The Business February 6th 2013, The "SF Sketchfest means BUSINESS" Edition

The best time of year is here once more!

Christmas? Heck no, we drank our way right through though the holidays (Bucky was drowning in Cherry Coke Zero).

Summer time? Nope, too sticky. Also, The Business has core competencies, not competent cores, so bikini season is right out for us.

Valentine’s Day? Gross. Who are you, anyway? Ug.

It’s Sketchfest time! The best time of all! When comics from all over the country come to San Francisco for three weeks full of incredible shows!!

The Business is very happy to be a part of this annual cavalcade of comedy once more, and we have some of our favorite guests on for the FESTivities.

Chris Knutson is joining us, he is the winner of ACME's Funniest Person in the Twin Cities award in 2010. Plus Joe Tobin, a comedian, writer and Flyers fan based in our own back yard!

We are also happy to have SF star turned LA sensation, Drennon Davis.

From his elaborate characters and sketches, to his provocative songs and animation, Drennon has made name for himself as one of the most innovative minds in today’s comedy scene. His live performances of the Imaginary Radio Program combine live music and beat-boxing with one-man sketches into a shot that the Los Angeles Comedy Bureau writes "not only lives up to its name, but exceeds expectation in that you could possibly think it is." Drennon was featured on NBC's Last Call and was a semi finalist on Last Comic Standing. His new animated show The Long Legs can be seen on MTV's rebirth of Liquid Television.

Your regulars Sean Keane, Bucky Sinister, Nato Green and Caitlin Gill will also be there, all full of Sketchfest cheer!

ALL THIS SHOW IS JUST $10!!

We sell out. So if you want a seat AND YOU KNOW YOU DO, get there early.

BYOBurrito and we will autograph your foil.

Business Jazz – 2nd February 2013 – Being a Good Neighbour is Good for Business

Being neighbourly isn't a concept taught at many business schools – or at least, we don't think so. But if your intention is to generate business through your online activities, it is a very important one.

Helping others is a great way to build your community. It establishes and deepens relationships. And once the relationship is in place, business will follow – often in very surprising ways.

Paul is unavailable for the next couple of weeks, so in this episode Roger is joined by Jane Boyd to discuss an email by Chris Brogan in which he looks at how to be neighbourly online.

You can listen to this week's podcast using the player at the top of the post or download it directly here: Business Jazz – 2nd February, 2013.

We're also in iTunes. We'd love it if you subscribed or left some feedback.

If you'd like to hear an audio version of the email we're discussing this week, you can listen to it on his blog.

Be Chris Brogan's Neighbour


If you'd like to be a neighbor to Chris (or allow him to be a neighbour to you), you can subscribe to his emails (the ones we discuss here), on his website.

If you're interested in The Impact Equation, the book he recently published with Julien Smith, you can find it on Amazon US and Amazon UK (these aren't affiliate links, by the way).

Business Jazz Players

This podcast is a collaboration of people dotted around the world. Most of us have never met each other. It's quite a story and it's still evolving. 
If you'd like to read what's happened so far, you'll find it here: Our Story.


PS 

Would you like to hear more? We have a tradition on the show. Immediately after each recording of the podcast proper, we record an Audioboo with additional thoughts. We did one this week, but Roger lost his. With a bit of luck, Jane's will appear here later. Stay tuned.

The Business January 30th 2013, The "Electric Kool-Aid Acid Graduate Management Admission Test" Edition

 

This week, you’re either on the bus or off the bus as we take off on a tripped out psychedelic adventure, man!

Come experience a perception of the comic unity of a higher level. And a feeling of timelessness, the feeling that what we know as time is only the result of a naive faith in causality - the notion that A in the past caused B in the present, which will cause C in the future, when actually A, B, and C are all part of a pattern that can be truly understood only by opening the doors of perception and experiencing it... in this moment... this supreme moment... this Kairos. I mean comedy. Yeah, comedy.

This week, The Business welcome’s two guests, freshly returned from tours through the gates of inner-consciousness.

Josh Androsky is one of the clowns behind Hamclown: Los Angeles comedy hotspot and a Skateboard Rabbi on Shrooms that OWNED the Price is Right.

Keith D’Souza is a rare and beautiful bird. We will cage him for you and let you laugh at him.

Your regulars will be there as well Alex “Furthur” Koll, Sean “Kesey” Keane, Bucky “Hysterical Realism” Sinister, Nato “Prankster” Green and Caitlin “whoa man… when we were in the womb was all breathed through a” Gill.

We are also happy to have founding member Chris "Passed the Acid Test" Garcia back for the week! Come see him before he heads back to The Business LA!

BYOBurrito into the unknown.

This whole freaky trip is just $5! AND you can bring a friend for free with one of our 2-for-1 coupons.

We sell out! Get there early for a seat.

YOU ARE HEREBY EMPOWERED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Business Jazz – 27th January 2013 – How to Sell by Turning People Away

Selling is a mind game – much of it is psychology. Very often, we experience the bad side of it. Think Glengarry Glen Ross. We've all been on the receiving end of those tactics. It is selling as an adversarial pursuit of of someone else's purse.

Nobody, except the vulture-like salesperson, enjoys that experience. Ultimately, it benefits nobody. Not even the salesperson. In the long run, they lose our trust. Trust is the key that unlocks our purses. Without it, the lock stays firmly shut.

In this episode Paul and Roger discuss an email by Chris Brogan that starts with a declaration of intent. It intends to promote something that Chris hopes the receiver will buy. However, he advises strongly in the first paragraph that if you don't want to be bothered by a sales pitch, you should set the email aside. He doesn't want to waste your time or impose upon you. He recognizes that the recipient of the email will buy from him when they are good and ready. And when they do, the sales process will be smooth and, importantly, enjoyable.

A smooth and enjoyable sales process (or purchasing process, if you look at it from the buyer's side) is one of the things that makes a business genuinely attractive.

You can listen to this week's podcast using the player at the top of the post or download it directly here: Business Jazz – 27th January 2012.

We're also in iTunes. We'd love it if you subscribed or left some feedback.

Don't Buy From Chris Brogan


If you'd like to have the opportunity to not buy from Chris, you can subscribe to his emails (the ones we discuss here), on his website.

If you're interested in The Impact Equation, the book he recently published with Julien Smith, you can find it on Amazon US and Amazon UK (these aren't affiliate links, by the way).

Business Jazz Players

This podcast is a collaboration of people dotted around the world. Most of us have never met each other. It's quite a story and it's still evolving. 
If you'd like to read what's happened so far, you'll find it here: Our Story.


PS 

Would you like to hear more? Immediately after each recording of the podcast proper, Paul gets out his iPhone and we record an Audioboo with additional thoughts.

This week's hasn't made it to air, but you can listen to Paul's thoughts on his way to Blackrock Castle for the recording:

listen to ‘On route to record #BusinessJazz podcast with @rogeroverall ’ on Audioboo

The Business January 23rd 2013, The "Mrs. Doubtfire 2: Revenge of the Fallen" Edition

San Francisco loves a home-grown star, and even though our guest this week now lives in London, he will always be the dude from SF that was in that movie where Robin Williams wore a dress.
 

Scott Capurro was reared in Daly City, California; at age 3, he swam the English Channel. Since 1993, he's avoided AIDS by telling unsavory jokes in every English speaking country. Described by San Francisco Weekly (free press, edited by lesbians and designed by trannys with large hands and hidden agendas) as "stand-up in the very best possible sense - deadpan, ever-alert and hilarious". Scott has appeared in Mrs. Doubtfire, where, effortlessly, he played a homosexual; and Star Wars: Phantom Menace, where, breathlessly, he wore a body stocking.

We are also happy to welcome one of Fresno’s finest, Raphi Barakat!

And your regulars! Caitlin “Mrs. Apprehensionflame” Gill, Sean “Mrs. Concernedblaze” Keane, Bucky “Mrs. Badfeelingaboutthatspark” Sinister and Alex “Mrs. Incredulouscoals” Koll.

WE SELL OUT so get there early if you want a seat.

This whole show is just $5!! Just $5!!! Plus you can bring a friend for free with one of our 2 for 1 coupons up top.

BYOBurrito and instagram it.

Business Jazz - 18th January 2013 - How Could a Campfire Help Instagram?

Fire is powerful.

It burns and destroys.

Fire also warms and rejuvenates.

It provides a place to come together. In a house around the fireside; outside around a campfire. It is where we gain comfort and where conversations are held.

In his latest email, Chris Brogan uses the campfire as a metaphor for creating content and story around your business. Content so compelling that it attracts others to it and compels them to discuss it.

Paul and Roger look at how we can apply this to our own businesses to make ourselves attractive to our customers. They also try to fit the campfire model into a rehabilitation programme for Instagram.


You can listen to this week's podcast using the player at the top of the post or download it directly here: Business Jazz - 18th January 2012.

We're also in iTunes. We'd love it if you subscribed or left some feedback.

Join Chris Brogan's Campfire


If you'd like to get the warmth directly from Chris' campfire, you can subscribe to his emails (the ones we discuss here), on his website.

If you're interested in The Impact Equation, the book he recently published with Julien Smith, you can find it on Amazon US and Amazon UK (these aren't affiliate links, by the way).

Business Jazz Players

This podcast is a collaboration of people dotted around the world. Most of us have never met each other. It's quite a story and it's still evolving. 
If you'd like to read what's happened so far, you'll find it here: Our Story.


PS 

Would you like to hear more? Immediately after each recording of the podcast proper, Paul gets out his iPhone and we record an Audioboo with additional thoughts.

Here is this week's:

listen to ‘Review of latest episode of BusinessJazz podcast with @rogeroverall ’ on Audioboo

The Business January 16th 2013, The "Night Of January 16th- A Comedy Show by Ayn Rand" Edition

A night of passion and intrigue! Marvel at the legal spectacle as a jury decides if Bjorn Faulkner threw himself out of his penthouse or if he was pushed to his death by his secretary, Karen Andre!!!

Contemplate the heady moral nuances of contrasting ideas of individualism versus conformity! Wonder at which verdict the jury will return, IT CHANGES WITH EACH PERFORMANCE OF THE PLAY!! HOW NOVEL!!!! (It was also a novel.)

…or we can just have a fun comedy show instead.

The verdict is in on Brendan Lynch. He has been found funny by a jury of his peers (though we’re not sure they were really his peers, as they were all shorter than he is).

Brendan Lynch has established himself as a comedian to look out for in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is a regular performer at clubs all over the Northern California and has performed in the San Francisco SketchFest for the last two years. Don't be deceived by Brendan's low-key manner. Prepare yourself for an outrageous slice outside the cookie cutter of life. Brendan's astute observational comedy will surprise you with its bold sarcasm, absurd twists, and hilarious punchlines.

Your regulars, Alex Koll, Sean Keane, Bucky Sinister and Caitlin Gill will be there as well.

We SELL OUT. Get there early for a seat.

Reserved seating for Paul Ryan (it’s a workout bench).

BYOBurrito but don’t share it with anyone else. It is your individual right to possess your burrito.