My friend once gravely informed me that she didn’t ‘like comedy that’s not funny’. As far as solemn pronouncements go, you might say it lacked gravitas. You might also say it lacked intelligence, insight, and humor .

These immortal words were uttered well over two decades ago, but despite their glib nature, they’ve never left me. They are at the forefront of my mind when, in my professional capabilities, I’m called upon to hire a comedian for corporate events. ‘Don’t hire someone who’s not funny’, I always remind myself. If I need help finding someone, I generally call upon Funny Guys, who host an extensive roster of professional, well known comics.  

Some might think ‘are they funny?’ is the only thing one needs to consider when hiring a comedian. There is, however, a little more to it than that.

Real estate agents talk about location, location, location. Hiring a comedian is about audience, audience, audience. Know your audience and the decision should be relatively straightforward. Is it Grandmas’s 90th birthday? Hold the dick jokes (unless she’s into that sort of thing- in which case, I salute her) Gentle humor from an older, seasoned pro is the way to go. Room full of advertising execs at a corporate event? You can probably afford to up the raunchy factor a little. Suburban sporting club fundraiser? Don’t go with the pale inner urban hipster prone to whimsical flights of fancy. It won’t be appreciated.

It’s always best to err on the side of caution when hiring comedians for corporate events. The potential for the collective office equilibrium to be terminally discombobulated is not worth the kicks you might get from seeing the CEO denounced as corpulent, balding twit by an edgy young comic. That’s not to say it need be dull. Most professional comedians will happily comply with your conditions, so long as they’re not totally misaligned with their personal style.