Greg Schwem
Greg Schwem tells all his clients, “I’m here to make you laugh but, at the end of the day, I want to be your biggest cheerleader too!” That approach is why the Chicago Tribune recently proclaimed Greg “king of the hill in the growing world of corporate comedy while HuffPost calls Greg, “Your boss’s favorite comedian.” Indeed, Greg’s comedic take on the ever changing workplace and work/life balance has landed him on SIRIUS Radio, Comedy Central and the cover of Exceptional People Magazine. Clients such as Microsoft, Cisco, Southwest Airlines, McDonald’s and even The CIA have lauded his presentations, with one Fortune 500 client saying, “fantastic and just what everybody needed during this time.”
More than just a business humor keynote speaker and sought-after corporate emcee, Greg is also an author and nationally syndicated humor columnist for the Chicago Tribune. His recent business travels have resulted in a hilarious web series, A Comedian Crashes Your Pad, currently streaming on Roku and Amazon Fire. He has shared the concert stage with the likes of Celine Dion, Jay Leno and Keith Urban.
What sets Greg apart from other corporate entertainers is his ability—and willingness—to customize material for his audience while working within the parameters of the corporate environment. That means no profanity or politically incorrect material. “That’s never been a part of my show anyway,” Greg recently told a reporter.
When Greg presents, live or virtually, at whatever time of day, audiences will see and hear the following:
- A heavily researched and customized presentation featuring material created with the help of Greg’s client. Greg doesn’t “phone it in.”
- Customized multimedia support that includes video, audio and screen grabs from a client’s website.
- A motivational message that uses humor and real-world examples from actual companies that show the “do’s and dont’s” of succeeding in business and how to keep laughter in the workplace.
In 2024 Greg became a cancer survivor. His presentations now include inspirational, and hilarious, stories detailing how someone who makes others laugh for a living deals with challenges of his own.
When not on the road, Greg gives bicycle and walking tours of Chicago, his current home.
WORK LAUGH, REPEAT
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 and laugh along with Greg as he good-naturedly discusses topics such as virtual meetings, business travel, and how everyone coped during a two-year lockdown. A leading financial software meeting planner remarked, after seeing Greg’s presentation, “I realize now we need to lighten up.”
HUMOR IS SERIOUS BUSINESS...BUT WE SHOULD STILL BE LAUGHING
In a hilarious, multimedia-intensive presentation, Greg will make audiences of all ages howl with laughter as he explores the role of, and the need for, humor in a post COVID world. As companies struggle to answer the questions, “What is funny?” and “What is appropriate?” Greg offers a different perspective: There IS no right answer. 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. Perfect as a 60 minute keynote or 90 minute breakout session
REMOVE A TUMOR, FUND THE HUMOR
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.
Some insights from the presentation, most of which were written without the help of pain medication:
For two weeks after surgery, all I did was eat, sleep and attempt to poop. Basically, I had the day planner of an
infant
My surgeon kept telling me passing gas any time was a good thing. I handed him my phone and said, “Please
call my wife and repeat what you just said.”
Now I’m now a big advocate of early detection but I’ll do it subtly. I don’t want to be the guy who brings the
dinner party to a screeching halt by saying, “Has everybody here scheduled their annual anus scope? And
please pass the Brussel Sprouts”
ROCK, ROLL AND LAUGH YOUR WAY TO THE TOP
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 highly motivational 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."
MEETING EMCEE/HOST
A good emcee needs to multitask. He must keep the event moving, be adept at improvisation and work efficiently with all participants onstage. Greg Schwem has hosted everything from a one-hour awards ceremony for 200 BAE Systems engineers to a three-day conference for 6,000 McDonald’s restaurant managers, to a virtual webinar for IBM customers. He is equally at ease chatting with a company CEO live on stage, pronouncing (correctly) the names of awards recipients, or conducting humorous on-camera interviews with meeting attendees.