Series - Ten Funny Keynote Speakers and Corporate Comedians Who Market Intelligently

Jeanne Robertson

Generally, a clean corporate comedian or funny keynote speaker will have a business model.  In general terms, this can be inspired by watching another professional funny speaker in performance, in demeanor or even his or her ability to market themselves.

I have a business model is the form of a very funny lady who tells funny stories.  Her name is Jeanne Robertson.  She carries herself beautifully, tells stories naturally and is hip enough to be on Sirius Satellite Radio!

Jeanne Robertson is a professional funny speaker specializing in humor based on life experiences.  She knows that a sense of humor is a strategy for success.  Speaking to large audiences regularly, Jeanne Robertson utilizes her positive and funny style to engage her fans.

Jeanne Robertson is easy to notice. At 6'2" she is very recognizable.  Jeanne adeptly turns life experiences into funny material that elicits laughter.  Jeanne's very special Southern drawl adds to her uniqueness and leave her audience thinking about her message!

Comedy New Talent Night - Showcasing on Stage

The Comedy Club Stage and New Talent

You think you're a funny guy or girl and you've gathered enough courage to perform on New Talent Night at a local comedy club like Zanies Comedy Club, the Laugh Factory Comedy Club r the Improv Comedy Club. How should you prepare to face a room full of strangers and make them laugh?

Write Funny Material

First, you need your arsenal of funny material. Take time during the day to sit down and write a joke with a simple joke structure. The simplest and most basic form of joke writing is "set up and punchline". "Setting up a joke" is providing basic information about an experience or topic. It establishes a place, a feeling and a presence. The punchline element produces the surprise and the unexpected ending. A genuine surprise elicits laughter from an audience which proves your joke is effective.

Memorize Your Jokes and Rehearse Your Comedy Routine

Memorize your jokes and rehearse them either mentally or verbally. Create a visual picture in your head of the subject matter and your first jokes will be more easily committed to memory. Continue rehearsing your jokes daily until they can be recited out loud and with confidence. Achieving a relaxed conversational tone will demonstrate command of the stage and put an audience at ease.

Avoid Improvising Your Act

Many new comedians assume they can stand on stage and be an "off-the-cuff" guy or girl. This can be a dangerous assumption. The first time on stage can be intimidating and it is very possible that increased nervousness will steal your mental reflexes and response time. You will be facing lights and strange faces as the audience stares at you, and you alone. Most likely, you will feel robbed of your humorous creativity as you know it. Having a solidly memorized "set" of material will give you a performance safety net on stage. It is better that improvising skills are utilized once your comedy club audience is engaged and laughing.

The first time on stage triggers the primal fear of facing a roomful of unfamiliar faces. You are taking on a very formidable challenge when standing on the comedy stage. Don't be too hard on yourself. Congratulations on conquering a fear that is only second to death. It does get better and more fun as you feel more comfortable on stage and as you get to know your "character". Performing on a weekly or nightly basis will make the joke writing easier and the performances will appear more natural. Taking those first few steps on the comedy stage are giant leaps in terms of personal goals and a lifetime of effort and enjoyment.

Re-invent Yourself Mid-life!

A Comedian's Perspective - Reinvent Yourself at Mid-life

Why do adults plunge into a mid-life crisis?  Perhaps it is the naming of the personal phenomenon.  Afterall, "crisis" does not conjure feelings of great joy and happiness.  Rather, it causes one to imagine greeting cards with pithy sayings about being "over the hill."  Let's step away from that doomsday picture for a minute.

Now imagine that mid-life is inherently regarded as a fantastic life hurdle that one has just crossed. I see self-confident adults who dare to reinvent themselves. These adults are having fun, traveling and discovering new career pathways of adventure.

There are so many options for living in this world. Why do so many human beings label themselves as only one thing? The obvious answers are need, money and opportunity. Once a person is established in a successful career, it is not a popular and/or intelligent choice to simply walk away from it all. A successful career is great for the ego, the stability and of course, the family. However, what happens when retirement is on the horizon? Does it have to signal gloom and doom?

A counselor once told me, "It's not what happens to you in life. It is how you interpret it." This is one of the most invigorating statements I have heard. With just a change of thought process, an individual has the personal power to turn everything good. All that is needed is a positive attitude! I approach midlife crisis in the same positive manner.

Midlife crisis can be viewed as a midlife "dream." Take that extra energy and put it into projects or plans for the future. I had my own midlife crisis when I realized I was overwhelmed in the world of stand up comedy from having to perform up to ten shows a week. With my husband's encouragement, I became a corporate comedian for women's events. Now I am able to perform one show per week that is as profitable as an entire week of standup comedy in a club. As a clean corporate comedian, I am asked to appear at luncheons and banquets. This is much more conducive to my early to bed, early to rise schedule and it presents the challenge of performing entirely solo. I am on the other side of my midlife crisis discovering a new type of audience and new performing platforms.

If you're approaching any type of "crisis" you may wish to redefine it. Referring to a midlife "crisis" as a midlife "discovery" may give you an extra edge in enjoying various life stages. Interpreting life in a positive manner will open exciting paths of self-discovery.

Clean Corporate Comedy for Women's Events

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Sally Edwards is a Clean Female Corporate Comedian who tours nationally. Sally Edwards' clean comedy has been featured on A&E's "Comedy on the Road" and Showtime's "Comedy Club Network."

Sally Edwards is the president of The Humorous Speakers Bureau in Chicago. For booking information see: http://ComedyBySally.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7624286

Humorous Speakers Bureau Series - Ten Funny Keynote Speakers and Corporate Comedians Who Market Intelligently

This is a ten-part series highlighting funny keynote speakers and clean corporate comedians who use both their creativity and intellect to market successfully.  To a be a successful public speaker, it is so important to combine these two aspects of the business.  As president of The Humorous Speakers Bureau and a clean female corporate comedian, there are keynote speakers and clean corporate comedians I admire for their business sense in marketing and social media presence.  I am presenting these speakers daily, but in no particular order.  They are all No. 1 in my opinion.

Humorous Speakers Bureau - Greg Schwem

     Greg Schwem responds to his client's need for customized entertainment.  When working for his corporate clients who include Microsoft, IBM and McDonald's, he stresses the "custom" aspect of his corporate comedy show. Greg Schwem will research a client's website extensively and include tasteful funny material about their people, products and culture.  Greg Schwem's videos are updated regularly on his web site and demonstrate the hilarity of customized corporate comedy.

Greg Schwem Business Humorist/Corporate Emcee/Syndicated Columnist/Author

"King of the Hill in the world of corporate comedy!" - Chicago Tribune

web:  www.gregschwem.com

watch:  www.youtube.com/gregschwem

follow:  www.twitter.com/corpcomic

Click here to read about Greg in Parade Magazine

Click here to learn about Greg's book

Hold on to Your Comedy Dream

It’s an interesting combination- piano teacher by day; clean comedian by night. To tell you the truth, I went for years denying my comic abilities, never telling the other grade school moms about the person I really was. None of them knew I’d spent most of my life, six days a week and sometimes threes shows a night, in smoky comedy clubs trying to make people laugh.  I have performed stand-up comedy at all the popular comedy clubs:  Zanies Comedy Club, The Funnybone, The Comic Strip and The Comedy Store.

I didn’t want to admit my comedy connection because I felt too many negative connotations come to mind in the words "club standup comedian" - drinking, drugs, lewd material and perhaps irresponsible mother. Living my teenage years at an all-girl’s Catholic boarding school, I’d been engrained with a lifestyle that was not a match. And so I kept my past and dreams a secret.

I took off many years from standup comedy when my children were small. After my third child was born, I missed them all so much when I would go out to do a show at night. I continually thought, "Why am I here? I want to go home." Eventually the desire to be with my children at night combined with a healthy dose of exhaustion convinced me that I could leave standup and lead a "normal" life. In retrospect, the lesson learned is - never turn your back on your dream - it will catch up with you, if you’re lucky.

What happened in those years that I stayed away from the stage? I wrote and wrote and wrote.

(Eventually that writing would become my first show entitled, "BIG PEOPLE, little people!") It was easy to write. I found my children endlessly amusing - let’s change that to downright hilarious. I thought to myself, "What if adults acted like children?’ "How long would it take for an adult who acted like a child to be committed?" Maybe less than a minute?

My son wore his Power Ranger costume to the grocery store. If I did that nobody would think I was cute. They’d commit me. They’d call the authorities. They’d call 911. They’d say, "Bag Lady in Aisle 6!"

What if I started screaming in church and tried to run up the aisle? Nobody would say, "She’s kind of cranky today." No! They’d hustle me out and everyone would be very "disturbed".

What if I ate a spaghetti dinner and left the sauce all over my mouth and ran it through my hair?

How do kids get away with this stuff!?

And it made me laugh. And I wrote it down. And I’m still writing it down today.

The other day I was teaching a six-year-old girl a beginning piano lesson. In all her innocence, she started her own interesting conversation with me. "Mrs. Edwards. don’t you hate it when you’re on the monkey bars and you forget you have a skirt on, and your underpants show?" And I said quite matter-of-factly, "Yes. I do hate that. I hate that so much and I know just how you feel!"

http://humorousspeakersbureau.com Sally Edwards is the president of The Humorous Speakers Bureau marketing corporate comedians and funny keynote motivational speakers.
http://sallyedwards.org - Laugh to Good Health
http://comedybysally.com - Clean Corporate Comedy

Ten Funny Keynote Speakers Who Market Intelligently

Funny Keynote Speakers and Intelligent Marketing

This is a ten-part series highlighting funny keynote speakers and corporate comedians who use both their creativity and intellect to market successfully.  As president of The Humorous Speakers Bureau and a clean female comedian, I know the importance of effectively combining these two aspects of the public speaking business in order to establish a strong customer base with recurring appearances at events.  I am presenting these speakers daily, but in no particular order.  They are all No. 1 in my opinion.

David Michael


Corporate Speaker David Michael believes that Verbal communication is vital to success in business especially in today's atmosphere.  David Michael has concentrated his career on making people more effective speakers and presenters.  By combining his education (University of Pittsburgh degree in communications, BA) and his vast experience in the corporate and entertainment worlds, he has come up with a program called, "Secrets from the Greenroom" and written a very informative book by the same name.

"Secrets from the Greenroom"  - Buy Now

Keeping up with David Michael is easy because he maintains a current and informative blog:  http://www.davidmichaellive.blogspot.com.  

I encourage you to "follow!"

Three Secrets to Becoming a Clean Stand-up Comedian

Secrets to Becoming a Clean Stand-up Comedian

Many new comedians grace the stage with full intent of delivering a clean show. They take the showcase stage at comedy clubs like Zanies Comedy Club, The Laugh Factory, Up Comedy Club or The Improv and attempt to deliver clean comedy. By performing clean comedy, whether they be funny female comedians or male clean comedians they are then able to pursue the goal of someday performing solo as a clean corporate comedian.

1)  Performing clean comedy means there should be no use of swear words, no offensive set-ups and no offensive punchlines.  It is important not to embarrass or offend as a corporate comedian.  An offended audience leads to complaints to human resources. Repetitive complaints may develop into real problems for the company hosting the corporate event.  Violating the rules of "clean" will result in loss of trust, reputation and bookings.

2)  Be aware of your own interpretation of clean comedy.  "Clean" should not be a product of your own subjective interpretation. New talent today takes its direction from Comedy Central where there are no limits on topics and vocabulary. A new comic often believes if he simply "cleans up his act" by cleaning up his four letter words, the goal of clean comedy has been accomplished. I've seen club owners shaking their heads in dismay as they watch a new talent use every word but the "f" bomb and think they've achieved clean.

Subject matter that is truly "clean" is a topic that you could deliver one-on-one to your Aunt Clara in front of her bridge club. This is assuming your aunt was never a member of Hell's Angels or senior cook on a ship. Topics involving family, sports, children, husbands, wives and corporate life are all fair game. Any talk of sex must be approached with extreme caution. After all, would you feel comfortable talking about sex to your Aunt Clara?

3)  "Customized humor" is a good way to go if you want strong laughs that hit close to home for a corporate audience. Customizing humor involves researching the company's background and core interests prior to taking the stage. Although individuals can also be singled out as fodder, it is very effective to read from the company's handbook or muse over their graphs and charts. Where there has been pain, there is gain in the laugh department.

If you want to write clean, turn off the TV and think back to your childhood. What was right and what was wrong in dialogue with adults? These thoughts will be your guide. Writing clean material is a very difficult challenge when creating a new routine but taking the high road will lead to respect among your peers and admiration from you corporate audience.

At This Clean Comedy Event, I Sat Next to a Bishop! That is Clean Comedy Pressure!

http://humorousspeakersbureau.com Sally Edwards is the president of The Humorous Speakers Bureau marketing corporate comedians and funny keynote motivational speakers.
http://sallyedwards.org - Laugh to Good Health
http://comedybysally.com - Clean Corporate Comedy