Am I launching my book at the worst possible time? I don’t know, but it is ready to go.
Good people,
Wishing you the best during these turbulent times. I am trying to live my life as normally as I can during abnormal times. I write this from the desert in Joshua Tree where I am sequestered and attempting to make the most of my sabbatical.
As this pandemic creates fear and uncertainty, there is a surprising place people can turn for help: comedy. Indeed, comedians are the masters of turning tragedy into comedy. But more importantly, the world’s funniest people can provide important lessons in creativity and innovation—something we need at the moment even more than laughs.
After more than a decade studying humor, sharing stages with comics, and hanging out with comics in dingy green rooms, my new book pull’s back the curtain to give you a glimpse into the mysterious world of stand-up, improv, and sketch comedy.
More about Shtick to Business. Buy it on Amazon.
I am proud of the book and believe that it can help people. Learn from the people who don’t just deal with an uncertain world, they thrive in it. Drawing on cutting-edge research and my own comedy successes (and failures), “Shtick” presents inspiring lessons gleaned from the practices and perspectives of the masters of comedy—and most creative rule breakers:
- How a simple “101” comedy trick used by Chris Rock, Ali Wong, and nearly every other comedian can overcome biases and reveal new business opportunities.
- Why Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s approach to comedy is the model for the radical collaboration needed to implement creative solutions—and deal with a quarantine.
- What tactic Jim Gaffigan and the writers of The Onion use to enhance inventive thinking.
- How to develop Jerry Seinfeld’s comic-as-outside perspective in order to identify new growth opportunities and fearlessly smash the status quo.The entertaining insights will help you uniquely solve problems, re-invent yourself, and find a way to be productive during these tumultuous times.
And you will never have to tell a joke.