August 23, 2025 • 27 mins
If you have listened to me for any period of time, you know I like to laugh- because if you don’t laugh in this world- you will only end up crying. In my mind, laughter is really the best medicine for almost anything. But can laughter help you be a better leader?
My guest is Adam Christing is an American comedian, author, and motivational speaker from La Mirada, California. He is the founder and president of Clean Comedians, an organization composed of comedians, speakers, and entertainers who refrain from using objectionable material and profanity during their performances. He was voted as the best emcee by Best if LA and speaks at more than 100 events a year.
His new book is called "The Laughter Factor: The 5 Humor Tactics to Link, Lift and Lead.
“Humor is the shortcut to trust", says Christing. “Laughter skips the formalities and says, ‘I see you. I get you. I like you.’ It’s not just a nice-to-have—it’s the missing link for leaders, teams, and relationships of all kinds.”
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-small-business-radio-show--3306444/support.
My guest is Adam Christing is an American comedian, author, and motivational speaker from La Mirada, California. He is the founder and president of Clean Comedians, an organization composed of comedians, speakers, and entertainers who refrain from using objectionable material and profanity during their performances. He was voted as the best emcee by Best if LA and speaks at more than 100 events a year.
His new book is called "The Laughter Factor: The 5 Humor Tactics to Link, Lift and Lead.
“Humor is the shortcut to trust", says Christing. “Laughter skips the formalities and says, ‘I see you. I get you. I like you.’ It’s not just a nice-to-have—it’s the missing link for leaders, teams, and relationships of all kinds.”
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-small-business-radio-show--3306444/support.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Get ready for all the craziness of small business. It's
exactly that craziness that makes it exciting and totally unbelievable.
Small Business Radio is now on the air with your
host Barry Moultz.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
If you've listened to me for any period of time,
you know that I love to laugh, because if you
don't laugh in this world, I believe you end up
crying in my mind. Laughter truly is the best medicine
for almost anything. But can laughter actually help you become
a better leader? My guest is Adam Christing, who's an
(00:39):
American comedian, author, and motivational speaker. He's the founder and
president of Clean Comedians, an organization composed of comedians, speakers,
and entertainers who are framed from using objectional material and
profanity during the performances. Who's voted as Best MC by
Best in LA and speaks at more than one hundred
events a year. His new book is called The Laughter Factor,
(01:00):
The Five Humor Tactics to Link, lift and Lead. Adam,
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Hey, thanks a lot, Barry, Congratulations on what a run
you've got going.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Seven seventeen years coming to it and assume but that
announcement is coming up, So I didn't realize you could
be funny and not swear.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Yeah, you know, our motto is, it doesn't have to
be filthy to be funny. But I'll tell you a
quick embarrassing story. When we launched Cleancomedians dot com, I
came up with that motto, but I blew it. I
mailed about one hundred brochures to corporations and theaters and colleges,
and instead of it saying it doesn't have to be
filthy to be funny, it accidentally said this. Clean Comedians
(01:40):
is an association of professional comedians who believe it doesn't
have to be fun kind of takes the pressure off,
it really does.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
I remember when I used to do a lot of speaking,
and I'd watch other speakers and they would curse somethink
and that's just cheap, right, This is a cheap way
to get a laugh.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Yeah, it's so true. And you know what's happened, especially
in the comedy club scene. I think there's been a
shift in this. I mean, you look at the success
of someone like a Nate Barcozzi, who's probably not only
the number one clean comedian in America, but maybe the
number one comedian SNL New York Times bestseller. But what's
happened in the clubs, for example, is you know, it
used to be like if you said, you know, a
(02:22):
four letter words, a little shocking. Now you've got to
get so gross and angry and vulgar because it becomes
harder and harder to shock people. And so what I've
discovered over many years is sometimes the clean humor is
actually the shocking fight in our culture.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Right. I mean, listen, when you have the President of
United States cursing, right, I mean, it's like it doesn't
really matter. Well, I want to get to the book,
you say, and I love this humor is a shortcut
to trust. Why does that happen?
Speaker 3 (02:53):
You know? I was blown away by the research. I
think everybody knows that. You know, like you mentioned at
the top of your program, it's great Mary Hart does
good like medicine. I think it's the ancient proverb. But
what science is also showing and research is document is
it's a shortcut between hearts. Because and this is I
think especially true for business owners and leaders, we think slowly,
(03:17):
but we feel quickly. And so when you make someone
laugh or someone makes you laugh, you just have this
instant like connection. And so my book's really about helping
people find their unique laugh language so they feel more
comfortable using humor as really a superpower.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
You know, I remember when I mean I've retired from
speaking now after thirty years. I'd go on stage and
I'd say it exactly the same thing for the first minute,
and the idea was at the end of the minute
because of what I said, people would laugh. And as
soon as those people laughed at the end of the minute,
I know, Adam, that I had them for the next hour.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Oh yeah, you know, I'm like you mentioned, I'm on
stage about one hundred times a year, and the first
thing I want to do is have them smile and laugh,
so they go, hey, this is going to be a
fun speech, or or if I'm am seeing an event.
And you probably remember the classic Willy Wonka movie, right, which, yeah,
(04:15):
one of my favorites actors comedians. But he only agreed
to be in that film under one condition. He told
the producer and director. He said, I will only accept
this role if you let me come out with this cane.
I will remember that moment. And then he trips and
then he does this somersault and he turns kind of
(04:37):
a pain situation into this moment of surprise. Everyone laughs
and cheers, And I think sometimes we get so serious
about business. And I've been a small business owner for
decades now, and even though I'm a comedian, I take
business very seriously. But if we can make someone feel
good about the relationship with us, with our service, they're
(04:58):
way more likely to do business with us.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Yes, you know, you talk about the five laugh languages,
right instead of the five love languages, And surprise is
really the first one, because I think people really are
delighted when they get the unexpected.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Oh yeah, you know, after I do a gig, as
we call them, and you know, from your speaking background,
you do it's all about getting the gigs. But I
don't want to just do the performance or the speech.
I want to build a relationship with the clients. So
we came up with this crazy thing where we go
to a Walmart after an event and we buy one
of those two or three dollars bouncy balls like a
(05:34):
three year old we'd use. We take a sharpie and like,
let's say you were my host, I would say, hey, Barry,
I had a ball at your annual meeting and we
don't even put it in a box. We put stamps
on it and manage thing and people you imagine the postal,
you know, the mail carrier comes to your office with
this giant ball, and people love it. They laugh and
(05:56):
they feel more connected. So surprise is probably maybe the
easiest of the humor tactics to use because you don't
have to tell a joke. You can surprise someone with
a gift or something you say, or or anything that
breaks a pattern. You know.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Yeah, the number. The second one you talk about is
is poke. Is this self deprecating humor which I always
use a lot because I thought it was very effective.
I always felt that people say, well, I guess he's
just like me.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Oh. Absolutely. I call this little area authenticity. And I've noticed,
you know, when you when you're speaking or when you're selling,
you want to establish your authority. It's a natural thing
to do. But what I've discovered is if you can
start with a flop or a failure. And I noticed
this in your on your site and in your book,
(06:47):
and you're a very transparent author is people relate to
us more when we connect with our failures with our authenticity.
And then when we talk about success and how we
turn things around. I think actually have more credibility.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
You know.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
It's interesting because I know, you know, when you go
on stage, they build you up and saying, hey, you're
the second coming, right, and so you know people would
do that, Oh, this guy's great, he's got this awards
in the menentreprol Hall of Fame, blah blah. And I
would get up there and the first thing I would
saying is, you know, I've had three businesses. The first
business I wanted a business, second business I was kicked
out a business right, and the third one I was
able to sell. And when you get through those three things,
(07:24):
people go oh again self deprecating humor.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
He's just like me, exactly exactly. And it's tempting as
a leader to want to lead with your strengths. But
I think when you lead with this, I love this saying.
I don't if you've ever heard this sing, but intimacy
means into me, see, and so just like you, I've
had I have bombed on stage more times than I
can even count. You know, one time I was I
(07:49):
directed a movie in Los Angeles and I got to
be the casting guess. Of course I cast myself in
the movie.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Of course Verry. What could go wrong?
Speaker 3 (07:58):
Yeah, my acting so bad. I got cut out of
my own film and we got to the editing room
and we're like, this is terrible. So I became the narrator.
But when I tell a story like that, instead of
people laughing at me, they're they're laughing with me.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
I totally agree. The third one you talk about is
in jokes. What does that mean?
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Yeah? You know, that might be my favorite. And by
the way, I want to tell your listeners, we created
a quiz where people can discover they're laughing.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
I love that.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Yeah, it's really if it takes four minutes and it
tells you which of these five you you gravitate toward.
And my wife has this one, and it's it's a
it's a beautiful humor tactic laugh language. And that is
creating shared experiences with like inside jokes, stories that only
your group knows.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
You know.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
So if I'm at the comedy store in Hollywood and
I and I get up there and I say, hey,
remember the time that that Barry put the ham sandwich
in the photocop here, Like, no one's gonna laugh. But
if I tell that same story to people who experienced
it at the office, it's just becomes hilarious and people
repeat it. So in jokes is about what comedians call callbacks,
(09:10):
where something happens and then maybe six months later you go, hey,
remember the time, and everybody's on the same page.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
I usually do this when I go out to dinner
with people. If something funny happens, then I'll use it
later in the evening as a callback. And I just think,
for me, that's hilarious.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
Oh, and you know it's strange. I still don't fully
understand why it is funny. But one time I had
sixty two engagements in one months years ago. I was
so exhausted I'd driven up to this mountain resort deal
and I accidentally, in my mental fatigue, I told the
same joke three times, and the first time I got
(09:49):
a great laugh, second time I got nothing. And so
when I told it the third time, they thought I
was doing it on purpose, and so, yeah, you nailed it.
It's that the power of that repetition.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Well, another one of the laugh languages is wordplay, and
I love this. Tell us what that's about.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Yeah, and you know, we've seen a resurgence in this one,
and that's dad jokes, puns, clever quips, retorts, you know.
And so you'll probably work with someone in your business
or one of your customers who just gets into these
little puns. And I just sent a client friend this
button because wordplay is his laugh language, and whenever he
(10:31):
pushes it, he instantly has told a dad joke and
he keeps it with him in the car he takes
it to the office. And so wordplay is really about
turns of phrase and funny equips that you can repeat.
You know.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
One of the things that I used to do when
I had my last business with my partner, we made
a lot of presentations together, and so before we got
so bored making these presentations that we would make up
a word, right, and you could score points if you
said the word during the meet, and then you could
get the client to actually use the made up word
in the sentence. This is how sick we were. This
(11:06):
is how sick we were to entertain ourselves.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
No, that's brilliant because see right there, you're combining wordplay
with in jokes. It's like a double dip.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
So the fifth one is amplify tell us about that.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
Yeah, Now this one a lot of famous comedians, you
think Robin Williams and others where you know, if you
or I went to the store and we were bugged
because the line was too long to check away, might
just go, yeah it was a long line. Somebody else
can for twenty minutes talk about you know, this woman
cut in front of me and then this fell out
of my cart. And so if you have the laugh
(11:39):
language of amplify, you're into exaggerating and storytelling in lots
of details. And that's a great one. And by the way,
you can use any of these humor tactics even if
it isn't your your natural laugh language. But what I
recommend people do is and after they take the quiz,
they'll know, Okay, this one is mine. I want to
(12:00):
I'm want to get even better at my natural style
of humor.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
And tell us where they can get the quiz. What's
the r L.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
Yeah, it's the laughter factor dot com. Don't forget the
word the laughter factor.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Forgot when I was writing this down, I forgot the Okay.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Yeah, you can't forget the and yeah it takes four minutes.
We're having so much fun. We've had just dozens of
people's only been out about a week and you know,
I'll tell you quick straight. They're the famous book the
Five Love Languages. We we bought a copy for our
youngest son, he's in college, and we gave it to him.
He said, hey, James, you know, we want to know
(12:38):
what is what is your love language? And he read
the book and he said, Dad, it's Venmo.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
So well that listen, that's a love language. Absolutely it is.
It is for a lot of people.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
And you know, I know your specialty. And by the way,
I'm not making this up because you haven't me on
your show, but I just bought your book. What's it called, Change.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Change Masters? The last one? Yeah, well it's going to
be the last one.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
I got one more coming out in the fall. That's it.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
Oh great, Well, I just ordered it and I think
you're I was reading about it before I ordered it.
I think one of the things that humor does is
it allows us to make a change. And I tell
people you can go from haha to like aha if
you're willing to break the pattern, and so we have.
I guess our brains are wired just to love the
(13:27):
same thing over and over again. But when we intentionally
I loved this quote by Mark Twain, maybe our greatest
humorist in American history. He said, it takes me three
weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech, and so it
would look spontaneous, like the story you just told about
your associates, where you'd slip in a word. It can
(13:49):
look really spontaneous, but you're actually doing it on purpose
and planning ahead.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
You know.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
This is why again this is off topic. But you know,
as being a professional speaker, people say to me, you know,
why do you prepare some much? And it says so
it can look spontaneous. They go, well, I'm just spontaneous anyways.
I go, well, that doesn't really work, I said. When
you see someone at a late night talk show and
the host asked them a question which they know is coming,
and they give like this really funny quip. They've practiced
(14:15):
that little thing hundreds of times. Right, Oh yeah, this
is like off the cuff. It just seems like it's
off the cuff. It's like when someone's asked me about
a question about sales that I've been asked a million times,
I know exactly the quip to come up with the answer.
It that's going to be interesting and funny.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
No. Absolutely. There's a new documentary that I saw recently
called No Hamburg, No Beatles, and it touches on the
point you just made. Everyone thinks, you know, they blew
up big when they got on the Ed Sullivan Show
in nineteen sixty four, and the truth, I mean they did,
but they had spent like a year, probably ten thousand
hours perfecting their craft in little clubs in Hamburg, Germany.
(14:57):
And so I think one tip I have in the
book is find one joke you really love and just
master it. Tell it, tell it to friends, tell it
the family, and then when you get up to give
a sales presentation or you're having lunch with a client,
you're going to nail that joke because you're not nervous.
You know it's going to work.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
You know it's funny. Okay, I'll tell you my latest
favorite joke, Adam, which really nothing to do with anything.
So this cuton supporter dies and he goes to heaven
and he's standing in front of God and God says
to him, Okay, I'm going to answer. I'll answer any
of your questions. I'll answer one question for you. I say,
I haven't perfected this yet. I answer one question for you,
and the Quton supporter says, who killed JFK? And God
(15:41):
says Lee Harvey Oswald and he acted alone. And the
q Noon supporter says, ah, this conspiracy goes higher than
I thought.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
That's great. So hey, since since you mentioned a heaven joke,
now you have to listen really careful in this one,
and no pressure to laugh, because when I share this
usually half the audience roars and half the dance looks.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
I have no fake laughs at him. I just want
to let you know. It's just come eventually, all right.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
So the Pope dies and goes to heaven and Saint
Peter is there to greet him, and Peter says, hey,
how was a pope? You're a pope? This is awesome.
If there's anything I can do for you here in Heaven,
let me know. And the Pope says, do you have
the original Bible? And Peter says, yes, we have the
original version and he brings us. The Pope sets him
(16:28):
down in a special room. He says, I'll come back
in an hour check on you and see how you doing.
When Peter comes back into the room, the Pope has
his finger on one word in the text of the Bible.
But he's weeping. He's crying, and Peter says the Pope
what's wrong, And the Pope says the word was celebrate.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Yeah, love that. Love that all right. So let's move
back to business as humor. So it seems to me
a lot of small business owners what they try to
do is they don't find their laugh language, but they
try to tell a joke or something that's unnatural and
they qute unquote try to be funny, and it's not
How do you not make that mistake?
Speaker 3 (17:13):
Yeah, that can be so awkward. I one time had
a CEO say, Hey, I'm going to ride into the
foreigner people on a motorcycle and we're going to play
this music. And it was it sounded clever, but it
just didn't fit his personality. And so I think, first
of all, you have to understand, I think as a
business owner, as a leader, you do have a sense
(17:33):
of humor. I call us humor beings the word human
humor steam root, and so it's kind of take the time.
Just like in your business, you probably discovered your great
at sales, or you're great at marketing, or you're a
service oriented person. Find the style of humor that will
make people smell and stick with that. And one other
(17:53):
tip is, just like in the book The Love Language,
is find out what your associates in your customer, what
makes them laugh, and give them more of that.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
You know, I always find that, you know, the worst
thing a speaker can say is when I get up
and stay and say, okay, let me start with a joke.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Oh it's oh yeah, oh yeah, And I'm like.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Oh, this isn't gonna be pretty well.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
You know, I love to I'm not a famous guy,
but I love to pretend like I'm not the MC.
So I'll walk up before I host like a two
or three day sales conference, I'll walk in and I'll
pretend like I'm introducing the MC, and I just go
on and on I go. This guy won this award
for Best MC. He's been featured one hundred radio on
TV shows. He's a member of the famous Magic Castle
(18:40):
in Hollywood. Please welcome Adam Christing. I paused, smile, and
I go, Hi, I'm Adam Christing. I love that, and
they yeah, And so it goes back to the unexpected.
And so if I could only pick one, I mean
all five of these funny flavors let's call him, are
great for business. But if you get only take one,
(19:00):
I think surprising and delighting your clients, your employees will
probably put the sweetest taste in their mouths.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
You know, you talk about how the inclusive humor is
a leadership superpower and a divided world. Why do you
phrase it that way. I know we're a divided world,
but why is humor a leadership superpower?
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Well, I'll give you an example. I was speaking and
entertaining for a group of about I don't know, eight
hundred medical people and half the room we're on the
hospital side and the other half like vendors, and there
was like a big union dispute, and they told me
make everyone laugh. So I'm like, this is going to
be tough. So what I did is how Tom stand
switch Seats did some audience participation stuff, and what we
(19:46):
noticed is when people are laughing together, they're not mad
at each other. It reduces stress. And so one of
the big shifts we need to make, I think in
our culture is not laughing at people, but laughing with them.
But when I was in third grade, I had this
bully chasing me around in elementary school. And this guy
went on to become an NFL super Bowl winner. Yeah
(20:11):
I can. His name is David Kullady and then he
won a Super Bowl ring. But at the time, you know,
he's like in third grade. He's already like, you know,
almost six feet.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Tall and four feet wide.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
Yeah. Yeah, And I started to make him laugh. I
don't know why, but I just I just said a
couple of things, and not only did he not pummel me,
but he goes, hey, I like it. We've been friends
since this day. And so you'd never expect to get
business advice excuse me from mother Teresa, but I love
her line. She said, a smile is the shortest distance
(20:44):
between two people. And so as as people who need
to make a living need to generate revenue, I think
if we stop and say, how can I listen to
my customers and help them find enjoyment in doing business
with me? Like I have twenty clients, Barry, who probably
provide eighty percent of my income. And what do we do?
(21:06):
We go to lunch, We laughed. We know each other's
kids' names. I know Bruce's pets name, you know, and
we deepen the relationship and humor is like I like
to call it the house of humor. You know, like
the family room to me is funnier than the restroom
when you're laughing, joke and relaxed. So you're going to
(21:26):
have a culture in your business, you want to ask
yourself what kind of culture am I creating? Is that
one where people feel included and where we can laugh together?
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Well, I got to you know, usually when I would
say something, it would be funny like ninety percent of
the time, but then there was ten percent of the
time where it just bombed or it got me in trouble.
I was speaking one time in Salt Lake City, and
of course you got to know your audience, and we were
speaking was very conservative population. So I did some audiest participation.
I bring some up on stage. We're doing kind of
(21:57):
a role play, and I have an iPad. The script
is on the iPad, and so I said, well, you know,
I said the woman on stage, you're going to read this,
and I'll read this, and she goes, can you make
it bigger? And I said that's what she said? And
I got nailed by the organizers saying that, how what
a distasteful joke that was? And you know, I guess
(22:19):
I thought it was in Las Vegas or something like that.
So I think you also have to know you also
have to know your audience right and where you are
in the context for all these humorous kinds of things.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
No, I have lots of stories like that, trust me.
In fact, sometimes I'll be walking up to the platform
all these jokes are shooting through my mind. I'm like, no, no, no,
And so my feeling is, if in doubt, leave it
out right, unless you're unless you're you know, working at club,
or it's a whole different thing. But if you're trying
to build bonds with people, you do want to keep
(22:49):
it safe. But that doesn't mean it can't be crazy
or or wacky. So a lot of comedians rely on vulgarity.
But I'm a big fan of variety. Maybe you can
learn a maned trick, learn how to juggle, get take
some improv classes. There are lots of ways to find
your funny and really kind of my friend Mike Lucas's
(23:10):
find your funny and grow your your funny muscle. It
gets stronger with use.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
It's funny. It is funny. Because I had this, I
would teach about branding and I would have this one
slide which I used in frequently, had to know the audience,
but it was basically a picture of a package of
Ramen noodles, and the brand of the Ramen noodles was
soup for sluts. Okay, that's what it said, right, And
so I'd go through all these branding slides like who's
who's the target audience for this? Who's the targeting to this?
(23:36):
Then I'd bring up this slide said soup for sluts,
I go, who's this for? Invariably someone the audience would
yell out all women, oh man. And so then I
knew I couldn't use that slide very often because it
wasn't good. This wasn't going anywhere good. But I always
found that the most the most humorous parts when I
(23:56):
would speak on stage were the audience, because that was
that was the X factor, that was the missing thing
that really made this presentation or whatever I was doing
different than all the other ones.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
Yeah, you're onto something, you know. My favorite thing as
a speaker is not my clicker or the power point
or a podium. It's the handheld microphone. Because I can
walk into the room, we can hand out four dad
jokes and have people read those I can do a
little magical moment, but an icebreaker, but better than having
people think, hey, Barry's really funny is if Barry makes
(24:32):
other people go, wow, I'm really funny.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
M Yeah, there was times where I had people stand
in their chairs and sing, and I mean just or
all sorts of crazy, or do famous scenes from movies
like you had Me at Hello or whatever it is,
and oh, people were just you know, hilarious. You also
say in your book, why not being funny? It's actually
costing your business money. Why is that?
Speaker 3 (24:54):
Well, you know there's that saying laughing all the way
to the bank. And here's what I don't mean. First
of all, I don't mean you have to try to
be clever all the time. But I think being funny
really means connecting with your audience, and whether you're whatever
line of work you're in, if they think of you
(25:14):
and smile and think of you and go, oh, I
like that guy or that gal, they're way more likely
to do business with you. And so one of the
first things I ask a client is how can I
be of service? And I hear that, I hear their pain,
and then I might send them a funny post or
something that lets them know I was listening and that
I care. So by that, I don't mean like you
(25:37):
have to be a comedian to cash in, but what
I mean is laughter links us. So if you want
to link more deeply with your customer, humor is the cheapest,
probably most effective tool that you have.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
You know, one of the mistakes that I've made over
my business career is that sometimes I'm funny at the
expense of another team member, and that's not good, especially
if they're not laughing along with us.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
Oh yeah, that's that's a real danger. That goes back
to my principle of if in doubt, leave it out.
And it's hard because I'll give you an example. Sarcasm
is probably my favorite. Yeah, but there's almost always this
embedded insult or put down right now. Sometimes you can
use it, like I'm if I'm on stage and somebody
(26:24):
starts tackling me and they're being mean about it, you know,
I can get away with a sarcastic comeback. Like you know,
I might go like, hey, this is my job. I
wouldn't go to your job and unplug the slurpas, you know,
something like that. But if I just but if I
couldn't walk up to a guy and say that, you know,
then it's not appropriate.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Yeah, that's hilarious. No, listen, I love this interview because
I like to laugh. Tell us where people get a
copy of the book and catch up with you.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
Oh, thanks a lot berry. Yeah, the book's called The
Laughter Factor. It's available on Amazon and where you get books.
And if they want to the quiz, which is less fun,
I'm going to discovered their laugh language. It's really easy.
You just go to The Laughter Factor dot com.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Well, thanks for joining us for this week's radio show.
I got to thank our incredible staff, our booking producer
Sarah Schaffran, our soundeader Ethan Moltz. Remember love everyone, trust
a few, and pali your own canoe. Have a profitable
and passionate week.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
You can find Barrymoltz on the web at Barrymolts dot com.
For more episodes of Small Business Radio at smallbizsradioshow dot com.
Get ready for all the craziness of small business. It's
exactly that craziness that makes it exciting and totally unbelievable.
Small Business Radio is now on the air with your
host Barry Moultz.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
If you've listened to me for any period of time,
you know that I love to laugh, because if you
don't laugh in this world, I believe you end up
crying in my mind. Laughter truly is the best medicine
for almost anything. But can laughter actually help you become
a better leader? My guest is Adam Christing, who's an
(00:39):
American comedian, author, and motivational speaker. He's the founder and
president of Clean Comedians, an organization composed of comedians, speakers,
and entertainers who are framed from using objectional material and
profanity during the performances. Who's voted as Best MC by
Best in LA and speaks at more than one hundred
events a year. His new book is called The Laughter Factor,
(01:00):
The Five Humor Tactics to Link, lift and Lead. Adam,
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Hey, thanks a lot, Barry, Congratulations on what a run
you've got going.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Seven seventeen years coming to it and assume but that
announcement is coming up, So I didn't realize you could
be funny and not swear.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Yeah, you know, our motto is, it doesn't have to
be filthy to be funny. But I'll tell you a
quick embarrassing story. When we launched Cleancomedians dot com, I
came up with that motto, but I blew it. I
mailed about one hundred brochures to corporations and theaters and colleges,
and instead of it saying it doesn't have to be
filthy to be funny, it accidentally said this. Clean Comedians
(01:40):
is an association of professional comedians who believe it doesn't
have to be fun kind of takes the pressure off,
it really does.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
I remember when I used to do a lot of speaking,
and I'd watch other speakers and they would curse somethink
and that's just cheap, right, This is a cheap way
to get a laugh.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Yeah, it's so true. And you know what's happened, especially
in the comedy club scene. I think there's been a
shift in this. I mean, you look at the success
of someone like a Nate Barcozzi, who's probably not only
the number one clean comedian in America, but maybe the
number one comedian SNL New York Times bestseller. But what's
happened in the clubs, for example, is you know, it
used to be like if you said, you know, a
(02:22):
four letter words, a little shocking. Now you've got to
get so gross and angry and vulgar because it becomes
harder and harder to shock people. And so what I've
discovered over many years is sometimes the clean humor is
actually the shocking fight in our culture.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
Right. I mean, listen, when you have the President of
United States cursing, right, I mean, it's like it doesn't
really matter. Well, I want to get to the book,
you say, and I love this humor is a shortcut
to trust. Why does that happen?
Speaker 3 (02:53):
You know? I was blown away by the research. I
think everybody knows that. You know, like you mentioned at
the top of your program, it's great Mary Hart does
good like medicine. I think it's the ancient proverb. But
what science is also showing and research is document is
it's a shortcut between hearts. Because and this is I
think especially true for business owners and leaders, we think slowly,
(03:17):
but we feel quickly. And so when you make someone
laugh or someone makes you laugh, you just have this
instant like connection. And so my book's really about helping
people find their unique laugh language so they feel more
comfortable using humor as really a superpower.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
You know, I remember when I mean I've retired from
speaking now after thirty years. I'd go on stage and
I'd say it exactly the same thing for the first minute,
and the idea was at the end of the minute
because of what I said, people would laugh. And as
soon as those people laughed at the end of the minute,
I know, Adam, that I had them for the next hour.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Oh yeah, you know, I'm like you mentioned, I'm on
stage about one hundred times a year, and the first
thing I want to do is have them smile and laugh,
so they go, hey, this is going to be a
fun speech, or or if I'm am seeing an event.
And you probably remember the classic Willy Wonka movie, right, which, yeah,
(04:15):
one of my favorites actors comedians. But he only agreed
to be in that film under one condition. He told
the producer and director. He said, I will only accept
this role if you let me come out with this cane.
I will remember that moment. And then he trips and
then he does this somersault and he turns kind of
(04:37):
a pain situation into this moment of surprise. Everyone laughs
and cheers, And I think sometimes we get so serious
about business. And I've been a small business owner for
decades now, and even though I'm a comedian, I take
business very seriously. But if we can make someone feel
good about the relationship with us, with our service, they're
(04:58):
way more likely to do business with us.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
Yes, you know, you talk about the five laugh languages,
right instead of the five love languages, And surprise is
really the first one, because I think people really are
delighted when they get the unexpected.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Oh yeah, you know, after I do a gig, as
we call them, and you know, from your speaking background,
you do it's all about getting the gigs. But I
don't want to just do the performance or the speech.
I want to build a relationship with the clients. So
we came up with this crazy thing where we go
to a Walmart after an event and we buy one
of those two or three dollars bouncy balls like a
(05:34):
three year old we'd use. We take a sharpie and like,
let's say you were my host, I would say, hey, Barry,
I had a ball at your annual meeting and we
don't even put it in a box. We put stamps
on it and manage thing and people you imagine the postal,
you know, the mail carrier comes to your office with
this giant ball, and people love it. They laugh and
(05:56):
they feel more connected. So surprise is probably maybe the
easiest of the humor tactics to use because you don't
have to tell a joke. You can surprise someone with
a gift or something you say, or or anything that
breaks a pattern. You know.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Yeah, the number. The second one you talk about is
is poke. Is this self deprecating humor which I always
use a lot because I thought it was very effective.
I always felt that people say, well, I guess he's
just like me.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
Oh. Absolutely. I call this little area authenticity. And I've noticed,
you know, when you when you're speaking or when you're selling,
you want to establish your authority. It's a natural thing
to do. But what I've discovered is if you can
start with a flop or a failure. And I noticed
this in your on your site and in your book,
(06:47):
and you're a very transparent author is people relate to
us more when we connect with our failures with our authenticity.
And then when we talk about success and how we
turn things around. I think actually have more credibility.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
You know.
Speaker 2 (07:01):
It's interesting because I know, you know, when you go
on stage, they build you up and saying, hey, you're
the second coming, right, and so you know people would
do that, Oh, this guy's great, he's got this awards
in the menentreprol Hall of Fame, blah blah. And I
would get up there and the first thing I would
saying is, you know, I've had three businesses. The first
business I wanted a business, second business I was kicked
out a business right, and the third one I was
able to sell. And when you get through those three things,
(07:24):
people go oh again self deprecating humor.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
He's just like me, exactly exactly. And it's tempting as
a leader to want to lead with your strengths. But
I think when you lead with this, I love this saying.
I don't if you've ever heard this sing, but intimacy
means into me, see, and so just like you, I've
had I have bombed on stage more times than I
can even count. You know, one time I was I
(07:49):
directed a movie in Los Angeles and I got to
be the casting guess. Of course I cast myself in
the movie.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Of course Verry. What could go wrong?
Speaker 3 (07:58):
Yeah, my acting so bad. I got cut out of
my own film and we got to the editing room
and we're like, this is terrible. So I became the narrator.
But when I tell a story like that, instead of
people laughing at me, they're they're laughing with me.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
I totally agree. The third one you talk about is
in jokes. What does that mean?
Speaker 3 (08:19):
Yeah? You know, that might be my favorite. And by
the way, I want to tell your listeners, we created
a quiz where people can discover they're laughing.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
I love that.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Yeah, it's really if it takes four minutes and it
tells you which of these five you you gravitate toward.
And my wife has this one, and it's it's a
it's a beautiful humor tactic laugh language. And that is
creating shared experiences with like inside jokes, stories that only
your group knows.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
You know.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
So if I'm at the comedy store in Hollywood and
I and I get up there and I say, hey,
remember the time that that Barry put the ham sandwich
in the photocop here, Like, no one's gonna laugh. But
if I tell that same story to people who experienced
it at the office, it's just becomes hilarious and people
repeat it. So in jokes is about what comedians call callbacks,
(09:10):
where something happens and then maybe six months later you go, hey,
remember the time, and everybody's on the same page.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
I usually do this when I go out to dinner
with people. If something funny happens, then I'll use it
later in the evening as a callback. And I just think,
for me, that's hilarious.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
Oh, and you know it's strange. I still don't fully
understand why it is funny. But one time I had
sixty two engagements in one months years ago. I was
so exhausted I'd driven up to this mountain resort deal
and I accidentally, in my mental fatigue, I told the
same joke three times, and the first time I got
(09:49):
a great laugh, second time I got nothing. And so
when I told it the third time, they thought I
was doing it on purpose, and so, yeah, you nailed it.
It's that the power of that repetition.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Well, another one of the laugh languages is wordplay, and
I love this. Tell us what that's about.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Yeah, and you know, we've seen a resurgence in this one,
and that's dad jokes, puns, clever quips, retorts, you know.
And so you'll probably work with someone in your business
or one of your customers who just gets into these
little puns. And I just sent a client friend this
button because wordplay is his laugh language, and whenever he
(10:31):
pushes it, he instantly has told a dad joke and
he keeps it with him in the car he takes
it to the office. And so wordplay is really about
turns of phrase and funny equips that you can repeat.
You know.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
One of the things that I used to do when
I had my last business with my partner, we made
a lot of presentations together, and so before we got
so bored making these presentations that we would make up
a word, right, and you could score points if you
said the word during the meet, and then you could
get the client to actually use the made up word
in the sentence. This is how sick we were. This
(11:06):
is how sick we were to entertain ourselves.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
No, that's brilliant because see right there, you're combining wordplay
with in jokes. It's like a double dip.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
So the fifth one is amplify tell us about that.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
Yeah, Now this one a lot of famous comedians, you
think Robin Williams and others where you know, if you
or I went to the store and we were bugged
because the line was too long to check away, might
just go, yeah it was a long line. Somebody else
can for twenty minutes talk about you know, this woman
cut in front of me and then this fell out
of my cart. And so if you have the laugh
(11:39):
language of amplify, you're into exaggerating and storytelling in lots
of details. And that's a great one. And by the way,
you can use any of these humor tactics even if
it isn't your your natural laugh language. But what I
recommend people do is and after they take the quiz,
they'll know, Okay, this one is mine. I want to
(12:00):
I'm want to get even better at my natural style
of humor.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
And tell us where they can get the quiz. What's
the r L.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
Yeah, it's the laughter factor dot com. Don't forget the
word the laughter factor.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Forgot when I was writing this down, I forgot the Okay.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Yeah, you can't forget the and yeah it takes four minutes.
We're having so much fun. We've had just dozens of
people's only been out about a week and you know,
I'll tell you quick straight. They're the famous book the
Five Love Languages. We we bought a copy for our
youngest son, he's in college, and we gave it to him.
He said, hey, James, you know, we want to know
(12:38):
what is what is your love language? And he read
the book and he said, Dad, it's Venmo.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
So well that listen, that's a love language. Absolutely it is.
It is for a lot of people.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
And you know, I know your specialty. And by the way,
I'm not making this up because you haven't me on
your show, but I just bought your book. What's it called, Change.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Change Masters? The last one? Yeah, well it's going to
be the last one.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
I got one more coming out in the fall. That's it.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
Oh great, Well, I just ordered it and I think
you're I was reading about it before I ordered it.
I think one of the things that humor does is
it allows us to make a change. And I tell
people you can go from haha to like aha if
you're willing to break the pattern, and so we have.
I guess our brains are wired just to love the
(13:27):
same thing over and over again. But when we intentionally
I loved this quote by Mark Twain, maybe our greatest
humorist in American history. He said, it takes me three
weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech, and so it
would look spontaneous, like the story you just told about
your associates, where you'd slip in a word. It can
(13:49):
look really spontaneous, but you're actually doing it on purpose
and planning ahead.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
You know.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
This is why again this is off topic. But you know,
as being a professional speaker, people say to me, you know,
why do you prepare some much? And it says so
it can look spontaneous. They go, well, I'm just spontaneous anyways.
I go, well, that doesn't really work, I said. When
you see someone at a late night talk show and
the host asked them a question which they know is coming,
and they give like this really funny quip. They've practiced
(14:15):
that little thing hundreds of times. Right, Oh yeah, this
is like off the cuff. It just seems like it's
off the cuff. It's like when someone's asked me about
a question about sales that I've been asked a million times,
I know exactly the quip to come up with the answer.
It that's going to be interesting and funny.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
No. Absolutely. There's a new documentary that I saw recently
called No Hamburg, No Beatles, and it touches on the
point you just made. Everyone thinks, you know, they blew
up big when they got on the Ed Sullivan Show
in nineteen sixty four, and the truth, I mean they did,
but they had spent like a year, probably ten thousand
hours perfecting their craft in little clubs in Hamburg, Germany.
(14:57):
And so I think one tip I have in the
book is find one joke you really love and just
master it. Tell it, tell it to friends, tell it
the family, and then when you get up to give
a sales presentation or you're having lunch with a client,
you're going to nail that joke because you're not nervous.
You know it's going to work.
Speaker 2 (15:17):
You know it's funny. Okay, I'll tell you my latest
favorite joke, Adam, which really nothing to do with anything.
So this cuton supporter dies and he goes to heaven
and he's standing in front of God and God says
to him, Okay, I'm going to answer. I'll answer any
of your questions. I'll answer one question for you. I say,
I haven't perfected this yet. I answer one question for you,
and the Quton supporter says, who killed JFK? And God
(15:41):
says Lee Harvey Oswald and he acted alone. And the
q Noon supporter says, ah, this conspiracy goes higher than
I thought.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
That's great. So hey, since since you mentioned a heaven joke,
now you have to listen really careful in this one,
and no pressure to laugh, because when I share this
usually half the audience roars and half the dance looks.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
I have no fake laughs at him. I just want
to let you know. It's just come eventually, all right.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
So the Pope dies and goes to heaven and Saint
Peter is there to greet him, and Peter says, hey,
how was a pope? You're a pope? This is awesome.
If there's anything I can do for you here in Heaven,
let me know. And the Pope says, do you have
the original Bible? And Peter says, yes, we have the
original version and he brings us. The Pope sets him
(16:28):
down in a special room. He says, I'll come back
in an hour check on you and see how you doing.
When Peter comes back into the room, the Pope has
his finger on one word in the text of the Bible.
But he's weeping. He's crying, and Peter says the Pope
what's wrong, And the Pope says the word was celebrate.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Yeah, love that. Love that all right. So let's move
back to business as humor. So it seems to me
a lot of small business owners what they try to
do is they don't find their laugh language, but they
try to tell a joke or something that's unnatural and
they qute unquote try to be funny, and it's not
How do you not make that mistake?
Speaker 3 (17:13):
Yeah, that can be so awkward. I one time had
a CEO say, Hey, I'm going to ride into the
foreigner people on a motorcycle and we're going to play
this music. And it was it sounded clever, but it
just didn't fit his personality. And so I think, first
of all, you have to understand, I think as a
business owner, as a leader, you do have a sense
(17:33):
of humor. I call us humor beings the word human
humor steam root, and so it's kind of take the time.
Just like in your business, you probably discovered your great
at sales, or you're great at marketing, or you're a
service oriented person. Find the style of humor that will
make people smell and stick with that. And one other
(17:53):
tip is, just like in the book The Love Language,
is find out what your associates in your customer, what
makes them laugh, and give them more of that.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
You know, I always find that, you know, the worst
thing a speaker can say is when I get up
and stay and say, okay, let me start with a joke.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
Oh it's oh yeah, oh yeah, And I'm like.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Oh, this isn't gonna be pretty well.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
You know, I love to I'm not a famous guy,
but I love to pretend like I'm not the MC.
So I'll walk up before I host like a two
or three day sales conference, I'll walk in and I'll
pretend like I'm introducing the MC, and I just go
on and on I go. This guy won this award
for Best MC. He's been featured one hundred radio on
TV shows. He's a member of the famous Magic Castle
(18:40):
in Hollywood. Please welcome Adam Christing. I paused, smile, and
I go, Hi, I'm Adam Christing. I love that, and
they yeah, And so it goes back to the unexpected.
And so if I could only pick one, I mean
all five of these funny flavors let's call him, are
great for business. But if you get only take one,
(19:00):
I think surprising and delighting your clients, your employees will
probably put the sweetest taste in their mouths.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
You know, you talk about how the inclusive humor is
a leadership superpower and a divided world. Why do you
phrase it that way. I know we're a divided world,
but why is humor a leadership superpower?
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Well, I'll give you an example. I was speaking and
entertaining for a group of about I don't know, eight
hundred medical people and half the room we're on the
hospital side and the other half like vendors, and there
was like a big union dispute, and they told me
make everyone laugh. So I'm like, this is going to
be tough. So what I did is how Tom stand
switch Seats did some audience participation stuff, and what we
(19:46):
noticed is when people are laughing together, they're not mad
at each other. It reduces stress. And so one of
the big shifts we need to make, I think in
our culture is not laughing at people, but laughing with them.
But when I was in third grade, I had this
bully chasing me around in elementary school. And this guy
went on to become an NFL super Bowl winner. Yeah
(20:11):
I can. His name is David Kullady and then he
won a Super Bowl ring. But at the time, you know,
he's like in third grade. He's already like, you know,
almost six feet.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Tall and four feet wide.
Speaker 3 (20:22):
Yeah. Yeah, And I started to make him laugh. I
don't know why, but I just I just said a
couple of things, and not only did he not pummel me,
but he goes, hey, I like it. We've been friends
since this day. And so you'd never expect to get
business advice excuse me from mother Teresa, but I love
her line. She said, a smile is the shortest distance
(20:44):
between two people. And so as as people who need
to make a living need to generate revenue, I think
if we stop and say, how can I listen to
my customers and help them find enjoyment in doing business
with me? Like I have twenty clients, Barry, who probably
provide eighty percent of my income. And what do we do?
(21:06):
We go to lunch, We laughed. We know each other's
kids' names. I know Bruce's pets name, you know, and
we deepen the relationship and humor is like I like
to call it the house of humor. You know, like
the family room to me is funnier than the restroom
when you're laughing, joke and relaxed. So you're going to
(21:26):
have a culture in your business, you want to ask
yourself what kind of culture am I creating? Is that
one where people feel included and where we can laugh together?
Speaker 2 (21:36):
Well, I got to you know, usually when I would
say something, it would be funny like ninety percent of
the time, but then there was ten percent of the
time where it just bombed or it got me in trouble.
I was speaking one time in Salt Lake City, and
of course you got to know your audience, and we were
speaking was very conservative population. So I did some audiest participation.
I bring some up on stage. We're doing kind of
(21:57):
a role play, and I have an iPad. The script
is on the iPad, and so I said, well, you know,
I said the woman on stage, you're going to read this,
and I'll read this, and she goes, can you make
it bigger? And I said that's what she said? And
I got nailed by the organizers saying that, how what
a distasteful joke that was? And you know, I guess
(22:19):
I thought it was in Las Vegas or something like that.
So I think you also have to know you also
have to know your audience right and where you are
in the context for all these humorous kinds of things.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
No, I have lots of stories like that, trust me.
In fact, sometimes I'll be walking up to the platform
all these jokes are shooting through my mind. I'm like, no, no, no,
And so my feeling is, if in doubt, leave it
out right, unless you're unless you're you know, working at club,
or it's a whole different thing. But if you're trying
to build bonds with people, you do want to keep
(22:49):
it safe. But that doesn't mean it can't be crazy
or or wacky. So a lot of comedians rely on vulgarity.
But I'm a big fan of variety. Maybe you can
learn a maned trick, learn how to juggle, get take
some improv classes. There are lots of ways to find
your funny and really kind of my friend Mike Lucas's
(23:10):
find your funny and grow your your funny muscle. It
gets stronger with use.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
It's funny. It is funny. Because I had this, I
would teach about branding and I would have this one
slide which I used in frequently, had to know the audience,
but it was basically a picture of a package of
Ramen noodles, and the brand of the Ramen noodles was
soup for sluts. Okay, that's what it said, right, And
so I'd go through all these branding slides like who's
who's the target audience for this? Who's the targeting to this?
(23:36):
Then I'd bring up this slide said soup for sluts,
I go, who's this for? Invariably someone the audience would
yell out all women, oh man. And so then I
knew I couldn't use that slide very often because it
wasn't good. This wasn't going anywhere good. But I always
found that the most the most humorous parts when I
(23:56):
would speak on stage were the audience, because that was
that was the X factor, that was the missing thing
that really made this presentation or whatever I was doing
different than all the other ones.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
Yeah, you're onto something, you know. My favorite thing as
a speaker is not my clicker or the power point
or a podium. It's the handheld microphone. Because I can
walk into the room, we can hand out four dad
jokes and have people read those I can do a
little magical moment, but an icebreaker, but better than having
people think, hey, Barry's really funny is if Barry makes
(24:32):
other people go, wow, I'm really funny.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
M Yeah, there was times where I had people stand
in their chairs and sing, and I mean just or
all sorts of crazy, or do famous scenes from movies
like you had Me at Hello or whatever it is,
and oh, people were just you know, hilarious. You also
say in your book, why not being funny? It's actually
costing your business money. Why is that?
Speaker 3 (24:54):
Well, you know there's that saying laughing all the way
to the bank. And here's what I don't mean. First
of all, I don't mean you have to try to
be clever all the time. But I think being funny
really means connecting with your audience, and whether you're whatever
line of work you're in, if they think of you
(25:14):
and smile and think of you and go, oh, I
like that guy or that gal, they're way more likely
to do business with you. And so one of the
first things I ask a client is how can I
be of service? And I hear that, I hear their pain,
and then I might send them a funny post or
something that lets them know I was listening and that
I care. So by that, I don't mean like you
(25:37):
have to be a comedian to cash in, but what
I mean is laughter links us. So if you want
to link more deeply with your customer, humor is the cheapest,
probably most effective tool that you have.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
You know, one of the mistakes that I've made over
my business career is that sometimes I'm funny at the
expense of another team member, and that's not good, especially
if they're not laughing along with us.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
Oh yeah, that's that's a real danger. That goes back
to my principle of if in doubt, leave it out.
And it's hard because I'll give you an example. Sarcasm
is probably my favorite. Yeah, but there's almost always this
embedded insult or put down right now. Sometimes you can
use it, like I'm if I'm on stage and somebody
(26:24):
starts tackling me and they're being mean about it, you know,
I can get away with a sarcastic comeback. Like you know,
I might go like, hey, this is my job. I
wouldn't go to your job and unplug the slurpas, you know,
something like that. But if I just but if I
couldn't walk up to a guy and say that, you know,
then it's not appropriate.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Yeah, that's hilarious. No, listen, I love this interview because
I like to laugh. Tell us where people get a
copy of the book and catch up with you.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
Oh, thanks a lot berry. Yeah, the book's called The
Laughter Factor. It's available on Amazon and where you get books.
And if they want to the quiz, which is less fun,
I'm going to discovered their laugh language. It's really easy.
You just go to The Laughter Factor dot com.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Well, thanks for joining us for this week's radio show.
I got to thank our incredible staff, our booking producer
Sarah Schaffran, our soundeader Ethan Moltz. Remember love everyone, trust
a few, and pali your own canoe. Have a profitable
and passionate week.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
You can find Barrymoltz on the web at Barrymolts dot com.
For more episodes of Small Business Radio at smallbizsradioshow dot com.
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