Center Stage / the conversation

Greg Schwem

Corporate Comedian, Business Humorist & Humorous Keynote Speaker

Their story

Read the full guest story

Greg Schwem is one of America's most in-demand corporate comedians, a nationally syndicated humor columnist, three-time bestselling author, and the man the Chicago Tribune called "king of the hill in the world of corporate comedy." Based in Chicago, Schwem has spent more than three decades doing something most people consider impossible: walking into the most serious rooms in American business — the annual conferences of Microsoft, McDonald's, IBM, Cisco, General Motors, and the CIA — and making everyone in them laugh at themselves. His brand of humor is clean, deeply customized, and built on the conviction that laughter is not a break from the work — it is the work. Schwem's path into corporate comedy traces back to his early career as a television news reporter, including a stint at a Florida NBC affiliate, before he made the pivot into stand-up and discovered his true calling in the corporate market. What he found was a niche almost no one had claimed: comedy that meets organizations exactly where they are, speaks their language, knows their acronyms, understands their culture, and uses that intimacy to generate genuine laughter rather than generic jokes. That approach — immersive, research-first, audience-first — has earned him the loyalty of Fortune 500 clients across industries and the designation "Your boss's favorite comedian" from HuffPost. He has opened concert stages alongside Celine Dion, Keith Urban, Enrique Iglesias, Jay Leno, and Styx, and has appeared on Comedy Central, VH-1, Sirius XM Laugh USA, FOX News, and Caroline's Comedy Hour. Beyond the stage, Schwem has built a media presence that extends well beyond the speaking circuit. Since 2011, he has written the weekly "Humor Hotel" column for Tribune Content Agency, a nationally syndicated humor column that has twice earned him recognition from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists for outstanding humor writing. He is the author of three books, including the Amazon bestsellers *Text Me If You're Breathing: Observations, Frustrations and Life Lessons From a Low-Tech Dad* and *The Road to Success Goes Through the Salad Bar: A Pile of BS (Business Stories) From a Corporate Comedian*. In 2018, he launched the travel web series *A Comedian Crashes Your Pad*, in which he stayed in quirky Airbnb properties and filmed his encounters with hosts and guests. The series won a Telly Award for Travel and Tourism in 2020 and now streams on Roku, Amazon Fire, and Apple TV. In January 2024, Schwem's life took a turn that would test everything he had ever preached from the stage. While already in the midst of a gray divorce — the dissolution of a 29-year marriage — he received a diagnosis of a malignant tumor lying flat on his colon. Stage II colon cancer, discovered during a routine colonoscopy despite no family history and no symptoms. The surgery removed the tumor along with 18 inches of colon. He did not require chemotherapy or radiation. Both the divorce and the cancer were happening at the same time. As he described it plainly: "There wasn't a whole lot to laugh about in that span of time." What Schwem did next was characteristically him: he grabbed a laptop, propped it on hospital pillows, and started writing. The result was *Turning Gut Punches into Punch Lines: A Comedian's Journey Through Cancer, Divorce, and Other Hilarious Stuff* — a new book and a new keynote that teaches audiences how to locate humor in the unfunniest of circumstances. The personal reckoning also surfaced something Schwem had observed with growing concern: the invisibility of men in the national conversation about gray divorce. When Oprah did a major podcast episode on gray divorce, the audience was overwhelmingly women. Support groups for divorcees rarely center the male experience. Schwem became an accidental voice for that gap — a man in his 60s who found himself suddenly alone, relearning how to date, how to manage finances, how to make new friends, and how to build a life from scratch. He discusses this openly, not with bitterness, but with the self-deprecating candor that defines his best material. "If you can laugh at yourself," he says, "things will get better." Today, Greg Schwem continues to perform for corporate audiences worldwide, advocate for colorectal cancer screening as a volunteer for the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, and remind anyone who will listen that humor is not a luxury in hard times — it is a survival mechanism, a communication tool, and a vital sign of organizational and personal health. His keynote *Turning Gut Punches into Punch Lines* has become one of his most requested programs, proof that an audience of business professionals responds just as powerfully to vulnerability as to a perfectly timed punchline.

Center Stage Corporate comedy and customized business humor Humor as a workplace communication and culture tool Gray divorce and the male experience of late-life relationship breakdown Colon cancer survivorship and the role of humor in illness recovery Self-deprecation as a comedic and personal resilience strategy Turning personal adversity into public performance Men's emotional health and the absence of male support spaces Humor column writing and syndicated media (Tribune Content Agency)Conference emceeing and event hosting for Fortune 500 audiences Holiday loneliness and emotional resilience during major life transitions The ethics and craft of comedy — vulnerability without victimhood Technology and workplace culture through a comedic lens

In their own words

The comedian behind the curtain

I've had a pretty great career as a corporate comedian and a business humor speaker, which is sort of a special niche that I've been able to just immerse myself in. And that was going great. And then — you obviously even comedians have problems in their lives.

Greg setting up the central tension of his story — a flourishing career interrupted by simultaneous personal crises. The line lands because it dismantles the assumption that comedians, of all people, are immune to the weight of real life.

Divorce and cancer — the gut punch

While I was going through the divorce, I got a colon cancer diagnosis. I was very lucky — they got rid of all of it. But this was going on at the same time as the divorce. So there wasn't a whole lot to laugh about in that span of time.

Greg describing the simultaneous weight of stage II colon cancer and gray divorce — two of life's most disorienting events, arriving together. He names the reality directly before reaching for the punchline, which is exactly what makes him effective both as a communicator and as a comedian.

Vulnerability with craft — the comedian's standard

I'm not going to talk about this stuff on stage unless I can make people laugh about it as well. There's got to be a joke in there somewhere because we did come to see a comedy show. We did not come to see a therapy session.

Greg articulating his philosophy of vulnerability with craft — the standard he holds himself to when mining personal pain for material. The rule is not to avoid the serious topic, but to honor both the weight of it and the audience's expectation of laughter. John Mulaney is the example he names as someone who has achieved this brilliantly.

Laughter as delayed medicine

Eventually. Eventually, because I knew it had to be. Obviously when you're getting off the phone with your lawyer and he's saying it's going to be another three to six months and you owe me another $5,000 — that is not exactly a funny topic.

Greg answering whether laughter was a non-negotiable during his hardest period. The qualifier 'eventually' carries more weight than a simple yes — it acknowledges that humor is not always available on demand, but that for a comedian, the belief that it will return is itself a form of resilience.

The first laugh — finding the way back

My physical health is great. I walk to the liquor store every night. And that just came out. And we both started laughing. And I wrote that down. I'm like — okay, there we go. That is the beginning of me kind of getting back in the saddle.

Greg recounting the exact moment humor broke back through during the worst period of his life — a throwaway line on a phone call with a friend that made him laugh for the first time in a while. The moment of writing it down is significant: it marks the transition from surviving to performing.

Self-deprecation as the universal key

I think the funniest stuff is when you can laugh at yourself no matter where you are. And then the audience picks up on that, especially in these days when everybody's offended by everything.

Greg on self-deprecation as both a comedic technique and a survival strategy. He connects it directly to the current cultural moment — when audiences are primed to be offended, the safest and most powerful comedy is turned inward.

The practical prescription for humor

Find somebody that you're friends with, a good friend, start having a conversation with them. Ask your friend: what is something funny that happened to you? And see if it triggers something that's funny in you. The more you talk to somebody, the more something funny will come up.

Greg offering practical, no-prep advice for anyone struggling to find humor in a dark period. The technique is not to manufacture laughter but to create the conditions — conversation, connection, listening — in which laughter naturally emerges.

Gray divorce and the missing male voice

The divorce rate of people over 50 is the only demographic where it is on the rise. Men — I have not found any support groups or anything like that where men get a chance to talk about the things that affect them when they and their partner split up after a very lengthy marriage.

Greg identifying a genuine gap in the social support infrastructure for men going through gray divorce — and implicitly naming why conversations like this one on Mornings in the Lab matter. The observation is backed by trend data and personal experience.

Appearances & videos

Divorce & Cancer Hit Him at the Same Time | Comedian Greg Schwem

Original interview details

Divorce & Cancer Hit Him at the Same Time

Episode #CS-002

Center Stage

Mornings in the Lab · Center StageNovember 24, 2025Watch →

From the interview

There wasn't a whole lot to laugh about in that span of time. Eventually — eventually — because I knew it had to be.

My physical health is great. I walk to the liquor store every night. That just came out. We both started laughing. And I wrote that down. That is the beginning of me getting back in the saddle.

I'm not going to talk about this stuff on stage unless I can make people laugh about it as well. There's got to be a joke in there somewhere — we did not come to see a therapy session.

Questions & answers

What is a 'gray divorce' and why does Greg Schwem talk about it?

A gray divorce refers to the dissolution of a long-term marriage among people over 50. Greg Schwem went through one himself after 29 years of marriage, and he began speaking about it publicly because he noticed an almost complete absence of spaces where men could discuss the experience. As he noted in his Mornings in the Lab appearance, the divorce rate for people over 50 is the only demographic where it is actually rising. Yet support groups, media coverage, and public conversation about gray divorce are overwhelmingly oriented toward women. Schwem has become an accidental advocate for that overlooked perspective — not by attacking anyone or dwelling in bitterness, but by applying his comic and human honesty to the experience of starting over in your 60s.

How did Greg Schwem handle being diagnosed with cancer while going through a divorce at the same time?

In January 2024, while in the midst of his divorce proceedings, Greg Schwem was diagnosed with a malignant tumor on his colon during a routine colonoscopy — stage II colon cancer, with no prior symptoms or family history. Surgery successfully removed the tumor along with 18 inches of colon. He did not require chemotherapy or radiation and received a clean bill of health. His answer to how he coped was honest: not immediately with laughter. 'There wasn't a whole lot to laugh about in that span of time,' he said. But as he processed both events, he began writing, first as a way to survive and then as a way to perform. That writing became his book *Turning Gut Punches into Punch Lines* and his most requested keynote speech.

What does Greg Schwem actually do — is he just a comedian, or a motivational speaker?

Greg Schwem occupies a unique space between corporate comedian, humorous keynote speaker, and motivational speaker. His primary business is performing customized comedy for corporate conferences, sales meetings, association events, and awards ceremonies — clients have included Microsoft, McDonald's, IBM, Cisco, General Motors, Southwest Airlines, and the CIA. What sets him apart from both straight-up comedians and motivational speakers is his research-first model: he immerses himself in each client's industry, learns their language and culture, and builds material that feels like it came from inside the company. The result is humor that is clean, safe for HR, and deeply relevant to the room.

What books has Greg Schwem written?

Greg Schwem has written three books. *Text Me If You're Breathing: Observations, Frustrations and Life Lessons From a Low-Tech Dad* was his first, a comedic take on parenting in the digital age. *The Road to Success Goes Through the Salad Bar: A Pile of BS (Business Stories) From a Corporate Comedian* skewers the absurdities of corporate America from the perspective of a comedian who has spent decades inside it. His most recent, *Turning Gut Punches into Punch Lines: A Comedian's Journey Through Cancer, Divorce, and Other Hilarious Stuff*, is a memoir-style book that chronicles his 2024 dual diagnosis of gray divorce and stage II colon cancer, and how humor became both survival mechanism and source material. All three have been Amazon bestsellers.

What is Greg Schwem's advice for finding humor when life gets hard?

Schwem's practical advice is simple: don't try to manufacture a laugh — create the conditions for one to find you. His specific technique is to call a good friend, ask them to share something funny that happened to them, and see if it triggers something funny in you. He is explicit that this is not about forcing laughter or being dismissive of pain. 'I don't want to be dismissive of the seriousness of the divorce and the cancer diagnosis,' he said on Mornings in the Lab. But he believes that once laughter reappears — even briefly, even on a phone call — it begins a chain reaction. 'The more you talk to somebody, the more something funny will come up. And once you're laughing, things can only get better from there.' The brain chemistry follows the behavior, not the other way around.

Why does Greg Schwem focus on self-deprecating humor rather than targeting others?

Schwem has built his entire career on the principle that the most powerful and safest comedy is turned inward. In the corporate context, this means he never singles out individuals for mockery — instead, he lets the audience laugh at themselves collectively, at their shared absurdities and cultural quirks. On a personal level, when processing his divorce and cancer publicly, he applies the same rule: he takes 100% responsibility for his own mistakes, pokes fun at his own confusions as a man dating again at 63, and refuses to blast his ex-spouse or dwell in grievance. As he explained on the show: 'I think the funniest stuff is when you can laugh at yourself no matter where you are. Especially in these days when everybody's offended by everything.'

The full conversation

Read the transcript

Be honest. When was the last time you laughed so hard at work that the slide deck actually got better afterward? Imagine the guy whose full-time job is walking into those serious boardrooms and making everyone laugh at themselves again. That guy is Greg. Corporate comedian, business humor speaker, and professional fixer of boring meetings. For more than 30 years, he has flown into ballrooms and breakouts, turning Microsoft, McDonald's, IBM, and United into punchlines. He has opened for Celine Dion, Keith Urban, and Jay Leno. Proving clean comedy can still shake a thousand people awake. He researches every client, learning their acronyms, jokes, and truths, then builds sets that feel like they were written in house. He even created a travel series, A Comedian Crashes Your Pad. Living in bizarre Airbnbs while making strangers and corporate crowds howl. Today, his sweet spot is leaders and teams who secretly know their culture is tired and need permission to be playful again. Offstage, he is a gray divorce survivor after 29 years of marriage, asking why support groups forget the men. He stared down stage 2 colon cancer, turning chemo chairs and bright hospital corridors into material, refusing to let fear own the microphone. Underneath every joke is his belief that humor is not optional at work. It is a vital sign of health. Greg, we're excited to sit down with you today. Welcome to Mornings in the Lab. Keith: Greg Schwem, what a shaking brother. Greg: Hey. Hey, dude. Hey, bro. I'm sorry. I had to start off with that. Keith: Good morning, Greg. Where are you joining us from today, brother? Greg: From Chicago. Keith: listen, thanks for joining us in the lab here this morning. It's not lost upon you that you have been fortunate in your career to open up for some pretty high-profile people. Greg: Yeah. Yeah. I've had a pretty great career, I think, as a corporate comedian and a business humor speaker, which is sort of a special niche that I've been able to just immerse myself in. And that was going great. And then you obviously even comedians have problems in their lives. I think a lot of times people don't realize that. I think a lot of times people think comedians were just put on earth to entertain others. Keith: You're a cancer survivor and you're a divorce survivor, and those occurred simultaneously. Greg: Yeah. And those those occurred simultaneously. So I've had a pretty great career as a corporate comedian and a business humor speaker. And that was going great. And then you know, you obviously even comedians have problems in their lives. I think a lot of times people don't realize that.

Open transcript page →

Guest gallery

Announcement card · Pre-show shareable graphic generated by the Authority Page Builder.

Vulnerability with craft — the comedian's standard

Original headshot ↗

Conversation topics

Center Stage introduction and video clip · ~3 minutes · The show's video intro frames Greg as a professional 'fixer of boring meetings' — a corporate comedian who has spent 30 years turning Fortune 500 company names into punchlines, who opened for Celine Dion and Keith Urban, and who offstage is quietly navigating gray divorce and stage II colon cancer. Sets up the tension between the public performer and the private man. · Greeting and banter — Greg joins from Chicago · ~2 minutes · Greg opens by riffing on the hosts' use of 'dude' and 'bro,' immediately deploying his sharp observational style. He connects with Keith, John, and Marty easily, demonstrating how a professional comedian enters a room — by laughing at what's already there. · The career: corporate comedy as a niche and a calling · ~3 minutes · Greg explains what 'corporate comedian' and 'business humor speaker' actually mean — a special niche he has immersed himself in for over 30 years. He acknowledges his former NBC reporter background and the evolution into performing exclusively for business audiences who need to laugh at themselves. · The two letters: cancer and divorce, arriving simultaneously · ~4 minutes · The core of the conversation. Greg describes receiving a colon cancer diagnosis during a routine colonoscopy while already in the middle of divorce proceedings after 29 years of marriage. He discusses the demographics of gray divorce, its rise among people over 50, and the specific invisibility of men in that conversation. He names it plainly: there wasn't a lot to laugh about. · Gray divorce and the male support gap · ~4 minutes · Greg observes that while gray divorce is rising, the public conversation about it — Oprah's podcast, support groups, mainstream media — skews almost entirely toward women. He notes he was the first in his married friend group to divorce, describing the experience of losing some friends who didn't know how to respond and rediscovering others who showed up. He frames it as a blessing in disguise: you find out who your people really are. · Laughter as medicine — but not immediately · ~3 minutes · Asked whether humor was a non-negotiable during the hardest period, Greg gives an honest, qualified answer: 'Eventually.' He describes the process of comedians' minds always searching for the material in hard circumstances, knowing that at some point the experience will become stage-worthy — but not forcing it before it's ready. John Mulaney is referenced as the gold standard for turning personal crisis into brilliant comedy. · Dating again at 63 — the comedy of reinvention · ~5 minutes · One of the most entertaining passages of the conversation. Greg walks through the experience of dating for the first time in decades — starting online as a 'fact-finding mission,' making rookie mistakes (telling a woman he wished he had ten of her), and learning that you must decide first whether you want a relationship or just companionship. He owns every mistake with full self-deprecating honesty and locates humor in the sheer absurdity of relearning social skills in your 60s. · The first laugh — walking to the liquor store · ~2 minutes · Greg shares the specific moment humor broke back through: on a call with a friend during the divorce and cancer period, asked how his physical health was holding up, he said: 'My physical health is great. I walk to the liquor store every night.' Both men burst out laughing. Greg wrote it down immediately. That small moment — a line born from exhaustion and honesty — marked the beginning of his return to the stage. · The practical advice: how to create a laugh at work today · ~3 minutes · Asked for actionable advice with no prep and no budget, Greg offers a specific technique: call a friend, ask them what's something funny that happened to them, and let their story trigger something funny in you. He is honest that the holidays are the hardest time for him personally, but insists that connection — and humor that emerges naturally from connection — is always available. · Thanksgiving morning standup for naval recruits · ~2 minutes · Greg reveals that he plans to spend Thanksgiving morning performing standup comedy for naval recruits finishing basic training — young men away from home for the first time on a holiday. It's a window into the man beneath the brand: someone who finds meaning in using comedy to make people feel less alone, not just to entertain corporate crowds. · The book and website — closing call to action · ~2 minutes · Greg directs viewers to gregschwem.com and reveals the title of his most recent book: *Turning Gut Punches into Punch Lines: A Comedian's Journey Through Cancer, Divorce, and Other Hilarious Stuff*. He explains that his website is designed to give potential clients 'visual proof' — video evidence that he can make a corporate audience laugh without getting HR involved.