Comedy Workshops Staff

Judy Carter
President for Life of Comedy Workshops

Master teacher, author, and motivational humorist - Judy Carter started her career as a magician and later as a stand-up comic, appearing on over one hundred television shows. Ten years ago she formed Comedy Workshop Productions, a school for wanna-be comics. Carter also produces the annual California Comedy Conference, which is attended by top Hollywood VIPs including executives from HBO, Warner Bros, William Morris Agency and others. She is the author of Standup Comedy: The Book (Dell Books, 1989) which has sold over 150,000 copies. Her latest book - The Comedy Bible (Simon & Schuster; September 2001) - is the definitive guide to making a career out of making people laugh.

Carter's expertise at teaching others to use comedy to transform their lives and careers has created a nationwide demand for her as a corporate and college speaker and workshop leader. An outstanding motivational speaker, Carter has inspired thousands of people to use humor to deal with change, increase sales and punch up speeches - in short, to turn problems into punchlines.

Carter’s success in corporate comedy has generated feature stories in the Wall Street Journal, LA Times, New York Times and Success Magazine. She has brought her “don’t get mad, get funny” philosophy to Fortune 500 companies such as Boeing, Lucent Technologies, Fedex, Blue Cross and Pacific Bell. They have found her “tell-it-like-it-is” (only funnier) approach advantageous when tackling sensitive issues like downsizing, layoffs, and dealing with diversity.

Her pioneering approach to turning “problems into punchlines” has been profiled on CNN, ABC World News and Oprah. She recently sat on Tom Peter’s Board of Directors and is a popular speaker at the American Society for Training and Development conference which caters to professional trainers and speakers.

Carter has also organized a wide variety of fund-raising events, such as “HIV: Humor is Vital,” - a comedy workshop for people living with AIDS. In addition, she has worked with groups such as Wellness Community cancer patients and Cedars Sinai social workers.

In addition to mastering comedy, Carter is a professional magician, being one of the first women to work at the prestigious Magic Castle in Hollywood, creating quite a stir with her “death-defying” escape from her grandmother’s girdle. Carter is also a passionate snowboarder and phenomenal matzo-ball soup maker. Her cat and two dogs allow her to share their home in Venice, CA.

 Cary Odes - Performance Class and Master Comic Lab
 
Cary has been writing and performing comedy for over two decades.  Starting in Chicago, he studied improv with Del Close at Second City.  Moving to Los Angeles Cary became a regular at the Comedy Store and the Improv.  He began touring the country's top clubs and colleges while appearing on over a dozen television shows.  Cary was a hired joke writer for an NBC game show and regularly punches up routines for some top local talent.  His adventures teaching stand up to gang members in prison was turned into a pilot for network television.

Shannon Gettins - Comedy Operations and Writing Coach

Shannon is a comic, writer, and comedy coach and has performed standup all over the Los Angeles area, appeared on TLC's "Faking It," performed in several comedy shorts, is a correspondent on Refused TV and has written customized material for comics, speakers and CEO's across the country.  She currently owns and operates "Comedy Relief" where she teaches stand-up comedy to kids and teens around LA.