WSJ reporter keeps her day job

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on November 28th, 2005

A comic and a faithful reader, T. Reilly, hipped us to a fluffy piece by in Saturday’s WSJ in which a reporter (read frustrated comic) seeks out standup instruction as a means to knock ’em dead at her family’s Thanksgiving Day gathering. (Can anyone think of a worse reason to learn standup?)

The article, by Katherine Rosman, may be significant for no other reason than, as T. Reilly points out, the WSJ seems to be spilling an inordinate amount of ink on comedy these days. And this passage caught our attention:

Comedy is getting a boost from everything from satellite radio shows to popular programs like The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and its spin-off The Colbert Report. It’s also increasingly considered a vital skill in the workplace, with managers paying up to $350 to learn how to craft funnier emails to lawyers trying to lighten up their closing statements. At ExecuProv, a Santa Ana, Calif.-based company that gives workshops on humor, 5,000 people have taken a “Humor in the Workplace” seminar in the past three years.

Hmmm… Perhaps ExecuProv and similar operations will supplant the Improv Driving Schools as a place where competent, experienced comics can trade their extensive knowledge for a decent paycheck while scrambling for stage time in major markets. Better to spend an afternoon with a bunch of middle managers than a roomful of people who were caught doing 50 in a school zone.

Blowhard alert:

These days, risqué humor reigns, and that’s especially true for the novice comedian who thinks that’s the easy route to laughs, says Ms. Smith: “Beginners always go below the belt.”

That’s Linda Smith, Ms. Rosman’s Manhattan Comedy School instructor “who was nominated for three Emmys during her stint as a writer for Rosie O’Donnell’s talk show.” Sorry, Linda, can’t agree less! (Hey, is that Boston Linda Smith? We haven’t laid eyes on her in years.)

Read the whole thing.

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