Greg Schwem "Comedy/Tragedy" This Interview Shares a Lot Show #239

Greg Schwem began his stand-up comedy career in 1989, transitioning from a television news reporter role during a period when the comedy market was heavily saturated with cable TV shows. Despite these initial challenges, Schwem successfully adapted by merging his comedic talents into a public speaking career that brings humor to the corporate world. His journey highlights the importance of adaptability, as he tailored his material to resonate with business audiences while maintaining sensitivity to diverse perspectives. Through personal experiences like cancer and divorce, Schwem has also demonstrated how humor can serve as a powerful tool for resilience, a theme he explores in his book, "Turning Gut Punches into Punchlines."

(00:01:50) Adaptability and Success in Comedy Evolution

(00:06:10) Corporate Humor: Tailoring Comedy for Business Events

(00:09:32) Tailoring Comedy for Corporate Engagement

(00:19:57) Finding Humor & Connections After Divorce

(00:23:56) "Finding Humor in Life's Struggles"

(00:30:38) Comedy's Role in Resilience Building

For More Info: www.GregSchwem.com
Link to his book:
https://www.amazon.com/Turning-Punches-Into-Punch-Lines-ebook/dp/B0DH2PG9K7/ref=sr_1_1?

Transcript

Announcer: 0:04

This is another episode of Stand Up Comedy, your host and emcee celebrating 40 plus years on the fringe of show business stories, interviews and comedy sets from the famous and not so famous. Here's your host and emcee, Scott Edwards.

R. Scott Edwards: 0:22

Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome back to the podcast, man. We have a fun interview for you this week. There's a standup comic that I actually interviewed once before a couple years ago. He's a very talented comic. He is now a professional public speaker and helps companies across the nation with finding humor and getting through the challenges of business, but in a fun way. And now he's an author. He's just out with a new book called Turning Gut Punches into Punchlines where he's taken some of the challenges of his life and helped find the funny to share with the audience and the world. But he's with us here today to talk about the whole experience and kind of get us from point A to point B. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back to the podcast, the very funny standup comic, Greg Schwam. Wow, Greg, you know, it's been such. We did an interview before. We talked about your early years in comedy and how you were able to pivot and turn it into a successful public speaking career. But you continue to grow as a comic and as a person and as a business person and now an author. And we'll get to that a little bit later. But can you catch the audience up, tell them a little bit about your standup comedy experience the last couple decades? What really made it work for you?

Greg Schwem: 1:50

Yeah, I mean, I. I actually think I got into comedy a little bit late. I think stand up. I got into it in 1989, and while that seems like a very long time ago, standup had kind of peaked. I mean, it goes through, as, you know, it goes through kind of waves, but I think I got into it when it's kind of on its way down. The market had been saturated with cable TV and comedy shows everywhere and so forth, and people weren't going to clubs anymore because they were seeing too much comedy on my cable tv. And that's when I decided to quit my job as a television news reporter and get into standup. So I.

R. Scott Edwards: 2:26

It's all about timing.

Greg Schwem: 2:28

Good. Yes, exactly. So I quickly realized, Scott, that I was jumping into a pool that was way over saturated, and I was going to need to do something to kind of separate myself from the pack. So I moved back to Chicago. I started my career in Florida, but I'm from Chicago, and I moved back and I started freelancing for a company that did live trade show presentations when you were. So you were writing sort of funny five to seven minute sketches about products or technologies and I was writing them for a company and then I was delivering them on the trade show floor. And I was starting to see that there's humor in here. It was, it was fun to try and make business people laugh about very high tech, maybe you would call them dry, boring subjects in a, you know, quick amount of time. And little by little, some of that stuff, just some of the improvising that I did, was starting to work its way into my club stand up act. And then I would have people from the audience come up to me after my club shows and say, hey, you know that bit you get about waiting on hold for tech support or you know, too many meetings and too many conference calls, man, that just totally described us and can you come to our next sales conference? And if you just did that, we would think it was hysterical. And the world of corporate speaker just opened up to me and I started doing presentations and shows for business conferences and conventions and sales kickoffs. And I started to realize that this was the way to separate myself from the pack because there just weren't a lot of comics, a handful maybe doing that. So I went from a very big pool to a very small pool and then I started to get booked at these things and that was pretty much became my career. I gave up clubs and.

R. Scott Edwards: 4:20

Well, but still do that. It's interesting because a lot of the comics that I interact with, there are a few that have pivoted to public speaking and have been very successful with it. But it was not as smooth a transition, to be honest. They were stand up comics for a decade or two, found it challenging to get the gigs or they wanted to get off the road quite so much. Full weeks away instead of weekends away or whatever, days away. And so they kind of forced themselves or moved themselves into public speaking and supporting the business world. For you, it seemed like a much more natural transition. And I think you give a great example of what happened in the industry. And going from that huge, huge pool of standup comedy talent in the late 80s and early 90s and finding yourself in the much more small pond of humorous public speakers for business was really. And it doesn't sound like you actually planned it, it kind of happened for you, but what a smart way to move your career in a way that you. It was more sustainable. And that is a difficult thing, especially for people our age. We're a little bit on the Older edge. And we know a lot of comics that did the road, which can just beat you to death and just wore themselves out and then had nothing to do when it was time to. Or they couldn't do the road anymore for one reason or another. And being able to pivot to public speaking and be as successful as you have been is really, you know, my hat's off to you for the hard work it takes to make that happen, but also create a new career path that can go on as long as you want.

Greg Schwem: 6:10

Yeah, exactly. And, you know, it didn't take me long to, you know, there was some. There were some misses, there's some hits and some misses in doing corporate comedy. It's not, and I think we've talked about this in the past, maybe off air. You can't just bring your nightclub act into a corporate setting and do it verbally, verbatim. Yeah, it sounds like you could. Yeah, right, exactly. You know, it sounds like you could. You're like, well, why wouldn't it just. These are people and they probably go to comedy clubs. So what's the difference? Well, huge difference, you know, whether it's the fact that you're working at 9 in the morning instead of 10 o'clock at night, or the fact that you. You're not on the bill and no one knows you're coming in.

R. Scott Edwards: 6:53

Or how about they're not drinking and drunk already.

Greg Schwem: 6:56

They're not drinking. They might be on their laptop while you're performing. Don't get me started on that. But those are all things you have to know, you might be faced with. And there's a lot of comedians that chant or just don't know that that's gonna happen, and they don't really know how to deal with it.

R. Scott Edwards: 7:16

But I think this is a good point to bring up the idea that you were able as a standup comic to take your talents and finding the funny in different situations and adapt it to business. And I think that, you know, is something that you just said, so I'm reiterating it. But it's a challenge for a lot of comics to take their stage act, which is dealing with Friday and Saturday night audiences that are high energy and they're ready for comedy and they paid. So they have an expectation of entertainment and being able to shift that to a public speaking engagement where, as you said, nobody knows you're coming. They're not, you know, they're waiting. They have an investment in comedy. They're there for business. But you were able to write, and this is so important for people that want to get into public speaking. You just didn't go up and do jokes about business. I know you, Greg. You took information about the company and interwove it in your material so that it was very personal for that company engagement. Correct, Right.

Greg Schwem: 8:23

And once people realize that in a corporate setting, once they realize that you did take the time to do that, that totally shifts their mindset because they appreciate the fact that you did that and that you're not doing the same canned speech that you did last week or last month in a different city, in a different part of the country type of thing. And that resonates. And I do believe that corporate America wants to laugh at itself, but it kind of has to be done on their terms. And you have to be willing to work with them in that sense and realize that some of the jokes that just crush it at comedy clubs are either not going to work or are not appropriate for a corporate audience as badly as you want to do them. You may have to just put them aside for this particular set. And I willing to do that. There are comics that are not. And that's where you hear the horror stories. I think about what happened when we had this guy at our sales kickoff.

R. Scott Edwards: 9:32

Right, right. And I think the other thing that's important to point out to the audience that's interested in the challenges of standup comedy and writing is when you're writing for a corporate event, not only are you having to bring in you want to be successful, you want to bring in personal aspects of that company into your material. But also, Greg, I'm assuming over the last, what, five to eight years with this crap woke thing, it made it even more challenging to poke fun at some of the systems that businesses use. Am I correct?

Greg Schwem: 10:10

Oh, you are 100% correct. I sometimes feel I think it's lessening a little bit, but it's a very slow transition back to what I would consider what we used to have of just, let's just cut loose for an hour. I sometimes feel at the height of it, like when I was on stage and I would deliver a joke or a line, I almost felt like the audience was kind of analyzing it and deciding if it was okay to laugh at it.

R. Scott Edwards: 10:42

That's so true, though.

Greg Schwem: 10:43

And if you do that, it's too late. You know, you can't do that. You either, if it's funny, laugh at it. Don't think about it and think of who in the room might not laugh at it. And is that person my boss? And how's it going to look if I'm laughing at something that my superior doesn't think is funny. You see that? That's, I think what was going on a lot. And I've kind of had to, kind of had to school audiences a little bit about that and basically, in a very tactful way, tell them that it's okay. Not everybody thinks. Everybody is. Not everybody thinks the same things are funny. And that's okay. That's the great thing about comedy is that there are so many different directions. But if you don't think it's funny, don't laugh at it, but let the other people who do think it's funny laugh at it and don't judge them.

R. Scott Edwards: 11:36

Yeah, and that's so smart of you. Yeah, and it's so smart, you almost have to.

Greg Schwem: 11:40

And it seems so basic, Scott. But unfortunately I do have to do that. But I think if I can get that message across to people. And again, you know, you're looking out at an audience which of all different age groups and all different, you know, all different jobs that they do within the company. I mean, I do shows, everybody from entry level to C level executives might be sitting in the exact same room. People who've been at the company for six months and people who've been at the company for three, 36 years. And obviously they're going to have a very different approach to what they think is funny about themselves.

R. Scott Edwards: 12:14

Yeah, but the elephant in the room is what can you laugh at and what can't you? And by being the smart presenter and public speaker that you are, I think it's wise that you kind of attack that in a, in a corporate way right up front to try to let everybody kind of go, oh, okay, I can laugh. You know, I can be myself. I don't have to be so alert of what's going on. I think that's impressive. Now, what are some of the things that are kind of commonality in these business talks that you do that you can poke fun at? I'm assuming, like you said, people trying to communicate while they have a laptop in front of them or, you know, the people doing but impressions on the copier. I mean, what kind of things can you bring up on a regular basis? That seems to work across the board.

Greg Schwem: 13:05

I think the fact that we're all trying to learn how to talk to one another again, you know, the double. You mentioned the woke. The double whammy was the woke plus Covid and everybody, everybody working from home and not having any interaction with anybody. And what I'M trying to do now is to do a lot of material about what it's like to be back at the office and how we get along with one another and what. You know, we read this point not that long ago during COVID where we could sit around and work in our underwear with our golden retriever, you know, between our legs, and, you know, we can't do that anymore.

R. Scott Edwards: 13:46

Yeah.

Greg Schwem: 13:47

Even though we want to. We'd love to do that, but we can't.

R. Scott Edwards: 13:50

Yeah.

Greg Schwem: 13:50

And I just kind of. I'm just kind of throwing out scenarios that I know they think about, and I'm just trying to get them to laugh at it.

R. Scott Edwards: 13:57

Yeah, no, it's. But it immediately comes to mind. Oh, did you see Mary? She came to work in her pajamas, you know, because she forgot she wasn't working from home. Right.

Greg Schwem: 14:10

I did a video about that once. One of my very first shows back in a live setting was in San Diego. And I thought, I just had this idea to make a video, and I. And I was, you know, I was aiming the phone at myself, and I go, hey, you know, it's. It's. I'm so excited, you know, I'm finally back performing live for, you know, this company, and I'm just about to head downstairs and host this award ceremony. And as I'm doing it, I'm. I'm putting my sport coat on, and I'm tying my tie, and I go, hey, time to go to work. And then I had another shot where I filmed myself from the back going. Exiting my hotel room, and I have my sport coat of tie on and boxer shorts on underneath. Okay. And then I left that.

R. Scott Edwards: 14:51

I bet the audience love that because during COVID the whole world was waist up.

Greg Schwem: 14:58

Right. Exactly. Exactly. And, you know, that's the thing. I mean, that's reality right there. So, you know, if you can just continue to try and get into their heads and see what are you dealing with and what's your environment like, but also make sure that, you know what they're stoked about, too. And that's always been something about. I always say, you know, I want to be your biggest cheerleader. So if you're excited about something, I'm going to be. I want to be excited about it, too. Even if I don't understand it per se, I still want to be excited about it. And I want that enthusiasm through humor to come across. I don't want to make fun of what you're excited about. That's not going to help. But I want to. I want to you're obviously working very hard at it, so I want to make you laugh at it, too. Does that make sense?

R. Scott Edwards: 15:47

Right. And I think that it's, you know, for those in the audience that may not realize it, but it's common sense to me. And into you is a lot of these business events that you're showing up as a public speaker and adding to their event. They're there for a reason. They maybe reached a new sales goal or they're launching a new product, or, you know, their quarterlies came in well, or somebody's retiring that's been there for 30 years. There's some reason the company is getting together. And if you tie that into your presentation, as you said, you're a cheerleader. You're part of the energy and excitement that brought them all together. And I think that's one of the reasons you're so successful, is that you're able to read the room, as they say, and bring to them what they're looking for. And that's an excitement about whatever's happening in the company, correct?

Greg Schwem: 16:41

Yeah, absolutely. And that's my job. It's not my job to tell them how to sell whatever, or it's not my job to tell them what their culture should be. That's up to them. I was hired to make them laugh, and that should be the only thing that I should be focused on. And I think. I think sometimes when speakers stray away from that, particularly ones that are like me, that are brought into an event and that's what they're supposed to be doing, and they forget that and they go off on tangents that never. That. That never ends well.

R. Scott Edwards: 17:14

Right, right. You got it. You have to kind of stay focused. Well, I did want to explain to the audience the reason I'm having you back on the podcast is that you've already proven yourself as a very successful standup comic. You were able to very successfully pivot into public speaking, and you're fairly well known around the country as a top entertaining public speaker for companies and corporate. And if anyone's interested, all you have to do is go to gregschwem.com and you can book him for an upcoming event for your company or business. Greg schwem.com but the other reason that I had you back on the podcast, Greg, is that you've done something a little unusual. I know a number of comics that have done this, but it's less than a dozen. You've now become an author and written a book about some of your life's experiences. Ladies and gentlemen, the new book is called Turning Gut Punches into Punchlines. Now, I know what's going on, but, Greg, can you explain to the audience what's gone on in your life and how this book came about?

Greg Schwem: 18:23

Yeah, well, the subtitle of the book, you know, you. You mentioned the title, Turning Gut Punches into Punchlines. The subtitle, which is also on the COVID is A Comedian's Journey Through Cancer, Divorce, and Other Hilarious Stuff. Okay, so that, yeah, you hear that. You're like, okay, other than that, how was the play? Mrs. Lincoln? Right. So. But that tells you what has been going on in my life. And this took place very recently. So my marriage ended after 29 years, and then as I was dealing with that, I received a colon cancer diagnosis. So that's two really unfunny topics, even though comedians do joke about divorce a lot on stage. And it makes sense because we always want to talk about topics that audience can relate to. And it's been estimated that 50% of marriages end in divorce. So right there, you have a fairly captive audience. Cancer, a little bit different. But I thought, you know, the more I started dealing with these things, I was writing things down kind of for my own. It was very therapeutic for me to try and find humor in this. I mean, comedians, we're always looking for funny. We are. That's just the way our minds work, Scott. You know that we're always looking at things a little bit differently and comedically. And I didn't see any reason to stop looking at things comedically. I don't think a speed bump in your life should force you to give up something that you love doing for 30 years. And I just started writing things down. And once I got a clean bill of health, I had surgery, and they removed everything, and there was nothing left. And once I. I found that out, I thought, well, now I've kind of been given a new lease a little bit, and my creative juices started flowing even more. And I thought, you know, there's something here. There's. There's a book here because, you know, the cancer was one thing. When you get divorced after 29 years, you. You have to reinvent yourself. You. All of a sudden, everything is kind of new to you. You have to start a new life. You have to, you know, move out on your own, which you haven't done. You have to learn to do new things that may. So, like, somebody would say, like, oh, you know, what's funny about paying bills? Well, if you didn't pay bills for 29 years and you let your spouse do it. There could be a lot of humor in that. You know, dating, I, once the divorce was final, I'm like, okay, I'd like to, you know, maybe have some female companionship, but how do I do that? You know, you date with your phone now. So I wrote a chapter on, I started online dating. And that material just kind of wrote itself. And the more I started writing this down, I thought, you know, this might be able to help other people. Because really, Scott, you know, when I'm on stage doing these corporates, they always want a message. The client always says, you know, okay, you're going to make us laugh, but is there a takeaway from there? They always want to know that. And my takeaway was always very simple. It was just kind of like, hey, you know, look at life from a different perspective. You can find humor around. You can find humor at your business, you can find humor at this corporate conference. And I started thinking, you know, I've never really had to live that. I was preaching it on stage to people, but I never really had to experience that until all of this happened. So in a way it was, I don't want to say it was a self help book, but I thought, okay, you know, now I'm really going to get a chance to practice what I preached. And that's where, that's where the humor and the chapters, they just started to flow. And I mean, there's chapters in there. And I talk about very personal subjects. I mean, I talk about going to therapy. You're like, what's funny about therapy? Well, if you've never been to therapy and you suddenly need a therapist and every single therapist is booked and you can't find one, and then you finally find one and he's got like four openings and the first thing you think is, well, you must suck at your job. Why do you have availability? You know, that's the way a comedian's mind works. I, you know, I started to do some gig work not because I necessarily needed the money, but I thought this would be a great way to interact with people because I'd lost a lot of friends as a result of my divorce. Now you can sit there and go, oh, woe is me. I don't have the friends that I used to anymore. Or you could say, so how am I going to replace that? How am I going to the conversations that I no longer have with my friends? Who am I going to have those conversations with? So I started driving for Uber. I did that for a year and it was Wow.

R. Scott Edwards: 23:11

I didn't know that.

Greg Schwem: 23:12

Yeah, yeah, I did. And as I said, not for the money.

R. Scott Edwards: 23:15

I was doing just fine for the humanity, basically.

Greg Schwem: 23:20

Yeah. And, you know, I met just hundreds of people, all with stories to tell, and I. You know, one of the things I say in the book is, I said, sometimes it's good to be the least interesting person in the room because you learn so much about people. I mean, comics, we're used to being the most interesting person. You know, we walk into a room and if everybody says what they do for a living and you say you're a comedian, boom. No one's. Very rarely is somebody going to top that. It's kind of like the Brian Regan I walked on the moon bit, you know? Well, you can definitely Google that one.

R. Scott Edwards: 23:56

Well, a couple things. First off, we're also happy that you got through the colon cancer and came out clean. Ladies and gentlemen, this is for Greg, because we're so happy for you, and God bless on that recovery. But also, I think it's so great that not only through these challenges in life, divorce is hard, cancer is hard. Doing them both together is incredible. And the fact that you were able to write down things as you're going through it and kind of finding the funny, but more importantly, Greg, is that you were able to package that and share it with the world through this new book. Turning gut punches into punchlines and giving people out there that are going through similar challenges, or maybe they know somebody that's going through a challenge, helping them find the funny, find a way through the tragedy in life with comedy. And I think that's so important. Thank you so much for doing that. Yeah.

Greg Schwem: 25:00

And, you know, you think about. That's kind of what we do. That is what, you know, people. I hope that people who, you know, maybe aren't feeling great about themselves or something. I mean, every time I met a. When I do comedy clubs or something, I'm sure there's some people out there that maybe they came to a club that night because something happened or they're doing, you know, their dog died, a relative died, they got a diagnosis, they had a fight with their spouse, they lost their job, something. Not everybody who's at a comedy club, I think, is comes in happy. And hey, you know, we're just. We're happy now, and when we leave, we're going to be happier. There are people who just maybe just had a really lousy day at work.

R. Scott Edwards: 25:42

And they need a laugh, right?

Greg Schwem: 25:44

Yes, they do. And so really, I think even though the material that I Wrote down is not, it's not. You know, some comics just take their stand up act and they just create a book out of it. It's not that there's a lot of, there's a lot of topics and a lot of material in there that I just could not translate to the stage. It's better written out in long form. But the purpose is the same in the fact that I want people. Whether you're seeing me live or whether you're reading this book, I hope that you're, you're getting a chance to laugh. Maybe you're seeing yourself in some of my problems and my issues that I've experienced and you're seeing how I dealt with them. And maybe you think, okay, so maybe I can do this too.

R. Scott Edwards: 26:32

Yeah. And it's so cathartic to be able to think about, discuss, and hear about other people. Like you said when you were a Lyft driver, Uber driver, and being able to exchange that information and the other challenges and the highs and lows of other people. Your book is taking your highs and lows, basically lows, and finding the funny in them and sharing it with people that, I mean, we, you know, as you mentioned earlier, you know, 50% of the world is divorced and too many of us are dealing with cancer or have family members dealing with cancer. And you're able to share your experience, but because you're a standup comic, I think that that's, for me, in this podcast, that's the foundation. It starts with being a standup comic and being able to find the funny and share humor with people to help them through tough times. Like you said, whether it's these serious things or just like you said, a bad day turning it into a better day. But also with your experience as a public speaker, you have a talent for getting the message across correctly. And I think bringing all that together in this book, now the fact that you went through cancer, of course, has highlighted cancer in your life. I know you've done some things. Last November, you were a supporter of Humor Beats Cancer, which was a great event to make, bring awareness and raise money to fight cancer. The book is going to be a real support prop for people dealing with difficult situations. And I think that sharing your story is really going to have an impact. And what's interesting, Greg, is that you've already had an impact in other people's lives as a standup comic, and then you affected people's lives in the business world as a public speaker. And now the book really gets it more personal and takes really tough challenges that we've all had to deal with. As I mentioned earlier, humanity and helps people through it by finding the funny. And I just want to thank you for the world for taking the time to put your story down and bring it to everybody through this book. Turning gut punches into punchlines. I know it's available in most bookstores and on Amazon. Anywhere else you think would be good for them to find this?

Greg Schwem: 28:58

Well, you know, sometimes people have purchased the book. You know, they've. I've done book signings after shows, and they said, you know, I'm going to give this to somebody who is battling cancer or just went through a divorce. Can you sign it to that person? And. Of course. And I will tell people if you would like a personalized message either for you or for somebody. If you just go to gregschwem.com and shoot me a message. There's a link to my email. Shoot me a message, let me know what it's about and send me your address. I'll be more than happy to. To personalize the message any way you want. Because I think sometimes people, when they do get a book and they see their name and a message from the guy who wrote it, I think that means a lot to people.

R. Scott Edwards: 29:39

Well, that, that means so much to people because again, it makes it so personal in dealing with these personal tragedies. I think that's amazing. You do that. Ladies and gentlemen, that's gregschwem.com G R E G S C H W E M if you get a chance, find the book on Amazon, go to Greg schwem dot com. Whether it's for you, a family member or a friend, I'm sure we all know somebody dealing with cancer or divorce or some other of life's tragedies and where we need a little bit of humor, a little bit of perspective to help us through it. And with great people like Greg, sharing and opening up about their lives, gives us an opportunity to get through the tough times. Greg, thanks so much for sharing this with my audience and congratulations on all your success.

Greg Schwem: 30:34

Well, thank you so much, Scott. It's always a pleasure to talk to you. Really appreciate it.

R. Scott Edwards: 30:38

So, ladies and gentlemen, as we've said over and over on this podcast, it all starts with standup comedy. And in this case, Greg has turned it into not only a terrific career, but now a positive message to help us all through the tough times in life. Greg, thanks so much for being on the show. Ladies and gentlemen, we'll be back next week with another great standup Comedy show. Greg Schwim, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. We'll see you next week. Bye.

Announcer: 31:08

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