Episode 19 - Drew Tarvin

Have you ever wanted to give a TED talk and then have a BUNCH of people watch it?

Andrew Tarvin gave a TEDx talk on the skill of humor that has been viewed more than 9 million times, only half of which, he contends, were his mother.

Andrew calls himself the first-ever himself humor engineer, which initially sounded like a bit of an oxymoron… apologies to all you engineers out there, but you know what I mean

As a former project manager for Procter & Gamble, he has a passion for teaching people the simple ways to bring humor into the workplace to make work more satisfying and more efficient

He has partnered with top organizations–including IBM, the UN, and the FBI–to solve human challenges with humor solutions, and he’s been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Inc, and FastCompany,

We talk about 2 of his books The United States of Laughter, and Humor That Works, and discuss how his approach to writing these two books differed.

I ask him about the differences between doing improv, doing stand-up comedy in a club, and being funny on the pages of a book.

I knew instantly that Drew and I would hit it off because we both love milkshakes and consider mint to be an oral hygiene flavor, not a desert.

This was the first international podcast interview I’ve conducted as he now lives in Panama and I interviewed him from San Diego – – now that’s not funny, but it is informative

And just in case you’ve ever wondered what to do if you encounter a Black bear on the trail in Alaska? Well, Drew’s got you covered.

Buckle up!