About the Humorist - Humor That Works

Andrew Tarvin Pointing at Himself

The short bio (12 words):

Andrew Tarvin teaches people to get better results while having more fun.

The medium bio (100 words):

Andrew Tarvin is the world’s first Humor Engineer teaching people how to get better results while having more fun. He has worked with thousands of people at 200+ organizations, including P&G, GE, and Microsoft.

Combining his background as a project manager at Procter & Gamble with his experience as an international comedian, Andrew’s program are engaging, entertaining, and most important, effective.

He is a best-selling author, has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and TEDx, and has delivered programs in 50 states, 18 countries, and 3 continents. He loves the color orange and is obsessed with chocolate.

The long bio (334 words):

Andrew Tarvin is the world’s first Humor Engineer. He teaches people how to get better results while having more fun.

Andrew graduated from The Ohio State University, Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Computer Science and Engineering and a minor in playing videogames. While at Ohio State, Andrew also started an improv group, despite never having done any theater and being very much an introvert (if you know Meyers Briggs, he’s INTJ; if you know Star Wars, he’s R2D2).

After graduating, Andrew worked as global project manager at Procter & Gamble where he managed million dollar projects for a $350 million business, earning multiple internal awards for his leadership, communication style, and jokes he included at the ends of emails (true story). He also continued performing improv and stand-up comedy until he decided to combine his two lives and proclaimed himself the Corporate Humorist of P&G.

In 2008, Andrew moved to New York City to continue to grow in his role as P&G’s corporate humorist, where he led an award-winning effort to bring more humor to the workplace. In 2009, he started Humor That Works, a consultancy on how to use humor to get better results, and in 2012, he left P&G to lead his company full-time.

Since then, Andrew has helped more than 200 organizations increase productivity through humor—including P&G, GE, ESPN, Microsoft, the U.S. Navy, PepsiCo, and the International Association of Canine Professional (also a true story)—and has performed in over 1,000 shows all around the world.

Andrew is the best-selling author of Humor That Works: 501 Ways to Beat Stress, Increase Productivity, and Have Fun at Work and has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Forbes, and frequent Facebook posts by his mother. He has spoken or performed in all 50 states, 18 countries, and 3 continents and his TEDx talked has been viewed more than 75,000 times.

He loves the color orange and is obsessed with chocolate.

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The origin story (told through pictures):

For a brief period of time I thought I might be a model. Turns out I didn't like sitting still and at the time thought all girls had cooties. This is the only photo shoot I did. — For a brief period of time I thought I might be a model. Turns out I didn’t like sitting still and at the time thought all girls had cooties. This is the only photo shoot I did.

Next I thought I might be a soccer superstar. Unfortunately my expectations of how I played (left) did not match with the reality of how I actually played (right). — Next I thought I might be a soccer superstar. Unfortunately my expectations of how I played (left) did not match the reality of how I actually played (right).

My best performance didn't come on the field, but in the classroom. I graduated in the top 1% of my class and accepted an academic scholarship to The Ohio State University. — My best performance didn’t come on the field, but in the classroom. I graduated in the top 1% of my class and accepted an academic scholarship to The Ohio State University.

While at Ohio State I received 2 educations. The first was in the classroom where I graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Computer Science & Engineering. The second was in starting an improv group, which was particularly challenging considering I'm an introvert who had never done any theater. — While at Ohio State I received 2 educations. The first was in the classroom where I graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Computer Science & Engineering. The second was in starting an improv group, which was particularly challenging considering I’m an introvert who had never done any theater.

After graduating I started working at Procter & Gamble as an international project manager. I also continued performing improv and started doing stand-up, shown here before opening for Pauly Shore.

While at P&G I managed to amass a number of awards and get rated very highly. And while part of it was attributed to hard work and project management skills, a lot of it was due to my use of humor in my work, something I learned from improv and stand-up. As a result, I started an internal blog and proclaimed myself P&G's Corporate Humorist. — While at P&G I managed to amass a number of awards and get rated very highly. And while part of it was attributed to hard work and project management skills, a lot of it was due to my use of humor in my work, something I learned from improv and stand-up. As a result, I started an internal blog and proclaimed myself P&G’s Corporate Humorist.

In 2008 I moved to NYC to continue to learn and grow as a comedian. I continued working at P&G, doing more and more speaking and training as the corporate humorist. — I moved to NYC in 2008 to continue to learn and grow as a comedian. I continued working at P&G, doing more and more speaking and training as the corporate humorist.

In 2009, I started Humor That Works as a part-time passion. In 2012, I left P&G to focus on HTW full-time as a speaker, trainer, author, and coach.

Since starting Humor That Works, I've worked more than 200 organizations as a speaker, trainer, author, and coach covering a wide variety of topics. I still live in NYC and continue to perform improv and stand-up as well. And yes, I am slightly obsessed with milkshakes. — Since starting Humor That Works, I’ve worked with more than 200 organizations as a speaker, trainer, author, and coach covering a wide variety of topics. I still live in NYC and continue to perform improv and stand-up as well. And yes, I am slightly obsessed with milkshakes.

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