Greg Schwem

Perfect for any group that needs a humorous break from the serious side of business,
live or virtually. Despite its therapeutic qualities, laughter is often absent from the business environment. Greg shows it is possible to laugh at work and about work, via a clean and heavily customized presentation. Audience members will put down their phones, close their laptops and laugh along with Greg as he good-naturedly discusses topics such as business travel, overused meeting slogans and his fantasy of heckling a motivational speaker

In a hilarious, multimedia-intensive presentation, renowned business humorist and
award-winning Chicago Tribune humor columnist Greg Schwem will make audiences of all ages howl
with laughter as he explores the role of, and the need for, humor in a post COVID, return-to-the-office
world. As companies struggle to answer the questions, “What is funny?” and “What is appropriate?”
Greg offers a different perspective: There ARE no right answers. Instead, he feels all employees, from
the new hires to the C-level executives, must formulate their own answers by working together, instead
of running from one another. Only then will the result be a healthy and FUN work environment.
Performing live or virtually, Greg shows audiences that rules about workplace humor can be easily
violated… even by those who create and enforce them; how to not be the office “humor cop” and how to
“engage but never attack” those who you disagree with when it comes to humor. The ability to research
his audience and tailor his content is why companies such as Microsoft, McDonald’s, Southwest
Airlines and even The CIA have turned to Greg for laughs, and why HuffPost calls Greg “Your boss’
favorite comedian.”
But Humor is Serious Business… is hardly a straight stand-up comedy show. Greg challenges his
audiences to envision how they can use humor to improve workplace communication, and how to
motivate one another in difficult times. Greg reinforces his message with stories of company personnel
who have used humor to create successful campaigns and turn their businesses around. As a cancer
survivor, Greg will also share how humor helped him overcome devastating health news.

Greg Schwem knows a thing or two about rock and roll. As a comedian who has opened concerts for stars ranging from Keith Urban, to Celine Dion, to Enrique Iglesias to (wait for it) KC And the Sunshine Band, Greg has seen how rock and roll is really a business. Like your business. In short? Every company and employee has “rock star” potential. Greg shows you how to achieve that potential in a presentation that combines hilarious comedy, live concert footage and a musical soundtrack featuring everything from classic rock to country to Lollapalooza. Topics include “Why Every Office Needs a Keith Richards,” “Are you Team Taylor or Team Kanye?,” and “Don’t Let Your Company Become a Country Song.” Rock on!

In January 2024, while in the midst of a late in life divorce, corporate comedian and
business humor speaker Greg Schwem was diagnosed with a malignant tumor lying flat on his colon.
Divorce and cancer in one year. Other than that, how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?
Facing an uncertain outcome, Schwem was forced to adopt what he had been preaching to corporate clients
such as Microsoft, Oracle and AT&T for years: Locate humor in the unfunniest of situations, during times
when everything seems hopeless. With a laptop propped up on hospital pillows, Schwem began writing…and
writing…and writing. The result was Remove a Tumor, Find the Humor, a hilarious, multimedia-fueled
presentation that talks candidly, and comedically, about how triumphing over personal struggles, business
challenges, or both, is so much easier when laughter plays a role.

Performing live or virtually, Greg can host an event separately or in addition to one of his three keynotes