Humor Rules, part 3
Finding the Funny: Leadership Tips From a Comedian
English - January 13, 2021 11:00 - 1 minute - 1.22 MB - ★★★★★ - 1 ratingStand-Up Comedy Business Management business change comedian comedy entertainment keynotes leadership speeches stage stages Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
I was performing for a group of 4400 people. It was a dinner event, and they ran out of dinners for 1500 people. It was plated, so basically they miscounted by 1500 meals. AND it was their employee appreciate banquet. As a comedian, I wanted to get onstage, pull the curtain back and say "hey, I found them."
I didn't do that – why? Well this week's tips are on humor rules, and my tip today is to watch the sensitive subjects. . . don't take the easy shot. People had stormed out of this dinner, so the people left behind would have loved my joke about it – they obviously had a sense of humor, so I could have come up with several killer lines. BUT the client was backstage crying. She had messed up big time, and she knew it. I knew she was crying backstage, and I didn't want to get laughs at her expense.
When we're coming up with humor, sometimes you're tempted to take the easy shot and make fun of something someone has worked on, or make fun of a BIG mistake someone made. Watch yourself and make sure you're not going after a sensitive issue.
ACTION: If you'd like a copy of my 2-page article The Anatomy of a Joke – send me an email to [email protected]
That's it for today. Take care and enjoy your journey.