Clean, smart comedy for corporate events and conferences

How long a corporate comedian will perform for is mostly up to you. Comedians generally recommend no longer than a half-hour for a corporate event. Your attendees have probably already spent most of the day sitting around listening to other people talk. Twenty minutes can be fine. I (Shaun Eli) can do well over 90 minutes if it's appropriate. It rarely is.

I can absolutely do a short, medium or long set to open your conference or re-start people’s attention after lunch.

Your attendees have probably been sitting and listening to serious presentations all day. They need comic relief. Even serious movies have at least a joke or two to lighten the tension. Studies have shown that laughter improves retention- people remember more when they've laughed. They will also have more positive memories of your event. And laughter is a common bond that will improve employee morale. (Read specific scientific studies proving health and business benefits of humor)

I don’t actually need you to share much about your company, because I would do some research, but anything you want to share with me about what you do or what challenges you’re facing could be helpful.

A few years ago I did a show for a major pharmaceutical company that had just recently released one of the new weight loss drugs. I had a self-deprecating joke about my weight, and then threw in the line “But don’t you have a drug for that now?” They were surprised I knew about it and loved that I incorporated their product into my act.

How did I know about the new drug? I was prepared. I’d been on their website before the show and I’d read the press release and their annual report.

There are a lot of variables that go into pricing a corporate comedy performance. More famous comedians are more expensive- and that level of fame might be important to you. But it doesn't necessarily mean a better performance. There are a lot of super-hilarious comedians you've never heard of. Other variables that affect cost include the night of the week (weekends are generally more expensive), how many attendees are expected, how far the comedian has to travel and whether it's a for-profit or charity event. So- the best way to find out is to ask! I'm very happy to quote prices via email or over the phone, after asking just a few quick questions about your event (where, when, for whom, approximately how many). If it involves travel I'd need to look into airfare. I prefer to give you an all-in quote that includes my travel expenses, so there are no surprises. Yes, this passes some risk onto me, but it does make it easier for you.

A corporate imposter is someone introduced as a leading expert on something related to the company. But they don't actually make sense. As they continue to get more and more ridiculous the audience is confused until they realize they're being put on. I don't like this. To me it's basically one long joke that's making fun of the audience. I've been offered a bunch of money to do this and I've always turned it down.

When I started in comedy someone told me that a comedian should dress at least as well as the audience. I agree. If the audience is in suits then a guy showing up in torn jeans and sneakers looks out of place.

It might be fine if they wear a t-shirt and backwards baseball cap on a comedy club stage (although I don’t). But do you want them showing up at your corporate event dressed like that? It’s fine to ask them what they plan to wear, or even to give them requirements. Just don’t spring that on them the day before. You’d be surprised how many comedians don’t have formal clothing or they just don’t fit into it anymore. And also keep in mind that they may not be going directly from their home to your event. They could be coming from a week or two on tour, or from a vacation.

For what it’s worth I (Shaun Eli) usually wear dark jeans, a dress shirt, sports jacket and boots on stage, whether I’m at a comedy club, a theatre or a corporate or charity event (in the summer if it’s hot I may wear a polo shirt to a comedy club show). If you ask me to wear a suit and tie, or a tuxedo, I can accommodate, although I prefer to work without a tie.

And here’s something I discovered from working in comedy clubs, something that most comedians haven’t figured out: If a comedian dresses even a little bit better than the other comedians, even boots, a polo shirt and nice jeans vs. sneakers, a t-shirt and lighter-colored jeans, he gets heckled/interrupted/talked back to much, much less frequently (I say ‘he’ in this case because I haven’t done the research to see if this is true for women too, but few female comics dress sloppily on stage).

Most good comedians are experienced at emceeing events, from corporate conferences to charity fund-raising nights to awards banquets. Ask. I am. I emcee a lot of comedy shows and other events including corporate events.

There are several ways to categorize comedians: clean/not clean, political/non-political. Impressionists. Musical acts. High energy/low energy. Physical comedians. One-liner comedians. Story-tellers. Observational comedians. My act is a combination of stories and short one-liner type jokes, plus some observational comedy.

I don't do political comedy unless there's a specific reason to. I quickly learned that doing political material will turn off at least a third of the audience, and there's really no reason for that. Of course if you're hiring me specifically for a political event that's a different story. I've written jokes for political candidates, and I've written jokes for a political website (one that was very different from my own beliefs). I've also written political and non-political jokes for three late-night talk show hosts. But unless there's a specific reason to, I do not get political on stage.

I may, depending on circumstances, talk about my own religion, but not in a rude way and certainly not in a way that perpetuates bad stereotypes. I very much dislike comics who do that.

The difference between a regular stand-up comedian and a corporate comedian? A regular stand-up comedian may or may not be appropriate for a corporate event. A corporate comedian needs to be clean and have a corporate-friendly act. For example, a comedian might be clean but his or her entire act might be about himself/herself, and might be entirely self-deprecating. That might go over well in a comedy club or even in a theatre, but it could make some corporate audiences uncomfortable.

To find a clean comedian for a company or industry event, Shaun Eli's website www.BrainChampagne.com has a ton of tips on how to hire a comedian. And you should absolutely, positively have a conversation about what you think is inappropriate before hiring a comedian for a corporate or charity event. I'm a clean comedian. I think comedians should know their audience. But what a non-clean comedian will probably say is, you hire me, you get me. You should know who I am. I disagree with that, and if there's a disappointment there's fault on both sides. Avoid all that by discussing it in advance.

To choose an entertainer for a conference, look at their videos, their testimonials and absolutely ask them as many questions as you want. I think you want to work with someone who cares enough about you and your event to spend time talking to you. FYI I don't really trust testimonials that don't give you the person's full name, company and title. If the testimonial just says "Joe G, Seattle, WA" why aren't you getting their full name? Plenty of times I've asked for a testimonial after a great show but have been told it's against corporate policy. You know what I do? I have plenty of other testimonials.

Whether it's worth hiring a comedian for your sales kickoff, Christmas or holiday party, year-end party or awards dinner depends on one thing: do you want your event to be fun? Elsewhere on this page there is a ton of information about why you should have a comedian at your event. Including a list of scientific studies about how making something fun helps people remember.

If you're within driving distance of NYC or Los Angeles, you have a great selection of local comedians. Otherwise, well, most of us live in those two areas. I strongly suggest you get someone with more than a decade of experience, and who has done corporate events before. And someone who does this full-time.

I sure hope that doesn't happen. It shouldn't. A skilled corporate comedian reads the room and adjusts. Worst case, a section gets quieter laughs. Not a catastrophe. That's very different from an inexperienced comedian misjudging an audience entirely.

Comedians are generally much harsher critics of ourselves than audiences are. For example, if a joke normally gets five seconds of strong laughter every twenty seconds, but one night it gets three seconds of moderate laughter, we're disappointed in ourselves. But the audience? Obviously they enjoyed the joke. They were laughing! They don't know that we're used to bigger laughs. They just know they saw a comedian and enjoyed the show.

Sometimes with a new comic, the opposite is true. They come off stage at a comedy club's new talent night after getting sparse laughter, like 50% of the audience laughing a little at most of their jokes, and announce that they crushed. The only thing they crushed was the chance that I'd ever want to book them.

I did a show for a Jewish Community Center the same day as a shooting at a nearby synagogue (only the shooter was killed). We were all very worried about how it would go, but it went really well. People needed to laugh. And no, I didn't mention the horrible tragedy, because I wanted people to focus on laughing. A good comedian should be able to figure out, if the audience isn't responding to the first few jokes, why that is, and fix it. It's possible the audience just isn't listening. I'm not particular about my introduction; I just want it very short. But I do give specific instructions that the audience must be quieted down before I'm introduced. Because if they're talking through the introduction then they won't shut up for the performance. I discuss how we can make that work right. But not every comedian knows how to do this.

As far as offending someone, anyone can be triggered by anything. A joke about McDonald's could upset someone who got food poisoning, or someone who had a horrible experience working there. But I try very hard to ensure that there's little in my act that would offend someone, absent these sorts of specific circumstances. There are topics I avoid just because they could upset even a few people.

When I was a new comic I had a joke about having a mentally handicapped friend. The joke didn't make fun of her handicap. Quite the opposite- it was that she was happy because she could have eggs for breakfast whenever she wanted them, whereas we worried about all sorts of stuff, from unemployment to actually having to pay for eggs. Someone in the audience told me that Down syndrome is common enough that in an audience of a hundred people, a couple of people will have a relative with it.

I no longer tell that joke.

And no joke lasts forever. There's just about always another one following it.

I think so. Most comedians start in their early twenties. I didn't start until more than a decade later.

Starting later gave me something a lot of younger comics didn't have yet: sufficient wisdom. When you're twenty-two and get some laughs at a new talent night, it's easy to think that you already know what you're doing. You don't yet have the wisdom to judge yourself against other people's real skill levels. When you start in your thirties or later, you've already spent years in a career, being evaluated, being called out on your mistakes. That makes it a lot easier to honestly assess your own performance instead of just assuming good laughs mean you're a comedy genius.

I say that you have to get better to realize how good you're not. Most comics continue to get better, but probably most of us are only as funny as we thought we were five years ago.

Yes, I record most of my shows, video or at least audio. Perception's a weird thing. In 2003, cell phones didn't have video cameras. I was already employed for over a decade so I could afford a video camera to see how I was actually doing.

When I was just starting out I told a joke about my father. My friend, who was in the audience, later commented that the joke didn't do well because it was a mean joke and I am not a mean comic. But when I watched the video, I saw both that the joke did just fine and that it didn't come across as mean. But my childhood friend knew my father, so even though the joke wasn't mean (and my dad loved the joke), he didn't like it.

The video camera comes in handy. A few years ago at a theatre I told a joke about an ex-girlfriend. It had always done well, except this time. I watched the video. When I told the joke, I looked angry. Now I make sure I'm smiling when I tell the joke.

I'm a good comedian for a corporate conference because I have 20+ years of corporate work experience plus a Wharton education. You can find a lot of information on how to hire a comedian on the web page www.BrainChampagne.com/how-to-hire-a-comedian. To book me, email Shaun at BrainChampagne.com, or text or call (914) 487-3866.

For a comedian to close out a multi-day conference: single day or multi-day doesn't really matter. You want a comedian who has experience performing for corporate groups. Someone like me, Shaun Eli.

A comedian is a fabulous way to end a conference. Your attendees will leave laughing, will be talking about the event fondly for days, weeks or months, and they'll want to come back to the next one.

A comedian can be appropriate for a hospital gala, but it depends on the comedian. If it's someone experienced with corporate and charity events, then yes. I'm an experienced performer when it comes to corporate and charity events.

A corporate comedian can be sensitive to illness-related humor for a healthcare event. Just make sure to discuss any guidelines, ground rules or concerns you might have, before you book the comedian. As both a person and entertainer I'm sensitive to illness-related humor.

Shaun Eli is a good comedian for a nurses week or doctor appreciation event. I have a story about taking a nursing course in college, and I have doctor jokes.

Stand-up comedy is great for a medical conference. After spending a day on serious medical issues, won't your attendees welcome laughter?

My material is clean/family-friendly. Not edgy. I'd say it's clean and clever, corporate-friendly and written for a corporate audience.

I can tailor jokes to your industry or company, but you really don't need a lot of that. And frankly, after sitting all day through a conference that's all about your company and industry, your audience probably wants to hear someone talk about something else. I don't make fun of people in the room- that's probably not what you want. Oh, and with my business background I may know more about your industry and company than you realize. I might even read your annual report to learn more.

Mostly it's material written in advance and honed over dozens or hundreds or thousands of shows. But depending on circumstances and the layout of the room, there may be some crowd work.

I’ve done shows for the federal government, so I am sure I can handle your bureaucracy. But I also take credit cards, in case it’s easier to just put it through as a regular business expense.

That's complicated because, though I like to record my sets, doing it at a corporate event can be awkward. I think that if you review the videos I make available, many of which are from charity events and theatre shows, you will be comfortable with my style. I have a ton of content online.

I don't generally carry liability insurance, because I'm just a guy standing on a box talking into a stick. I'm not a band with complicated equipment and obviously no pyrotechnics. If for some reason you do need insurance, we can work that out. Often you can add me to your policy for the event, or I can buy insurance. On the rare occasions when I've been asked for insurance I've either bought a policy (for example Armed Forces Entertainment requires it for their tours, but they pay for it) or I've been added to the venue's policy.

Sorry, not really. I never send out my jokes in print and I don't share an entire set with anybody. It's too risky- we never know what someone might do with our video. Musicians are different- people want to hear their songs over and over. But for comedians it's much more complicated- once someone's heard a joke, the surprise is gone. I already have a ton of video on line for you to review. I even put up stuff that didn't work well, with comments.

I check my email a zillion times a day. If I'm traveling overseas and there's a big time difference, it might not be the same day. Usually it's within hours, and sometimes five minutes.

My thought on this is that it's very rarely a good idea. You may think your CEO is a good sport but very few people like being made fun of. If the CEO wants to appear approachable then he should be self-deprecating. Don't hire someone to make fun of him. (I say he/him because studies have shown that male bosses who are self-deprecating are seen as more approachable, but female bosses who are self-deprecating are sometimes seen as weak. And please don't shoot the messenger.)

I would say absolutely yes, I am quite good at virtual stand-up comedy shows. To be frank, when comedians started performing virtual shows at the beginning of the pandemic, we found them difficult. Not actually being in the same room as the audience, having them be at home and in front of a computer, with all the distractions those things bring, plus time delays and not always hearing other people laugh (and often not even having their cameras and microphones on), presented a lot of challenges. But I put a lot of thought into it and figured out a lot of ways to improve virtual shows. More than just asking people to turn their cameras and microphones on, turn their phones off and keep their pets and children out of the room. I learned exactly how to modify my own performances to adapt them to make them optimal for virtual shows. I think that my personal comedy style, moving between stories and quick punchlines, followed by Q&A, is especially well-suited to virtual and corporate comedy shows.

You're already on my website! Email Shaun at BrainChampagne.com, or text or call (914) 487-3866 (call after 10 AM NY time).