Conversations with Greg Dean

Today we’d like to introduce you to Greg Dean.

Hi Greg, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Opened first stand-up comedy school in the world in 1982. Taught in many locations around So Cal. Developed a revolutionary joke structure model. Can teach people to write a joke in minutes. Published a book, “Step by Step to Stand-Up Comedy” in 2000. Updated in 2018. Translated into 5 languages around the world. Work with my wife Gayla Johnson actress and comedian. I only teach principles, techniques, and skills, not my opinion of what’s funny. Have classes live and on zoom. In it to share the laughter.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
First ten years in it alone. Didn’t want to teach I was a full-time comedian. Made a great living until covid. The world has changed, but slowly figuring it out. More and more competition as the years go by. The problem is that most teachers are only teaching their opinion of what they think is funny and not actually teaching students how jokes work or how to write jokes and principles of performing. Trying to set myself apart from the other teachers as they say they teach what I teach, but they don’t.

Constantly innovating new techniques and having enough time to write about them. Also building an on-demand school of different skills: Joke Structure, Joke Writing, Be an MC, 7 Instant Joke Writing Techniques, Telling Funny Stories, Be a Working Comedian, and more.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a master practitioner and master trainer in NLP Neurolinguistic Programming. I worked with Tony Robbins for about a year and was also his personal assistant. Then trained with NLP co-founder John Grinder for three years. I focused on the Modeling and took on the field of stand-up comedy. I’ve spent 40 years uncovering and writing about the principles and techniques of stand-up comedy. These can be practiced and applied to one’s personal sense of humor.

My passion is uncovering the principles, techniques and skills and passing them on to the next generation of comedians.

Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
Yes, when comedians can’t make a living in clubs they started teaching stand-up comedy classes with no experience in teaching. Teaching on zoom is a challenge and I had to create a new approach to teaching online.

The only constant in the universe is change. To stay relevant, one must evolve and adapt. Currently involved with bringing the fundamentals of stand-up comedy to the world to share the laughter.

Contact Info:

• Website: stand-upcomedy.com
• Instagram: gregdeancomedy
• Facebook: gregdeancomedy
• Linkedin: gregdeancomedy
• Twitter: gregdeancomedy
• Youtube: gregdeancomedy
• Yelp: gregdeancomedy
• Other: gregdeancomedy