A Bombshell Announcement
That Turned Into A Great Show!
Here’s a quick story about what a keynote speaker and comedian can’t do: we can’t fix unpopular policies or company events.
I once got to perform for a whole bunch of unhappy people. The day of my event, they were told that the company was being sold, which implied that many, if not all, of the employees would soon be looking for work elsewhere.
The CEO waited until this meeting to
bring that detail up. The meeting planner caught me a couple hours before the show to give me the heads-up that people weren’t happy. Really — do you think?
You know, comedy can fix a lot of things, but
it can’t do much about pending unemployment. I figured I was walking into a room in which everyone was staring at their watches, waiting for me to finish so they could go polish up their résumés. I tried to not think about it, but it was in the back of my mind that this show was going to be an uphill battle.
And, yes, when I got to the event site, the atmosphere was tense. That is, until about 30 minutes before the show, when the CEO got a call that his sale did not go through. He was not happy. The rest of the group — elated.
He begrudgingly
made this announcement right before I went onstage. He showed his displeasure by giving me one of the worst intros ever. I think my intro was something along the lines of, “And now here’s the comedian.” Right after bringing me onstage, he stormed out, probably to find another buyer for a company whose employees would all soon be gone because they now had a heads-up as to what he was doing
.The show went great, but in all honesty, I could’ve done shadow puppets on the wall and everyone would have been just as happy. I’ve never seen energy go from awful to wonderful in milliseconds, and I can only imagine the story I would have had if the sale continued to go through. Luckily I never had to live that story.
Sometimes your biggest worries, like standing in front of hundreds of unhappy people for an hour, never materialize. So whatever you are facing, give it your best effort to ignore the noise going on around you and it may just go away on it’s own.
Jan McInnis is a Keynote Speaker, Comedian, Comedy Writer, and Master of Ceremonies. She has written for Jay Leno’s Tonight Show monologue as well as many other people, places, and groups – radio, TV, syndicated cartoon strips, and even guests on the Jerry Springer show (her parents are proud). For 20+ years she’s traveled country as a keynote speaker and comedian sharing her unique and practical tips on what business leaders can learn from comedians (no, it’s not all about telling jokes). She can be reached at www.TheWorkLady.com, or Jan@TheWorkLady.com She’s also a GREAT Master of Ceremonies. Click here for her emcee site
Some of the stories in this newsletter are taken from Jan’s popular book:
Convention Comedian: Stories and Wisdom From Two Decades of Chicken Dinners and Comedy Clubs.
Another fun (if almost harrowing!) story :)