Laughing Matters

Tone Viera, producer at SiriusXM, stand-up comedian, and content creator joins us on the Laughing Matters podcast to talk how comedy fuses with hip hop. He breaks down how he fell in love with comedy and his experience working with some of the most influential hip-hop artists of today. Some notable takeaways:

• The down-to-earth nature of the hip hop artists he interacts with, including one who happens to be his boss and with whom he’s on a middle-name basis
• His embarrassing moment with the daughter of a world-famous record producer
• Tips on where to go on social media to stay relevant and also what’s the next hottest trend in hip hop

Wayne McDonnell (aka Doctor Baseball), a sports consultant, college baseball broadcaster, and part of the faculty at UNC-Chapel Hill, joins us on Laughing Matters and takes a headfirst slide into the reasons why laughter separates the great players, managers, and teams from the also-rans. He also discusses:

• How the very best athletes and teams use laughter to manage stress and setbacks
• What he learned from Hall of Fame baseball announcer Vin Scully
• A couple of phenomenal stories about two sports legends

A recent Oracle survey found that nearly half of participants haven’t felt happiness for more than two years! People want to smile and laugh, but the survey also found 95% of business leaders fear using humor with customers. Ruder Finn CEO Kathy Bloomgarden joins Laughing Matters to talk happiness, while also expounding on the following:

Her examples of leaders and brands that incorporate humor.
- How her dad, David Finn, one of the founding fathers of PR, kept his employees on their toes while having a little fun.
- Her main method of decompressing: honing her language skills with the help of Mandarin soap operas!
- Her super awkward interaction at the World Economic Forum in Davos that taught her a valuable lesson to always dress for the weather!

Riding for hours in a constricted, highly pressurized cylinder with a bunch of total strangers can be tough, especially if you don't have a sense of humor. Luckily, the airline industry has Linda Rutherford, executive vice president of people & communications and chief communications officer at Southwest Airlines. She joins Laughing Matters to discuss:
- Their history of having a humorous culture, starting with founder Herb Kelleher, who used to hide in the overhead bins to surprise passengers.
- SWA's creative and highly energetic in-flight staff, and how the company approaches training to support employees and find their strengths.
- Her cringeworthy moment early in her career as a journalist when she felt under the weather and left an unexpected gift for a potential source.

Comedian David Horning joins Laughing Matters and teaches us a fresh take on how to reframe even the most difficult situations (hint: make a conscious choice to poke fun at yourself). In this podcast, you'll learn:

• How he went from trying to be a lawyer with a political science degree to waiting tables at New York's finest comedy clubs
• How one improv course where participants were initially resistant turned out to be a huge success
• Overcoming the fear of comedy/humor still present in many organizations (don't say the "C" word)
• His take on the "slap heard 'round the world" at the Oscars earlier this year and its impact on how we perceive humor

Teaching business execs how to be leaders is no small feat. Our latest Laughing Matters episode features renown executive coach Ken Jacobs, who talks about critical ways for leaders to blow off steam. His insights include:

• The identity of one exec from a major U.S. airline who brings tremendous humanity and humor
• An experience from early in his career when one executive leader would literally roll out into staff meetings on a giant adult tricycle
• How empathy plays a key role in managing one particular up and coming generational workplace group
• What he hopes will be the Ken Jacobs legacy after he hangs up the metaphorical coaching jersey

Listen to our insightful discussion with renowned comedian Clayton Fletcher, as he weighs in on how the business world has gone from looking at comedy and humor as a “nice to have” to a necessity that helps solve different challenges and pain points with their employees and client interactions. Clayton also discusses:

• What has changed in how businesses approach humor in his last 13 years as Chief Comedy Officer for Peppercomm
• How he identifies the innate qualities each person has that makes them funny as storytellers
• The ways in which teaching humor in business has changed with a more politically divisive environment.
• The increasing need for comedy service offerings such as the ones Peppercomm offers

We’re joined by Liz Joynt Sandberg, who talks about her role as Head of Comedy Arts at the Theatre School at DePaul University and how helps students and businesses bring their most unique, “weird” parts of themselves to the performing arts. Liz also shares:

• How she uses humor to motivate her students and artists she works with to take a break from the anxieties of the world.
• How comedy “ate” her life after taking a class with Second City in Chicago
• Her experience explaining a comedy exercise to a prestigious academic institution that thought it wasn’t ready

Jon Gelberg is executive editor of content strategies at Inc. Media, but he also moonlights as a stand-up comedian in the New York comedy club circuit. Listen to our latest episode to hear Jon talk about how he got into comedy, some of his embarrassing moments, and how he overcame a serious medical diagnosis with humor. Jon also shares:

• His experiences at some of New York’s most famous comedy clubs and running into legendary comedians
• The evolution of comedy over the years and how the younger generation approaches humor
• Tips on how businesses can use levity to survive the current challenging economic environment

Angela Sullivan, head of communications for the Americas at Xero, a New Zealand-based company and a Peppercomm client, sits down with Steve and Paul to talk about how humor works in a large, global organization like Xero, and how the business owners they serve are learning to take a lighthearted approach in a challenging climate. On this episode, you’ll hear Angela’s thoughts on:

• The difference between humor in the U.S. and humor in New Zealand and Australia
• How humor is part of keeping it #human
• Using humor when confronted with microaggressions when she moved back to the U.S. from Asia as a teenager