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.
COMMENTS
[ posted by Dee, March 17, 2013 22:53 ]
I saw your act Saturday at N. Andover. My name is Dee from Abington. After your show; I commented on seeing Kevin Knox 3x and you showed me your bracelet. RIP He could use the F word and sound like a lady and be so funny. You are very funny, too. I look forward to seeing you perform again. ~ Dee