Idle talk between coworkers promotes creativity! We all know that the mid-morning water-cooler chat is a time-honored ritual of procrastination. What would happen if a company encouraged office banter? Or scheduled it? Christian Nahas of Radiant Systems did just that. In fact, he organized a 15 minute coffeehouse-style sit and Read more
Growing evidence confirms suspicions that laughter is not only fun, but good for us! WebMD reports that laughter and moderate exercise share a host of healthful effects. According to Dr. Lee Berk's research, appetite hormones behave the same way after a good giggle as they do after a few workout Read more
You may have seen fastcompany.com's 2011 output of the 100 Most Creative People in Business back in May. That ridiculous photo of the many Conan's sure caught my attention. Though Conan O'Brien came in 8th place, the focus on his creative process is worth reiterating. Plus, he wrote a guide Read more
There are lots of ways to study comedy. How you do it is up to you, but that you do it shouldn't be a question. The most embarrasing thing you could do would be to plagarize a joke (or think you were the first to come up with it) at Read more
Continuing again from the last two posts on audience and culture, I have been discussing performing my show about traveling in India in other countries and for other audiences than my target demographic. Those who have not traveled, or who have no interest in spirituality/spiritual seeking find the shadow to Read more
So this is a continuation from yesterday's post on Carlin… (read that first.) Now, imagine George Carlin's Stuff routine in front of a different audience than us. An Indian George Carlin, perhaps. He wouldn't be as funny talking about consumerism in a country where most people don't own homes. His jokes Read more
Do a little archival comedy research. It's a very interesting historical enterprise. Not only can we observe the public sentiment of the political atmosphere at the time, but we can chuckle at the outdated jargon and references. One of my favorite examples is George Carlin. He started out totally apolitical Read more
So: is it more important for you to feel that your comedy will be relevant for a long time or rather that you are totally hip and cutting edge? Some topics in comedy can go from ripe to rotten. If your act used racist or sexist stereotypes, it was probably Read more
Humor is evolving, because culture is evolving. There is a continual stream of new cultural references and lexicon, new current social and political events, new media formats and uses, and shifts in social mores that change what we find funny. Some comedians from the 1950s are still hilarious today, for Read more
In my last series, I talked about how to be a comedian. So this is Level Two. It's not just about taking the leap into comedianhood, but taking the leap into being a skilled jokeslinger (which is also the title of an album by Jim Short, who is a very Read more