Ethics Lesson From A Stand-up Comedian

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women are merely players…”
Shakespeare.

I have been a performer all my life—a musician, an actor, an improv-comedy performer, and a stand-up comedian. On the other end of the spectrum, I have participated successfully in business for most of my adult life. I founded three separate corporations—a real estate investment company, a mortgage brokerage firm and now a public speaking and training company.

I am proud that I have been able to find success with both the left and the right brain—until a few years ago when I realized that, believe it or not, the qualities of a successful businessman are the same as a successful performer.



Acting is all about honesty. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.
George Burns

A successful performer is genuine, truthful and passionate. He is confident and trustworthy. You can’t succeed in business without these qualities either.

Well, you can’t fake honesty. I suppose it is possible to construct a facade—a persona of sincerity, honesty and passion—but for most people it will be transparent, at least more transparent than the designer intended it to be.

I say most of us because there is the “con man.” He makes a false connection with his audience/customer. He is looking for the quick sale. Even if his scam is considered a long con, his desired result is not a life long relationship.

It is interesting, however, that one of the qualities of a good performer, as well as a good businessman, is confidence. Con men exude confidence, but most lack something more important: genuineness—the quality that creates buyers, customers or clients for life.

If you have ever been to a stand-up comedy show you know that sometimes the comedians are funny and sometimes they are not. We laugh when we feel that the comedian is telling us something true—a real story or an occurrence that they actually experienced. If we feel that the story is made up, we don’t buy it, and we don’t laugh.

We can watch a stand-up comedian who is telling a true story, but if he is not sincere or imbued with true confidence, we will not laugh. We may not be cognizant of his insecure delivery, but we feel it. And we rarely laugh when someone displays weakness.

In business, the customer is your audience. He won’t buy from you if he doesn’t feel that you are truthful and confident. We do business with people we like, and we like people we trust.