Wilmington DE Clean Corporate Comedian Shaun Eli. Also for Wilmington, NC, where my high school best friend lives.
About Me- because this is my page
I’ve performed all over the world- I’ve headlined comedy shows on five continents. I’m hoping to make that seven- I just need to add South America and Antarctica. That last one is going to be tricky. I did try getting in touch with organizations that do scientific research in Antarctica- they’re the only people there. They do have programs for artists to come, but it’s more like painters to live there for a while. Not to fly a comedian in and out. The space on the infrequent flights is too limited.
The pandemic interfered with my plans to perform in South America but I’ll be back working on that soon enough. If they discover another continent I’ll probably go check that out too and see if they could use a comedian. In the meantime let’s talk about having you hire me for a clean comedy show or two in or around Wilmington, DE.
I’ve performed all over the world and also all over Delaware. I’ve performed regularly at theatres in Wilmington and Dover. And I’m experienced at performing for corporate events. I think Delaware’s got some corporations there, right? Maybe even in Wilmington. I have a couple of jokes about that.
I have a degree from Wharton (Marketing and Economics) and I used to be a banker. So I know a little about corporations. For some reason many of my comedian colleagues think I used to be a lawyer. Nope. But I studied business law at Wharton and Constitutional law in high school. So I’ve read the Bill of Rights and I know what a holding company is, and roughly how the stock market is supposed to work.
About my shows
I’ve been profiled in The New York Times and my group The Ivy League of Comedy in the Philadelphia Inquirer. My jokes have been published in all sorts of newspapers and magazines and have been in the opening monologues of three late-night TV hosts. If you want more details on that read my biography. It’s not funny. But my stand-up is.
If you want to see what I’m like on stage watch my stand-up comedy videos.
I can perform for up to two hours but after that I’ll probably need a bathroom break. But so will the audience. Anyway two hours is too long. A comedy show with three or four comics should be up to ninety minutes but a solo show should be shorter, like sixty. Corporate stand-up performances tend to be shorter, like twenty or thirty minutes. You’ll have had other stuff going on- learning, dinner, team-building- so have the show after dinner, don’t make it too long, and let people go home. For theatres I think longer is okay, like sixty to ninety if you want.
Funny Keynote Speaker
I can be either a live funny keynote speaker or a funny virtual keynote speaker. I’m not a motivational speaker. I won’t get people riled up but I will get them laughing for my entire time on stage. If I tell my story about fighting a parking ticket in Philadelphia I may get people excited to fight for justice. Okay, parking ticket justice. Hey, everybody’s got to start somewhere. If you’re looking for a funny keynote speaker I’m your guy. So if you want to call me a corporate keynote speaker that’s fine with me. As long as I get paid to make people laugh I’m happy. And you will be too.
Your audience will arrive full of enthusiasm for my keynote speech because I can provide you with video of me on stage that you can share with them in advance. They will depart happy and grateful and will be talking about the event for days if not weeks.
I have hours of material so I should be able to link my keynote address to the theme of your event, company or industry. With a business background I may understand your industry quite well, especially if it’s banking or finance (I was a banker for 20 years before becoming a full-time stand-up comic), accounting (my father was an accountant and I have accounting jokes and stories), advertising or marketing (I majored in marketing at Wharton), insurance (I was an actuarial assistant for a couple of years), aviation (I’m a licensed, instrument-rated pilot) or boating (former rower and dragon-boat racer and I have a rather useless New York State boating license).
Also law. Though I’m not an attorney lots of people seem to think I’m one. I served for 17 months on a federal grand jury, I have at least one pro-lawyer joke and I am 1-0 representing myself in New York State Supreme Court. I sued a home improvement contractor and beat the heck out of a trial attorney using the two most powerful weapons in my arsenal: humor and sarcasm. I also wrote an article for the New Jersey Law Journal on attorneys who became comedians. And in addition to not being an attorney I’m also not from New Jersey.
I love answering audience questions after a keynote speech. It gives me the chance to be spontaneously funny, to learn about what audiences are curious about, to tell stories that are fun and funny but don’t necessarily fit into either a stand-up routine or keynote speech. Audiences love it too. It’s like a backstage pass.
One thing to note: I speak. I may pace a bit. I tell jokes and very funny stories. I don’t use Powerpoint. I don’t need slides. Just a good sound system with a hand-held microphone (not a mic stuck to a lectern). Proper lighting also helps.
Back before I was a comedian I was a banker and was chosen to be the keynote (closing) speaker at an international conference on risk management. The speakers before me were from more prestigious companies. They had a lot of data to present and used a lot of slides. This was a bit anxiety-inducing until I realized that their extensive, detailed data and slides were a drawback. It was too much detail and was both rote and confusing. I was the opposite- I presented a case that was both interesting and easy to understand. Nobody was distracted or confused during my talk. I was the one who drew the most questions because I held their interest. And yes, I was invited back to be the keynote speaker again the next year.
How to hire me
For a show for a corporation that wants a clean stand-up comedian, or a charity using stand-up comedy as a fundraising event, or a show for a synagogue or church or other house of worship, email Shaun (at) Brain Champagne dot com, or call or text me at (914) it’s-funny (914) 487-3866. Questions? Ask away! I’m happy to talk and we’ll probably discover we have a lot in common. Somehow that seems to happen a lot.