You Can't Laugh At That

Bob Kingery is the CEO and co-founder of Southern Energy Management, a North Carolina-based leader in renewable energy and a certified B-Corp recognized for being a top workplace.

Not only is Southern Energy innovative in their technology as they continue their mission of pushing for a cleaner world, but Bob's leadership style is innovative in the way he frames himself as "the boss:" someone willing to openly share mistakes, just as much as he's willing to share victories.

Bob's nuanced approach to leading his people isn't all too different from the way a great comedian approaches their audience: looking to meet them where they are, build a connection, and run forward as they disrupt the energy industry with a workplace culture that proves you CAN laugh at work.

Find out more about Southern Energy Management: southern-energy.com

Follow them on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/southern-energy-management/

About The Podcast:

You Can't Laugh At That is a podcast launched by comedians David Horning and Steve Mers to prove that anything can be funny in a world that often takes itself too seriously. David and Steve are obsessed with the art and science of comedy and why we laugh, so this podcast was started to prove that when approached with the right intent, perspective, and delivery, you CAN laugh at that.

Support the podcast and our guests by visiting watercoolercomedy.org/podcast and purchasing an album, book, or your own podcasting equipment

Visit patreon.com/youcantlaughpod and become a Patron for exclusive access to bonus content.

Follow us on social media for updates, clips, and comedy tips:

twitter.com/youcantlaughpod

facebook.com/youcantlaughatthat

Follow David on IG and Twitter: @THEdavidhorning

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/watercoolerdavid

Produced by Water Cooler Comedy - http://watercoolercomedy.org​

Music by Producedbyzip - https://producedbyzip.bandcamp.com

For the first time since the beginning of COVID, we didn't have an episode in the chamber ready to go, so we did something different for this episode.

Instead of breaking down a bit by a guest and discussing why it's funny, we listen to and exchange notes on one of David's bits he's been working out at open mics.

Even though comedy is a solo act, sometimes getting insights, questions, and tags from fellow comics can lead to breakthroughs, and it's a fun process to see play out, so we thought we'd share it with you.

Do Steve and Gheramy even like the bit? Can David learn from Jarret Berenstein's appearance on the podcast and make a joke about being a sex offender funny?

Listen in and find out!

Support our podcast and gain access to bonus footage from nearly every episode at patreon.com/youcantlaughpod

Listen to an episode you liked and you want to support our guest? Buy their album at watercoolercomedy.org/podcast

Follow us on Twitter @Youcantlaughpod

Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/youcantlaughatthat

Follow David on Instagram and Twitter: @thedavidhorning

Follow Steve on Instagram (@stevemers) and Twitter (@merscomedy)

Follow Gheramy on Instagram and Twitter: @gheramy_demery

Brought to you by Water Cooler Comedy - watercoolercomedy.org

Produced by Golden Ox Studio | Music: Producedbyzip

Cleveland comedian Bill Squire joins the podcast to break down his hilarious bit about baptisms from his new album Bam Bam to prove that you CAN laugh at indoctrination.

Though this episode explores what's funny about the religious ceremonies and stories that have indoctrinated (and killed) millions over the centuries, we have to be able to question the societal and social stories that have been drilled into our heads since we were kids too.

It's hard to question the identities we've build around these stories, but the moment you start to take a step back, it's hard not to laugh about the double standards and silliness that exist just under the surface.

Sometimes all it takes is a good baptism joke to do it.

In this episode, we also talk about:

-Making boring topics dark.

-How Bill’s baptism bit is funny first to distract from the controversial stance he's taking.

-Boring old ceremonies like graduations, weddings, and baptisms.

-Adding your own flavor to traditional ceremonies.

-The origin of many major religious ceremonies and traditions.

-Relating Mormonism to mainstream Christian religion.

-Thrusting the responsibility of choosing a religion and baptism on 8 year-olds.

-The dark story behind why many faiths baptize babies.

-The fear of sinning as a kid.

-Not having the answers, but having to have AN answer.

-Astrology.

-New ceremonies and traditions on social media.

-Joking about generational differences.

-The Good Samaritan.

-Using reasoning and critical thinking to challenge pre-conditioned beliefs.

-Having a counterpoint of not liking science.

-Starting a religion.

-Questioning and challenging your conditioning instead of questioning and challenging the questioning and challenging in order to improve the conditioning for the next generation.

And more!!!

Learn more about Bill at billsquire.com

Buy Bill's new album, Bam Bam: https://amzn.to/3hMiLG9

Listen to The Bill Squire Show: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1248-the-bill-squire-show-63493488/

Follow Bill on social media:

Instagram & Twitter: @billsquire

Support our podcast and gain access to 6 minutes of bonus footage from this episode at patreon.com/youcantlaughpod

Listen to an episode you liked and you want to support our guest? Buy their album at watercoolercomedy.org/podcast

Follow us on Twitter @Youcantlaughpod

Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/youcantlaughatthat

Brought to you by Water Cooler Comedy - watercoolercomedy.org

Produced by Golden Ox Studio | Music: Producedbyzip

Travis Terrell is the CEO and co-founder of Soundstripe, a music licensing company based out of Nashville, where their mission is for the creatives to keep creating. Whether it's the artists making the music Soundstripe sells, or the accounting team crunching numbers, he pushes for a culture that tries new ways of doing things, and it has made the company a top workplace in Tennessee.

Travis' approach to leadership isn't all too different from a comedian's approach to the way they approach the world: in a nuanced and curious fashion. This is just one reason why Travis helps us prove that you CAN laugh at work.

Follow Travis on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victor-bohnert-4a3aaa2/

Learn more about Travis: travisterrell.live

Find out more about Soundstripe: soundstripe.com

Follow them on Twiter: @SoundstripeApp

Follow them on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/soundstripe/

About The Podcast:

You Can't Laugh At That is a podcast launched by comedians David Horning and Steve Mers to prove that anything can be funny in a world that often takes itself too seriously. David and Steve are obsessed with the art and science of comedy and why we laugh, so this podcast was started to prove that when approached with the right intent, perspective, and delivery, you CAN laugh at that.

Support the podcast and our guests by visiting watercoolercomedy.org/podcast and purchasing an album, book, or your own podcasting equipment

Visit patreon.com/youcantlaughpod and become a Patron for exclusive access to bonus content.

Follow us on social media for updates, clips, and comedy tips:

twitter.com/youcantlaughpod

facebook.com/youcantlaughatthat

Follow David on IG and Twitter: @THEdavidhorning

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/watercoolerdavid

Produced by Water Cooler Comedy - http://watercoolercomedy.org​

Music by Producedbyzip - https://producedbyzip.bandcamp.com

Comedian Anthony DeVito has a hilarious bit about his grandmother that takes down a whole generation's bigotry and resistance to change by... calling out the people who call it out?

His fresh perspective on the greatest generation, and old people in general, challenges our perceptions on their sensitivity to jokes about them and proves that you CAN laugh at the elderly.

We also talk about:

-Why The Rad Dudecast ended.

-Anthony’s new podcast, “Baseball Times” with Ken Burns.

-Canceling or leaning into "ageist" jokes.

-Where SNL lacks in diversity.

-Why people are resistant to laughing about the elderly.

-The benefit of having older voices in writers rooms.

-Old audiences that are fun jaded.

-Anthony’s bit about his grandmother from his album “Dream Occupation.”

-Fear of death and resistance to talking about it.

-The unfair expectation of holding the elderly to modern societal standards.

-Being able to hide the point of a bit.

-Loving your characters, even if the goal is for the audience to turn on them.

-Closing bits with platitudes, clichés, and quotes to disrupt the audience’s pattern detection.

-The fun you can have with a bit once you have the thesis down.

-Giving the audience breadcrumbs to get to big punchlines.

-Using simplicity to introduce characters while still giving the audience enough information to create an image.

-Taking creative liberties to make yourself part of the story you’re describing.

-And more!!!

Learn more about Anthony at anthonydevitocomedy.com

Buy Anthony's album: https://amzn.to/36eoTkc

Listen to Anthony's podcast (RIP), "The Rad Dudecast:" https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVRLD8Bp9aIPnDDVWTxiOMA

Follow Anthony on social media:

Instagram: @comediananthonydevito

Twitter: @anthonydevito_

Support our podcast and gain access to 14 minutes of bonus footage from this episode at patreon.com/youcantlaughpod

To support our guests, you can buy their albums at watercoolercomedy.org/podcast

Follow us on Twitter @Youcantlaughpod

Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/youcantlaughatthat

Brought to you by Water Cooler Comedy - watercoolercomedy.org

Produced by Golden Ox Studio | Music: Producedbyzip

One of the biggest benefits of renting is that when something breaks or goes wrong, someone else fixes it at no cost to you. Meanwhile, one of the biggest detractors of renting is that when something breaks or goes wrong, you're at the mercy of your landlord.

Whether they blame you for the problem, keep you waiting for an unreasonable amount of time, or end up in your apartment without a head's up, having a bad landlord can make you feel powerless... so you've just got to laugh.

Sarah Tollemache once had a landlord like this, and not only has she found the funny in the frustration, she turned it into a hilarious bit that proves you CAN laugh at that.

Even on the first of the month.

In this episode, we talk about:

-If doing Zoom shows is worth it.

-The bit from Sarah’s album, Voluptuous Boy, about her landlord.

-Comparing living in New York City to camping.

-Sarah’s writing process.

-Thinking of jokes about inappropriate situations, like when Sarah joked about the Challenger disaster at 8 years old.

-Using humor and heightening a situation when you feel powerless.

-Turning microaggressions into material.

-Developing some empathy for the things landlords have to deal with.

-Making the unreasonable characters in your bits likable to punch up the humor.

-The difficulties of finding a place in New York and moving.

-Driving pet peeves.

-Paying rent on time.

-Landlords cutting corners when fixing little things like light switches and hot and plumbing.

-Mice.

-Weird roommates.

-Joke placement.

-Dealing with technical difficulties.

-The necessity of conflict for growth.

-Writing what you feel.

-The savages who flush their tampons.

-And more!!!

Learn more about Sarah at sarahtcomedy.com

Buy Sarah's album: https://amzn.to/3qLpmDK

Listen to Sarah's podcast, "Vadge:" https://soundcloud.com/vadge78

Follow Sarah on social media:

Facebook: facebook.com/ComedianSarahTollemache

Instagram: @stollemache

TikTok: @stollemache

Twitter: @stollemache

Support our podcast and gain access to 16 minutes of bonus footage from this episode at patreon.com/youcantlaughpod

To support our guests, you can buy their albums at watercoolercomedy.org/podcast

Follow us on Twitter @Youcantlaughpod

Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/youcantlaughatthat

Brought to you by Water Cooler Comedy - watercoolercomedy.org

Produced by Golden Ox Studio | Music: Producedbyzip

Life is full of contradictions and unfair double standards, and when they're systemically baked into societal constructs, such as policing in black neighborhoods, lack of healthy food in low income areas, etc. they can be extra frustrating.

Comedy is about releasing the tension caused by these things with a laugh, because laughter can point these incongruities out in a non-threatening way, and connect people with differing opinions.

Comedian Andre D. Thompson (Tonight Show, Stand Up NBC) joins us to prove that you CAN laugh at that, but in doing so, you can bridge the gap between human beings by breaking our complex society down to its most basic human level.

In this episode, we talk about:

-Andre’s appreciation for music and admiration for rap.

-The secret side effect of the vaccine: rappers lose their flow.

-The power of different groups of people laughing together.

“In order to laugh, you gotta let go. That’s the only way to let laughter happen.”

-People trying to put on an image of cleanliness, resisting a dirty universe.

-The evolution of comedy away from being jokey toward questioning societal constructs.

-Georgia’s voter suppression bill restricting the handing out of water.

-Intentional food deserts and myth of “convenience.”

-Societal overcomplication of nutrition.

-The War On Drugs and the absurd amount of resources put into distributing cocaine and crack in certain neighborhoods instead of books, health food, or even an enlightening mind altering substance like LSD, shrooms, or weed.

-Andre’s bit about not having healthy food in his neighborhood.

-Feeling what you’re saying onstage, choosing words that fit the feeling, and getting that idea across to the audience.

-Addressing the audience when a joke doesn’t work.

-Boiling down conversations to a purely human level.

-The unwritten agreement of going to a comedy show.

-Finding humor in the conflict between the cops and black people.

-A potato chip metaphor about the incongruities and ironies of existence.

And more!!!

Learn more about Andre at andredthompson.com

Listen to Andre's podcast, "Slouch Theory:" https://www.authenticpodcastnetwork.com/ourpodcasts/slouch-theory

Follow Andre on social media:

Instagram: @andredthompson

Twitter: @andredthompson

Support our podcast and gain access to 16 minutes of bonus footage from this episode at patreon.com/youcantlaughpod

To support our guests, you can buy their albums at watercoolercomedy.org/podcast

Follow us on Twitter @Youcantlaughpod

Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/youcantlaughatthat

Brought to you by Water Cooler Comedy - watercoolercomedy.org

Produced by Golden Ox Studio | Music: Producedbyzip

Today’s guest is Victor Bohnert, CEO of Innovatis Group, an association management company that has leaned into the human side of building a vibrant workplace culture, based around entrepreneurial energy, fun, and hard work.

The growth of Innovatis Group can be attributed to Victor's leadership, as he has fostered a culture where his team can feel like owners, be creative, fail, learn, grow, and have fun doing it. Uncertainty is a daunting unknown that can paralyze, but Victor encourages his team to stay mentally and strategically sharp by demanding the instability that comes with trying new things - no different from the anxiety that comes when a comedian tries a new joke.

Victor's values and actions making Innovatis Group a Top Workplace two years running proves that you CAN laugh at work.

In this episode, we talk about:

-What separates Innovatis from competitors.

-Bringing people together to form a sense of community through two-way dialogue.

-Making the big seem small.

-Belief in the power of the collective experience, knowledge, and power of an organization or community.

-How employee behavior drives engagement strategy.

-Demanding instability in the environment to stay mentally and strategically sharp through the trust and support of the team.

-Incorporating fun into instability.

-How fun ends up being work when incorporating it into a virtual setting.

-The question of engagement as the organization grows – how many dogs in the office is too many?

-How a very serious Zoom meeting turned silly.

-Laughter as an outcome of creating a culture of engagement and joy.

-Turning fear of uncertainty into momentum.

And more!!!

Follow Victor on social media

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victor-bohnert-4a3aaa2/

Twitter: @victorbohnert

Find out more about Innovatis Group: innovatisgroup.com

Follow them on Twiter: @innovatisgroup

Follow them on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/innovatisgroup

About The Podcast:

You Can't Laugh At That is a podcast launched by comedians David Horning and Steve Mers to prove that anything can be funny in a world that often takes itself too seriously. David and Steve are obsessed with the art and science of comedy and why we laugh, so this podcast was started to prove that when approached with the right intent, perspective, and delivery, you CAN laugh at that.

Support the podcast and our guests by visiting watercoolercomedy.org/podcast and purchasing an album, book, or your own podcasting equipment

Visit patreon.com/youcantlaughpod and become a Patron for exclusive access to bonus content.

Follow us on social media for updates, clips, and comedy tips:

twitter.com/youcantlaughpod

facebook.com/youcantlaughatthat

Follow David on IG and Twitter: @THEdavidhorning

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/watercoolerdavid

Produced by Water Cooler Comedy - http://watercoolercomedy.org​

Music by Producedbyzip - https://producedbyzip.bandcamp.com

As kids, we learn what it means to be a boy or a girl, and when we act in a way that defies those standards - like an individual - it's met with resistance, from being disciplined, to being bullied, to feeling like we're not enough.

Comedian Caitlin Peluffo joins the podcast to help us prove that you CAN laugh at the gender norms that, in some cases can cause lifelong trauma. Not only is Caitlin comfortable with the fact that she's "softball skinny" and not the stereotypical woman propagated in cosmetic ads, she owns it.

In this episode, we talk about:

-Why Caitlin chose New York over LA.

-Caitlin’s onstage energy and experience on Colbert.

-Being critical of old footage.

-Caitlin’s bit that subverts gender expectations.

-Aiming for practicality over being pretty.

-Growing up with being handy and playing sports.

-Getting an “aww” from the audience when talking about being confident in her body type.

-Pay disparity in men’s vs. women’s soccer.

-Being comfortable being yourself and all of the discomfort on the way there.

-Getting corn rows.

-Being called a beast at sports.

-Not having a set writing process.

-How to be present and think on your feet onstage, even when you’re having a panic attack.

-Connecting with a lower energy audience as a high energy comedian.

-Strength being more powerful than beauty.

-Being self-deprecating while being self-aware and self-confident.

-Calling out men’s low standards.

-Why we break down humor on the podcast.

And more!!!

Learn more about Caitlin at caitlinpeluffo.com

Listen to Caitlin's podcast, "Good Time Gal:" https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/good-time-gal-with-caitlin-peluffo/id1506844357

Follow Caitlin on social media:

Instagram: @caitlinpeluffo

Twitter: @caitlinpeluffo

Support our podcast and check out bonus episode footage at patreon.com/youcantlaughpod

To support our guests, you can buy their albums at watercoolercomedy.org/podcast

Follow us on Twitter @Youcantlaughpod

Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/youcantlaughatthat

Brought to you by Water Cooler Comedy - watercoolercomedy.org

Produced by Golden Ox Studio | Music: Producedbyzip

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Wait, you CAN laugh at a violent conflict destabilizing a region, displacing an entire race of people, and uprooting the lives of millions for the better part of a century?

Comedian Sammy Obeid (Conan, says yes and proves it with a bit about the Israel-Palestine conflict that went viral earlier this year. According to Sammy, not only can anything be funny, but some of the skills that make an effective comedian can even be used to bring people together to solve differences.

In this episode, we talk about:

-Starting comedy by doing characters.

-Sammy’s viral bit on the Israel-Palestinian conflict to an organization with an anti-Palestinian bias.

-Connecting with an audience that doesn’t agree with you.

-The importance of our brains’ pattern detection to connecting with the audience.

-Having fun with building tension in a room.

-Using the perspective of a child to reveal humor in a complex premise.

-9/11, the American media’s portrayal of Palestinians, and its impact on Sammy’s identity.

-Why more Americans have recently developed a sympathy to the Palestinian plight.

-The role comedy could play in geopolitical relationships and building arguments.

-What comedians do that modern politicians can’t.

-Not letting the silence and judgment of a group who disagrees with your point derail your set.

-How to connect the humor in a touchy topic with a wide audience.

-Wrapping your personal experience around a topic as a way to approach any touchy topic.

And more!!!

Learn more about Sammy at sammyko.com

Buy Sammy's album, Orjanic: https://amzn.to/3cEjTbX

Follow Sammy on social media:

Instagram: @sammyobeid

Twitter: @sammyobeid

Support our podcast and gain access to bonus footage at patreon.com/youcantlaughpod

To support our guests, you can buy their albums at watercoolercomedy.org/podcast

Follow us on Twitter @Youcantlaughpod

Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/youcantlaughatthat

Brought to you by Water Cooler Comedy - watercoolercomedy.org

Produced by Golden Ox Studio | Music: Producedbyzip