Laugh.Events founder Kevin HubschmannPhoto: Courtesy of Laugh.Events
How he got his start: Kevin Hubschmann has long been interested in comedy. Growing up, he and his siblings were always trying to make each other laugh. "I continued to dabble in the space as an improviser and stand-up comedian from 2013-2019," he says.
Meanwhile, he started working as one of the first 10 employees at event marketing software company Splash, where he learned the ins and outs of the event industry. "I sold our software to every type of business and event program you can imagine," he says.
At Splash, Hubschmann says the offices had "the most amazing" stage, lighting, and audio system, and employees were always encouraged to throw their own events. "I started hosting stand-up comedy shows at the office after work, and Laugh.Events started from there," he explains. "I eventually went full time on it, and just as luck would have it, the pandemic hit less than a month later, and I was without a clue of what to do. This thrust us into our speciality, virtual corporate comedy experiences."
Now, Laugh.Events is providing companies with workday entertainment and professional development experiences all centered around comedy. They also perform public, post-work shows on a monthly basis.
What sets his company apart: Hubschmann says the business features that set Laugh.Events apart are its "focus on culture-building and leveraging attendee and event organizer data to ensure the best events imaginable."
Although Laugh.Events can curate one-time events for companies or specific departments, its mission is to support businesses interested in infusing moments of laughter, silliness, and playfulness into the workday.
"We call it 'carving in' time to laugh versus carving out time, meaning incorporating laughter into your team’s routine as opposed to blocking off an hour for a one-time event," Hubschmann explains. "We support businesses that are looking to add 15-30 minutes of laughter into their existing meetings—whether that laughter comes in the form of live entertainment, team bonding activities, or skills and development training (improv exercises, for example). This allows teams to spread their budget more evenly across an entire quarter, instead of spending it all in one sitting for a single event."
Hubschmann thinks of Laugh.Events' comedy experiences as a wellness benefit as opposed to solely entertainment. "We’ve partnered with Dr. Natalie Dattilo, an instructor of psychology in Harvard Medical School’s Psychiatry Department, to focus on the scientific benefits of laughter and the significant impact it can have on happiness and productivity," he says.
Laugh.Events also hosts monthly public shows outside of office hours dubbed "Laugh.Events NSFW (Not Safe For Work)."Photo: Courtesy of Laugh.Events
He adds that Laugh.Events is a data-driven organization that leverages as much pre- and post-event data as possible to constantly improve its shows and experiences.
"By collecting pre-event details about the group and specific occasion from the event organizer, we select the segments and comedians that have proven successful based on similar survey submissions," Husbschmann explains. "With additional pre-event surveys of attendees, we are able to learn more about the team members and determine what customized content might be the best to incorporate into the show. Last but not least, by distributing a post-event survey to all event attendees, we’re able to learn about what worked, what didn’t, and how we can make the next show even better."
What innovation means to him: "I believe innovation is trying to make something incrementally better until it becomes undeniably awesome," Hubschmann says. "I think it’s important to be constantly asking yourself, 'How can I make this thing 1% better?' Once you achieve that 1%, future change and innovation become far less intimidating."
It's a tactic Hubschmann has used before as both a stand-up comedian and an event producers. "How can I change a word in a joke to make the entire joke better?" he ponders. "How can I add an element of personalization into a show that will make the show even better? These small things put in motion a standard of innovation that results in a great end product."
He also believes that being "well-versed in who and what came before you" is needed to be forward-thinking,
"I try to immerse myself in comedy’s history by reading and listening to podcasts about shows and formats that have been previously successful, dating as far back to the 1910s in the Vaudeville theaters, all the way up to the present-day comedy club," he says. "I think you can learn a lot by exploring historical perspectives and drawing inspiration from successful formats and individuals."
Companies can hire Laugh.Events to host IRL experiences, including improv workshops—like the one pictured here for Splash—and educational keynotes on the science of laughter.Photo: Courtesy of Laugh.Events
Memorable moments: Hubschmann and his team were invited back to his old company, Splash, where Laugh.Events did a skills and development training as part of a three-day support and engineering off-site. "This was a room full of people who were just meeting for the first time, and we were about to lead them through improv exercises and games," he remembers. "While it was certainly special to be invited back to the place where I had first started hosting events, the impact that it had on everyone post-event was my biggest revelation."
He says everyone started the event "notably intimated by the concept of improv," and he was worried group wouldn't buy in. But only 10 minutes later, "everyone was warmed up and being more outgoing, creative, and engaging than I could have ever dreamed of."
"The power of improv was being utilized, and people were telling me that out of all the team activities they did during their off-site, this was the one that felt like they not only had fun, but genuinely got something out of it," Hubschmann says.
His hope for the events industry: "My biggest hope for the event industry is to not only continue to adapt, but be excited about the changing habits of the consumer," he says. "It has been fascinating to learn about comedy’s history and how radio killed the theater, then TV killed the radio, then TV got hit hard by streaming. As technology changes, consumer habits change, and formats change. As event professionals, it is our job to execute in whatever format is necessary—and be excited about the opportunities that these new formats bring."
This feature is sponsored by 6Connex, your all-in-one event technology to manage and host successful events at scale and in any format—in-person, hybrid, virtual, or webinars.
