Book clean comedians for your Minnesota corporate or industry event in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester, Duluth, Bloomington or elsewhere in the state. Also great to hire for charity fundraising events, houses of worship, golf and country clubs and more. Book us for live or virtual stand-up comedy. Advice is free so ask away!
You’ve seen us on TV! These are just some of the many great clean corporate comedians available to hire for clean comedy shows in Minnesota. A more comprehensive list of comedians is here. Also great for Theatres and Performing Arts Centers, Team-building Exercises & Off-sites, Government & Military Groups, Fraternal & Service Organizations, Alumni Groups, Law Firms, Awards Dinners, Golf and Country Clubs, Charity Fundraisers, Churches, Temples & Synagogues and other Houses of Worship and even Private Parties. Surprisingly affordable to book!
Shaun Eli
Stand-up comedian Shaun Eli has rightfully been called one of America’s smartest comics. Whether it’s a story about dining with a vegetarian or successfully fighting a parking ticket, master storyteller Shaun Eli shows you that there’s hilarity in the ordinary if you approach life with a comedic warp. Job interviews? Serving on a NYC criminal jury? How about the Ten Commandments? For just about anything he’s experienced Shaun has a hilarious story at the ready.
Shaun’s older brother Seth lives in St. Paul, after living in Minneapolis. A few years ago Shaun flew into Minneapolis airport to change planes. Immediately called Seth to say hi. Seth said the obvious- it doesn’t matter where you call from. There’s nothing special about calling from the airport just to tell me you’re nearby. Shaun replied Of course I know that. But when I tell mom I changed planes in Minneapolis the first thing she’s going to say is “Did you call Seth?” So I want to be able to say “Of course I did!”
And that’s exactly what happened when Shaun called their mother. Much easier than trying to explain to her why calling from a nearby airport just to say hi was pointless.
Seth has lived in Minneapolis and St. Paul for over a decade and yet Shaun hasn’t specifically been invited to visit. However if you book Shaun for a gig he will absolutely see his brother’s new house.
Shaun has not yet been to Duluth or Bloomington. He hasn’t been to Rochester, MN either but he’s been to Rochester, NY and would rather visit the one in Minnesota. So please give us a call!
Click to Book Shaun Eli or call or text (914) It’s Funny (914 487-3866).
Hey Twin Cities- let’s bring Minneapolis and St. Paul together for a great clean comedy show. Not exactly in the middle; that might put us in a big river. In whatever venue you choose. Rochester, you can join us. Or have your own show. Give us a call and let’s get started.
Karen Bergreen
A mother of two small boys, Karen does stand-up in order to get out of the house. She has appeared on Comedy Central, The Oxygen Network, Nick Mom, The View and The Joy Behar Show. She also has a Dry Bar comedy special.
While the kids aren’t looking, Karen is a novelist. Her 2010 comic novel Following Polly earned praise from The New York Times, Oprah Magazine, and her mother-in-law. Her second novel Perfect is Overrated was released a few years ago.
Karen attended Harvard University and the University of Minnesota Law School in Minneapolis. She clerked for a judge and worked as a litigator for a major NYC law firm. Not anymore. Now she’s a stand-up comedian and teaches comedy to new comics. And she absolutely prefers making people laugh to lawyering.
Click to Book Karen Bergreen or call or text (914) It’s Funny (914 487-3866).
Jane Condon
Comedian and mom Jane Condon lives in Greenwich, Connecticut, but she’s still a nice person. She has two boys. Otherwise everything’s fine. The Associated Press has dubbed her “an uppercrust Roseanne” and The New York Times says, “Condon had the audience cackling, guffawing and in hysterics as she sliced through marriage, husband, kids, politics and other topics.” She loves to tell stories about her adventures (mostly survival tales) with her husband and kids.
Condon was named one of 10 Comedy Best Bets in Back Stage’s annual comedy issue. She has appeared on ABC-TV’s “The View” and Lifetime TV’s “Girls’ Night Out,” FOX-TV’s series finale of “24,” Nickelodeon’s “Nick Mom Night Out,” as well as NBC’s “Last Comic Standing.”
She is the grand prize winner of the Ladies of Laughter Contest. She won “Audience Favorite- NY” on NBC’s Last Comic Standing. And she gave the commencement speech at Wellesley College (her alma mater). She recently appeared on NBC’s Today Show.
Click to book Jane Condon or call or text (914) It’s Funny (914 487-3866).
Some FAQ
How much do your shows or comedians cost? +
It depends on location. Almost all of us from The Ivy League of Comedy are in the New York City or Los Angeles area. If we can drive there and not stay overnight, it’s less expensive. If we have to fly and stay overnight, we have to build that into the cost.
For a theatre show, it depends on how many seats.
For a corporate event, it also depends on when, where, how many attendees, and which comedian. We’re not all the same price. We are quite good at meeting a variety of budgets.
Our fee for non-profits is much, much lower than for-profit organizations and industry groups.
And most importantly, I’m not greedy. There are agencies that take most of the money for themselves and pay the comics very little. So the $5000 (as an example) that you’re paying? They’re offering the comic $750. I’m a comic and I’ve seen that happen frequently. I don’t ever want to be one of those selfish greedy awful guys. I’m not secretive- I’ll tell the comic what the gig pays. There’s nothing in my agreement that prohibits a comedian from discussing pay with the client.
Recently I had a comic tell me that for all the work I was doing on a particular gig I should take 15% instead of 10%. I appreciated the offer, but I refused. I got into this business by accident- basically to provide clean comedy shows and to get myself and my friends more work. Not to get rich. I make most of my money when I’m on stage.
So to not really answer your question, the best and easiest way to find out the cost is to call or write and ask. I’ll ask you where, when, for whom and how many and give you a quote.
Are travel and lodging expenses included in your fees, or are they billed separately? +
We at The Ivy League of Comedy generally like to quote a flat fee because that makes it easier for you, even though it adds risk for us as airfares and hotel costs change. But it also avoids any sort of figuring out what the costs actually are, if a comedian is coming from, or going to, somewhere other than home. And sometimes comics want to stay with a friend even though we tell them we’ll pay for a hotel.
Oh, here’s another example of my lack of greed. I booked a comic for a charity gig. I paid for the airline tickets. Then she booked a comedy club gig for the next night and said she’d split the airfare with me. I said no, you got another gig, that’s great, let me just change the return date. I did have her cover the slightly higher cost for changing the ticket, but it was way less than half. She did the work to get more work and both of us were happy with that. Though I did appreciate her offer to split the airfare.
Do corporate comedians charge differently based on whether the event is in-person or virtual? +
Oh, absolutely. The Ivy League of Comedy‘s virtual comedy is way less expensive than even if we’re performing just across town.
How can I guarantee the comedian’s material will be clean and safe for a corporate/religious/health care/seniors/family audience? +
That’s often a main concern. And it’s why I got into this business- people were saying “You’re clean but the other comics at the club weren’t. Where are the all-clean shows?” There weren’t any, so I started putting them together and founded The Ivy League of Comedy.
We do shows in churches and synagogues, including for some very devout audiences. We’ve been doing this a long time. We’re all very experienced clean comedians.
Can the comedian customize their jokes or roast company executives/specific people at the event? +
The Ivy League of Comedy can. I (Shaun Eli, the owner) really don’t like making fun of anybody in the audience unless the person being made fun of specifically asks for it in a private conversation. Most people really don’t like being picked on, and you never know until you do it. Often you never have any idea, but they’re unhappy.
Do clean comedians still perform well without relying on profanity or edgy topics? +
Yeah, that’s kind of the point! There’s nothing inherently funnier about dirty or edgy comedy. Sometimes a curse word helps a joke, but if the joke can’t survive without it, it’s probably not a very good joke.
Sometimes the laughter comes from the shock value of a dirty word or phrase rather than from something funny or clever. That’s not what we at The Ivy League of Comedy do.
Can a comedian also act as the event emcee, auctioneer, or award ceremony host? +
Most of us in The Ivy League of Comedy can. Please ask this before we hire someone. I once showed up at a charity gig and most of the way through the show they asked me to auction off a couple of items. I’d never done it before and frankly I was a bit nervous. But I came up with some jokes that worked well for the items being auctioned.
They had me auctioning off the items that nobody bid on in the silent auction, and they were quite happy with how it worked out. I think we sold all but one, and remember that these were items that nobody had bid on.
What kind of material do you perform? +
The Ivy League of Comedy performs clean, smart comedy for corporate events, financial institutions, industry events, charity fundraisers, houses of worship, theatres and private parties. It’s just what you’re looking for!
How far in advance should we book? +
Typically we at The Ivy League of Comedy recommend three months in advance, but it depends on your event. If you have a last-minute need, call (don’t email or text) and we’ll see what we can do. In general we suggest that it’s not so much about us as about giving you enough time to market your event to your audience/subscribers/congregation/donors. And three months is good for that.
If I’m booking a package show (like a multi-comic corporate showcase or theater event), do you handle all the booking coordination for every comedian, or do I negotiate separately? +
Yes, The Ivy League of Comedy gives you a complete, turn-key event. We handle it all and make it as easy for you as possible.
Can you avoid certain topics? +
Sure, but tell us in advance! No comedian wants to be about to go on stage and be handed a list of topics to avoid, and have remember this when they’re performing. The comedians from The Ivy League of Comedy have decades of experience and a lot of material on a lot of different topics.
What ages are your shows for? +
They’re not for little kids, because they won’t understand the show and they’ll get bored. Our best estimate is 14 and up, with the proviso that a 14 year old probably won’t appreciate the show as much as the adults will. But in general we at The Ivy League of Comedy try to avoid cultural references that only certain groups or ages will understand.
What if the comic gets sick? +
So far in more than two decades running The Ivy League of Comedy it’s happened only a few times (we’re healthy people- we get a lot of sleep). We have a roster of good, responsive comedians so when it has happened we got someone else very quickly. If a comedian cancels, I never want to be accused of bait-and-switch so I will try to get someone at least a little more famous, even if I lose money on it.