Performing Clean Corporate Comedy

"We're excited to welcome our humorous keynote speaker for the evening Sally Edwards!" Somehow these words sounded strange. Exactly how had I achieved this title? The words "stand up comedian","headliner" and "show closer" were the words that had brought me up the ladder to perform at this event. Are you dreaming of being a corporate comedian or humorous keynotepublic speaker? There are so many ways to achieve a dream. My routewas by way of the stand up comedy stage. Starting as a new talent Zanies Comedy Club in the 80's, I had no idea that my "schooling" would require more years of training than that of an astrophysicist. It is on-the-job training in front of countless highly critical viewers who are watching you learn the craft. There is no studying alone in the library or taking a test with one hand hiding your answers. All eyes are on you as you give it your best. Stand up comedy is not for the squeamish. It is a career that needs the drive and focus of a cage-diver thrown to the Great Whites. A show that does not go well is filled with feelings of personal failure and rejection. Oddly enough this rejection fuels the desire to get back on stage and fix the problem. Most stand up most comedians don't want to give up until the going gets good again. The desire to please is all-consuming and is often described as an addiction. Any comedian who has had a bad show knows that everything will be good again as soon as there is laughter and applause. The training ground for the stand up comedian is often a nightly commitment. With so many comedy clubs opening across the country, it is possible to perform in front of a live audience regularly. I've known comedians who have performed up to ten shows per week. This is solid "practice" for public speaking. Not even in an intensivecollege communication class would it be possible to practice speaking skills at such an intensive rate. A new comedian usually begins performing stand up comedy with only three or four minutes of material which consists of jokes or stories. Every time he or she steps on stage that initial thee minute"set" is edited. The goal is to make the material stronger and funnier with each edit. It is estimated that it takes one year to successfully increase a comedian's strong (very funny) material by ten minutes! If you're choosing a career as a corporate comedian or humorous keynote speaker you should anticipate spending many years learning the craft. The reward will not come in ribbons or medals. There is, however, the incredible joy of making people laugh!