Humor Power

Here is the analysis of another Observational Humor monologue presented at the end of a meeting.

THE SET-UP (What was said and what happened during the meeting before the monologue was delivered.)

1. Impromptu speech topics were based on the titles of several books. One of the members assigned a topic, opened his comments with: “Thank you Oprah.” A reference to Oprah’s book club.

2. One speaker acknowledged the audience as, “club members…pretty and otherwise.”

3. In an impromptu speech, Greg suggested that someone might give him a kiss.

4. Our emcee for the evening’s program was Al Jensen. He was introduced three times by: “Let’s welcome Al Jensen to the floor.”

5. Al was wearing a loud floral-print shirt.

6. The carpet in the room had a bold-print pattern.

7. Bill Lusk, our most senior member, gave a speech on racing cars. He said that because of racing, he was actually getting younger.

8. We were celebrating the presentation of our Member of the Year Award with refreshments.

9. A speaker talked about prescription medications.

THE MONOLOGUE

Fellow Toastmasters, Guests, and Oprah. (A call-back and the rule-of-three.)

It’s time for your Observations. Here’s the opportunity to present your humor…funny and otherwise. (PRETTY AND OTHERWISE provided a fill-in-the-blank call-back. The fill-in becomes BLANK AND OTHERWISE. When we change MEMBERS into HUMOR, it provides a strong punchline FUNNY AND OTHERWISE. Good structure. Excellent response.)

I’m now going to present my Observational Humor, unless someone is willing to give Greg a kiss…I didn’t think so. (A call-back. Another missed chance to give Greg a kiss. Also, it also sounded like delivering my monologue was a threat. Then a topper: “I didn’t think so.”)

We welcomed Al Jensen to the floor more than once tonight. When Al is on the floor, it’s important to point it out…because with the shirt he’s wearing, he blends in with the carpet.   (Poking fun at the stuffy language of “welcoming to the floor” and linking the loud shirt with the carpet.)

Bill is getting younger. That’s good news. By my calculations, in five more years, I’ll be the senior member of this club. (Stating the fact that next to Bill, I’m one of the most senior members in our club. Implies that I’m excitedly waiting to move up the ladder.)

Good attendance tonight. Our attendance secret…it’s a piece of cake…or a cookie. (Implying that people came to the meeting just for the cake and cookies.)

Is your poor sense of humor getting you down? The solution is the magic pill…John Kinde’s HUMORISHA. It will change your life. Side effects include: Weight Loss, Depression, Bleeding from the Lungs, and Brain Seizures. If you’re funny for more than four hours…see your doctor. If you are having problems paying for your medication… Get a Job. (An ad parody provided a surprisingly substantial and strong closer. The last line, while not PC, was a twist on the typical script for a pharmaceutical ad. It got a HUGE laugh.)

I attended an excellent humor workshop presented by Dawn Elizabeth.  She was fine-tuning her workshop which was to be presented at the upcoming District 33 Conference.  Before the workshop started, Dawn asked me if I would present some Observational Humor halfway though the meeting, to demonstrate how to create fresh humor making funny connections. 

THE SET-UP (What was said and what happened during the workshop before the monologue was delivered.)

1.  Dawn opened the workshop asking the audience what they would like to learn about humor as a result of attending the workshop.  Someone said, “Learning to understand John Kinde’s humor.”

2.  Before the workshop started, everybody in the room did a brief self-introduction.

3.  The workshop was hosted by Lunatics Toastmasters Club.  The meeting started at 1:00 pm.

4.  The meeting was held in a clubhouse inside a gate-protected community.  We were given the gate code with the note that we were to press just the number provided, no symbols (referring to the asterisk and pound sign).

5.  Dawn shared the technique of creating humor in your stories by using character dialogue.

6.  We had to park on the far side of the building and had a hard time finding an entrance door that was unlocked.

7.  Our District leader Jesse Oakley III (the THIRD, but Jesse has used it to brand himself by referring to it as I-I-I).  We met Jesse outside and he joined us in our search for an unlocked door.

8.  My friend, Loren Ekroth, said in his self-introduction that he and I were from Duluth and that he was my uncle, neither of which is true.

9.  The Grammarian introduced the word-of-the-day:  Avant Garde.  She specifically commented on how she was having a hard time reading the word-of-the-day announcement

10.  Dawn illustrated humor points with a joke:  Men want women to be like underwear.  They like support with a bit of freedom.

THE MONOLOGUE

I’m still waiting to understand John Kinde.
(A good call back.  Self deprecation.)

They told me that if I attended today, by the end of the workshop, I’d be funny.
(This line was not actually part of the monologue.  I used it at the opening of the meeting when it was my turn for my self-introduction.  A very big laugh, which was made possible because I was well known by the audience as a humor speaker.  If the audience had not known me, the joke would not have worked.)

It’s really strange…this afternoon I’m attending Lunatics Toastmasters.  And last night I was attending the Solar-tics Toastmasters.
(I played with the Lunatics name, implying that it came from the root MOON.  I linked MOON with DAY and SOLAR with NIGHT.  There is no Solar-tics club.  I used a humor license to make it up.)

I had a hard time finding the meeting location today.  Carolyn provided me with gate code information.  When we pulled up to the gate, I handed the instructions to Alex and told him I didn’t need them…I had memorized the procedure to get through the gate.  I punched in 0813 and crashed my cymbals.  The gate didn’topen.  Alex said, “You’re doing it wrong.  The code is 0813 with no symbols.”
(When I saw Carolyn’s instructions of NO SYMBOLS, I immediately pictured myself crashing cymbals.  The triggers at work are: 
  – Sound alikes.
  – An act-out of physically demonstrating the crash of cymbals.
  – The use of dialogue.
The joked worked well.)

That was funny because Alex provided the punchline using dialogue.
(A call back to the use of dialogue in comedy.)

Then when we got to the clubhouse, every door seemed to be locked.  We ran into Jesse, our next District Governor, even our distinguished leader couldn’t find an open door.  Thankfully we didn’t have President Obama helping us to get in.
(The trigger was asking WHAT IF:  I noted that we couldn’t get in.  Even our District leader had a hard time finding an open door.  Imagine WHAT IF President Obama were helping us, how difficult it would be.)

I think it’s odd how Jesse has become our district leader…because there is no “I” in TEAM.
(The cliche, “There is no I in TEAM” provided a perfect punchline.  A huge laugh.  “Jessie Oakley I-I-I” had been repeated dozens of times over the past several years.  This repetition provided a very strong set-up for the joke.)

Deluth is a place where your uncle can also be your father.  In Deluth I’m known as the Man From Uncle.  It’s great to see my Dad here today.
(I’m not from Deluth.  But Loren joked that I was, so I went with it.  I made a reference to an old TV show The Man From Uncle.  I noticed the audience was old enough that I thought they would remember the show.  A good laugh, the joke worked.)

You’ve probably noticed that Dawn is taller than most people here today.  That’s why she is so funny.  You probably also noticed that I’m taller than Dawn.
(Dawn is tall.  Dawn is funny.  I implied that she is funny BECAUSE she is tall.  This set me up for a topper, which was a reverse-self-deprecation line, implying that I am funnier than Dawn.)

A suggestion to improve the flow of your meeting.  I would suggest having the Word Of The Day announcement printed in Braille.
(This is the only joke I dropped out of the monologue…by accident.)

A woman is like underwear.  Like a boxer I know she will eventually punch me.  I just want it to be brief.
(Another joke using Boxers/Briefs.  Different than the original joke.  Not the funniest line, but it was good for a laugh.)

After the meeting we’re all going to the Avant Garden Italian Restaurant.
(I thought Avant Garden sounded enough like Olive Garden, if I said it fast.  The joke worked, getting a good laugh.)

This has been an exciting humor workshop.  To open the program, the audience provided the overview (pointing at the flip chart).  I’m filling in the middle of the program.  And I can’t wait to see who among us will close the program.
(The humor trigger at work is exaggeration.  The members of the audience were NOT creating the bulk of the program, I just implied that they were doing that for the sake of the humor.  I was also using the humor technique of EXTRAPOLATION to arrive at a punchline:  This is what opened the program.  This is what’s happening in the middle of the program.  And this must be what will happen at the end of the program.  I was able to say if A happened, then B happened, obviously C will happen.)

It’s time for our Cartoon Caption Contest for the month of May.  We feature the art of professional cartoonist Dan Rosandich.

New Cartoon Caption Contests are announced at the start of the month (alternating months).

New Joke Contests are announced at the start of the month (alternating months).  The next Joke Contest is June 1, 2012.

Here is the cartoon:

Write as many captions as you can.  Then select your best three captions and submit them.  You can submit more than three lines, the extra lines will be eligible for honorable mention.  Only your first three lines will be judged by our panel of judges for first, second and third place.

Select and submit your best entries, and your city/state/country, by May 15, 2012, to HumorPowerTips@HumorPower.com

Visit cartoonist Dan Rosandich who has an extensive and in-depth archive of categorized cartoons and cartoon pictures available for licensing at negotiable fees.

The key to humor is the ability to see thoughts, objects and events in a different way.  Happiness and a stress-free life are shaped by the same process.  There is always another way of looking at life.  Sharpening that skill leads us to better speaking, better thinking and better living.  Those thoughts motivated me to write this article.  If you like it…great.  If you don’t…be glad that it’s the only article like this that I’ve written since I started my blog six years ago.

Wisdom, Truth and Other Illusions

1.  A sense of humor is about perceptions, relationships and re-framing life’s experiences in a positive way.
2.  Problem solving involves making previously unnoticed connections.  Developing humor uses the same process.
3.  My perceptions are grounded in truth…sometimes…when I’m lucky.
4.  Choices and decisions harden into habits and attitudes.
5.  New knowledge is understood by connecting it to existing knowledge.  That’s why new knowledge is not always better than old knowledge.
6.  The advice of others becomes wisdom after passing the test of time.
7.  Well-intentioned advice may lead to the edge of a cliff.
8.  Truth and wisdom are not default insights.
9.  A belief might have value even though it may be wrong.
10.  Would you rather be right and miserable or wrong and happy?
11.  Being right is a subjective state.  And often a fragile and fleeting one.
12.  When you stop thinking, you don’t have what’s RIGHT, you only have what’s LEFT unconsidered.  And you’re much less likely to be in touch with what is correct.
14.  Your superstitions may be obvious to others.
15.  When you are weighing what is right or wrong…the correct answer usually lies somewhere in the middle.
16.  The easy path to truth would seem like a shortcut if it weren’t an oxymoron.
17.  Hypocrisy is the proud partner of blind arrogance.
18.  Your logic makes sense until it contradicts my truth.
19.  Considering someone else’s thinking reflects well on your character.
20.  Criticizing someone else’s thinking reflects on the limits of your own thought.
21.  Love and kindness are not expressions or emotions.  They are lifestyles.
22.  Words are smothered by the shadow of action.
23.  The wisdom of the ages may be gold…or it may lead you down a well-worn path to a faulty truth. 
24.  Truth is strengthened by examination.  That which fears examination is not truth.
25.  What is right and wrong doesn’t always reflect what is correct and proper…but it does show us who has the power to make the rules. 
26.  Safe-guard the rights and welfare of others as though they were your own.
27.  If you can’t clearly view the other side, you’ll never see the big picture.
28.  Insisting on your point of view for the sake of principle…is fuel for endless argument and a recipe for stagnation.
29.  Enjoy the moment.  A drop in time is the essence of your life.  Be significant and let the ripple of your thoughts and actions make a positive difference.
30.  Most people make the world a better place because they lived.  The others make the world a better place because they died. 
31.  You leave a mark of beauty on the world or you tag it with graffiti.
32.  If you want to tighten a screw and someone hands you a hammer, don’t assume that because they own a tool they are an expert.
33.  If you add your assessment of the facts to your interpretation of another person’s intentions; you are mixing opinion with an intuitive guess, giving you a sum of questionable value.
34.  In most situations, the facts are shaped by your opinions.
35.  The body turns peanut butter into brain tissue.  Don’t debunk that which you fail to understand.
36.  Your interpretations are clouded by the lens of your experience.  And truth is obscured by the same.
37.  Good vibes sent out the front window return thru the back door.
38.  Most people are trying to do the right thing.
39.  Believe in the good intention and motivation of others and forgiveness will never be necessary.
40.  Yesterday was the first time I was mistaken…again.

Share your truth and wisdom by posting a comment on the Humor Power Blog.  Your thoughtful insights are appreciated.

Here is another Observational Humor monologue presented at the end of a meeting:

THE SETUP (What was said and what happened during the meeting before the monologue was presented.)

1.  I was introduced by the General Evaluator.

2.  While delivering impromptu speech topics, two members role-played as Superman and Batman.

3.  In his speech, Scott named two mentors.  Bill was one.  I was one.  He said that Bill was tough on him.

4.  I’m normally casually dressed when I attend meetings.  That night, Ryan was very casually dressed…shorts, TShirt, sandals.

5.  A speaker talked about family names and what a translation of a family name said about a person’s ancestors.

6.  Greg gave a humorous speech about relationships.  He talked about his wife and ex-wives.  He talked about meeting a woman who had features he was not normally attracted to.  He talked about meeting a woman with a deep voice.

THE MONOLOGUE

Mr General Evaluator, Superman, Batman…I am the Joker…and it’s time for Observational Humor.
(As the assigned leader of Observational Humor for the meeting, it allowed me to do a couple of character call-backs and link it to a character for myself, the Joker, which fit my role as Observational Humor Master.  It served as a good transition to the humor part of our meeting.)

Scott…hit the floor for 50 push-ups.  And you thought Bill was tough on you.
(Role reversal placed me as the tough mentor.  Good laugh.)

I’d like to thank Ryan for making me feel over-dressed.
(Almost a running gag.  I’m frequently doing self-deprecation at the informal way I dress.  So it was a reversal pointing out that Ryan was more casually dressed than I was.  From a humor standpoint, it was a double-plus that he was our club President and that he was well liked.  You normally have more permission to poke fun at authority figures.  And roast-like lines play best when directed at popular people.)

My family name suggests that my ancestors were Kind.
(Weakest line of the monologue.)

I met an attractive woman at the store today:
  – She was short.  I’m normally attracted to tall women.
  – She was a brunette.  I’m normally attracted to red heads.
  – She had a deep voice.  I’m not normally attracted to Greg’s wives.
(Very strong closing line using the Rule-of-Three.  When Greg mentioned the deep-voiced woman he got a big laugh, so that provided a trigger for my joke suggesting that he married deep-voiced women.  Very big laugh.)

Here are the results of our April contest–Reality TV Shows We Don’t Want to See.  The winners were selected by our panel of seven judges (speakers and improv players).

New Joke Contests are announced on the first of the month (alternating months).

New Cartoon Caption Contests are announced on the first of the month (alternating months).  The next caption contest is May 1, 2012.
 
Here are this month’s top lines:

** FIRST PLACE **

Cat Whisperer:  Contenders try convincing felines to do anything at all on command.
     Gerald Fleischmann, Fountain Valley, California

** SECOND PLACE **

Are You Smarter than a Road Grader?  Man vs machine.
     Marty Bernstein, Oak Park, Illinois

** THIRD PLACE **

The Applicant:  Watch people fill out application forms.
     David Novick, Dayton, Ohio

HONORABLE MENTION (In random order)

  – A-Maize-In Race:  Farmers are timed making their way thru a cornfield.
  – CROPS:  Whatcha gonna chew–whatcha gonna chew when they come for you.
  – Fair Factor:  4H Team Swine goes head-to-head against Team Dairy Cattle.
  – Real House-husbands of Omaha:  The unvarnished stories of the mister- Moms of the Midwest.
  – Judge Booty:  Legal dominatrix punishes and rewards plaintiffs and defendants with serious spanks.
  – Beverly Hills approximately 90210:  Starlets try to guess their own zip code.
  – America’s Next Top Depilatory:  Watch contestants get rid of unwanted facial hair.
  – The Real World of Keeping up with the Kardashians in Big Brother’s Queer Eye for the Straight Bachelor’s Simple Life.
  – America’s Next Top Model Prisoner : Trya Bankjob hosts while 14 hopefuls vie for the title.
  – Spell’s Kitchen: A favorite at Hogwarts.
  – Vegas, With No Money:  Contestants spend a week in Vegas, with no money.
  – The Biggest Hoosier:  Weight loss competition in Indiana.
  – Dance Fiver:  America’s best dancers compete for $5.00.
  – Fear Factory:  Who can survive the assembly line for 8 hours plus 2 hours of overtime?
  – Last Comic Writing:  Who will take first place in the Humor Power contest?
  – Feel or No Feel:  A firewalking competition.
  – Satisfactory Makeover:  Watch as dowdy women are transformed into less dowdy women.
  – Family Plotz:  America’s funniest funerals on tape.
  – Jon and Katy plus Eighty: The daily life of what may be the most prolific couple in the world and their four-score kids.
  – Myth Boosters:  Two scientists visit ancient sites trying to prove the existence of various Greek and Roman gods, thus angering the Persian and African gods.
  – American Pickles:  Two gherkin experts scour the Midwestern U.S. for the best pickle.
  – Iditarod Truckers:  Reality show featuring big rigs traveling through the wilds of Alaska, being pulled by hundreds of huskies.
  – Hell’s Bathroom:  Really angry janitor lords it over contestants trying to get the cleanest porcelain appliances.
  – Wide World of Shorts:  Visits to different beach resorts run by Over Eaters Anonymous.
  – The Hunger Games:  Young female contestants try to reach size 0.
  – The Sloth Whisperer:  Tune in next month for another exciting episode.
  – Extreme Makeover–Kardashian Edition:  Hey, this one is already cancelled.
  – Catch It And You Keep It:  Major appliances are tossed from the roof of a 10-story building to contestants below.
  – The Unger Games:  Contestants try to act as obnoxious as neat freak Felix Unger.
  – Dancing With The Scars:  Accident-prone dancers try again.
  – CROPS:  Following the exciting lives of  Wheat farmers in Kansas.  Featuring the hit single Farm Boys (Farm Boys, Farm Boys.  Whatcha gonna do.  Whatcha gonna do when the Combine’s down).
  – The Amazing Race To Witch Mountain:  The losing teams get abducted by aliens.
  – Amazing Face:  Six two-person teams, each with one ugly person and one cosmetic surgeon, race to make the most beautiful improvement.  Prizes for fastest cut-up, and most weight lost.
  – Answer Men:  Who can provide the most accurate answer to “will that tree fall on me?”
  – America’s Got Talon:  Search for the best impersonator of birds of prey.
  – The Trulywed Game:  Couples married for 20 years or more compete for prizes like all expense paid trips, cars and divorces.
  – Keeping Up With the Cardigans:  Daily adventures of young, sweater-wearing ladies who are famous for being famous.
  – The People’s Skirt:  Judge Wapner decides whose skirt is too short.
  – The App Apprentice:  Amateurs compete to devise the best new smart phone tools.
  – Ready For Viewing:  Morticians compete to see who can create the most lifelike viewing.

Comedy DVDs are usually a recording of a comedian’s stand-up comedy routine.   An album that’s been out for about ten years is very different from most.  It’s called Comedian featuring Jerry Seinfeld.  Rather than focusing on a comedy routine, most of the documentary features behind-the-scenes insights into the physical and psychological effort it takes to develop a stand-up comedy routine. 

If you’ve watched it before, it’s worth a second viewing.

The show includes conversations with:  Jay Leno, Robert Klein, Bill Cosby, George Shapiro, Ray Romano, Chris Rock, Garry Shandling, and others.  Also featured on the disc is the developing comedy career of Orny Adams.

There is a lot to learn from the experience of others:

  – People who are great at doing something have a compulsion to do it.
  – If you have a reputation for being funny, the audience will give you a break, for awhile.  Then you have to BE funny.
  – It shows how difficult it is to develop new material.  “It’s quite painful.”  The pros make it look easy, but it’s hard work.
  – Opening with untested material is a mistake typically made by a rookie.
  – The audience has never written a joke, yet they’re the judge of whether or not your humor is funny.
  – Get stage time.  It’s your job.
  – If you’re bad you can blame the audience.  Or you can make no excuses.  “I just wasn’t good.”
  – The experiences of performing on late-night TV talk shows is valuable watching.
  – Often we are our hardest critic.  “I focus on the tiny mistakes.”
  – The show helps you appreciate the physical effort required to do a 45 minute comedy performance.

I highly recommend you rent or buy this video.  What I have shared in this short review is the tip of the iceberg.  There is so much to learn from the hard-earned experience of the professionals who have paid the price to “make it look easy.”   Comedy skill is not a gift from heaven.  They worked for it.

 Here is another Observational Humor monologue.  First I’ll provide the set-ups for the jokes, and then an analysis of what makes the jokes work.

THE SET-UP (What was said and what happened during the meeting, before the monologue was delivered.)

1.  A scheduled speaker arrived at the meeting unprepared to give his speech.   They asked him to give it anyway.  It was introduced as an off-the-cuff speech.

2.  The theme of the meeting was:  Politics As Usual.

3.  The first three speeches were touching stories that brought tears to the eye.

4.  A blonde member joked about the stereotype of blondes not being too bright.

5.  The emcee of the evening shared a list of how different political groups would handle the situation of having only two cows.  For example:  A Bureaucratic Government would take both your cows, shoot one of them, milk the other, pour half the milk down the drain, and sell the rest of it at triple the price.

6.  Ryan said that he supported Ron Paul for President.

7.  Someone suggested in jest that we need a third party, like the Pot Party.

8.  The General Evaluator (who evaluates the conduct of the entire meeting) said that he was “going to evaluate the meeting as a whole.”

THE MONOLOGUE

I have no Observational Humor tonight.  But they insisted that I present some anyway.
(Nice opener.  Good laugh.  Switched giving an unprepared speech to giving unprepared Observational Humor; which was not true, because I had prepared a monologue.  I just claimed to be unprepared for the sake of the joke.)

This is the Observational Humor section of the meeting.  Also known as Humor-As-Usual.
(Not a strong joke.  I considered deleting it, but left it in because is tied nicely into the flow of the monologue, supporting the other jokes.)

In keeping with the flow of tonight’s meeting, you will be required to present humor that makes us cry.
(Good call back.  Very good laugh.)

For the benefit of blondes in the audience…that was a joke.
(A safe joke because a blonde had provided the set up.  Big laugh.)

If a humorist had two cows…he would buy one more.  Because 3 is a funnier number than 2.
(Good laugh after TWO COWS.  Slight pause before punchline.  Good laughter after THAN 2.)

Ryan has something in common with President Obama.  They’re both hoping that the Republican nomination goes to Ron Paul.
(First sentence builds anticipation, a form of tension, which magnifies the humor.   The punchline links two different reasons for wanting Ron Paul to receive the nomination.  One reason is to make him President.  The other reason is to give Obama a second term.  The reasons are implied, letting the listener connect the dots.)

If we had a Pot Party…that would lead to the Crack Party…which would lead to the Crack-Pot Party.  And we come full circle.
(Crack Party received moderate laugh.  Crack-Pot Party received bigger laugh.  Full Circle received biggest laugh.  Joke/Topper/Topper.)

If I keep talking I’m going to dig myself a hole.  But that would be in keeping with tonight’s meeting.  The General Evaluator said that he evaluated the meeting as a whole.
(Joke/Topper.  Very good laugh.  Plays with the sound-a-likes hole/whole.  A good closer.)

The theme for this month’s Joke Contest is:  Reality TV Shows We Don’t Want to See. 

New Joke Contests are announced at the start of the month (alternating months).

New Cartoon Caption Contests are announced at the start of the month (alternating months).  The next caption contest is May 1, 2012.

The Reality Shows, which you make up, could include competition type shows like the Amazing Race.  Or 24/7 camera shows which pretend to document “real life”…like Wife Swap.  Not included would be scripted Sit-Com or Drama Shows.

Here are some examples of what you might come up with:

Dancing with the Cars
Contestants tango across a busy street dodging traffic.

A Spinet to Win It
Contestants take apart and then re-assemble a piano while blindfolded.

Campaign Survivor
Winner-take-all debate format where politicians write their answers on an Etch-A-Sketch.

Write as many humor lines as you can.  Then select your best lines and submit them.  If you submit more than three, the extra lines will be eligible for honorable mention.  Only your first three will be evaluated by our panel of judges for first, second and third place.

Select and submit your best entries, and your city/state/country, by April  15, 2012, to HumorPowerTips@HumorPower.com

Invest In Yourself.
  – Have Fun
  – Advance Your Career
  – Expand Your Network

Here are some great professional development conventions I’d recommend:

AATH’s 25th Annual Conference
Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor
April 19-22
Chicago, Illinois

Humor Project Conference
The Positive Power of Humor and Creativity
June 1-3
Silver Bay, New York

Alexander Technique Workshops
Move naturally with greater ease for impact and
connection on the platform.  Highly recommended.
July 10-15, Sweet Briar, Virginia
August 29-September 3, Hawaii
December 27-January 1, 2013, Malibu, California

National Speakers Association
The Business of Professional Speaking
July 14-17
Indianapolis, Indiana

Toastmasters International Convention
Communication and Leadership Development
August 15-18
Orlando, Florida

World Laughter Tour
Laughter programs and training.  Become a Certified
Laughter Leader (CLL).  Upcoming programs in USA and Canada.
The link will take you to their current schedule.