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Tim Conway has to be one of the best sketch comedians ever. I grew up watching him, Carol Burnett and Harvey Korman make each other laugh.
What impresses me about this clip is that it holds up. It is still funny today. (And how many shows from the 70s can we say that about? Happy Days? No way, Fonzy!
As a professional speaker and comedian, I love watching how he cracks the other actors up, and how their laughter makes the sketch even funnier. He’s funny on his own, but with the his team members busting up he is hilarious. The other folks laughter turns the sketch from good to great.
This fact is relevant to us in our search for a fun business culture. Laughter begets laughter.
If you want to ramp up the fun in your office and the humor in your workplace, you can start by laughing more yourself. And if you are a leader or manager, make sure that you make certain others feel safe laughing around you. Employees are often nervous about letting loose in front of their boss: don’t let your people fall into this trap around you. If you are laughing the hardest, your employees will follow. Trust me on this.
Back to Conway: The fact that Conway was so “in the moment” and authentic makes me think he’d be a
killer professional speaker. Can you imagine having him as your motivational keynote speaker? Heck yeah! Imagine him (and his team of comedians) do one of these killer sketches and then connect the learning points to corporate America. I know he would have the convention or meeting on the edge of their seats because he is so funny. But I bet when he connects his communication skills, timing, teamwork and ability to deal with constant change to the business and corporate culture, he’d hit it out of the park. I know I would pay to see it.
The bad news is that Conway isn’t a pro speaker. The good news is that I know a motivational speaker that would love to fill in for him. : ) (“Hey mom! Pick me!”)
Technorati Tags: Comedians, Motivational speakers, humorists, Tim Conway, Funny, Sketch Del.icio.us Tags: Comedians, Motivational speakers, humorists, Tim Conway, Funny, Sketch
I’m on the plane coming home from a date with the ID Potato Shipper Growers Association. (Yup, potato industry folks really needed a humorist motivational speaker… their industry is going through some HUGE changes.)
I loved the date… the folks were nice. The potato humor was fast and furious (no… I’m not kidding… potato humor) and if you go by the comments the audience (and my meeting planner) gave me after the talk, the message was well-received.
But by far the best part was making a difference for the victims of hurricane Katrina.
I often sell books, tapes and other products after my programs. But I had no plans to do so at this event. But, at the last minute I grabbed as many copies of my book, Humor Me: America’s Funniest Humorists on the Power of Laughter and shoved ’em in my bag.
I told the audience this: ” The books list at $16.95. I usually sell them for $15. Tonight they are $20… and I’ll tell ya why. Tonight we are gonna sell out and give ALL of the money to the Red Cross for the hurricane.
My 19 books should have earned $380. (I’m tellin’ ya… that’s all I could fit in my bag!) But because these big-hearted people were so generous — and because they kept re-selling the last 2 books over and over and over again— we made $609 in 12 minutes. That can buy a bunch of potatoes for the folks who need them most.
I’m humbled and flattered. Last night we proved that humor can make a difference.
… no…. under the bed.
Often we don’t have to look very far to find humor in action. (At least not at my house.)
My wife Kim and I were putting our little kids to sleep. They are afraid of the monsters that might be around, and as I watched from the doorway asked Kim to close the doors to the closet and the bathroom. (Apparently monsters are unable to operate doornobs.)
“Do you want me to look under the bed?” she asked them?
Of course they did. So she bends down to look under the bed and says, “Ok Frank and Larry: they know you are here and they are scared so just stay where you are or you’re gonna freak them out. Ok? Ok.”
My kids eyes got really big REALLY fast. But I cracked up. I mean cracked up.
The kids … probably prompted by me … cracked up too. It was a great end of the day for them.
I loved it and have told the story several times since… including here.
Wanna know the funniest part? Kim doesn’t think she was particularly funny night… and she thinks the fact that I DO think it was hilarious is (further) evidence that I’m a wacko. Which of course, just made it funnier for me. So be it.
My point? You don’t have to hunt far for humor. Just pay attention and you’ll find very funny people who may (or may not) be trying to be hilarious. Without much of a fuss you should be find plenty of humor anywhere you look for it. (Especially if you look under the bed.)
I’m amazed at how often I hear it from my clients: “We just had a speaker and he (or she) told stories and jokes that were just TOTALLY inappropriate for our association.”
Well folks, I’m here to tell you that if you want your speaker to use humor… ask them whether it is clean humor. Ask ‘em how they define “clean comedy.” If you need to, ask for examples. Last thing you want is for your boss and HR director to call you in to their offices to show you the stack of complaint letters about the comic speaker who “just wasn’t funny.”
I was chatting with a meeting planner yesterday who told me the story that I think sums up meeting stupidity. A huge corporation booked a known comedian for a corporate event. This was a very well known comedian… a person who at one time had their own TV show, and had plenty of tape on HBO and the Comedy Channel. Anybody… and I mean ANYBODY who has seen even 23 seconds of this comedian gets the accurate impression that they don’t work clean.
It was more than an occasional curse word. It was the whole act. Sex. Genders. Ethnicity. Curse words. Making fun of nearly every group. Predictably (in my opinion), five minutes after the comedian started the show at the convention, the CEO walked on stage and personally escorted the act off the stage. The full fee was paid, the audience was shocked, and the CEO probably had a fit with whoever booked that act. (And the comedian probably wondered, “Why in the world did they book me if they didn’t want me to do my thing?”)
My question was this: What did they expect? There are a ton of great corporate comedians who work 100% clean and are both professional and hilarious. But it is up to the meeting planner — or whomever is booking the speaker — to check to see if they are clean. And if you have any doubts… keep asking questions until you know you have a speaker that you know will be more than funny you want a speaker who understands corporate, government and association audiences.
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Brad Montgomery: Clean Comedian Speaker
You Can’t Afford Taking a risk on a Corporate Comedian. Your Event and Your Audience are Too Important to Chance a Not-Funny and Not-Appropriate Hack
Brad has already proved himself in front of audiences from Lockheed Martin to the CIA (yes, that CIA). From the State of Colorado to Microsoft. Isn’t it time you add yourself to this list of raving happy clients?
Hey! This comedian speaker is Funny! And Clean. Corporate Comedian Brad Montgomery dazzles ’em with Award-Winning boy-next-do. Turn him loose on the weary multitudes and before you know it, you’ll hear laughing and guffawing and the happy cry that meeting planners love to hear: “Hey, down in front!”
“Brad’s awesome comedy and insights set a positive tone for the entire conference. I haven’t laughed so hard and felt so good in a long time.”
-Unemployment Insurance Center. State of Utah.
Comedian Brad Montgomery is:
- Proven. Guaranteed. Yes, seriously.
- Hilarious
- Experienced. Just ask the Air Force, Western Union, and Kenneth Cole Fashions.
- Funny. (Yup, we mentioned already, but this is why you’re here!)
- Crystal clean. Grand Mother clean.
Brad’s Show is:
- Award winning magician and comedian
- Deft at audience interaction
- Worked in 50 states and on 4 continents
- Perfect for audiences of 50 to 5000
- Free of sexual, racial, & political references. Trust us… EVERYBODY will love it.
What Now?
Stop dilly dallying and call us right NOW to schedule Brad for your organization! Questions? We’ve got answers. Now…contact us.
Call 303.691.0726
Wow…that sounded kinda bossy, huh? But seriously, why wait? Call us now and let’s get this thing on the calendar. Your team will be thrilled. We promise.
Comedian Speaker & Humorist Brad Montgomery
Rave Reviews East Coast, West Coast, No Coast
Brad has paid his dues. For corporate and association audiences large and small coast-to-coast. Brad’s done all that and more. From Boardrooms to Banquet Rooms all across the country, businesses call on this comedian to give their corporate proceedings a welcome lift. Gloom disappears. Quarterly forecasts brighten. Quotas are magically within reach. Suddenly, the world is a much better place. It happens whenever and wherever comedian Brad steps on stage and says, “Watch closely!”Audiences all over the country recognize a seasoned performer when they see one, and that’s why they hoot and howl and clap and stomp when Brad performs. And why they ask him to come back and do it again year after year.
Brad has cracked-up and entertained thousands of groups including Kraft, USA Today, Miller Brewing, and the American Payroll Association. Call him today to find out why they keep bringing him back!
Special corporate comedian shows “Just For Us!”
Brad customizes his corporate comedy presentation. Woven into his routines are quips about The Buzz around your Water Cooler. Your biggest competitor. The manager who wears those awful ties. Comments about the company golf tournament. The executive who is late for meetings. Brad’s shows are unique because your audience is unique. Make your life simple If you crave a hilarious show packed with baffling mystery, and “gobs” of audience participation, a show that was built just for your audience, then you’ll love a hot steamy mug of Brad Montgomery’s Freshly Brewed Magic & Comedy. Make your life simple: Just book Brad.
“Brad could pick up on the attendees’ reactions better than any comedian speaker I’ve ever seen. He is perceptive. Excellent — and very funny! — program.”
-Marla Ashley Missouri Child Support Enforcement
What is a corporate comedian?
Let’s face it. Life today is complicated at best. It’s often difficult. And it is sometimes… well… yucky. All we need to do to confirm our stresses is to look over the front page of the newspaper and we know that what we really need is a good laugh. Companies and associations turn to corporate comedians to provide their employees with a break from the difficulties of the times. Whether they need to give their folks a break from a day of learning important – but often dry – information from industry corporate motivational speakers, or they want to make them feel appreciated and valued, or if they want to kick-off or close a convention with a bang, a corporate comedian can be the answer.
“Hilarious! Never laughed so hard at any conference before.” — Tennessee Human Resources Association
Brad Montgomery is a very funny – and very clean! – corporate comedian and speaker. He knows how to take a group of well-educated, sophisticated, been-there-and-done-that people and shake them right out of their chairs. And he works clean – that means nobody is offended.
“Outstanding and hilarious. The customization made it special.” –USA Today
What’s the difference between a comedian and a “corporate comedian?”
That’s an easy one. A corporate comedian is a comedian who is clean, safe and appropriate for today’s business audiences. It’s a comedian who can make convention and meeting audiences howl with laughter w/o some of the “blue humor” that is so common in nightclubs. 
Brad Montgomery puts it this way: “A corporate comedian’s show is safe for everybody. When I work my clients expect it to be funny without it being offensive. And I mean offensive to anybody.”
Brad leaves out any references to race, sex, gender,.. you get the idea. “Not only do we not need those topics to make them laugh, but I figure that the meeting planners and I don’t ever want to get a letter about something on the edge or near the margin of inappropriate humor. I keep it absolutely crystal clean and safe…. I don’t want the headache. And I know the last thing my meeting planners are letters from the attendees complaining about this and that. It just isn’t worth it….
There are so many ways to use humor without anybody making anybody uncomfortable besides… if I make them laugh so hard they are crying, who’s gonna notice that it is clean and safe anyway?” Brad’s theory is that a great corporate comedian is so funny that folks never notice that the show is clean. “Sure, I occasionally have folks from the audience thank me for keeping it clean. But the truth is that most people don’t notice it. They would absolutely notice it if I was cursing my way through the after dinner entertainment, but when it is clean they are free to focus on the fun.” Brad continues, “If the main comment the audience makes is that I didn’t curse or talk about sex I think we’ve missed the point. They should simply say, ‘That comedian cracked me up!”
“Made us laugh non-stop.” — US Bank
Clean Corporate Comedian – Good Enough for Grandma!
“I think I’ve more or less failed if the only good thing about my program that folks can comment upon is that I didn’t cuss. I want them laughing and laughing hard…. And the fact that it is a show that is clean enough for everybody from my 94 year old grandmother to my 4 year old son shouldn’t be the main point,” says Brad. “As I tell folks all the time… not only is my program funny and inoffensive to my grandmother, it is funny and inoffensive to everybody’s grandmother!” Corporate comedian motivational speaker Brad Montgomery also considers himself a business humorist and funny motivational speaker.
“A million laughs!!” –Miller Coors Brewing Company
What?! A corporate comedian who does magic too?
Magic is also a big part of Brad’s programs. “I got my start years ago as a magician. I did night clubs and cruise ships; and I did over 250 college performances. But now much of my time is spent working as a corporate comedy magician to associations and corporate audiences all across the country.“ “The magic is something that I’m proud of,” continues Montgomery. “I’ve won awards for my magic and I’m proud of it. At the same time, I don’t mind telling you that most of the folks in my audience never leave talking about the amazing tricks. Instead, they are all talking about how funny the show is.” Brad uses his corporate magic as a tool to get to a more personalized comedy. He gets folks from the audience out of their seats and up on the stage to help with the magic tricks. The magic happens to them and by them, which is really popular with his convention audiences.
But the best part, according to Montgomery, is the comedy that happens during the interaction between him and his audience “volunteers.” “I basically start to interview them while they are with me up on stage. We talk about their jobs, their industries and their joys and concerns relating to their occupation. We also end up talking about the meeting itself: the food, the hotel, whatever is going on.” The result is hilarious. The comedy resulting from this interaction is impromptu, funny, and always surprising. Sure, the start of the whole interaction is the magic tricks… but the result is way more than just a baffling magical illusion.
The result is corporate entertainment that cannot be repeated. “One reason performing is so much for me is because I have no idea what folks are going to say on stage, and therefore there is no way to prepare. Sure, I’ve had years of experience and can rely on that for help. But in the end it is all a surprise. I love that on-the-spot element of comedy. But I know the audience loves it too. They love that their comedian is making up a huge bulk of the show in front of their eyes. And they love that they are getting a show created just for them and that the next night, when I’m a comedian in Pittsburgh working for Plumbers, or in Arizona working for corporate accountants, or in Indiana working for insurance sales folks… you get the idea… they know that nobody will ever get the same show that they are seeing. It makes this form of corporate comedy fresh, exciting, and really funny.”
Brad Montgomery customizes his comedy program to meet his clients’ needs… exactly. Part of the process of booking Brad includes educating
Clean Corporate comedian
Brad about your group so that he can customize and tailor his program to each group’s specific challenges, hot-buttons, and inside jargon. “Not only does tailoring my comedy make the programs more meaningful for the folks in the audience; it makes it funnier! Sure, we can joke about stresses at work in general… but when we talk specifically about – for example – filling out the Year End Form 123C, people really relate. And the laughter is all the much better for it.” —- If you are looking for a Colorado comedian for any of our 50 United States… you’ve come to the right place!
Although this comedian speaker is based in Denver, Colorado, (and considers himself a Colorado Comedian) he takes his funny comedian speeches and motivational comedy across the United States and across the world. He has worked in 48 of the 50 states, but ends up working in some states more than others. He most frequently performs in Colorado –hey! He lives there! –Florida, (heck… it seems that he’s performing in Orlando every other week as a Florida Comedian and speaker!) California, Las Vegas, Chicago, and New . Looking for some clean corporate comedy? … Just Book Brad.
Go to the contact page.
related links:
Freshly Brewed Magic & Comedy
Is the humor safe? Is it clean? Isn’t comedy too risky?
