Finding the Funny: Leadership Tips From a Comedian

You can get PAID time off when working comedy clubs. It's rare but sometimes, the good clubs, will pay you to leave and not be on the show. It sounds like a bad thing, but I always thought it was great. Here's a quick story about being paid to NOT be on stage.   https://www. TheWorkLady.com   Jan McInnis is a top change management keynote speaker, comedian, and funny motivational speaker who helps...

Rich People Gigs - You'd think that the more money you make and the nicer the venue, the better the gig? Not always! I've performed at the homes of CEO's of major corporations, and sometimes it's not that great. Here's a couple quick stories about some of those performances - and something that we all should learn!     https://www. TheWorkLady.com   Jan McInnis is a top change management keynote s...

Travel weeks like this will make you question your career choices! Last week's travel was a challenge. Take a listen and hear all the weird things that happened. But I still love my job - it's just some parts of my job that are challenging! https://www. TheWorkLady.com   Jan McInnis is a top change management keynote speaker, comedian, and funny motivational speaker who helps organizations use hum...

Duct fixes a lot of things, including my comedy career. Ok, not really my career, but the transportation getting me to the gigs. Here's a quick, embarrassing story about my use of duct tape. Not really looking my best as I drove around the country, but it ws functional . . .for a while.   https://www. TheWorkLady.com   Jan McInnis is a top change management keynote speaker, comedian, and funny mot...

Everybody has advice, but you better not listen to all of it. There is a LOT of bad advice out there; especially when it comes to comedy and entertainment. I've had lots of people give me advice, but I've only taken a little of it. Here's a quick story about some really bad advice. It's also kinda funny. But it truly is not something I took seriously. https://www. TheWorkLady.com   Jan McInnis is...

"There's a lot of waiting around in comedy." A comedian who had been doing this for years gave me this advice during my first year of comedy. And he wasn't kidding. There IS a lot of waiting around, and being bored, before you actually hit the stage. In this episode, I talk about when I got my first taste of stage and being bored, and it was well before my comedy career began. Thanks for listening...

Have you ever found yourself having to address a group that you have pretty much nothing in common with? As a comedian and keynote speaker, it happens. Here's a quick story about a time that I had to connect. . .and I did. It's a fun story and I hope you enjoy it.   https://www. TheWorkLady.com   Jan McInnis is a top change management keynote speaker, comedian, and funny motivational speaker who h...

The San Francisco Comedy Competition is a very prestigious comedy competition. Comics are thrilled when they get invited, and that happened to me. Here's a quick story about my exeperience in the competition, and what I got out of it. I believe the competition is still going strong, so if you're a comedian, go for it! https://www. TheWorkLady.com   Jan McInnis is a top change management keynote sp...

There are a lot of things that can keep you from the stage. Here's a unique one that happened to me, that I never even considered! It's okay. I made the gig. But I can now add this to a list of ridiculous things that have happened to me in my comedy career. https://www. TheWorkLady.com   Jan McInnis is a top change management keynote speaker, comedian, and funny motivational speaker who helps orga...

Sometimes people wait to pick an airline seat until they board the plane, and then they want YOURS. People trying to bully others into switching seats with them is a real thing on the airlines. I've had a few good and bad situations with airplane musical chairs. Here's a couple short stories about people wanting me to move.   https://www. TheWorkLady.com   Jan McInnis is a top change management ke...

Getting representation in hollywood or in entertainment in general can be a jungle. There's good and bad advice and you can end up chasing representation for most of your career. Here's a short story about when the hollywood representation came to me!  Take a listen and please subscribe or check out my website.     https://www. TheWorkLady.com   Jan McInnis is a top change management keynote speak...

When people think of LA, they think of traffic. But they should really think of parking! I've had good and bad parking experiences, especially at LAX since I'm there a lot. Here's a quick story about some of the places I've parked there.   https://www. TheWorkLady.com   Jan McInnis is a top change management keynote speaker, comedian, and funny motivational speaker who helps organizations use humo...

Traveling the comedy road is tough especially when you have to leave your pets at home. My cat Rover was with me through many good and bad times, and then when I went into comedy, I had to leave her for months at a time. Luckily I had a solution. Here's my quick story about Wht to do about Rover.   https://www. TheWorkLady.com   Jan McInnis is a top change management keynote speaker, comedian, and...

Toastmasters helps a lot of people with their speaking. I've never used them, but I did give a speech at their conference once that was wonderful AND got me into trouble! Know the rules of what you're going into before you go into it I guess! Here's my quick Toastmasters story - can you relate?   https://www. TheWorkLady.com   Jan McInnis is a top change management keynote speaker, comedian, and f...

Timing in comedy, and especially Hollywood is super helpful. Joke timing makes the joke work, and when you have good timing on meeting people in Hollywood, it helps your career. Here's a story about two times Hollywood Timing worked for me.    https://www. TheWorkLady.com   Jan McInnis is a top change management keynote speaker, comedian, and funny motivational speaker who helps organizations use...

What are the differences in black and white comedians and the audiences they draw? I had an interesting experience opening for DL Hughly. He was a huge star and I was an open mic comic. It didn't go well for me. Here's the quick story and the lesson I learned.   https://www. TheWorkLady.com   Jan McInnis is a top change management keynote speaker, comedian, and funny motivational speaker who helps...

How have I stayed in the comedy profession, made a great living at it while also NOT being famous? Well it's called reinvention and I've done it a lot! Here's a quick story on reinventing myself from one thing to the other while still staying true to my comedy roots. This is great advice for anyone who wants to make a living in entertainment or pretty much anything else. Here's a quick story with...

Who jumps off a cruise ship on PURPOSE? Performing comedy on a cruise ship is not my favorite thing. One of my earlier episodes is a scary story about being stranded in a foreign country before cell phones were super popular. This story has more to do with the good and bad reasons for performing on cruise ships, along with a quick story about the ship thinking I was gone. Take a listen.   https://...

Comedy is a weird job, but it's not a bad job. Weird and bad jobs are the definition of first jobs; you know, the ones you get when you're right out of high school or college. Fast food is bad, but I guarantee telemarketing is worse. I know because I did that as well as some other bad ones. And what did I telemarket? I'll give you a hint, it Moos!  Check out my short story here!   https://www. The...

Fighting over an airline seat, we've all been there! Or at least thought about it. This is one time that I actually thought I was going to be a part of the news because of a fight on the airlines. Listen to my quick story and beware of doing one of these unspoken airline rules that are sure to cause a fight!   https://www. TheWorkLady.com   Jan McInnis is a top change management keynote speaker, c...

In the comedy business, it's easy to cancel one gig for another, better paying gig. Many times entertainers are looking at the short-term gain of making more money, instead of keeping their word. Here's a quick story about how keeping my word paid off BIG.   https://www. TheWorkLady.com   Jan McInnis is a top change management keynote speaker, comedian, and funny motivational speaker who helps org...

Yes there's a thin line between helping out vs being taken advantage of, and in comedy you have to pay attention or you will get taken advantage of a lot! Here's a quick story about 2 times where I had each of these things happen . . . or almost happen. Please listen and subscribe - my stories are short, behind the scenes things that happened to me as a comedian. They come out 1 time per week!   h...

Alcohol and comedy clubs go together very well - which can lead to drama! And not all drama is because someone is drunk. Here's a quick story about a night where alcohol caused drama in the front row . . . but not how you would think.   https://www. TheWorkLady.com   Jan McInnis is a top change management keynote speaker, comedian, and funny motivational speaker who helps organizations use humor t...

There are some groups in comedy clubs that comedians dread . . . Bacherlorette parties rank right up there around number 1. I've had to deal with my fair share of them but one club owner actually had a brilliant idea for marketing to them to make extra money. Check out my short story here.   https://www. TheWorkLady.com   Jan McInnis is a top change management keynote speaker, comedian, and funny...

Yes, but these are special dolls! Here's a quick story about some dolls I was given to help me stop worrying about the future! It was a cool gift and I've used them for decades. Take a listen to see if you might need a set of these!   https://www. TheWorkLady.com   Jan McInnis is a top change management keynote speaker, comedian, and funny motivational speaker who helps organizations use humor to...