John Sweeney, Brave New Outpost/JigglyBoy

For 25 years, John Sweeney has been changing human behavior as a Keynote Speaker within the biggest businesses in the world, including Microsoft, Target, Hilton, United Health Group, General Mills, Facebook, Apple, and Bank First. He has shared the stage with George Bush, Sr., Deepak Chopra, Betty White, Steve Ballmer, and Mark Zuckerberg. 

Sweeney has written four books. A quote from Sweeney, taken from the book Innovation at the Speed of Laughter: 8 Secrets to World Class Idea Generation, appeared as cup quote #183 in Starbucks "The Way I See It Program.".[1] The quote read: "Improvisers don't look at change as an obstacle; we look at it as fuel. we know that the next great idea lies just on the other side of the change. We are constantly asking ourselves, 'What can I do to incite change?' Well?"

John Sweeney is well known for his MN Timberwolves superfan character, deemed "Jiggly Boy," which was a stunt that went viral and garnered over 500 million views as well as pickup in all major US sports media. His website Jigglyboy.com has funded hundreds of surgeries for children through Smile Network, International.

Transcript

0:18

Alrighty, welcome to the Kindness Chronicles, where once again we hope to inject the world with a dose of the Minnesota nice that it desperately needs. If you've been watching the news lately, the world is in desperate need of niceness. Uh, we're going to be visiting with a guest that Steve got for us and, the rules of, uh, civility that he's put, put together are, uh, really quite remarkable. And one of them has something to do with, uh, Respect the opinions of others or listen to the opinions of others with some level of respect and right now it seems like college campuses are are abundant with disrespect on both sides of the coin. But KG, let's start with you. You've been kinda bored lately. No Minnesota Wild Hockey. What have you been doing with yourself? Yeah, I'm having withdrawals watching the family cup playoffs with no, uh, with no gig right now. So really just getting ready for the horse racing season out of Canterbury. We've got our big Kentucky Derby party this weekend. I'm looking forward to that and then we're just two weeks away from live racing. So everything's starting to ramp up. We've had zoom calls. I got some radio duties this week. So coming out of the hibernation here. Missing hockey, missing the Minnesota Wild, but, uh, enjoying this run by the Timberwolves and looking forward to, uh, the Kentucky Derby. Wonderful. And Steve, you? Anything new? I've actually been watching the Timberwolves, believe it or not. God, I haven't watched one minute. I've been watching. It's really, it's really damn good. Actually, all the playoffs, I normally am not into it. I've just been kind of falling into it and I'm digging. I'm very fair weather, as you know. Fair weather guy. But I'm excited because the grass is growing. It's green. It's spring. it's actually. Yes, I'm making my golf debut tomorrow. So I'm looking very, looking forward to, uh, To being very frustrated for about four hours. So I got that going for me, Steve, we got a super special guest, someone that we've been talking about for a long time. And you had the guts to reach out and talk to this guy. Yes. So tell us who we're talking to today to introduce our guests today. His name is Mr. John Sweeney. John is a co owner of the brave new workshop. And brave new outpost. He is a beacon of inspiration in the realm of civility, innovation, think innovative thinking, and kindness. As a renowned speaker for 25 years, he has inspired, energized, and motivated a million audience members in hundreds of fortune 500 companies. That's like 2300 presentations to this point. and counting. He's the author of the book you you reference often called, uh, Return to Civility. Also an author of several other really fun and thoughtful books you have to check out. Um, John is a Wisconsin born guy who embodies the essence of midwestern empathy, compassion, and love. Humanity with a huge dose of pure improv silliness. His, Jiggly Boy viral video I sent to you guys has over 1 billion views. I had no idea when I saw that video that that was John Sweeney. That video is a video that I've shared with so many non Minnesota people. I know. I, I, we have to ask about it. Okay. I just want to say, I'm, I'm so proud to welcome this guy, John Sweeney, welcome to the Kindness Chronicles. Thank you. I was just wondering who the heck you were talking about. Some of that is partially true. So thank you. No, it's great to, uh, great to be on the podcast. And, uh, thank you guys for having a podcast that celebrates the better side of humanity. And, uh, as you were mentioning in the intro, we've got enough in the world to remind us that people can be jerks to each other, so it's nice to spend some time talking about, uh, kindness and, and civility. So thank you very much. Right. We could, we could be here and just be four guys, three guys complaining. Um, but we're not, we decide to look at people. Interesting side of things and, uh, and things that make us, uh, give us that hit of, and we still complain once in a while. There's some complaining, but there's a mentality of, uh, camaraderie here, and we're trying to look for the cool things in life. We're trying our best. It sounds like you're only a sports fan, so you'll always have something to complain about. Amen. Amen. Topic that we that we cover. Can we just start with how the Minnesota Timberwolves? Jiggly guy video happened Yeah, John. We need to hear about there's two two videos that came out Tell us about how that happened. And I know was a it was a bit but what a great bit tell us about it Yeah, I think it's one of those things like as ridiculous as it is Um You know, part of what you guys talked a lot about is if you just take and make a little bit of effort to do something that's full of joy or full of kindness, you never know where it's going to leave. And I, and I got to tell you, you know, a billion views later, I had no idea that what we started would lead to what we've been able to accomplish. So, um, as you mentioned, you know, I, I own the Brand New Workshop Comedy Theater, uh, for 25 years, my wife and I did, uh, formerly known as Dudley Riggs and the nation's oldest comedy improv theater. So, so we were downtown and, uh, and one of the things we did is we kind of took Our entertainment and our improvisational values and we brought those to organizations. I do that for keynote speeches But for a long time we would be kind of like creative consultants for organizations that just wanted to You know help people get the stick out of their butts and do fun things with their customers And so yeah, I think at one point we were kind of creative consultants for It'd be 15 different, um, professional sports teams, and the one thing it seemed like all of our clients who were professional sports teams had in common is that their teams were really, really bad at the games that they played. Like, really, really bad. And, and for a while, the Minnesota Timberwolves were the epitome of that, like, you know. Yeah. I remember being at games going, I wonder if basketball is the first sport of everyone on the team. So I thought, you know, and these guys have known each other for a couple of days, so they don't seem very familiar. Or has anyone played some of the rules? Like, and then of course, you know, we, uh, we Minnesotans, we react to that. And so there were years, as you probably know, because you may have been there, but like, you could hear individual conversations in the arena during the game. Yeah. You know, I know. I used to say it had the, the vibrant excitement of a, uh, a Lutheran wake, right? And so anyway, the wolves, the wolves called and said, uh, I was doing some work helping training their sales staff, right? Cause we, we, we do some improvisational training for sales people. And they said, you know, can you come over and just brainstorm some stuff? You know, we go to the theater and so much fun. And so you crazy guys over there think of all this fun stuff. And so we started doing things. Um, You know, like the kiss cam and and things that you could do during timeouts, you know No offense to the wolves because I love the wolves and i'm a big fan, but you know things that could distract the audience So anyway, someone said, uh, okay, let's have a brainstorming session and so i'm a big Packer fan and they were saying, you know, like our fans are so reserved sometimes like, you know You What if, like, Sweeney took off his shirt and went crazy like they do at Lambeau Field? And I was like, or, or we could think of something else. You know, there's a lot of other things we could do. Like, you know, how about a ticket giveaway? Um, and so they kept pushing, and pushing, and pushing. Yeah, right. I think, you know, you know, let's eat away some more. And, and so what ended up happening a long time ago, as a matter of fact, it was the last time that they were in the second round of the playoffs. That's when Julia Boy started. Um, is we said, okay, let's, let's kind of see if we can create a super fan. And then just for fun, we'll get them far out of the game. So if you see that first video, um, you know, it's, it's me dancing and taking my shirt off. And then actually two actors from the Brave New Workshop dressed as police officers, taking me out of the game. So that was the big idea that we had. And then it kind of backfired, which is, you'll see, as you get to know my story, uh, it's a common theme in my life. So, uh, so we just thought it would be a fun bit, right? Like it's another thing to do with the game. Like here's a crazy guy. And we threw her out of the game. Well, during halftime, they had 118 people submit complaints at the customer service desk. How dare you throw that guy out? Everybody bought it! I thought it was going to be, how dare you let that guy take his shirt off in public. John, you're in good company, uh, you are speaking to three gentlemen that would probably be very comfortable in the Jiggly Men Society. You're part of our community, We don't pass up a good burger or pizza, right? Yeah. North Goodway. That's how it started. I was gonna say, I think, I think that a testament to that was how you, how far you committed. You were amazingly committed to it and, um, and you're a great dancer. Like, you really were so into it that it made it fun. Yeah, that's the whole point. Like, people are like, that guy was having a great time. How dare you kick him out you gained them just by really diving deep into your training of, of an improv. And as for the dancing, Chris Farley, not that you're Chris Farley jiggly, but Chris Farley, you know, his, uh, Patrick Swayze dancing bit is one of the classic SNL skits of all time. And I was always just shocked at how well that guy could move. did you like learn how to dance somewhere? Because you know how to dance. I'm a pretty good dancer and ironically, uh, you know, Chris and I grew up together and we're very, very close. And so we, uh, the, the, the dance that you see there, uh, we used to, back in college and high school, we would have With Chris and his brother, Kevin and I, we would have dance offs. Again, remember, I'm 29 years sober, right? So, uh, let's just say there were probably times when we were having dance offs at places like the Avalanche Bar in Milwaukee, or the Idol Hours in Phoenix, or the Bottom Line in Madison, Wisconsin, or the College Club in Madison, Wisconsin. And the dance off, what it was, was who can be the most serious about dancing. And then if you break then you're out, right? So There it is, right there. and we would kind of get this thing going, and we were all athletes and all came from Irish descent families that enjoyed music and laughter and all sorts of stuff. So yeah, there's a little bit of Chris. That was kind of fun, because it's one of the reasons I got into improv, and Parle is like, you know, I'm The Patrick Swayze thing is one of the first things that he ever shot as a cast member. And he said, you know, Sweeney's doing corporate real estate. And he's like, you're working so hard. He goes, I just took off my shirt and danced with Patrick Swayze. And they're like paying me a lot of money to do this. He goes, you need to check out this improv stuff. It's a lot easier than it works. So the Chris that you were just referring to is Chris Farley? Yeah. Like you were friendly with Chris Farley? He grew up with him. He was in school with him. What?! Our dads went to school together and uh, we all went to this wonderful place called Edgewood High School of the Sacred Heart run by the Dominican Sisters. Oh wow. So is that in Milwaukee? That's in Madison. Oh, it's in Madison. Okay. Yeah, I didn't know that. His character, Matt Foley, um, you know the guy who lives down by the river. Yeah, I was at Halloween one year. Yeah, that's loosely based on Joel Maturi, who was the athletic character at the U of M. And he was our Dean of Students and our football coach. Come on! Wow! That's so cool! Yeah, so we, so yes, I've always, I've always been inspired and associated with, uh, with big Irish guys, not afraid to shake their money. Oh my God, it's awesome. It's, and that does it, it shows you're, you're from the same school of commitment. That's why, that's why the audience reacted the way they did. So then fast forward. So you only did that one time and he did it a second time. Well, I know, but, but I'm saying you did that one time and then, uh, and then a bunch of years later. Yeah, actually that year, um, a couple more times in the playoffs and stuff. Um, you know, I danced with the dance There's a video like someone said did you practice and you know, so like I you know Like four or five of the girls came over, young women came over to the theater and taught me the routine, which I think we danced to like an ACDC song or something. So, yeah, so that first year we probably danced, I don't know, a handful of times and, and that was crazy. And then, uh, and then it went away, you know, kind of, thank God. Uh, cause then we started having kids and our kids went to Catholic schools. And it was like, you know, it's tough to have a, Conversation with a, you know, a wonderful, wonderfully strict Catholic man about it. So, Michael, your kindergartner says that you take off your shirt and dance in public. Typical Saturday night. So, I went away, thank goodness. Yeah, and then, uh, and then all of a sudden I got a text, I think, on a Monday evening from Chris Wright, who was president of the Holden at the time, and a good friend. And it said, uh, confidential. KG can come back on Thursday and we need Jiggly Boy to come back because we're gonna, we're gonna bring everything back. Wow. It's gonna be a big night. And, and I was like, I typed the word no like 40 times into my phone, like I almost broke the phone. You know, cause I was 40 when I danced the first time. I'm now 50 when he wants me to dance again. And you know, I'm not a big fan of people in general and I, I like, I remember going, Chris, I'm really honored that you want me to be involved in this big night and stuff, but it's not going to be funny. It's just going to be gross. Oh, man. The world doesn't need this. Like, you know, there'll be people at the game who have just eaten dinner. You know, it's unnecessary. And then, uh, and then we kind of brainstormed. We're like, but, you know, What if Jiggly Boy now has a son? Yeah, so great. Yeah, so that's where the boys got involved. Uh, you know, those two little guys in the video are now, uh, a senior in high school. Wow. A young man who just won a state championship in basketball, which is kind of fun. And then a junior in college, uh, at Boston College. So I don't know how happy they are. They thought it was fun when they were little, and now they're like, yeah, that's my dad. why is that a high school? Yeah. Uh, no, Breck. My son Michael is a campus basketball player. So they had the first, first basketball state championship in the history of the school. Wow. Fun, fun. And he's, uh, he's on his way to play college basketball at Bard College in upstate New York. Oh, Bard. Well, um, just one more note about that. The second video, uh, the reason also that is so good. You played it so perfectly and it was well put together with the camera team because they went back to you three times, three times. It was so perfect. And your, your kids reaction and your reaction. No, you know, I'm, I'm over that. Like I, you could read everything you're going through in your mind. You did such a great job. Well, you know, you always want to be honest about stuff, and the truth of the matter is, like, you know, we rehearsed the heck out of it. And, you know, we got there earlier that day, and, you know, I'm glad you noticed the three, because that's, you know, one of the rules of comedy is the rule of three. And, you know, you put out some content, you pause, you put out some more content, you pause, you build a little anxiousness, and then you hit them with the punchline. Currently, I guess, the punchline is, Jiggly Boy cannot sit still if an Usher song plays, so when they hit the Usher song, uh, that was the cue, and, uh, and yeah, there was a guy by the name of Chad, uh, who was head of, um, Entertainment and operations at the time for the wolves and he just did a great job of how they shot that and You know, it was it was intentional but and it was its intention was to be fun. Yeah, you got kevin garnett involved and that was to me the uh, the the kind of the Crescendo of the whole thing is the interaction that they show Towards the end when you're done dancing and kevin garnett is acknowledging you during an nba basketball game that blew me away Yeah, and you know, it's one of the things you guys have probably touched on this before on the show but I think kindness and civility are Spark plugs or elixirs for serendipity. Like if you if you just decide you're going to be You Kind of someone it's amazing what can happen after that, right? So a couple things, you know I i'm a big kevin garnett fan, but let's face it. He's one of the grumpier guys in the nba, right? So He's got a pretty big ego and he deserves that one. The other thing is tiffany Was known for really keeping the team in the timeout until the horn blows. And so two things happen. One is, you know, that's been a great mood. And the other is for some reason for that timeout, they got out like 20 seconds early. So, so he's just kind of walking around looking and that's why he noticed like in a typical timeout, he probably, we would have had to finish because you know, the NBA makes you stop all the extra, and so like, All of that happened. Um, and then if I can, if we've got time, a couple minutes, I, I'd love to tell you kind of what we've done with that, because that, that's where it really kind of explodes. That's what we wanna hear about. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So, so we, you know, so that all happens. Like I, and that's where the improv, I was so grateful to improviser because we're just planning on doing this and then sit down and I was like, Hey, you know. It's free tickets for the hot dog. I got my shirt off tonight. And then all of a sudden I realized I looked up on the board and I saw that KG had noticed, and I was like, Oh my goodness, this just went from silly to maybe we can do something here. So I kept interacting with them, you know, and of doing the bow down and giving the thumbs up. And I wanted to get as much footage of him as I could. And so that all worked well. And, and then the next morning, um, Chad and the crew. Put that video together and then put it up on nba. com And my little guy Michael came into my office and said dad, you know That video of us dancing is on nba. com and it's got like 10 000 hits And I was like, oh great. I'm never gonna sell another corporate speech What a wonderful saturday morning this is yeah, and uh, and so then he comes back an hour he goes dad We're at 100, 000 hits. So we did a million views the first day. Wow. And, and, you know, no, no other Timberwolves video on NBA had ever, ever done that. And so people keep sending me these screenshots. And, and the one thing that I noticed, um, and again, the serendipity, is if we're just kind to each other, if we just treat each other well, you'll never know what's going to happen. They keep sending me these screenshots. And what I keep noticing is everyone around me in the whole stadium is smiling. But like a really. An authentic smile, right? Like, not a Guthrie Theater, we're supposed to smile at the Christmas carols, so we smile because, you know, it's what we do. Like, they were really happy. And I'm like, why is this word smile? And then I look at Garnett's smile, right? He's got this unbelievably gorgeous smile, right? He's got great chompers. Yeah! And so I'm like, smile, smile, smile. So I had just met, two weeks before I had danced, A woman by the name of Kim Valentini, who started Smile Network International, and she had just been in my office, and we were talking about how maybe my network could help her raise money, because that organization does cleft palate surgery. Kids can't smile, and kids who can't nurse, and kids who have some real bad health problems. So I'm like, oh my goodness, that's why I can't get this word smile out of my, out of my mind. So in a matter of 48 hours, with the help of really classic Minnesota knife, PR firms, what Marketing firms. We got giggly boy.com up and I hope your listeners go to jilib boy do com because they can click on a button and donate a dollar or five or whatever they want to smile, network International and that money goes directly to pay for kids to get cleft pal surgeries in third world countries. And my family, we take my family to Guatemala and Guatemala and seeing what happens in, in this miracle that happens with these beautiful babies. So. that website because I took a shirt off. Cause that moment. Wow. Yeah, it's amazing. It really is remarkable. And the fact that you've been able to convert that into a 420 smiles, for people that probably otherwise wouldn't be enthusiastic about trying to smile is just awesome. And also it's an amazing story because it all, how it all came together is always kind of chance and it all worked out. Uh, You rehearsed it a million times, but if the, if the, if the, uh, if the buzzer would have gone, you would have had to break it up. It would have, it would have been kind of flat. I know how that stuff kind of goes. So it's amazing. I just assume that KG was in on it, but he wasn't. No, he just got the watch. sometimes he, uh, he could be a little grumpy. I asked him to help on it a couple of times, but you know, he's a very popular guy. Uh, but one of the things that's funny is. Um, I think it's A. E. Sports. What's the company that makes all the video games? Yeah, EA Sports. EA Sports. So, so they did, they did this new game where you could put together all these Hall of Fame NBAs. And Kevin Garnett was kind of the, you know, the spokesperson for that new game. So if you, if you Google that, There's a, there's a, a commercial for that game, and it's KG, and he's walking through his house, and he's got a picture of Jiggly Boy. What? No. And he's, and he kisses his hands and then touches the picture, so I was like, oh, that's funny. Come on. Yeah, it's great. It's a great commercial. They've got a choir and then that guy from Boston, the outspoken actor from Boston, I forget his name. Um, well, there's a bunch of them. Yeah. Yeah. But if you Google that, that commercial, you'll see it. It's very subtle. Like you just walk into the hall and they just kind of do a pan and there's a little coffee table and there's a picture of me. And I'm like, you know, those are the days where I'm like, You know, I grew up on a dairy farm outside of Madison, Wisconsin, right? It's like, what's going on? What is going on here? But the smile network, when I first learned about it, I thought it was all cosmetic stuff, but the truth of the matter is it's life saving because what happens is. Those beautiful little babies, they can't nurse. And so there's a 30 to 40 percent death rate in the third world because of the cross path because they lose so much body weight. And, you know, when their face grows, it gets infected and there's not a lot of antibiotics. So, so, you know, In our country, it's kind of a cosmetic thing. In the third world, it's a one to one situation. So, you know, to think that more than 400 kids are walking around this planet today, you know, being joyful. Uh, I'd dance with my shirt off every night if I could to see that result. But, but I just believe that if you take that first step, that kind of momentum of kindness and civility happens, and it just has done a role. You know, like, you know, I'm not the type of guy who's gonna write a check to go fund 400 kids. Surgeries. And so, it's just, it's a miracle. It's wonderful. one of the things that you suggest is, you know, if you see somebody that needs an aisle seat or a window seat on an airplane, give it up to them, and then in the bottom you talk about the fact that your travel karma will for sure be improved as a result of doing something like that. And a couple of weeks ago I was traveling and, I witnessed a guy give up his first class seat. He was like in 2B, so first class on the aisle, great seat. To this old guy that, uh, that had a Vietnam veterans hat on. And I just thought, that is my kind of guy. You talk about a dose of oxytocin. And, just did it. There was no fanfare. Just saw him walking in. Took the guy's ticket and he had a middle seat back at like 36. I just thought, Oh man, that's pretty cool. It's super cool. That's yeah. But to, to your point, uh, John, the karma that can come with those acts of kindness are really the ripple effects are. are unreal. so you've got a great thing in the book. It lays out all these numbers and it's really, it's common sense stuff. But when you reread it, you think, yeah, it kind of plants it in your mind. And I found one that I thought was perfect for our show. It's, uh, it's a return to civility too. I think it's number 53. Be on the lookout for good people, uh, doing good things. And that's why we're talking to John Sweeney today. We looking for someone like that? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. I was just saying I like that one because you know, I had a beautiful Catholic nun in my life who was kind of my My, uh, Yoda, right? And she always would say, we become what we pay attention to. And that's one of the things that I kind of struggle with in this current world of social media and media in general is we tend to illuminate and shine a light on lots of different people and we don't do a great job of illuminating and shining a light on You know that wonderful neighbor who always shovels two driveways or the guy who you know is retired but spends 30 hours a week Helping the little league, you know, keep going or whoever it is, right? These good people so I don't know that one kind of came from can we start paying attention to like The nice people in this world, like, what if we did that for a while? Our guest, uh, our last guest said that same thing, and it was a great, his name is Neil Ford, and he talked about, you know, this, the reality is there's actually way more good people out there, and you gotta be watching for it. Yeah, it's, it, it is everywhere. Um, I just, I want to go back to a comment that you made about, um, you had made the comment about watching the Timberwolves and wondering if it was their first sport, which I think is just a brilliant line. I recall it instantly brought back to, uh, to my memory. I was coaching baseball with these kids that were probably seven, eight years old. And one of the guys that I was coaching with is a very serious baseball guy. And this little kid put on his glove and. Was throwing the ball or attempting to throw the ball and, and I won't say what the guy's name is because he listens. He'll know who it is. And he says, uh, we'll just say, Timmy, you're, you're, you're right handed. And he said, yeah, are you sure? And I just, I just thought. And what was so funny is this is a guy who's pretty serious about baseball and he was actually very serious You know, are you sure where I thought it was one of the greatest Chandler Bing sort of sarcastic comments that could be made had you know You own the nation's oldest comedy theater for 25 years. And, you know, about every two weeks, you typically get a call from usually a parent that says, My kid is the funniest kid ever, and she'd be on your stage. And how can we make that happen? And when there are auditions, and you know, the kids never taking any improv classes, you know, blah, blah, blah. And, uh, and then you kind of, you see the, And it's that same thing. You're like, you know, like, so, so what's your advice to get him on Saturday Night Live? And I was like, uh, maybe become a union electrician. You know, uh, I don't know, become really good friends with Lorne Michaels or something. But, uh, but it's not going to happen when it comes to comedy. I took some classes there because it was something I was very, I, you know, being a performer in a band and all that kind of stuff, I, you know, I was just trying it out. Cause I, I had a lot of good friends that were in it. Actually. I think our friend, our mutual friend, Margie Simmons is, uh, is, is, was taking classes at the time. I think she was already into it, like for further into it, but let me just say that is hard stuff to do. And it's not about being funny. You're about, it's about being truthful. And it was a great, it was a great way to understand and kind of unlock your brain, which is a part of what your presentations are all about, right? You're about really unlocking people like, tell us a little bit about how you kind of take that improv stuff to business. So you've been doing it for a long time and I know it's a very successful. I've seen some of it at some corporate meetings I've been at, but, um, tell us how you do that, how you help people get that. And, you know, again, in the spirit of, Of a full disclosure, you know, the reason why we have now a 20 some year corporate training program wasn't like because we, you know, were strategic or brilliant. It was mostly desperation. So you can imagine my wife and I bought the theater in 1997 and then the internet hits and then TiVo and then Netflix and then every reason to stay at home. Yeah. And binge watch stuff instead of going downtown and parking and finding, you know, 30 to do all sorts of stuff. So it was tough business to run and we were, you know, we were really in a tough place in the late 90s and early 2000s. And so we literally had to sit there and go, how are we going to keep this, how are we going to keep the doors open? Like, and so my wife had done such a great job expanding our school and it just so happened that we started talking to a lot of our students and they weren't, They weren't taking improv classes to perform, they worked at Target, or 3M, or Best Buy, or General Mills, and they were taking these classes to kind of revive that creative spirit, to be a better presenter, to handle ambiguity a little bit more, to just find some fun in their life. Yeah, it's just fun, yeah. Yeah, and so that's where the idea came from, because they're like, our students started saying, I'm applying this stuff at work. I'm applying it in sales, I'm applying it in innovation, I'm applying it in customer service, I'm applying it in leadership, I'm applying it as I got a new job, and, and, you know, whatever it is. So that's where it all came from, and really all we've done is we've said, instead of like, let's take the art form and bring it to the corporate world, we said, let's take the mindset and the kind of, Baseline behaviors and then translate them to the corporate world. So, so, you know, now 3000 times, I guess we've brought the improvisational mindset to the corporate world and we don't teach you how to improvise. We kind of use it as a metaphor in a way to say your neurology is wired. To, to try to be perfect, to try to not make mistakes, and, and to be in a more fear and risk avoidant place. As an improviser, we have to be in a completely different mindset, because we stand in front of 200 drunk people and ask them, what would you like us to be funny about? And they say, You know, uh, Hillary and Trump fixing healthcare naked in a canoe. And then we have to do that, and 50 percent of the people are going to be mad at us no matter what we do, right? And so, so you have to get, you have to understand what mindset you need to be in to do that. But then, more importantly, kind of back to whether or not you're funny or not, you have to commit to practicing that mindset. Day in and day out. It's like any other, you know, athletics or, or a job that you have. People think you're just kind of born funny and certainly people have good timing and they're joyful people. Yeah. It's a language. It's a grind, yeah. You gotta, you gotta learn. You gotta be a student of it. So, my point, I think we were talking about, trust me, there's been a lot of, a lot of parents where I'm like, uh, My suggestion, you know, are you sure you're right handed or are you, you know, I don't know. If you ever thought of the debate team, or, you know, something wrong with being a lawyer. When you say funny, do you mean, like, odd funny? Yeah. Maybe we have a different definition of funny. Yeah, cause you, like, you're kind of a funny, your kid's kind of a funny vacuum. Like, there's less funny in the world now that your kid just tried to be funny. Oh, God. And it's like any, it's like sports too. It's like AAU basketball, right? The kid's a decent kid and probably doesn't think they're funny at all. They're just, they're just, you know, a joyful kid. But the parent has got this. Nope, they're going to be on Saturday Night Live next year. He just says the funniest things. Right, yeah. Can I ask, John, how is the Brave New Workshop, uh, faring in this unusual time that we're living in? Yeah. Well, thank goodness it's doing well. And so the story behind that and, and, uh, you know, it's, it's all public knowledge. That's our stuff. But we, we ended up selling the Brave New Workshop theater to the Hunnepin Theater Trust. Okay. Yeah. Okay. It's just such a great gift. Um, you know, it's interesting when you're an entrepreneur, you don't really think of succession plans. And OEP and I had run that for 25 years and owned it for 25 years. And, you know, I, I can't think of a better way. Outcome, right? Because they were on the other three theaters on that block in downtown Minneapolis. They've got a great. Marketing and sales department, they can, you know, do all the things that the Little Braving Workshop couldn't. So, yeah, we were closed for nearly 30 months, um, because of COVID. Right. And, uh, and, and not only, you know, it really was, um, it was an interesting chain of events, right? Like, so, so, Hennepin Avenue in front of the theater was under construction for two years. Then COVID hit. Oh, God. And then we, then we became, you know, really the world leader in, in, uh, Kind of social unrest, right? And, and what that was interesting is not only was the theater, you know, in a place where there was riots and that sort of stuff, but if you think of the topics that we've, we've done, right? As a theater, we've always taken on the hardest topics. And so it was just a really interesting time. You know, half of me wanted to make sure that we were open so we could talk about what was going on in our community and do satire about it. And then to be honest, the other half of me was like, Man, it's tough to be funny right now. Yeah, it's kind of scary. You guys talked about it at the beginning of the show, like, uh, We've gone, I, in my opinion, we've gone from a country that had differences to now we've gone to a country that those differences are, are making us angry with each other. And, and I, you know, I think we've always been a country that's had differences. There's just something lately, uh, there's a meanness to it. It breaks my heart. And so it's a tough place to be when you're up there on stage talking about some sensitive issues. I mean, we've been talking about, um, kind of Midwestern subtle racism in almost every show since 1958. Thank you. So it's not a new topic, right? But, it used to be, people would come to our theater expecting to hear things that they disagreed with, and knowing that that would be okay. And even, you know, before COVID, uh, it was tough. You'd have audience members standing up and yelling at the actors, you'd have, you know, half the people in the audience, you know, cause we would do a show like, we'd do a show called Obama mia, and then we'd do a show called Bushwhack, right? So You know, promiscuous hostility, positive neutrality. That's the definition for that. And yet, you know, it's tough now because before you would, you'd ruffle some feathers, but people knew they were going to a place that would, that would kind of shuffle both sides of the aisle. And, uh, now that's just not as welcome. So, and that's what you guys are talking about. I think the answer to get us back to a place where we can have differences and still be a wonderful country that, that appreciates those differences and uses them for innovation, uses them for lifting each other up. I think the path to that is civility. And I, you know, Jerry Seinfeld recently, you know, uh, talked about the fact that, you know, comedy has been killed by political correctness and the fact that We can't laugh about things that are kind of funny when you, when you really think about it. It's just sort of how you set up the joke. And I just think that people are so desperate to be offended by sensitive. Yeah. It's just awful. I want to go back to, uh, to the Dudley Riggs Brave New Workshop, late eighties, early nineties. Taking a girl to the, to the Brave New Workshop was my pro move. Yeah? Why was it a pro move? It was such a good move. It was a, it was a pro move and here's why I did it. Because I wanted to see What that gal's reaction was going to be to what was going on in the stage. A test. It was a test. Wow. And there were a lot of testing going on, if you know what I mean. Wow. Go on a lot. That sounds lovely. There was a lot of first dates that didn't become second dates because these people, wow. Had no sense of humor. It wasn't me of course's. That's pretty. No, that's a pretty smart test for a suburban guy like you. And so many people have told us that story because even if you found your. Like had a different political point of view or that sort of stuff. If, if the date could, could laugh about it or not take themselves or the topic too seriously, then you're like, oh, I can hang out with this person. We could, this would be fun, right? Right. But if they were like, if they, you know, stick up their butt. Well, I never. I can't believe they did that on stage. Great. Who are these people? That was rude and obnoxious. Do you have any more questions, Steve, before we let, uh, I guess, uh, I guess you kind of did answer it. Um, you had some great points about civility and, uh, Kindness and you know, when, through all of your presentations, um, I know this is a theme that kind of ripples throughout, but, um, do you have a, a story, uh, that you could tell us as some quick thing from a, a show that you did a performance, a presentation you gave where you've got some kind of really great, um, reaction from somebody, uh, regarding kindness or something that happened, or, you know, is there, is there something that That was really great that happened at one of your presentations that you could tell us about. One of the things that happens a lot when we do our work is that people become vulnerable and, um, some of the most satisfying part of my job is when a leader of an organization or a leader of a team kind of lets their guard down. Uh, in one of our exercises or, you know, they're, they're interacting with me on stage or whatever. And the people that they are leading now see them in a much more human way, right? We've got, in the corporate world, we've got kind of this, here's what you ought to be, right? And a lot of people were trained in their MBA programs to kind of go and almost simulate that model. And so I just love it when, because behind every great leader, You know, and all these corporate leaders get a lot of, uh, critique from the world. There's usually a really hard working, wonderful person. And so, I love that in our, in our, uh, work when, when that kind of Teflon or, or kind of everyone looks up to this person because they're such a big deal and then they kind of let the guard down and everybody in the audience just realizes, you know what? We're all getting up every morning to do our best, to make it a better world, to help our families, to help our customers, and that, uh, they're kind of letting their guard down is a really satisfying thing, um, for me, and, uh, and then we, you know, we just get a lot of feedback, we, we, we do our work in a corporate world, and then we'll, we'll get an email that will say, And you talked about this mindset of courage or this mindset of, of, uh, you know, not, not being fearful all the time. And I just applied that with a really tough situation with one of my kids. And I think we got through to him. And I think that kid is now going to go into treatment or is going to go to college or is going to get out of that abusive relationship, whatever it is. So I've been blessed to have a lot of people kind of respond that says you're, you're silly little work that you do. I'm hungry. It was the ability to live a better life and that's very rewarding. That's fantastic. That was, uh, so Steve, I will edit your question down to one question. I think you asked the same question six times. This is the love that we have for each other. We are not professional broadcasters. We're learning. We're learning from KG all the time. Oh, sure. You are KG. Any final questions for Mr. Sweeney? I just, the only one I have, I'm fascinated with that connection that you're able to make in those work settings when. I think we've all at some point been exposed to that eight o'clock, nine o'clock in the morning, everybody from the office gets together and it's kind of uncomfortable and even some anxiousness and then you're able to go up there and I watched some of this, um, in the clip that Steve sent me. If a young person's out there and looks at that and says, that's something I might want to do down the road. What would your advice be to connecting with people in that type of setting? As far as becoming a speaker? Yeah, because I think it's really hard. I work in TV, and I've done this for 30 years, and I still am uncomfortable in front of a large group like that, trying to be funny and trying to connect. I think it's one of the hardest things to do. Yeah, I'll tell you a quick story, and so the answer is, and it's trite, but the answer is find a way where you can absolutely just be yourself regardless of what your, your mindset and your fear is telling you, and I learned that really early on, and the way I learned it was when you work at the Brave New Workshop, back then you got 200 a week and no insurance, and, and the only, you only worked about 75 hours a week. Oh boy. And so to make a living, you had to do TV commercials, right? Well, I You know, my first year of doing TV commercials, I would try to, in the audition, be the person they were looking for, uh, for the commercial, right? And so, like, it's a, we'll say it's a Crest toothpaste commercial. And I'm reading this thing, and it, you know, it says, uh, Good looking, uh, single male who, uh, you know, attracts the ladies with a perfect smile. Non, non jiggly. Yeah, like, like, did you see my headshot? You know, is there another Don Sweeney that says the same? Who the hell are you talking to? Like, I tell fart jokes for a living. What's going on here? And, and so, I would try to be, you know, It's kind of sexy guy and fail, fail, fail. And so I finally just realized the only thing I can do. Is even within a tv commercial audition, I can be my best self I can be my authentic self and I can let the chips fly and you wouldn't believe I mean First year, I probably booked 15 tv commercials to the point of sometimes they would switch the dialogue in the commercial So it would more meet my style. Oh, wow I got to a point where I just, I had failed so bad at trying to be someone that I wasn't. And all of a sudden I was just like, I don't care anymore. And then all of a sudden I started like, oh wow, I guess I am, I am good looking enough to do a Jeep commercial. You found yourself. Whatever it was. Yeah, that's been a blessing my whole life now, and I don't mean this in a trite way, but like, you just can't care, you gotta know you only got one choice, and that's to be yourself, and I can tell you in this world where, you know, you can find people who are judgmental and stuff, in general, most people, if they've got someone who's being authentic in front of them, they are kind to you, they tell you that you're awesome, you're awesome. They affirm you and they lift you up. And so it takes a little courage to do, but just be yourself. And I think, honestly, I'm going to give, uh, KG, I'm going to throw a little, uh, compliment your way. I think that's one of the reasons that you're so successful at what you do, because You are the same guy that we see on TV that we see every time we're with you. And I agree. You're not trying to be, you know, the guy with the great hair. Well, you'd like to be the guy with the great hair. I would love to be that guy, but I don't have that. I've got three chin. You know, but, but you're just KG. He's passionate. He's got so much passion about what he's talking about. He loves it and you can tell. And you're just lovable. It's fun. Right? It's fun to watch you. He's just so lovable. Alright, alright. Okay, enough of that. So, we need to Do you think I owe you money, KG? I don't know what's going on. Usually I get the call for a drive thru joke, but uh Very nice, guys. Very nice. I know I'm a regular at Culver's when they, they recognize a license plate and they're like, Hi, Mr. Sweeney, what do you want today? Yeah. No, we can see you today, Mr. Sweeney, just drive up, it'll be ready for ya. Uh, dot com is a fun place to go again to help out the smile network organization and then brave new outposts. That's how they can find you to book you for their corporate meetings or whatever, whatever you guys have going. You, and uh, and the one thing I could promise about our keynote speeches is that we are absolutely overpriced. And so that's good to know going into it. I love the fact that you would say that because you know what, if you're good, you're worth it. You get what you pay for. Absolutely. The cost of quality is soon forgotten. I got all those, uh, all those lines locked and loaded for you. it's not just about being kind, but it's about bringing joy to people around you, and a willingness to, uh, Think differently. Yeah, lose yourself, and, anyway, I now have your phone number, and I promise not to abuse it. But I, I sincerely would like to, uh, to engage your organization in, uh, Well, that's great. And I think, you know, you guys don't get enough credit for the Masonic Homes and for the, all the things that you do in the, in the hospitals and all that sort of stuff. So I'm very familiar with that. My wife is one of the founders of the Gilda's Club in the Twin Cities, a place where people get emotional and social support for the cancer journey. So I'd be honored to come in and help that organization. Well, that would be wonderful. And my office happens to be at the Masonic Home in, uh, in Bloomington. It's the best office, but that's a whole nother story. We got a business call. We got a little business meeting going on right here. We do. We do. John, keep doing, keep doing what you're doing. We really love what you're all about. Thank you for spending a little time with us and, uh, and, and, you know, keep being funny, man. We love it. We really enjoy it. And that was the quickest 50 minutes we've ever had. That was fun. Well, I appreciate what you guys are doing. The world needs more kindness and civility. And so, uh, I'm, uh, I'll be a fan forever. So thank you all so much and keep laughing. It's, it's our only choice. All right. Thank you, John. Take care. And off we go boys..