addicted to alcohol, and finally—at AA meetings—discovered that his true calling was as a comedian. Soon after that, he confronted his disfigurement publicly, and was on his way to becoming a professional performer.

Roche\'s life is not easy, neither in private nor in performances. \"Every time I walk out my front door,\" he says, \"I deal with stares, comments, and the occasional cruelty, even to the extent of having someone spit in my face.\" But he realizes that it\'s not his appearance that causes such reactions: \"It is the fear and self-doubt of others. In fact, it\'s their worry about being rejected and abandoned, which they project onto me. That\'s one of the jobs of the visibly disabled, to carry the fears of others who then can pretend that they are normal.\"

Still, Roche will tell you he has a good life. He travels with his wife, he makes people laugh, he comforts and inspires children, and he\'s at peace with himself. \"I know,\" he says, \"when I get up on stage, I symbolize something that people are very afraid of. Seeing me tap into my own fear, not being afraid to show my face, gives other people courage to see the beauty within.\"

You can follow his work at www.loveatsecondsight.org.