Corporate-Friendly Stand-up Comedy
Just some of the Ivy League Comedians featured in our shows:
Shaun Eli Breidbart (University of Pennsylvania)
http://www.brainchampagne.com/
Brain Champagne: Clever Comedy for Smart Minds (sm)
(video, biography, comedic essays, comedy material written for late-night television)
Shaun Eli has the power to make people laugh with just his words. Born in New York City knees-first, Shaun sees the world for how silly and entertaining it really is. More than just smart, funny and clever, he is determined to express his opinion passionately, not surprising for someone who wrote his first satirical essay at age ten. Shaun continues to write political comedy for late-night television, for the print media and for the stage.
When profiled in Fortune magazine, "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno quoted one of Shaun's jokes, citing it as an example of the type of "smart comedy" which he's happy to include in his opening monologue. Jay has been incorporating Shaun's topical material in his monologue for more than a decade.
Shaun began performing in 2003 and, drawing on his vast wealth of material, has quickly grown to become one of New York's brightest, funniest, fastest-rising stars of stand-up comedy. When Shaun takes the stage other comedians stop and watch. Comedians with ten times his experience have come to him for advice.
A graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Shaun is frequently published in The New York Times and has the unmatched achievement of having had two letters published in the Times the same day. Twice. He has also been published in a wide variety of other periodicals ranging from The Wall Street Journal, Business Week and The Pennsylvania Gazette to Popular Photography to Food & Wine to The Journal of Irreproducible Results (a scientific humor magazine).
Outside of the world of comedy, Shaun is a former world-class athlete in both rowing and dragon-boat racing, has trained lifeguards, and is an instrument-rated pilot. Shaun is an award-winning economic forecaster who once sold his car to a hitchhiker.
He bakes the world's greatest cheesecake. He's still friends with the first girl he ever kissed. You can watch his video (clean: no foul language, no adult topics) and read more about him, including examples of jokes he's written for late-night television, satirical political essays and a schedule of his upcoming performance dates, on his web site www.BrainChampagne.com, where his slogan "Brain Champagne: Clever Comedy for Smart Minds (sm)" rings true.
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Dan Naturman (University of Pennsylvania)-- Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central
http://www.dannaturman.com/
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Karen Bergreen (Harvard)-- Comedy Central, VH-1, Oxygen Network.
http://www.karenbergreen.com/
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Steve Hofstetter (Columbia)
http://www.stevehofstetter.com/
(bio, audio, video, columns...)
"His sterling academic credentials combined with his propensity for provoking intelligent laughs, has earned Hofstetter the title of "The Thinking Man's Comic," --The Queens Tribune
An author, columnist and comedian, 27 year-old Steve Hofstetter is oneof the fastest rising stars in the comedy world. Appearing at over 100 colleges last year, Hofstetter has written two books on college. Asyndicated columnist and the host of Four Quotas on Sirius SatelliteRadio, Hofstetter has written for Maxim and ESPN magazines and iscollegehumor.com's original columnist. He's appeared on NBC's Ed, Law and Order, and Last Comic Standing, and has been a radio guest over 200 times, including the Bob & Tom Show and the BBC. The author of two books, Student Body Shots and the recently released Student Body Shots -Another Round, Hofstetter also boasts the most trafficked website of any comedian working in America. 100,000 college students link to him on TheFacebook.com, and a few million more read his work on collegehumor.com.
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Baratunde Thurston (Harvard)
www.Baratunde.com
(writings, podcasts, videos and more)
From the moment he greets the crowd, Baratunde is unforgettable. "My full name is Baratunde Rafiq Thurston. Baratunde is a Nigerian name meaning 'one with no nickname.' Rafiq is an Arabic name meaning 'really, no nickname.' And Thurston is a British name meaning 'property of Massa Thurston.' It's ok if you weren't expecting that last one. Neither were we."
From here, this Harvard Philosophy graduate takes his audiences on a journey through the absurd world of American politics, media and pop culture, having turned his astute political awareness into a rising career in sharp and entertaining comedy where nothing is sacred.
When so many Americans get their news from Fox, when someone like Ann Coulter can get published, and when a black man with an afro still can't walk down the street without white people touching it, it's time to call on this comedian, author and self-described "vigilante pundit."
Baratunde was nominated for the 2005 Bill Hicks Award for Thought Provoking Comedy, was featured in the 2006 New York Underground Comedy Festival and is an original member of Laughing Liberally. He has appeared in media outlets such as C-SPAN, The Washington Times, public radio and Fox News Boston. He performs regularly in New York and Boston and is the author of three books, the most recent of which is Thank You Congressional Pages, For Being So Damn Sexy.
If you are a fan of Al Franken, Jon Stewart or the Bill of Rights, you will love Baratunde Thurston. He is not just an alternative to mainstream media. He's an antidote.
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Jeff Kreisler (Princeton)
http://www.jeffkreisler.com/
(writings, schedule and more)
A graduate of Princeton, Virginia Law School, and the fictional College of Asparagus Lovers, Jeff Kreisler is an accomplished comedian, writer, producer, and person.
"Jeff Kreisler is the Jerome Bettis of stand-up." - Matt Zaller, Producer, National Lampoon TV
He performs a recurring comedy segment on WWOR radio, writes a weekly humor column for TheStreet.com, has done the funny at over 20 major colleges, and in the past year has worked with Dick Gregory, on Air America and Sirius Radio, and in the Comedy Against Evil political tour.
He's moderated "Democracy In Crisis" on local TV, hosted a dating show, worked on a cooking program, developed comedies for several cable networks, and even been in a Page One article alongside Linda Ronstadt, Bruce Springsteen and David Crosby.
"Kreisler changes the pace with a slightly demented, extremely animated set that attacks everything" - San Francisco Chronicle
Jeff's a regular on Satire for Sanity and was featured at the Edinburgh Fringe, Freedom Cinema, New York Underground, and San Francisco Comedy Festivals.
"You are a king fish in a sea of urchins." - Barry W.
He lives in New York City with his pet microphone, plays blues saxophone, speaks French and Russian, was a sports broadcaster, taught English in Russia, helped start a non-profit dedicated to at-risk youth and played college football.
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Adam Sank ( Columbia School of Journalism)
http://www.adamsank.com/
Adam Sank is quickly becoming one of the most popular openly gay comedians and M.C.’s on today’s comedy scene. Since giving up a successful career as a TV news producer – first for Fox News Channel and then for WABC-TV – he's delighted crowds throughout the New York City area and beyond with true-life and howlingly funny tales about coming out to his parents, navigating the gay online dating scene, and working for the most right-wing news network on the planet.
Adam has performed for gay and straight audiences alike at major clubs throughout the city, as well as Fire Island (The Ice Palace at Cherry Grove), Rehoboth Beach (The Blue Moon), the Poconos (Rainbow Mountain Resort) and Cancun , Mexico (Atlantis Events). He has appeared on Vh-1's “Best Week Ever”, Here TV's "Hot Gay Comics" and Sirius OutQ Radio, and he recently opened for Roseanne Barr at two sold-out shows.
For more than two years, Adam has hosted the wildly successful “Electro Shock Therapy Comedy Hour” weekly at Therapy bar in Manhattan .
An accomplished writer whose articles have appeared in The New York Times, The San Francisco Sentinel, Southern Voice ( Atlanta ), Watermark ( Orlando , FL ) and Out in Jersey magazine, Adam is also a co-author of Esquire magazine's "Things a Man Should Never Do Past 30."
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(Comedians listed on this page will not necessarily appear in any particular Ivy League Comedy showcase and of course there may be others not listed who will)