Rising Stars: Meet Dani Klein Modisett of Atwater Village

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dani Klein Modisett.

Hi Dani, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
The first time I came to LA was at 26 with $500.00 and an alumni directory. My first job was on the original Matlock! I played a girl in a cult. I worked for a few years as an actor, eventually going on a pre-Broadway tour of an LA show, “Twilight of the Golds.” It didn’t have a long run but I stayed back in NYC for a year caring for my father who died of cancer in 1996. I had been a comic before then so I went back to it. I also started teaching stand up at ULCA, the same course in which I had been a student and inspired me to be a comic. I met my husband and once I had a child I didn’t want to go back to clubs at night. I started more long-form writing and producing a show in Hollywood called, “Afterbirth…stories you won’t read in a parenting magazine,” An anthology of these stories was was eventually published as a book for St. Martin’s Press. Next was a book on how to keep your marriage happy and healthy using the tools of comedy – “Take My Spouse, Please.” (Penguin, Random House) actually taken from my UCLA curriculum and endorsed by Ben Stiller. among other LA comedy people.

While I was on tour with this book that my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. A few years later, I moved her from NYC to LA to be near me and my family. I then launched Laughter On Call after my mother became depressed facing Alzheimer’s. It came from an idea I had to hire a comedian, someone not her daughter, to make my mother laugh. It worked. (If you want more detail, it’s all in the TEDx.)

I wrote an article about the experience for AARP magazine, received hundreds of requests for comedians and launched the business. During COVID, locked out from seniors, LOC started running live, interactive sessions for our clients. Very quickly, in addition to seniors and caregivers, perfectly lucid people showed up to feel the connection and morale boost.

Since then, in addition to working with those facing Alzheimer’s, LOC has also run highly engaging, interactive team-building and wellness workshops as well as professional development and leadership training for companies around the world. I’ve also been busy as keynote speaker and taught at a few top business schools including Fuqua at Duke, HBS and Tuck at Dartmouth.

In the 8 years since launching, Laughter On Call has helped thousands of caregivers and 650+ companies to use levity to create belonging and connection. LOC is also a case study for Harvard Business School, where I have been a guest lecturer. I have also been a speaker for WBENC, WBDC, and the Milken Foundation.

I have served as a member of the Milken Alliance to Improve Dementia Care, was named to the Forbes 50>50 list, and recently launched a TEDx talk, “What My Mother’s Alzheimer’s Teaches Us About Laughter.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8JW8lP_T9k

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Ha! Why the past tense? The struggles along the way, some of which persist, are that Laughter On Call is service business and not a product someone can see and hold. And it’s not just any service business, it’s a culture-serving business. As a company you have to believe that having a place where people are enthusiastic about their work and how they feel at work and with each other is a priority.
Then you also have to appreciate the value of shared laughter as a sure fire way to achieve this goal. It’s a slightly unorthodox approach to team-building. The challenge is really three-fold because a) service businesses are always a challenge to quantify to a client b) communicating that laughter is the tool that supports all the benefits of a stronger work culture. It’s not about jokes, it’s about connection, and c) my entire staff, not just the comics, are artists. Sensitive, inspired, tenacious, talented and sensitive. Yes I wrote that word twice. It’s 100% the gift of the company and keeps me on my toes and using that wonderful comedian tool of reading the room.

One other small challenge is having an inspired, creative team that can be resistant to traditional organizational hierarchies. Oh wait, maybe that’s just me.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I had to write “other” because we service seniors, caregivers and businesses we are a bunch of artists who do the business of the business. Which is actually a tax phrase. If your people execute the business of the business they are employees in California. Our business is using Improv and shared laughter to help people – whether they are caring for a loved who is facing illness or a corporate manager who is hoping to give their people a greater sense of belonging and opening doors to more creative thinking together.

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
Fortunately just in the last few months several articles have been written about the power of laughter and Improv to improve everything from NHL teams to Silicon Valley start ups! And more and more is being discovered about the physical and mental health benefits of laughter for our brains.

Leaders and industries are just beginning to appreciate the unique impact that laughing with people has for creating trust and inspiriting collaboration. Lots to look forward to.

Pricing:

• $200/hr one on one with person living with Alzheimer’s
• $2500.00 start price for in-person team building
• Price upon request for keynote

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.laughteroncall.com/, https://www.kleincomedy.com/
• Instagram: @laughteroncall
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laughteroncall
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dani-klein-modisett-5316b018/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8JW8lP_T9k