Different folks have different tastes in things like music, art and theater.  But a clean and clever comedian appeals to just about everyone.  When in doubt, hire a comedian for your corporate event.

CHICAGO COMEDIAN
"Chicago comedians just like to do comedy.  We'll go anywhere.  We visit spanking new cookie cutter suburbs and tired old river towns.  We explore dusty mining communities in the Rocky Mountains and beachfront boardwalks on the Carolina coast. We see towns that have lost their purpose; where every other building is boarded up and fading signs advertise products and services that are no longer available.  And then we hit the next town up the road, where there's a Blockbuster Video, a Boston Chicken, and a discount computer outlet.  The lawns are mowed, the cars are new --  you've driven 100 years in just 20 miles.

"One week you're playing a comedy club for five nights; the next week you've got some corporate shows spread out between three different cities and three different states. You stay in every kind of hotel imaginable; from three-room suites with kitchenettes to odd little fishing motels with no cable TV and a handmade ashtray.'

"Entertainers call it 'The Road' and it's an addicting place.  You head blindly off to places you've never been, to entertain people you've never seen, with no way to know what to expect. The crowd may be five or five thousand people.  You'll find out when you get there -- and you can't wait.

"But it's all water under the bridge the next day. You check out of your hotel, you gas up the car and you go see what's waiting around the next bend in the road."

-- Paul Frisbie, Chicago, 2004

CHICAGO PUBLIC SPEAKER
Standup comedy gives you communications skills that ordinary public speakers can't match.  For example, Paul Frisbie recently spoke at the Bureau of Land Management's Internet conference in Phoenix, and people were still shaking his hand the next day -- at O'Hare Airport in Chicago.  Needless to say, he found that enormously satisfying.

Frisbie's topic at the Phoenix conference was web site content.  His mission, in a nutshell, was to tell about 300 regional managers how to build web sites that wouldn't bore people to death.  The audience laughed and clapped the whole time, and it's probably safe to say that the presentation probably caught them by surprise.  Your ordinary Internet speaker wouldn't know how to present serious information and be entertaining at the same time.

Frisbie is hired to speak at conferences for a number of reasons.  He has years of experience working with the communications industry.  He has created everything from billboard campaigns to commercial jingles.  He was already working on web site content back when HTML was still written by hand, and his first personal web site was featured in the best-seller, Netmarketing.

Frisbie's client list is quite impressive, which inspires program directors to suspect that Frisbie might actually know what he's talking about.  And Frisbie's vast experience as a professional entertainer clinches the deal.  Program directors understand that Frisbie doesn't have it in him to let an audience fall asleep. 

Hiring a Chicago Comedian for Your Corporate Event: It's All About You
Your co-workers will like it if the comedian tosses out a few lines that were obviously custom-tailored for your event. Paul Frisbie  not only doesn't mind if you call in advance to talk about your group, he's actually hoping you'll do that very thing.

Hiring a Chicago Comedian for Your Corporate Event: Location
Comedians are used to travel. They think nothing of collecting a rental car at the airport and driving three hours out into the sticks. But if you're not in a major city with professional local acts, you can expect to budget for travel expenses and a hotel room.

Hiring a Chicago Comedian for Your Corporate Event: Pricing
For a corporate event you need a comedian who won't offend people.  In any industry experience and skill are in high demand. Folks generally want to hire a comedian who can be very funny without resorting to vulgarity. Unfortunately, most "comedians" can't do that. So the ones who can command a premium price.

You'll pay less when you book a comedian for a weekday show, or if he finds that your location is convenient travel routing for another gig that's already on his calendar.

Hiring a Chicago Comedian for Your Corporate Event: Audience Size
Experienced comics aren't concerned about the size of your audience. In the same month Paul Frisbie may headline a busy county fair and find himself in front of the 11 people who showed up for the Friday late show in a comedy club on Fourth of July weekend. Every show is unique, and any comedian will tell you that adjusting to different environments is part of the fun. If your audience will be small, there's no need to worry about it. A comedian wouldn't.

Hiring a Chicago Comedian for Your Corporate Event: Material and Subject Matter
You don't want a comedian who is going to come to town and embarrass you with vulgar language and bathroom humor.  Paul Frisbie works the major comedy clubs -- that means he's funny.  And he works the cruise ships too -- that means he's clean.

Chicago Comedians
Travel is not only getting more expensive, it's getting more annoying.  There are fewer flights.  There are more cancellations.  The planes are crowded and the airlines charge extra for a guitar these days. 

They can't even keep the rules organized.  For example, in Kalispell, Montana they'll still confiscate your money clip if it has a little penknife in it, even though the Homeland Security czar took them off the list long ago.  (Apparently it finally dawned on him that your fellow passengers aren't going to let you hijack an airplane with your money clip.) 

So if you're within driving range of Chicago you can save a few bucks if you hire a Chicago comedian.  Being out here in the Great Plains means that Chicago comedians have to fly a lot, and we hate it.  It makes us very happy when we can avoid getting involved with the horrors of modern air travel.

And Chicago comedians are, quite frankly, the best.  The L.A. acts tend to be frustrated actors masquerading as standup comics.  The New York guys tend to consider themselves to be too hip for the room.  But Chicago comedians just like to make people laugh.  We love what we do, we take the craft seriously seriously, we respect the audience and we're there to give you the best show possible.

Points to Consider When Hiring a Comedian

Hiring a Comedian: Location
Comedians are used to travel. They think nothing of collecting a rental car at the airport and driving three hours out into the sticks. But if you're not in a major city with professional local acts, you can expect to budget for travel expenses and a hotel room.

Hiring a Comedian: Pricing
In every business experience and skill command a premium price. Folks generally want to hire a comedian who can be very funny without resorting to potty humor. Inconveniently, most "comedians" can't do that. So the ones who can are in high demand.

You'll pay less when you hire a comedian for a weekday show, or if he finds that your location is convenient travel routing for another gig that's already on his calendar.

Hiring a Comedian: Audience Size
Seasoned comedians aren't concerned about the size of your audience. In the same month Paul Frisbie may headline a busy county fair and find himself in front of the 11 people who showed up for the Friday late show in a comedy club on Fourth of July weekend. Every show is unique, and any comedian will tell you that adjusting to different environments is part of the fun. If your audience will be small, there's no need to worry about it. A comedian wouldn't.

Hiring a Comedian: It's All About You
A crowd likes it when the comedian tosses out a few lines that were obviously custom-tailored for that evening's event. A comedian not only doesn't mind if you call in advance to talk about your group, he's actually hoping you'll do that very thing.