Finding the Funny: Leadership Tips From a Comedian

The won custody punchline wasn't the original punchline. My communications tips this week tell you how I get a little information over to you so that you get the joke. Check them out.   And if you want to hear short stories from my comedy travels, check out my podcast – Comedian Stories. It's a very short podcast, under 5 minutes. I kick it off with a joke, tell a quick story and end with a take-a...

And it's the Saturday edition of Finding the Funny, which means I'll be giving you a tip to find the funny yourself! I've written for everyone from the Tonight Show to radio, syndicated cartoon strips, CEO's, companies like wart removal cream makers, and even guests on the Jerry Springer show (my parents are proud). I now travel the country showing people how to use humor in business.   So here's...

I talk fast. It's one of the critiques that I've always heard from people. I talk too fast, they can't keep up. This week I'm talking communication tips, and while I really haven't slowed down my talking over the years, I have enunciated better. And that may be the key for us fast talkers. Make sure you are saying every syllable when you're communicating, and people will be able to keep up better....

I was having my HVAC unit replaced and 2 guys showed up at my house. They spoke pretty good English, but not 100%. They went up on the roof, and after about 20 minutes one of them came back down stairs and knocked on my door. I answered it and he said "are you alone." Well sort of, maybe. . ."no, I mean nobody is here in the house?" We'll I've kinda got someone coming over in a few minutes. "but r...

Years ago I was doing a holiday party gig for a major corporation, and I got to the venue an hour early to take a look at the room. The room was set for the thousand people. And what did I see? The tables were in a circle and the stage was in the middle. They wanted me to spin and tell jokes. Really? I was thinking us comedians only need, lights, a mic, and a stage. I never gave thought to the fac...

.   Getting up at my first open mic was scary, scary, scary. Luckily it went well. But I think what was even scarier than telling jokes on stage was telling my friends that I was doing jokes on stage. I wasn't exactly the class clown, and nobody really told me I should be a comedian. I was funny, but probably not comedian funny. I remember being out with a group of friends when I brought up that I...

I've been on stage for 30 years. First doing stand-up comedy, and now I do a lot of keynote speaking at conferences. Yet you probably don't know who I am. And that means when I get on stage you don't know that I have 3 siblings, no kids, a cat and a dog, I live in LA, I ride motorcycles, I ski sort-of, I love to bike ride, and I've only had 5 cups of coffee in my life. . . I just don't like the ta...

There really is such a thing as Heliskiing. This week I talked about finding a way to succeed even if you won't ever be at the top of your field. You need to get creative! I thought this was a creative way to heliski!   If you want to hear stories from my comedy career, check out my short podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. It's called Comedian Stories. I kick off with a joke, tell a short 3...

:   And it's the Saturday edition of Finding the Funny, which means I'll be giving you a tip to find the funny yourself! I've written for everyone from the Tonight Show to radio, syndicated cartoon strips, CEO's, companies like wart removal cream makers, and even guests on the Jerry Springer show (my parents are proud). I now travel the country showing organizations how to use humor in business.  ...

5 I know comedians who have flown into the town that they were performing in, didn't like the hotel or apartment that they were put up in, so they left. The club was stuck without a comedian for the night. The comic left because he could. He had another income – his wife.   My tips this week are on how to succeed even if you're not the top player in your profession, and today my tip is. . . if you...

I got one of the nicest compliments from Mark Ridley who owns the Comedy Castle comedy club in Royal Oak, Michigan. He said he appreciated that I was professional, I showed up on time, I did the time I said I'd do on stage and that I didn't drink up all the free beer at the bar.   This week we're talking tips to get ahead, even if you aren't the most talented in your field.  And my tip today is to...

3    I was lucky enough to get in working with a lot of speakers bureaus early in my comedy career. They booked me into a lot of corporate gigs and I moved out of the comedy clubs and into better paying, better travel gigs. There were agents who really liked me, and after a few years I came out with an updated video tape. Of course I wanted feedback on it, so I sent it out to the agent. And never...

The emcee at the comedy club is the low man on the totem pole. They don't get paid much, they don't get much time on the show, they have to go out first to warm up the crowd, and pretty much every time they're on stage, something else is happening – people are taking a bathroom break or ordering drinks or food. It's a thankless job and it's at the bottom.   This week we're talking about tips for s...

I heard a comedy writer once say that he got out of stand up comedy because he heard a famous comedian's act and he thought "I'll never be as good as that guy." So he left standup comedy, and went into comedy writing. On the one hand, that's nuts to get out of something that you really want to do just because you won't ever be at the tip top. Not every comedian can be Jerry Seinfeld, but if you wa...

Ahh yes, my brother loves that joke. If you want to know the question I asked to come up with that punchline, listen to Saturday's briefing. And if you want to hear short stories from my comedy travels, check out my podcast – Comedian Stories. It's a very short podcast, under 5 minutes. I kick it off with a joke, tell a quick story and end with a take-away tip of what I learned.   That's it for to...

And it's the Saturday edition of Finding the Funny, which means I'll be giving you a tip to find the funny yourself! I've written for everyone from the Tonight Show to radio, syndicated cartoon strips, CEO's, companies like wart removal cream makers, and even guests on the Jerry Springer show (my parents are proud). I now travel the country showing organizations how to use humor in business.   So...

About 2 years into living in LA, I ran into a comedy buddy Ian Salmon, from my open mic days in DC. He gave me the biggest compliment. He said Jan McInnis, you're the only one who did what she said she was going to do. Everyone talks, but you did it. You said you were going to quit your job, you did it. You said you were going to move to LA. You did it. It was a huge compliment.   People always as...

At my marketing job, every day at 3:58 pm, my boss would stand outside my office, presumably checking his mail. And every day at 4 pm, I would walk out of my office, say good night, and leave at the time I was supposed to leave. The subtle message I was being given was that he knew I was not working overtime. And that I was leaving on the dot. But I knew that my priorities had changed. I hadn't gi...

About the same time I left my marketing career where I was working in associations, another friend of mine had left his association job. He had written a speech – I think it was on the history of Washington DC, and I think his idea was to give it at conferences in DC. He had tons of connections, and I'm sure the speech was great. But I don't think he lasted 6 months on his own. My impression was t...

Before I left my day job 25 years ago, Costco wasn't popular and it wasn't the go to store like it is today. There were some food wholesale grocery stores but they were very different. Sure the food was cheap, but it was also picked over, and it was displayed in boxes that they just opened up and put on the floor. It was a depressing place to shop, and it made you feel like you were poor and despe...

I made a huge life change from marketing career to comedian. People ask me how did I do it. So this week I'm talking about some of the steps I took to make this huge life change.   It goes back to summers between college, I was a tour guide in Washington, D.C., and I was great at it! I made up jokes and goofed around with the tourists, and I could remember all the city's facts and figures. There w...

I told you on Friday how I was able to easily remember all the things in the spa. So listen to that briefing for how I did it.   And if you want to hear short stories from my comedy travels, check out my podcast – Comedian Stories. It's a very short podcast, under 5 minutes. I kick it off with a joke, tell a quick story and end with a take-away tip of what I learned. You can find Comedian Stories...

And it's the Saturday edition of Finding the Funny, which means I'll be giving you a tip to find the funny yourself! I've written for everyone from the Tonight Show to radio, syndicated cartoon strips, CEO's, companies like wart removal cream makers, and even guests on the Jerry Springer show (my parents are proud). I now travel the country showing organizations how to use humor in business.   So...

Milk bath, raspberry relaxer, seaweed conditioner, vanilla bean dip conditioner! These are all in the set up of one of my jokes – listen to it on Sunday. That list is a lot to remember and I say it fast. But how do I possibly remember that joke.   Well, this week I'm talking about memory techniques, and while I've mentioned, repeating it fast, sleeping on it, and other things, it's still hard to r...

It's Zanies comedy club in Chicago, IL – a big club. It's 1 a.m. when I get onstage to close out the third show. The crowd is younger than me, and I'm tired. Three 45 minute shows doesn't sound like a lot, but it IS. I head into my act, the one I've done a lot, and boom. I repeat 3 jokes! The crowd still laughed, but I caught it! I forgot those jokes seconds after I said them because I didn't do t...