Greg Schwem: the conversation

Mornings in the Lab · Interview 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.