GARRETT GUNDERSON, THE “COURT JESTER OF FINANCE,” PERFORMS THE “AMERICAN REAM”
I’ll Help Your Audience Laugh at Money’s Expense (For a Change) — and Laugh All the Way to the Bank
In my corporate comedy keynote, the “American Ream,” I bring comedy to finance to both entertain and educate. Your audience will transform their relationship with money—while laughing the whole time.
In a world mystified by money and crippled by financial confusion, the time has come to marry funny and money.
“Who knew talking about money could be funny! I learned from Garrett’s books but laughed hard and actually learned from his comedy too!”
-Cindy Crawford
What is the “American Ream”?
In this comedic keynote, I use humor to entertain and teach a normally dry and boring, essential topic: money.
Jokes bring us relief, bring us closer together, and help us retain more information. So I combined what I know best with one of the things I love most: money and comedy.
For some people, money is no laughing matter. But, as I’ll reveal, there’s actually quite a bit that’s funny about it.
In the American Ream, I poke fun at the financial myths and foibles we can all relate to. I joke about how we’re all getting reamed by them. And in the humor, you’ll find nuggets of insight that will stick with you forever.
Ultimately, I help you flip the script and turn the American Ream into your real and wonderful dream.
I even had Marty Callner, the famous director who has worked with Robin Williams, Chris Rock, won an Emmy with Jerry Seinfeld, and created the comedy hall of fame, produced the American Ream for me. He said of it,
“I have worked with the greats. The best man at my wedding was George Carlin. I know when he hears Garrett, he is laughing his ass off, just like me. It was Carlin-esq. Brilliant and hilarious. This holds up with all my specials. I am so proud of it.”
Want to see money in a new light while your audience is laughing their butts off? Then schedule me to perform the American Ream at your next corporate event.
Comedy Tour Testimonials
Funny Money ?
I Mix Entertainment with Education So You Learn While You Laugh
I have always had a mind for money. I’ve always been fascinated by it, and even wrote a few WSJ bestselling books about it. #humblebrag
But that didn’t come from growing up with it.
I grew up like a lot of rural Americans in a small town, where my dad worked in the coal mines.
We scrimped and sacrificed, kept cash in the cellar in coffee cans, hoarded toilet paper…didn’t attend movies, restaurants, or sporting events…kinda sounds like during COVID!
Sometimes the coal miners went on strike. My family was stressed, counting every penny, even living off saltine crackers.
But no matter how hard life was, we could always laugh together.
We may not have had a lot of money early on, but we always had more than enough laughter. Jokes brought us relief, brought us closer together, and helped us get through.
So I wanted to combine what I know best with one of the things I love most: money and comedy.
The American Ream debunks the false message about chasing money and renting happiness at the expense of our dreams.
It gives you permission to live your best life now.
A Bonus (Only for The Brave)
My favorite form of comedy is a good old-fashioned roast.
I’ve been a roastmaster for author, marketer, and comedian Ian Stanley. I also won the great Green Gong competition by roasting the emcee Yanik Silver, author and founder of Maverick 1000. After performing “The American Ream” at the Genius Network annual event, I roasted founder Joe Polish. Wall Street Journal bestselling author Dan Martell had the courage for three roasts! I’ve even roasted a billionaire in front of a few thousand people.
Just how easy or hard do we want to be on the recipient(s)? We’ll work together to find the sweet spot between harsh and humor.
This can be an add-on to my comedy keynote (for a worthwhile fee). This investment will be a highlight—maybe THE highlight—of the event and something people will pull out their phones to record and talk about for years to come.
How I Became the “Court Jester of Finance”
It all started when my great-grandfather on my mother’s side, Biagio, came to America in 1913 from Italy.
On a hope, a Catholic prayer, and a bit of honey bread, he made it to Sunnyside, Utah (the most misleading name for a town ever). There, he started as a goatherd, then eventually became a coal miner.
Biagio was cross-eyed, so it’s incredible that he had the vision to come to America. Perhaps if he could see better, he wouldn’t have settled in Carbon County, Utah.
My uncles from both sides were renegades. Crazy, wild, and HILARIOUS. I would secretly listen from the other room to the jokes they would tell. And if they were drunk enough, they would sometimes tell them to me directly.
Our family gatherings were hysterical. Filled with loud, long laughs, as everyone sat around and told jokes.
At one of our family gatherings, I repeated a dirty joke I had overheard from my uncles. I had no idea what it meant—but I knew it got a lot of laughs, and I loved the feeling. The fun. The connection.
As a fourth-generation coal mining family, (my great-grandfather, both grandparents, and my dad), I didn’t come from money. Instead, love and laughter were our currencies.
My family learned to hold on tight to money. My parents knew what it was like to live off water and saltine crackers during a mine strike. They were able to avoid most debt but at a high cost.
Money is something that we all deal with. But all too often, we do it poorly. It’s a topic that can be filled with fear and embarrassment.
When approaching this tough subject, I thought back to when I was able to swear as a kid when telling a joke, but not in other situations. I realized that comedy allows me to tackle a critically important, yet taboo topic—in this case, money—in a unique, new way.
It is long overdue…the “Court Jester of Finance.” Historically, the court jester was the only person who could tell the truth without being killed. Laugh them awake.
In a world mystified by money and crippled by financial confusion, the time has come to marry funny and money. Two things not often associated with each other.
But what if we could roast the myths, mistakes, and missteps, laugh at the lies we’ve been told, and show just how hilarious and ridiculous the entire idea of money even is?
This is a marriage of what I know and what I love to do.
So yeah, I can help you laugh at money’s expense—and even laugh all the way to the bank.
Hire Me to Perform Comedy
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