REUNITE YOUR WORKPLACE

Comedy sells, right? We remember the television ads that make us laugh and we relate to funny people. It’s a fact. Humour defines us even down to the kind of comedy we like – it may be subjective, but it helps us to bond and communicate and laughter is a genuinely unifying activity. It’s infectious and doesn’t kill us so why do we shy away from the funny stuff when we’re in the workplace? It shouldn’t all be hard work and no play.

If COVID has taught us anything, it’s shown that our health and wellbeing are a priority and a sense of humour is right up there when it comes to helping with our state of mind. Netflix, Prime and all the clever broadcasters invested in creating and putting out lots of great comedy and we’ve been lapping up everything from old re-runs to a portfolio of brand-new content.  

And didn’t the women do well out of this? In the UK alone we’re giving the high-class US productions of The Marvellous Mrs Maisel and Hacks a run for their money with Derry Girls, Alma’s Not Normal, the Other One, We Are Lady Parts, Fleabag, Catastrophe, This Way Up, Starstruck and more.

Given the popularity engendered by female focused comedy shows like these, why don’t we put humour on the top of our list when it comes to finding ways to reunite people in the workplace? We talk about it around the water cooler so why don’t we unleash our uniquely feminine sense of humour to dispel the myths about what it’s like to be a working woman?  

I have recently run both in-person and online workshops for corporate clients and I’m back ‘on the road’ with my Stand Up to Stand Out workshops. Our clients know the value of mirth and merriment amongst their workforces and it’s also surprisingly easy to create the ‘water cooler’ vibe in a Zoom room if you know how!

Our mutual health and wellbeing are key to getting back to some kind of normal as we return to work and humour is a vital tool in this process. When we laugh, we feel good. All those happy hormones jiggling around our system combat the ugly side effects of too much stress and the prolonged uncertainty of the last two years. Out with cortisol and in with the endorphins.

I’m not a comedian and the constant bemusement this causes when I explain why I run an organisation that promotes women in comedy, can be frustrating. However, I’m oddly well qualified to deliver humour strategies in the workplace because comedy is a very serious business and I know how hard it is to be successful at stand up or comedy writing.

Even if comedians wear their apparent vulnerability on their sleeves, the successful ones are usually tenacious, resilient, super-committed, very self-aware, and confident that they will succeed. It’s not a career for the faint-hearted and I genuinely prefer the softer, behind the scenes supporting role that I play. I get my kicks out of seeing how famous some of the women who’ve come through my workshops and the Funny Women Awards have become.

Similarly, facilitating people to access their innate sense of humour is amazing – the reward is seeing them drop their inhibitions long enough to talk about their lives unabashed and without restrictions and laugh out loud with their colleagues. No more shushing behind the filing cabinets please. Let them laugh it out!

Pre-pandemic we ran several great events under our HERlarious brand name combining workshops, networking, discussion, and live comedy in creative workplace environments including the prestigious London head offices of advertising agency BBH, and social media giants Twitter and LinkedIn. It’s a staggering fact that only 3% of the world’s creative directors are women and 83% of adverts are made by men, even though women are responsible for over 90% of purchases. This event format was a way to make a bit of a statement about the creative industries and bring them face to face with some of the amazingly talented women in my community who can perform, write and create.

So, we’re bringing it back baby! Renamed and reworked with the help of our friends at Grey Advertising and SheSays, our new How to Have Fun at Work live event series will kick off this Autumn, featuring workshops, panel discussion, essential networking and live stand up comedy. We will show you how to express your ideas more confidently and freely using some of the tried and tested tricks of the comedy trade. What’s not to like?!

And if the name sounds familiar, yes, I do have a podcast of the same name and some of my brilliant guests will be there. Not all 64 of them as that would be too much of a good thing but some of them will be joining me to facilitate, discuss and entertain. Plus, you can be in the audience for a very special live recording of my How to Have Fun at Work podcast as part of the event.

Want to buy a ticket?  Of course you do! Keep an eye on our events page here for all the details and save the date as soon as we announce it for some essential workplace fun and laughter.