Humor in Business
Looking for a Custom Experience, Day of Play, Interactive Workshop to boost your team's energy, joy, connection and performance?
Send in the Clowns!
Husband and wife team, Shannan Calcutt and Darren Pitura, have over 40 years of experience ~ Playing! Clowns for Cirque du Soleil & Spiegelworld; Improvisors at The Second City & Vegas Theatre Hub; these comedians and instructors are your Shortcut to Joy! They wholeheartedly believe we could solve the world's problems through play. They have worked with organizations across the globe to encourage playing big, risking gloriously and failing better.
What Shannan and Darren can achieve in an hour of play is truly remarkable: courage, community, connection, leadership, shared intention, trust, spontaneity, joy, laughter, partnership, team building, strength, camaraderie, compassion and empathy. They create a safe playground that promotes diversity and inclusivity. They invite you to laugh and play like you did when you were a kid, freely, without inhibitions or fears of failure and acceptance. They encourage you to embrace your inner fool, unleash your inner warrior and celebrate your ridiculousness! At long last it’s time to make a fool of yourself ~ and Enjoy It!
Custom Experiences can be anywhere from an hour workshop to a weeklong immersive adventure! Here’s Five Tips Sparrow took away from our custom workshop designed for the annual HR Transform Conference, How to Break-The-Ice With a Little Humor
There is more to Humor and Play than laughter and entertainment. It is a philosophy with a foundation of freedom, connection and creativity. It allows you to connect with your team, diffuse tension and foster trust. As a training tool it improves listening and communication skills and helps people stay focused in the present moment. Shannan and Darren work directly with you and your team, creating and conducting a training program that will use play and improvisation to cover a wide range of topics from leadership to crisis management.
Here are just a few of the benefits of our Workshops:
Communication
Successful improvisers are excellent listeners and clear communicators. When they begin creating a scene they are starting, literally, with nothing. But through listening, contributing freely, and building on ideas, worlds are created on stage. Life moves quickly, both on the stage and in the boardroom. Our workshops will teach your staff to listen deeply to the ideas that unfold and build upon them with articulation and confidence.
Leadership
Great leaders are decisive, confident, and flexible. They need to live in the moment and fly in the face of uncertainty. Great leaders also know when to step up and take charge and when to sit back and give support. Our workshops will give your staff a chance to be leaders and supporters alike, giving them the insight they need to step up and answer the call when they are needed.
Crisis Management
The Road to success is never smooth. We must be agile and adaptable if we’re going to survive the bumps along the way. By teaching the art of creativity, collaboration, and communication, our workshops will provide the tools that your organization needs to weather the challenges you may face in your workplace, helping your staff to stand up to adversity with skill and confidence.
Team Building
Improv is a highly collaborative art form where working together to achieve a common goal is the only way to win. With its emphasis on saying “yes” and building on the ideas of others, your staff will experience, firsthand, the magic of being a part of something that is larger than themselves.
Keynote Speaking
Public speaking frequently tops people’s “greatest fear” list, but there is no reason to be afraid. By immersing your staff in a positive and judgment free space, they will be given the confidence to make creative decisions. Fear of embarrassment and failure is erased by support and applause, creating a stronger, more self assured staff that is fearless in front of audiences, executives, clients and customers alike.
The Power of “Yes”
Saying "Yes" to ideas opens doors because it means taking a risk. Saying no may seem like a safer choice, but it forces things to a standstill. When you say yes to people’s ideas, they will come back to you with stronger and better ideas. Our play and improv workshops will help you create a “Yes Culture” in your workplace, helping your staff and your business move forward.
Shannan and Darren’s Play & Improv Workshops focus on skills that empower your team to perform at a higher level of energy and achievement! Their fully interactive workshops are instantly applicable and custom made to suit your organization's needs. Whether it's a three hour class or a three day intensive, Shannan and Darren are ready to invigorate and ignite your creative spark!
Testimonials
“Laughing with other people in our group was like a massage to my soul and the best medicine I didn't know I needed. Working with Shannan felt like an embodied TEDTalk with Brené Brown. I don't know how this clown did it, but I'll never be afraid to fail again. She's the real deal!”
- Joey Borgogna
Director, Speranza Foundation
"Shannan is a pro and high priestess of play, wonder and transformation. We co-created a circus arts themed daylong adventure together with Shannan and a group of wonder making artists for a top secret organization of designers and technologists. Shannan quickly got people on their feet, in their bodies, playing together, running around like little kids, making up songs and sharing the beauty and vulnerability of their creative selves. Participants came away feeling more empathy, connection with each other and enhanced creativity. It was pure magic to witness.”
- Barbara Groth
Founder and Creative Director, The Nomadic School of Wonder
"I invited Shannan to bring some fun and learning to our chapter's virtual AGM. From the first moment she came on-screen, the shackles of professional buttoned-up-edness fell away, and silliness ensued....to the joyful delight of all our participants. As coaches, being in the moment and being open to "yes, and..." is how we show up, and Shannan's exercises and approach offered something we could each take into our own practices. We all left feeling giddy and ready to dive in with fresh ideas for our next clients!"
- Jilly Hyndman
Events Co-Director, International Coaching Federation
“Shannan has an effortless ability to put participants at ease and give themselves permission to play. Our team gained so much confidence in how to connect as people and have an amazing fun time doing it”
- Brian Anderson
Director of Performance and Fun Times, Science World Vancouver