Comedy for Senior Citizens & 55+ Communities
From Arizona to Florida, South Africa to New Zealand
Call Clean Stand-up Comedian Shaun Eli
Looking for a Clean Standup Comic experienced at entertaining 55+ audiences? You’ve found him!
I’ve been profiled in The New York Times and I’ve headlined stand-up comedy shows on six continents. On Amazon and Netflix. I’ve been a professional comedian for more than 20 years and I have 30 years of professional comedy-writing experience. Yet somehow you can probably still afford me for your show for senior citizens!
“Thank you, Shaun, for coming out to perform for our senior group at our JCC! It was a hilarious show and made our Hanukkah party special! It was great to have a Q&A at the end of the performance and learn about the life of a comedian! It was a great afternoon of comedy, and we’re looking forward to having you back!”
Simon Katz
Event and Membership Coordinator
Jewish Community Center of the Lehigh Valley
I’m ready to answer all your questions and help you
plan the perfect fun afternoon or evening.
I make them laugh, you get all the credit!sm
According to the Social Security Administration I’m not a senior citizen. But I am according to Costco, and I like them better.
Making jokes about my dad. From the Emelin Theatre in NY:
Let a Wharton-educated clean stand-up comedian help guide you and make your comedy event for senior citizens everything you deserve! I do clean comedy shows for corporations, theatres, houses of worship, 55+ communities and even a seniors group with the average age of 83. They told me I was the only speaker they’ve had since they started in the 1950s where nobody fell asleep.
I guess it’s hard to sleep when people all around you are laughing. Fortunately nobody fell out of their chair laughing, something that has happened at other shows I’ve done.
The day after the first time that happened, I incorporated. I don’t have audience-member-falling-out-of-chair-and-getting-injured insurance.
I’m a very experienced performer and I can do up to a two hour show. But you don’t want that. 45-60 minutes is best for stand-up comedy, and shorter is better for standup comedy shows for senior citizens. I regularly perform at theatres and at corporate and charity events. I also do shows at houses of worship- and I certainly don’t want to curse in front of God. And since God is at all my shows…
I’m sure there are plenty of seniors who love raunchy humor (although not my mom) but they’re probably outnumbered by those who don’t. I go with the odds. Plus, even people who love raunchy humor won’t be turned off by great clean comedy. No reason to be dirty if you don’t have to, and I don’t have to.
My act doesn’t include cultural references that people over 55 wouldn’t understand. Because, well, I’m over 55. I perform all over the world and I want my material to be universal.
Here’s what I don’t do- I don’t curse on stage. I don’t make fun of the audience (unless I’m provoked- but even in dealing with the very rare heckler I start off polite).
Highlights
- Profiled in The New York Times
- Wrote jokes for opening monologues of three late-night talk show hosts for almost 20 years
- Jay Leno cited one of Shaun’s jokes as the type of smart comedy he liked to include in his opening monologue (Fortune magazine interview)
- Performed on Netflix and Amazon
- Wharton-educated, with a master’s degree in positive psychology
- Tours with Armed Forces Entertainment
- Headlined shows on six continents (so far- if you can book me for Antarctica, please do!)
- Writes jokes and consults on humor for corporations and political candidates (but only the good ones)
Frequently Asked Questions on comedy for seniors groups
- What makes your comedy appropriate for seniors groups?
A few things. First, I’m over fifty, so I’m not going to have jokes that rely on references that you won’t get. Nor do I have jokes on topics that a lot of younger comics have- I have no jokes about drug use, excessive alcohol consumption, video games or sexual topics that are taboo among older folks. My comedy’s clean- which isn’t to say that older folks wouldn’t enjoy a good dirty joke. But some wouldn’t. And it’s unnecessary. I’d love to say that I’m a good enough joke writer that I don’t have to rely on cursing or talking about sex, but the truth is simply that my mind doesn’t tend to generate dirty jokes. So it’s not like I’m trying to avoid them so much as that I just rarely think of them. - Do you have jokes specifically for senior citizens?
Not jokes specifically for them that other people wouldn’t get, but I have material that stemmed from performing for older audiences- jokes that everyone would appreciate. - Do you have jokes that we might not understand?
I hope not. I try to keep my comedy as universal as I can, so that I can perform for as many different types of groups as possible. I perform all over the world and I strive to ensure that everyone will understand every joke. Of course that’s not completely possible, but I do what I can. Here’s something you might not think of- I have a joke that has the word “Annuity” in it. Most older people know what an annuity is. But a whole lot of twenty five year olds do not. - What sorts of jokes do you tell? What style of comedian are you?
My style is eclectic. It’s a mixture of one-liner type jokes, story-telling (but funny, with laugh lines all throughout the story) and observational comedy. - Is laughter good for your health?
It’s certainly good for mine- it pays for my health insurance. Yes, it is. Studies have shown that. I have a master’s degree in positive psychology from Penn and I wrote my thesis on humor. So I know that there have been a lot of studies to that effect. - Have you really donated 5 gallons of blood?
Yes, I am a gold level blood donor. I’m up to 6.5 gallons so far. But because my blood is CMV- it goes to premature babies. So you can’t have any of it. But I am an organ donor, or at least I might be if anything’s worth salvaging once I’m gone. - May I tell you a joke?
Please, sorry, but I’d rather not. I can almost guarantee that I’ve heard it before, and if not I can still forecast the punchline- I do this for a living. And for some reason when audience members want to tell us jokes, they’re usually a three minute story with only one very obvious punchline at the end, and the joke is either filthy or racist. Sorry, just not my style of humor. - But I think you could use it in your act.
No, I absolutely, positively cannot and will not use it in my act. My comedy is 100% original and at least 99.5% written by me (with a tiny bit possibly from a colleague who’s made a suggestion). Your joke not only wasn’t written by me, it also probably was written by another comedian, and I don’t steal jokes.
I also do virtual comedy shows.
Watch clean stand-up comedy videos
Enjoy thousands of the jokes I’ve written for late-night TV
feel free to call or email me with any questions you might have.
Advice is free!
You can also find lots of information on how to hire comedians for any type of comedy show in my printable on-line brochure: How to Hire a Standup Comedian
I’ve also done numerous shows for patients and their families at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Here’s what one audience member said after the show: “You’re wonderful! Bless you for coming! This is the first time in three months I’ve seen my wife smile.”
husband of a cancer patient after a show at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
(the hospital’s strict patient confidentiality policy prohibits even asking for a name)
I’m also an instrument-rated pilot, former lifeguard instructor and former world-class sculler & dragon-boat racer. Impressed?
Don’t be… My brother Scott is a doctor with an MBA who’s married to a psychologist with a law degree; my brother Seth has four Ivy League degrees including a PhD.
Me? I’m funny; I make my parents laugh. And I wouldn’t trade that for anything.
I get paid to make fun of my parents and brothers. When you’re the youngest child that’s kind of a big deal. It’s like payback for having had to wear hand-me-downs until I went off to college. But it’s not all about my family- I also make jokes about former employers, former girlfriends and the government.
“Here’s my fair and equitable plan to save Social Security: You can retire when you LOOK 65.”
Sincerely,
Shaun Eli
Related Links
Biography of clean comedian Shaun Eli
Stand-up comedy and stand-up comedians for charity fundraising events
Stand-up comedians and stand-up comedy shows for churches and other houses of worship
Summary
Clean comedian Shaun Eli is a great choice to perform for your seniors group. He has hilarious stories about his aging parents. His comedy is clean and non-offensive. He’s been profiled in major publications like The New York Times, and he’s headlined shows on six continents.
To hire Shaun for your group or event, start by asking! Advice is free. Call or text (914) it’s-funny (914) 487-3866 or email Shaun (at) BrainChampagne dot com.