Kevin Hupchman on Corporate Comedy, Leadership, and the Power of Laughter in Business

Good afternoon. This is Katherine, your host with The Beyond Business Podcast where we go beyond the grind and dive into the stories, mindset and creativity that drive extraordinary entrepreneurs. So today I'm thrilled to introduce a guest who believes that business should be fun and that laughter is one of the most powerful tools to team connection and company culture. So Kevin Hubschmann, he is the founder of Laugh Dot Events, an innovative company that brings humor and authenticity to corporate experiences across the country.

And so I am so excited to have this conversation with you because you know what I love fun, I love laughter and so this really speaks to my soul. So thank you for being with us today Kevin. Thank you for having me. Excited to be here.

So let's talk a little bit about what brought Laugh Dot Events to fruition. What was the beginning, you know, creation of this thought? So I started my first six-plus years at this enterprise software role, enterprise software salesman role that I had at a company called Splash. And I was really enjoying my career there.

I was building it up. I was one of the first 10 employees there, the first salesperson hired. And while I was starting my career in sales, I started to do comedy after work. And so that comedy came in the form of improv training.

It came in the form of stand-up. And I started to see that all of these skills that I was learning were not getting me closer to necessarily being a famous comedian, but they were actually making me a lot closer to, you know, having really strong soft skills. Whether that was like active listening, effective communication, presenting better, being more succinct with my words. There were all of these different ways that I was growing as a professional.

And that was the first insight that I had into myself to say, whoa, these skills can be used for stuff other than performing in a comedy setting and on a stage. So that's when I went out and I started Laugh Dot Events. I actually threw our first comedy show at my company. They had a stage and lighting, it was awesome.

And for the first couple of years, we just did comedy shows, stand-up comedy shows for corporate audiences. And then eventually we moved into what we call Laughing and Development, which is kind of what I did to start my career, which was training in applied improv and stand-up skills to help the professional skills develop as well. I love that you took something that was just this thing that you were doing and were able to actually join that together and bring fun to the workplace.

What are the types of businesses and what are some of the things that you do with those businesses to help bring that joy and that fun to the workplace? Yeah, so it's a real range. I mean, I'll start with, you know, it's either, let's go down kind of two branches. One branch is just the entertainment branch, you know, it's the, where people really just want to bring their teams together, whether it's on a Zoom call or a holiday party, and they want to have a hilarious comedian come through and deliver just laughs, much-needed laughter.

We have an amazing virtual comedy experience that I would recommend to anybody. And it's we have custom experiences, not just stand-up comedy. We have something called Workday Update, which is a very visually heavy event that brings culture in. We have musical comedy, which is a musical improv where an improv comedian will go and take suggestions from the audience and create songs on the spot.

So we've developed this amazing form of comedy for virtual audiences. And that really was born out of the pandemic, and we honed it in. And we just never stopped doing virtual events. So from a virtual standpoint, that's one side for entertainment.

We also, like I said, do stand-up comedians or magicians or hosts for holiday parties and other types of, you know, addresses, keynote addresses, things like that. And then the other side, and that could be those are any sort of companies. Any companies that just want to get that kind of entertainment. And then the other side of it is laughing and development.

And that is our applied improv and stand-up skills workshops. And this can be, it's really done really well with sales teams because there's such great ROI that can be attached to doing these kinds of events. Active listening on calls or effectively communicating with clients or being able to take risks on calls or think on your feet when an event's not really going or a call's not going the way you had scripted it to go. We also work a lot with teams that are doing project management.

Hey, we're bringing in another team and we need to know how to collaborate better with them. Or, hey, we wanna be a little bit more client-facing, so we need to learn a little bit more skills that allow us to think on our feet a bit more or listen better, so that we can ask the right questions, be hyper-curious. Even engineers who are just like, we wanna do a team-building event and we wanna do something that's fun and going to a bar doesn't cut it anymore. And people say, oh man, well, they're super introverted.

That's not gonna work. The introverts are actually what make the events so great because they end up surprising you. And it's all about whatever team that we're working with. We're trying to create an incredibly supportive environment so that those folks can come out as their authentic selves.

I always say, how can we bring out people's five-to-nine personalities during their nine-to-five? And that allows us to work with sort of any sort of industry, healthcare, tech, alumni for business schools, any sort of thing, and any sort of job title. So, certain ones have great ROI, like I said, the sales, but we really run the gamut. I love that you added in there that introverts in different industries, because you do, when you think about different industries, you're like, how do you bring humor into that type of an industry?

How would you say it affects, how does humor allow you to have a better leadership development in the teamwork that you help with? Yeah. I always think about humor through the lens less about jokes and being funny and I think of humor as having the skills to create a humorous environment or a humorous outcome or create laughter. So that can, a lot of it just comes with, like I said at the beginning, how are we creating a supportive environment where you can say something and I'm always gonna have your back with whatever you say.

I'm going to compliment you. I'm always gonna say, you know, the classic thing in improv is yes and. And so I'm going to give you that support and go, you can take that chance, you can come out and say it, and I'm gonna say yes and this is what I think or we can keep going. Who else is something that we can keep going with?

And so I think that is what I believe in is that humor is not necessarily a dad joke or a really good pun. It's about listening to what is the opportunity to bring the conversation to its next step and its next level. Not hurting things and pushing back by saying words like no or but or or, but using words and communication styles that allow people to listen to what the person is saying before them. And not just be like, hey, I've got an idea.

Let me say my idea. But hey, how can I add on to the person before me's idea? And what happens is just naturally people feel more comfortable with each other. Levity is put into the room because there's so much positivity and laughter is just a very natural outcome when you are creating that kind of environment.

How would you say that you would measure success from a laughter-based experience? So yeah, with our Laugh Dot Events experiences, we always do post-event surveys first off. And so we just really wanna get people's understanding of like, what did we think this event was good? So number one, our measurement is, was this the best event you ever did?

Or did you wish you were at home sick? And that's kind of our measurement first off. And so that's our number one thing. And, you know, I can really thankfully say everyone really always puts a four or a five, mostly fives out of five on that.

So that's our first measurement of success is just was this event different? Was it really fun compared to what they normally might have done in comparison to other types of team-building events that they might do? The second one is, is the difference between what they thought going into the event wildly different than what they thought coming out of it. So we ask people, tell us one word or phrase that helps you describe what you felt going in, and then what was one word or phrase that made you feel after?

And they are so contrasting and different, and that's a really great measurement of success too, because the beginning is like, I felt nervous, or I didn't want to do this, or apathetic, or I wish I wasn't like I didn't come. And then they leave going, I felt amazing, excited, I have so much energy, I feel open to new ideas. You know, that is another measurement of success. And then the teams that really are looking to measure success, let's use, like, sales as an example, you know, you can actually go and say, alright.

From now on, let's measure if we are focused on talking less on our phone calls, right? Are we listening better? Are we not interrupting our clients? Are we asking more questions?

So there's measurement tools out there like Gong and whatnot that you can use to say, all right, are we talking less? Are we asking more questions? Are we giving the client more of a floor? Are we maybe even going off script more?

Are we using different words than previous calls, and letting the conversation go where it might? And I can go on for a bunch of other different types of departments, of those kinds of the third type of outcome, which is like harder measurements of idea generation, things like that. But that's how we measure success. What we can control is the post-event survey.

And then if people want to get deeper into it from a team, it's looking at their own data. So at what moment did you know that Laugh Dot Events was making a difference? So there were two moments and I'll say one with on the entertainment side of things, we focused on just, hey, how can we deliver laughter to people at work? That's our goal.

And we really took off during the pandemic. That's really when the business truly launched. We launched before that, but it was more of an after-work show that people would come to after work in New York City. And it was amazing.

But the first time that we saw a significant impact was when we were doing these virtual events during the pandemic. And it was going back to our post-event survey. People were writing stuff in like, thank you so much. I didn't, I needed this so badly.

Or, you know, me and my team haven't gotten together in months and this is like the first time we've ever laughed together. Or like finally we're doing something that's not transactional, like an email or a Slack or a task. And we're just letting go and forgetting about work and just being able to laugh. And when we saw that, I was like, man, I knew laughter was good for you.

Because people say that laughter is the best medicine. So I started to look into what that was. I worked with a director of psychology at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Natalie Dattilo, to learn a little bit more about what laughter does for us.

Laughter decreases cortisol levels. It increases endorphins and it even can release oxytocin, which allows people to connect with one another. And so it has this, it's a social bonding tool. So it has these amazing biological effects that are so impactful.

And we were getting this feedback verbally from people that really confirmed a lot of that. So that's the first time that I saw laughter happening, and the impact that laughter can do. Then the other time that I saw that laughter had a huge impact and our laughing and development events had a big impact, was when we did an event for a business school alumni event and they were doing a networking event and they said, hey, we're gonna do something a little differently, normally bring in keynotes.

Now we're gonna bring you all in and you're gonna do a laughing and development session of applied improv and stand-up. And we did one of our sessions. Somebody came up to me after the event, nearly in tears, and she said, thank you so much for putting this together. Before this event started, when we were just networking and having drinks and having our hot plate food, I was so nervous.

I went into the bathroom and I was like panicking. I didn't wanna be there. I didn't feel comfortable talking to people. She was in an environment that made it so that like her job was what made her interesting to people or where she lived or what her business major was.

And she just hated that environment and felt, didn't feel comfortable. And I can resonate with that too on those networking events. They can be pretty uncomfortable and sort of awkward. And when we started to do these laughing and development sessions, she was like, that's when I started to actually feel comfortable with everyone else around me.

Because when you're doing applied improv and doing these exercises and games, you're eliminating all titles, you're eliminating all like knowledge that you really have. And you're going down to your most basic human instinct to connect with people and you know, support everyone's choices, even if you don't even know who they are. To laugh with each other because it's all silly and fun and we're not taking ourselves too seriously. And she came up to us after and she was like, thank you so much for doing that.

I got so many business cards from this session. And then I was like, what? Like we were doing such silly stuff. And so that was the first time that I saw like a really introverted person have such an impact.

And I was like, well if it can impact someone that, you know, like that who is already so nervous in social settings, imagine what it can do to people who feel comfortable in those settings. It only can kind of skyrocket but it evens everybody out and puts them in the same playing field. I love that you're just explaining how the transformation of people through laughter. How would you say that this has impacted you as an entrepreneur?

What has it taught you personally? I'd say what it has taught me is trying to find a way that you can use something that you're passionate about and do. I mean, I've loved comedy. I've always loved comedy my whole life.

You know, I loved doing stand-up in New York City. I loved doing improv in New York City. I loved being, you know, just in the mix. And so that was what I was always chasing.

And I was always chasing, you know, just do what you love. And that was what I felt being an entrepreneur was all about. You know, obviously you have to make a living, but you should focus on doing something that you really love. And you know, what it taught me was that, okay, I love comedy.

I love laughter. I love this, you know, this thing that everyone says you should do. How can we make a business out of it? And so what it really taught me was like, okay, keep uncovering the stones.

Find out how this fits into your world. Like how do I use my skills that I made, you know, selling enterprise software and being in this corporate world in a big way. How could I leverage those skills to also reflect my passions? And not saying, okay, I was a salesperson back then, now I'm this.

It's like, no, how can I take a little bit of what I had there and, you know, put a little bit of these workshop skills, a little bit of public speaking, a little bit of comedy, stand-up? You know, how can I put all of these together and make a business out of it? And I think that that's something that I learned too, is, you know, by doing this business, really focusing on like, what are things that I'm really passionate about? Because when you have an off month, you know, that passion can keep you alive.

And when you have a great month, you're like, I did it. I made it. I hacked the system. So I think that passion really lives as this, like backup generator, for what I'm trying to accomplish in my life.

You're on mute. Sorry. How do you personally stay creative and positive as you're dealing with being an entrepreneur and running a business, but then personally, I mean, obviously, there are ups and ebbs and flows and the different things that we go through in business. Then how do you personally keep that positivity going so that you're staying in that laughter mode?

I mean, it can be hard. Running a business has so many downs, and that really is something that you have to kinda keep in mind is knowing that there's a lot of failure. And I think that, like, doing stand-up comedy has prepared me for that, and training in stand-up comedy. Because that's what I think about it.

Obviously, I've performed, but I do look at my stand-up comedy more as training than anything, because that's where I've used it the most is, you know, in my professional world. So in stand-up comedy, you need to get up there and you need to try something new to try a new joke, to see if the joke works. Nine times out of 10, you're gonna bomb, silence. You're going to like eat it.

And so I had done that so many times that I have so many calluses, you know, when it comes to trying things and not being afraid of failure. Because when you really know that failure is inevitable, you start to just say, how can I take some of the wins out of it, rather than focusing on like a big fat failure sandwich? You know, you're like, oh, I did like a little bit of that aioli in that sandwich. You know, how can you figure out what you learned from it?

And that's what I have been able to learn as an entrepreneur is taking in what stand-up would be like a laugh or a gasp that I heard in that five minutes of bombing. How can I take that and say, you did get something good out of it, and how do we stack those wins on top of each other? And look at this as a journey. You know, a lot of comics and stand-ups are not done with their stand-up jokes.

They might work on that joke for 20 years before they lay it down on a record or something, or a special, whatever it may be. So also having that mentality of like, you're never done growing, and you can always take a learning from your failures. Now, what would you say are, how can our listeners bring laughter into their business and in everyday life starting today? I think kind of focusing on what I had said earlier, don't focus on like queuing yourself up with a lot of different jokes.

You know? When you ask a stand-up comedian or any comedian, oh, you do comedy? Tell us a joke. They will roll their eyes in the biggest way, and they'll go, that's not what I do.

I don't go and have jokes on the spot for you. But what they do is that they have an act, or they've developed really natural skills to do crowd work or improv to go with the scene and work at the top of their intelligence is a phrase that's used a lot in improv. Or using yes and and all these different things. So I think the answer to incorporate more humor and more laughter in the workplace is not about trying to find the opportunity to make somebody laugh or poke fun at something, but it's actually to listen incredibly actively and effectively to the people that you're talking with and not think about what you're going to say and a joke that you might have, but rather say, how can I add on to what that person is saying?

And nothing might come out of it laughter-wise, but if there's enough banter that you're creating, you're creating and banking like a lot of goodwill with people, that they feel very comfortable around you. And when people feel more comfortable around you, you're creating this really supportive and awesome environment, where people want to be more vulnerable with you. You can be more vulnerable with them. And laughter is just going to be a byproduct of people being vulnerable with one another, being authentic with each other, being very honest with each other.

And I think that is how you can bring humor into the workplace, by focusing on skills like active listening, effective communication, being willing to take risks and knowing I've got your back, no matter what you say, you know, I'm gonna have your back when you do that. So, I think that's a really good way to do so. So, Kevin, do you have a team that works with you, that you work with, or is this something that you personally do yourself? I'm a bit of a solopreneur, if you will, but, you know, I have a lot of different people that I work with in different capacities, that, you know, help me push the ball up the hill.

And so, yeah, we definitely have a team of people that help with different tasks in getting things done. But for the most part, oh, and also, like, obviously our team of improvisers and improv instructors who are executing a lot of our events across the country, the stand-up comedians that are executing events across the country. So, you know, in terms of my solopreneurship, it's about kind of making sure that I'm setting everybody up for success. And then if you think about a team, yeah, we couldn't obviously do our business and our events if it weren't for the people that are actually executing on a lot of our laughing and development sessions, on our stand-up sessions, on our virtual comedy shows.

You know, this business wouldn't exist if it weren't for those people who are executing on the services that we provide. But in terms of the day-to-day operationally, it's very much, you know, me and a handful of other people that help me get it done. And so if somebody was thinking, okay. This sounds awesome, and, you know, I'd love for him to come in person.

Do you travel? Is it more of a virtual thing when it's further away? So we're in about 30 different cities across the country. And like I mentioned, we have a lot of different improv facilitators and instructors that run our laughing and development sessions.

So this is extremely accessible to nearly every corner of the country. So if people were interested in doing so, whether that's in the middle of Pennsylvania, we can come out. Or if it's on the West Coast, we can come out. We have different local hubs that are able to facilitate these different laughing and development experiences.

And same thing when it comes to entertainment. We have all these different folks that come to people's offices or event spaces. And then, like you mentioned, from a virtual standpoint, if you're a remote team, we have the best virtual comedy events you ever could think of. And they're so fun.

You could do 15 minutes and it's still awesome. We call them 15-minute laugh breaks. And it allows people to say, okay, I don't have a ton of budget, but I really want to get my team to laugh. And those laugh breaks are so awesome.

And my favorite teams to work with are the ones that say, hey, we don't want to do a 60-minute show. We want to spread these 15 minutes out for the next year. And we're gonna have one 15-minute laugh break every single quarter. So it's a surprise for the team.

Because like I said, when you're getting those endorphins and lowering your cortisol levels, you're just getting this awesome break and you're getting these awesome flood of emotions. And I think it's so impactful when you're able to do that. And that can happen with our improv sessions and happen in our in-person entertainment. But the beauty about virtual is that we're virtual all the time.

And that's the way it is. So you have some people that are remote, some people that are in person, some people that are in another country. And these virtual events can just log in, have a laugh with your team, and just get back to work if that's what you need to do. So, you know, I really love doing those virtual events and they're fantastic.

So one of the things that I do is I work with business owners. And what I love about what you're doing is there's lots of different options, and that's what I meant by a team. So you have all different improv and people who can work with businesses. Now my question to you is if you have things such as masterminding or business events even in the summertime, would you suggest that it's best to work with an in-person improv or is it best to just have a gathering space in order to be able to do it virtually?

So I recommend if you have the chance to do improv, you do it in person, 100% eye contact, you know, actually being able to move around a room, connect with people. And when I say do virtual events, I more mean on the comedy side of things, like personalized team comedy, where we're using your team's buzzwords and using memes that your team submitted. That's more what I mean on the virtual side. But yeah, if you have a mastermind or something you're trying to do in person, doing an in-person laughing and development session with applied improv and stand-up is amazing.

And it's really one of the I go back to like that experience I talked about at that business school alumni event. That's really what happens. People have this amazing feeling from it. And going back to my back and forth, my before and after, you know, people feel so euphoric afterwards and they have this amazing feeling.

There's almost like so much energy that they have coming out of it, that you need to channel it into something or else it's wasted. You know, a lot of people will be like, man, that's crazy. What can we do now? And it's like, well, we're done.

Like we're, we're done with the event. I'm like, I hope you guys have a happy hour to go to, because that's really where the more connection can happen. But yeah, the in-person events are fantastic. And yeah, you can either leverage someone from our team to do one of these laughing and development sessions.

I also come out for more like keynote-style events where there's a larger group of people. You know, you know, we're doing a keynote later this month, with about 500-plus people where we're gonna be incorporating both, you know, some of the stuff I talked about today with like interactive stuff. We're bringing people on stage on the audience. So, you know, it can definitely work in multiple capacities either in like that keynote format or if you have a smaller team, that's when we would send out one of our team members to do a laughing and development session.

Well, I love the idea of just having you. I personally feel that when you're in an environment of masterminding or, you know, in a creative mode, that the laughter can actually bring out more creativity. Would you agree with that? A 100%.

I mean, there's a there's a case study that goo that would that that did, that somebody did, that involved Google as one of the people that did a workshop, an improv workshop, and they saw a, man I don't want to get the numbers wrong, but I think it was like a 30% increase in ideation, and brainstorming. So, you know, this is, it's like a lot of improv comes, you're doing something to your brain that's called, so divergent thinking. And so convergent thinking is something that, you know, I think there was an article out there about AI and how AI is making everybody dumber.

And that was because of, you know, it focuses on convergent thinking. And it focuses on like, all right, A plus B equals C. And you know, what improv does a great job of is going, A plus B equals fish and donuts and cake and like, what other ideas do you have? It doesn't have to be real or wrong; it's just ideas.

So divergent thinking allows you to come up with a lot of different ideas. And that's what you're training your brain in, divergent thinking and coming up with ideas. So just to your point, like when you're saying masterminding, you know, how can we always be training our brains to come up with more ideas? And that is exactly what improv has shown to do, is that it really can increase people's ability to come up with new ideas.

And there's a lot of data out there that shows that. Now how are you getting because I you know, in all honesty, I've really enjoyed, you know, what you have to offer to businesses and just being able to help them in their creativity with their leadership skills and just being able to, you know, help people kind of get out of their shell as well and help them in their communication styles. Now along with that though, how are you getting this out into the world? How are you getting this information out there so that this is something that it becomes a relevant thing that business owners are utilizing?

I mean, this is one of the things, right? Getting that, getting it out there, trying to be on different types of mediums like this, where I can have conversations with folks and tell them a little bit more. You know, I really believe that I didn't invent improv, you know, let's make it very clear. Improv has been around for decades and decades, but what I am trying to do is frame improv less as a theater tool and more as a professional development tool.

So I think what happens is that that comes with a lot more education of like, okay, you might've heard of improv from "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" Or from your college had an improv team, that you wouldn't have dared join. You know, all of these different things that you've heard of improv, but I think it has like kind of an intimidating or bad reputation. And people think of it as maybe stand-up comedy, or they think of it as performative.

But improv is something that's very good for developing soft skills. All the things that I mentioned, listening, communication, risk-taking, and public speaking. And so what my role is, is saying, how can I continue to work with teams? Have them spread the news about how good this is?

Get them to recommend it to, you know, if we work with a big company, how can we get more of that company to work with us? But, you know, I've also started to write a lot more about this topic, and I do it on my newsletter, Laugh Rx, which is laughrx.laugh.events.

But that's where I try to bring in comedy skills, back it up with some neuroscience and some data that we've seen, and try to wrap it all in an applicable business setting and how you can use it and take it. So, I think education, just how do we get the word out? How do we keep just knocking down that door and working with a ton of other people around the country? There are so many great improv facilitators who have amazing skills and really can bring a lot to different companies around the country.

And so we're really just trying to create an environment that makes that really easy for companies to do and not have to shell out, you know, humongous budgets to do so. Kevin, I just love what you're doing, and I love that you're bringing laughter to the workplace. So if someone wanted to find you and they're like, this is a great idea. I have an event coming up.

I want this guy to be the one to come and do my event. So how would they find you, and what would, you know, what would be the best format to do that? Yeah. Go to our website; it's the best format.

Our website is the name of our business too, laugh.events. And like I said, if you want to just kind of get dialed into our message, maybe you can't, you don't have the power to bring us on as a team, but you want to be a part of, you know, you believe in using humor in the workplace and the power of laughter. Our newsletter is a great place, Laugh Rx.

Laugh.events. And yeah, if you're interested in working with me directly, you know, bringing me in or having me as a coach, I do a lot of coaching as well. You know, you can connect with me on LinkedIn, Kevin Hubschmann on LinkedIn.

I think I'm one of the only ones there, which is very nice. And, yeah, those are kind of the main three places. Well, I just want to thank you so much for being here today. If you wanted to leave our audience with anything, what would that be?

I would say be a good laugh. Don't be, don't try to stop yourself from laughing. I'd say be a good laugh and always be willing to add that levity. And I think that goes a long way is when you're, when you be a good audience, whether that's in a one-on-one conversation, or if that's in a larger setting, but I think kind of being a good audience member regardless and being an easy laugh is always something that everyone can do.

Well, I just thank you for bringing laughter into the workplace. I thank you so much for what you're doing and making the difference. Finding, you know, just being able to find that sweet spot of something that you're passionate about that you've learned and now you're utilizing it to make a difference because we truly do need more laughter in our lives. I think that it makes for a better world because when you're laughing, I mean, what can you be sad about when there's laughter?

Right? And so thank you so much. I know that this helps with your health. This helps with your, you know, with your creative minds, and it helps to just kinda just it makes me wanna take a deep breath and go out and go to a comedy show.

You gotta. That's the best thing too. If I'm gonna leave it with anybody, go see some live comedy, you know. That can be a really nice therapeutic session and you know, you can laugh, laughter is awesome.

And there's just so many amazing beautiful things that happen from it. You know, from a biological standpoint. And, you know, you can feel closer to the people in the room. You can share that connection and stand-up comedy is awesome.

It's like a magic trick that you're watching, and it's really fun to see people dominating their craft. And also I'd recommend people if they have a chance to go take an improv class, you know, there's a lot of great theaters around the country, support your local improv theater, go drop in at an improv class. It's they're super fun. You're definitely gonna have a good time.

And they're super supportive. I am gonna ask you that last question though, now that you said that. So that would be something that you can do. You just, you go, would you say that that would help people to become more communicative?

Oh, 100%. I think that, you know, we're actually developing our own drop-in classes around our different hubs around the country. So, you know, when that happens, I can always, you know, let you know. But, you know, that's how I learned improv.

I did, I worked with instructors. At first, we had a private instructor, but there's a lot of people you can find online if you wanted to do that. But more importantly, there's a lot of different theaters out there that if you just type in, you know, improv theater near me and go on their website, they definitely have drop-in classes. And, you know, if they don't have a drop-in class, maybe they have a longer, you know, class that they can do, might be a few weeks or six weeks, something like that.

They're awesome. They're really so much fun, and it's a really easy way to do, and I think that like, I, doing stand-up is a very intimidating thing for people to do. Right. So to go to an open mic, open mics are so hard.

They're so brutal. Like, that's not the way to dive into comedy. If you're if you're it's not for the faint of heart. It's definitely effective and helpful.

But going to an improv class because you're not performing for anybody. You're in this group. The door's closed. There's 10 people in the room, and everyone's just having fun.

There's no extra motives. People are just having fun. And that's why our corporate experiences are so good because they reflect what a drop-in class would be like. It's, hey, no judgment in this room.

We're all having fun. We're all going to have a good time. And laughter just organically happens. You're not gonna be able to remember a single joke that happens from an improv class because it will not make sense when you say it back in your head.

And if you try to tell somebody about what happened in your improv class, they'll go, what the hell are you talking about? Because it's not gonna make sense. And that's another reason why it's so great. It's, like, not gonna be repeated again because you're creating this art in the moment.

And improv is just so special. It's magic. I love it. I want to thank you, Kevin.

You just brought me so many smiles here today, and I'm sure that our audience is thinking, well, I need to seek Kevin out. So please be sure to reach out. Now, Kevin, are you on LinkedIn? Mhmm.

Any other social sites? I'd say LinkedIn's where you get the best version of me. And Okay. Yeah.

Great. Yeah. Well, I'm just so grateful you were here and you shared with us today. So thank you again, Kevin.

Absolutely. Thanks for having me. You're welcome. And, again, this is Katherine, your host with The Beyond Business Podcast.

Kevin just brought us lots of smiles today and just seek him out because I will say bringing laughter to the workplace is probably one of the best places to start. Have an amazing day. Thank you.