Jessie Shternshus

06/25/13 • 50 min

Despite having a hard to pronounce name with way too many consonants, Jessie Shternshus is a thoroughly charming go-getter who has created an improv dynamo in Jacksonville, Florida. As the founder and owner of The IMPROV EFFECT, Jessie weds her lifelong passion for and expertise in applied improvisation with the fast paced demands of the corporate world. In her classes and workshops she helps people become better listeners, team players, leaders, and communicators. Her physically engaging and playful workshops are relevant to all fields of life; participants of her workshops vary from college professors to engineers and from web developers to lawyers. Jessie gained her formal education at USF and NYU. Throughout her career she has worked with Fortune 500 companies and companies such as CBS, Paramount Pictures, MTV and Sesame Workshop. She also facilitates communication skills workshops and speaks at conferences worldwide.

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Gene Perret, Linda Perret: Writers for Bob Hope, Phyllis Diller, and More

Gene Perret is a guru of comedy writing. He has written jokes for comedians such as Phyllis Diller, Bob Hope, Carol Burnett, Bill Cosby, Tim Conway, and many others. He earned three Emmy Awards for his work on The Carol Burnett Show. He wrote for Bob Hope from 1969 until the performer’s retirement, serving the last 15 years as his head writer. Gene's television career includes producing Welcome Back, Kotter, Three’s Company, and The Tim Conway Show. Other credits include Mama’s Family, All in the Family, Laugh-In, and many others. Gene has authored 40 books on comedy. His book Comedy Writing Step by Step is considered by many to be the textbook on comedy writing. A revised and updated version of this book -- The New Comedy Writing Step by Step was released by Quill Driver Books in 2008. Other books include Talk About Hope; Become A Richer Writer; and Damn! That’s Funny! Writing Humor You Can Sell. Gene's first novel, Breakfasts with Archangel Shecky, has just been released. For additional books visit our store. Gene has written for many national magazines including Reader's Digest, Good Housekeeping, Toastmaster and wrote a regular humor column for Arizona Highways for many years.

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Luke Ashlocke - Stand Up Comedian

Luke Ashlocke, who was Luke Francis when I interviewed him, is a super-prolific Scottish comedian. The Glasgow, Scotland native arrived in the United States on a mission. From the minute he stepped onto the comedy scene he has been making waves. From Appearances on The Comedy Network's; "The Great Canadian Laugh Off" and "The Montreal Comedy Festival" to The CWB's "The Daily Buzz" and NBC's "Night Shift" and"New Day", to reviews such as "Funny As Hell" -Good Times Magazine, Long Island, NY & "This is what live stand up is supposed to be" - Weird Magazine, Austin, TX. Luke is one of the hardest working comics in the industry today. In 2011 Luke was voted break out artist of the year at the Los Angeles Comedy Awards and won BEST Actor for his role in "Vicky and Sam" at the London Film Festival. You can hear Luke's unique brand of humor on one of his three Albums- "Ill be Nicer When You Are Smarter", "If My Jokes Dont Kill Them Im Sure This Gun Will Help", and "Head Full of Tales" or on Bob and Tom and XM radio station RAWDOG on heavy rotation. To add to this, Luke plays over 15 instruments, and has one of the best crowd interaction shows in the history of live stand up comedy. Apologies, we had to switch phones a couple times to complete this interview, but what Luke has to say about writing a comedy act is well worth sticking with it!