Finding the Funny: Leadership Tips From a Comedian

How to excel at something when you're not the best, part 3

May 13, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.26 MB

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 heard anything, not a peep. So I called one of them. I got the guy on the phone, and I asked him...

How to excel at something when you're not the best, part 2

May 12, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.34 MB

. 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 succeeding even if you aren't the best person at what you're doing. And today's tip – use ...

How to excel at something when you're not the best

May 11, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.28 MB

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 want to do it, you should still do it! But he did something that was not nuts . . . he found anoth...

Making Big Life Changes, part 5

May 08, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.32 MB

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 ask me "was it hard to quit my day job – a secure career actually – and go into a not-so-secur...

Making Big Life Changes, part 4

May 07, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.26 MB

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 given my notice yet, but I had decided to leave my job for a career in comedy. And while I worked ...

Making Big Life Changes, part 3

May 06, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.16 MB

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 that his role changed with his contacts. He went from being an association colleague to a vendor ...

Making Big Life Changes, part 2

May 05, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.88 MB

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 desperate for a bargain. But I shopped there even though I had a great job and I could afford regular...

Making Big Life Changes

May 04, 2020 10:00 - 2 minutes - 1.63 MB

Making a big life change Tip 1. 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 was another guide though who was a lot older than me, ...

Finding the Funny: Leadership Tips From a Comedian

May 03, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.19 MB

It's funny business! Learn leadership & business skills to deal with people & handle life's curveballs. A professional comedian offers laughs & practical tips. Funny comedian & top keynote speaker Jan McInnis's unique, fun and useful ideas will help you develop solutions to your own work and life issues. Jan is an established comedy writer. She's sold material for Jay Leno’s Tonight Show monologue on the Tonight Show as well as many other people, places and groups – radio, TV, syndicated car...

Memory Tips, part 6 . . . how to write a joke

May 02, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.15 MB

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 here's your 60 second humor tip – if you want to find the funny in a situation make a list o...

Comedy Sunday

April 26, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 995 KB

That's pretty much the first joke I ever came up with– I actually said it to a makeup lady. If you want to know one way comedians come up with the humor, listen to Saturday's humor tip. I think you can just say Alexa previous. 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 fo...

Comedy Writing Tips

April 25, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.05 MB

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 Jay Leno's Tonight Show monologue 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 your 60 second tip – if you want to find the funny in a situation, ask ques...

Comedy Introductions, part 5

April 24, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.22 MB

I do a lot of work humor so my website is Work lady.com and sometimes I'm introduced at events as the work lady. But a few times I've been introduced as the Working Girl. That's a whole other profession. People are wondering what kind of entertainment they hired. And my knee jerk reaction is to correct them before I start getting offers. But really there are other choices. I can ignore it. . .which is what I do if I don't have much time on stage. Just move on and presume they'll forget...

Comedy Introductions, part 4

April 23, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.83 MB

. I once got a painful introduction where the lady introducing me read the email that I sent her to get the gig. She's telling them all the reasons they should hire me. People are looking over at me like are we voting on this? Jan's standing right there. I'm like, I'm going on stage . . I flew here. And at one event, the person introducing me read my 3-page bio instead of my 3-sentence introduction. My bio is all the stuff my mom likes to hear about. . . the audience who doesn't know me, n...

Comedy Introductions, part 3

April 22, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 2.28 MB

Shut the hell up. We've got a comedian here and she's really funny! Now shut the hell up! And with that crappy introduction I took to the stage. Sure everyone got quiet – because they were screamed at and ordered to. And now the pressure is on . . .I'd better be really funny. In fact, I'd better be funnier than the things they were just laughing about with their friends. I get it that the guy was trying to get them focused. But screaming at the audience and telling 'em that they have t...

Comedy Introductions, part 2

April 21, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.39 MB

I've had some bad introductions over the years. One woman read my jokes. She's out there getting laughs with them, I'm backstage wondering how I'm going to say them in a few minutes. Another guy said "these jokes are so funny, I just have to say them" no you don't. My tips this week are on introductions, and I've gotten some doozies over the years. You will have introductions, even if they aren't from the stage. Make sure they're done right. I realize that some of these bad introductio...

Bad Comedy Introductions

April 20, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.31 MB

It's funny business! Learn leadership & business skills to deal with people & handle life's curveballs. A professional comedian offers laughs & practical tips. Funny comedian & top keynote speaker Jan McInnis's unique, fun and useful ideas will help you develop solutions to your own work and life issues. Jan is an established comedy writer. She's sold material for Jay Leno’s Tonight Show monologue on the Tonight Show as well as many other people, places and groups – radio, TV, syndicated car...

Finding the Funny

April 18, 2020 10:00 - 4 minutes - 3.25 MB

this is my podcast titled Comedian Stories - Tales From the Road in Under 5 Minutes

Benefits of Using Humor, part 5

April 17, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.57 MB

It's funny business! Learn leadership & business skills to deal with people & handle life's curveballs. A professional comedian offers laughs & practical tips. Funny comedian & top keynote speaker Jan McInnis's unique, fun and useful ideas will help you develop solutions to your own work and life issues. Jan is an established comedy writer. She's sold material for Jay Leno’s Tonight Show monologue on the Tonight Show as well as many other people, places and groups – radio, TV, syndicated car...

Benefits of Using Humor, part 4

April 16, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.22 MB

It's funny business! Learn leadership & business skills to deal with people & handle life's curveballs. A professional comedian offers laughs & practical tips. Funny comedian & top keynote speaker Jan McInnis's unique, fun and useful ideas will help you develop solutions to your own work and life issues. Jan is an established comedy writer. She's sold material for Jay Leno’s Tonight Show monologue on the Tonight Show as well as many other people, places and groups – radio, TV, syndicated car...

Benefits of Using Humor in Business, part 3

April 15, 2020 19:00 - 1 minute - 1.52 MB

It's funny business! Learn leadership & business skills to deal with people & handle life's curveballs. A professional comedian offers laughs & practical tips. Funny comedian & top keynote speaker Jan McInnis's unique, fun and useful ideas will help you develop solutions to your own work and life issues. Jan is an established comedy writer. She's sold material for Jay Leno’s Tonight Show monologue on the Tonight Show as well as many other people, places and groups – radio, TV, syndicated car...

Reasons to use humor, part 2

April 14, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.16 MB

It's funny business! Learn leadership & business skills to deal with people & handle life's curveballs. A professional comedian offers laughs & practical tips. Funny comedian & top keynote speaker Jan McInnis's unique, fun and useful ideas will help you develop solutions to your own work and life issues. Jan is an established comedy writer. She's sold material for Jay Leno’s Tonight Show monologue on the Tonight Show as well as many other people, places and groups – radio, TV, syndicated car...

Sunday Humor Day

April 12, 2020 10:00 - 44 seconds - 746 KB

It's funny business! Learn leadership & business skills to deal with people & handle life's curveballs. A professional comedian offers laughs & practical tips. Funny comedian & top keynote speaker Jan McInnis's unique, fun and useful ideas will help you develop solutions to your own work and life issues. Jan is an established comedy writer. She's sold material for Jay Leno’s Tonight Show monologue on the Tonight Show as well as many other people, places and groups – radio, TV, syndicated car...

Health Benefits of Laughter, part 6

April 11, 2020 10:00 - 2 minutes - 1.7 MB

5 Things you CAN joke about Laughter helps us heal and keeps us healthy. And while you CAN'T joke about the virus, you can joke about issues AROUND the virus. Here are 5 things you can joke about. 1. It's effect on YOU. From gaining weight to drinking wine every night . . . self-deprecating humor rocks! 2. Policies that we never thought we'd have, like no more touching. What? You mean I don't have to dodge weird Aunt Edna's lip kiss anymore? 3. Relationships . . . how i...

Health Benefits of Laughter, part 5

April 10, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.51 MB

have you ever been to a spa. They are making stuff up with food items to make us think we're healthy. One spa menu had a treatment for $385 an hour – who can relax at $385 and hour? I've seen things on spa menus like Chardonnay sugar scrub, and Cocunut Cream Delight. What is that? A pie in the face. This week I'm talking about the health benefits of laughter, and instead of spending $385 an hour on a spa treatment, why don't you just laugh more. A few studies have shown that laughing h...

Benefits of Laughter, part 4

April 09, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.41 MB

Tip 4. There's actually something out there called laughter Yoga. People sitting around laughing about nothing. I was speaking at a health care event, and a doctor came up to me after my keynote. She was from India, and she said in India they have laughter clubs in the parks. On the way to work, people stop in and just laugh. She said she's a doctor, so she wasn't so sure about it, but her friends dragged her there, and she said ya know, it made me feel better. So who knows. Maybe it works. ...

Health Benefits of Laughter, part 3

April 08, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.44 MB

Tip 3 All these things happen to your body when your stressed – blood vessels constrict decreasing blood flow so more chance of heart attack and stroke, immune system weakens, shallower breathing, more aches and pains. The week im talking about the health beneits of laughter. Researchers are finding that lauging alleviates a lot these stressful effects. It Raises Endorphins, the body's natural pain killer, Boosts Our Immune System, Increases Blood Flow, Boosts Levels Of Good Cholesterol, Ca...

Health Benefits of Laughter, part 2

April 07, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.43 MB

. One of my clients said that laughter is the only emotion you can feel where you cannot multi-task. Like you can be crying and typing out that letter to someone who broke up with you, but you can't be laughing and doing the same thing. I said what about laughing and wetting your pants. Ok, that you can still do. This week I'm talking about the health benefits of laughing, and one of the benefits reachers have found is that it may burn calories. RESEARCHERS AT VANDERBILT UNIVERS...

Health Benefits of Laughter

April 06, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.57 MB

Jan McInnis <[email protected]> 10:02 AM (10 minutes ago) to me Health Benefits of laughter It is Healthy: Tip 1 This week's tip is on the benefits of laughter. There is actually some research on it, and I'll talk about it as the week goes on, but forget about the research. What does it feel like when you laugh? . . .can't you just feel yourself feeling better? I think the fact that we have so much laughter now, is a testament to people realizing that it's he...

How to Work with Annoying People, part 5

April 03, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.26 MB

I heard a woman from NASA speak recently. I can't remember her name, but she had a funny line about the astronauts. She mentioned that there are times when the astronauts don't get along. She said let's face it . . . would you like your boss to pick your roommates? That made me laugh because that's basically what's happening when astronauts go into space . . .and it's what happens with people we work with in the office. We don't get to pick these people, which means you get lots of different...

How to Work with Annoying People, part 4

April 02, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.34 MB

Years ago there was a 15 month period once when I kept getting booked with the same comedian for these 2-person shows. All over the country, I'd show up and he was there. I wouldn't have minded except this guy made it clear to me that he hated my act. He would make snide comments or give me unasked for tips on how to do comedy. I was having great shows, but I didn't like working with him. One of the weeks we worked together was at the Excaliber Casino on the Vegas strip, and one of the perks...

How to Work with Annoying People, part 3

April 01, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.58 MB

. I had a fantastic show for a guy who was a total jerk to me. Even though he had booked me into this show, he told me that he basically doesn't like women comedians . . .and he said it right before I went on stage in front of 1500 people. He booked corporate work, so a few months later, I was sending out my new corporate video tape to the first batch of about 20 agents, and even though I didn't think anything would come of it, I included him in the mailing. He called me a couple days late...

How to Work with Annoying People, part 2

March 31, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.11 MB

One night I was booked to perform at an Irish pub. I had heard of the other comedian I was working with – he was a pretty big name in comedy circles, and he had been doing comedy for at least 20 years. Once we met, he asked me how long I'd been doing comedy. I said 5 years. He paused and said, well, do you think you have 30 minutes of good material for this gig. How insulting! I felt like pointing out – hey, don't get so uppity . . .you've been doing this 20 years, I've been doing this 5, an...

How to Work With Annoying People, part 1

March 30, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.25 MB

There was a woman at a company I worked at, and she was our sales person. We worked in cubes at the time, and the phones were NOT cell phones. The handle that you spoke into was tethered to the base by a cord. I know, weird right! This sales woman had a long phone cord, and so she would walk the aisles in between the cubes making her sales calls. She was loud and obnoxious. One night , a group of us from the office were hanging out at happy hour, and we had an intern with us. I knew th...

Favorite Quotes, Day 5

March 27, 2020 10:00 - 34 seconds - 633 KB

It's funny business! Learn leadership & business skills to deal with people & handle life's curveballs. A professional comedian offers laughs & practical tips. Funny comedian & top keynote speaker Jan McInnis's unique, fun and useful ideas will help you develop solutions to your own work and life issues. Jan is an established comedy writer. She's sold material for Jay Leno’s Tonight Show monologue on the Tonight Show as well as many other people, places and groups – radio, TV, syndicated car...

Favorite Quotes, Day 4

March 26, 2020 10:00 - 20 seconds - 584 KB

https://www.TheWorkLady.com It's funny business! Learn leadership & business skills to deal with people & handle life's curveballs. A professional comedian offers laughs & practical tips. Long Show Description It's funny business! Learn leadership & business skills to deal with people & handle life's curveballs. A professional comedian offers laughs & practical tips. Funny comedian & top keynote speaker Jan McInnis's unique, fun and useful ideas will help you develop solutions to your...

Favorite Quotes, Day 3

March 25, 2020 10:00 - 38 seconds - 676 KB

It's funny business! Learn leadership & business skills to deal with people & handle life's curveballs. A professional comedian offers laughs & practical tips. Funny comedian & top keynote speaker Jan McInnis's unique, fun and useful ideas will help you develop solutions to your own work and life issues. Jan is an established comedy writer. She's sold material for Jay Leno’s Tonight Show monologue on the Tonight Show as well as many other people, places and groups – radio, TV, syndicated car...

Favorite quotes, day 2

March 24, 2020 10:00 - 24 seconds - 512 KB

It's funny business! Learn leadership & business skills to deal with people & handle life's curveballs. A professional comedian offers laughs & practical tips. Funny comedian & top keynote speaker Jan McInnis's unique, fun and useful ideas will help you develop solutions to your own work and life issues. Jan is an established comedy writer. She's sold material for Jay Leno’s Tonight Show monologue on the Tonight Show as well as many other people, places and groups – radio, TV, syndicated car...

Favorite Quotes

March 23, 2020 10:00 - 19 seconds - 461 KB

Mother Goose - For every ailment under the sun, there is a cure or there is none. If there's one, try and find it. If there's none, never mind it. It's funny business! Learn leadership & business skills to deal with people & handle life's curveballs. A professional comedian offers laughs & practical tips. Funny comedian & top keynote speaker Jan McInnis's unique, fun and useful ideas will help you develop solutions to your own work and life issues. Jan is an established comedy writer. She'...

How to Work with Annoying People

March 21, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.26 MB

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 restaurant employees to Real Estate agents. I now travel the country showing organizations how to use humor in business. So here's your 60 second tip. Use stereotypes and common assumptions as long as you're nice!! For example, if you're making a joke about McDonalds, what are our common assumptions and stereotypes about their food – unheal...

Finding the Funny: Just clean comedy

March 18, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.17 MB

It's funny business! Learn leadership & business skills to deal with people & handle life's curveballs. A professional comedian offers laughs & practical tips. Funny comedian & top keynote speaker Jan McInnis's unique, fun and useful ideas will help you develop solutions to your own work and life issues. Jan is an established comedy writer. She's sold material for Jay Leno’s Tonight Show monologue on the Tonight Show as well as many other people, places and groups – radio, TV, syndicated car...

Advantages for working from home

March 17, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.22 MB

It's funny business! Learn leadership & business skills to deal with people & handle life's curveballs. A professional comedian offers laughs & practical tips. Funny comedian & top keynote speaker Jan McInnis's unique, fun and useful ideas will help you develop solutions to your own work and life issues. Jan is an established comedy writer. She's sold material for Jay Leno’s Tonight Show monologue on the Tonight Show as well as many other people, places and groups – radio, TV, syndicated car...

Tips for Using Humor in Business part 7

March 15, 2020 10:00 - 46 seconds - 777 KB

Denzil washngton joke I love that joke, and there's truth to it as well! If you want to hear more 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 or 4 minute story, and end with a take-away tip from what I learned. All under 5 minutes. And tune in tomorrow for new weekly tips! That's it for today. Take care and enjoy your journey.

Tips for Using Humor in Business part 6

March 14, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.42 MB

. 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, and syndicated cartoon strips, so I can show you how. So here's your 60 second tip. If you want to find humor fast, look in the news! I started out writing topical jokes about topics in the news. Things change so fast that I couldn't keep doing news jokes in my act – I mean you can't still be telling lorana b...

Tips for Using Humor in Business part 5

March 13, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.3 MB

In his monologue, Jay Leno joked about every topic you can think of. But I once heard him say that there are really only 4 or 5 subjects in comedy . . . and he said he may be making political jokes, but if you listen closely, they're not so much political statements as they are jokes about politicians and sex. This week I'm talking about guidelines for using humor in business, and today's tip, don't worry if your topic is serious, you can find humor in every topic. You may not be ab...

Tips For Using Humor in Business part 4

March 12, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.46 MB

There used to be a tabloid called the Weekly World News that was totally bogus and had stories like Bat Boy – a boy who looks like a bat, and lots stories about Alien sightings. How do I know it was bogus? I was featured in some of the articles. One article I was in had me and my husband hacked up by a Chuckie Doll somewhere in France. It was ridiculous. The people who worked at this tabloid knew who their audience was and what their purpose was with the magazine. And that's what made the ma...

Tips for Using Humor in Business part 3

March 11, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.29 MB

I'm currently touring theatres with another comedian Kent Rader in the Baby Boomer Comedy Show, and at the end of the show we open up to questions. Hey you're not going to get to ask Leno or Seinfeld questions about comedy, but you can ask us. And one of the biggest questions we get is "what's your worst show." They don’t ask our best show, they ask our worst. And after almost every show we also get people coming up to us saying "I'm funny, I should be a comedian." The main reason they don't...

Tips for Using Humor in Business part 2

March 10, 2020 10:00 - 1 minute - 1.49 MB

I wasn't the class clown in school, and I've only been told I should be a comedian once. Back in high school when they voted on those superlatives like best dressed, most athletic, and I'm better than you. My friend Judy said "jan you say funny things, I'm going to nominate you as funniest." And so I got 2 votes. . me and Judy. Even at my class reunion she was the only one who said you're a comedian – that's perfect. Everyone else looked at me like, you haven't been on any major TV shows, ar...

Tips For Using Humor in Business, part 1

March 09, 2020 09:00 - 1 minute - 1.35 MB

Years ago I was performing at a Casino in Reno Nevada right around when cell phones were starting to get big. During the first show, a guy in the front row's cell phone went off and he proceeded to answer it AND talk over me. I tried to joke around with him, but after a few minutes of him ignoring me, and still talking, I snapped. I got angry and yelled at him. Finally I got him out of the showroom, but it was almost impossible to get back into being funny. I wrapped up that show and did a s...

Reasons to Use Humor part 7

March 08, 2020 11:00 - 59 seconds - 930 KB

292 service pins Joke. Yep, that really happened. It was a painful few hours until I got on stage to have fun with it. Of course I didn't get onstage until after midnight! Yesterday I gave you the tip for how I came up with that line – go back and listen to it if you missed it. And if you want to hear more 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 or 4 minute story, an...

Finding the Funny: Leadership Tips From a Comedian

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