Anand Chulani is laughing all the way to the boardroom.
Mr. Smithers would be rolling over in his skinny little grave. But today, humor isn’t verboten in the work-place. That’s a good thing for comedian and writer Anand Chulani, who earns his moolah helping wage slaves, as well as schoolkids and even hostage negotiators, tap into their funny bone power. Chulani got his start as a page on Saturday Night Live, where he chatted up Will Ferrell and Jimmy Fallon. He’s appeared in films, penned scripts for TV shows like The Simpsons, and writes for inspirational speaker Tony Robbins. I caught up with the high-flying comedy coach recently to find out just how laughter affects the bottom line.
Paul Kilduff: I know that the culture of a lot of businesses is changing. There’s places like Google where they have gourmet meals. Do they really need you? I mean, they’d be pretty happy, I guess, right?
Anand Chulani: Happiness is an interesting word in today’s world because we have so many things that we should be grateful for. No matter how crazy someone’s life is, if they’ve got more than $2 in their pocket, they’re more fortunate than over half the population in this world. I always think that those who are more successful in some ways have more rules that make it harder for them to be happy. I remember my dad saying to me as a kid, “Why is it that the wealthy mogul who lives at the top of a huge-story building takes sleeping pills to go to bed at night but the beggar in the street can sleep peacefully?”
PK: I never thought about that, yeah.
AC: I think it’s all perception. No matter how happy someone is, why not be more happy? I don’t think there’s a thing in life which is like, “Okay, let’s look at the boxes in your life. Okay happy, check.” No matter how many billions and billions of dollars you have, your life is stress, frustration—all those emotions. The dominant emotions you live in, that’s your life.
PK: It’s lonely at the top and money’s not going to bring you happiness—everybody knows that but we still strive for that, mostly.
AC: We’re striving for it and my mentor, Tony, talks about this.
PK: Tony Robbins, of course.
AC: Yes, yes, yes. He talks about people who are going after money but then they’re really going after the feeling associated with money. Most of us go, “Okay, I need to be this in order to be happy.” Well, okay, fine. When are you going to get there? And then most people get there and go, “Okay, is this all there is?”
PK: One of the happiest guys I know is kind of semi-homeless.
AC: Yeah.
PK: One of the places that I write about in the issue this month is Pixar. They’ve revolutionized animation, right? They have 10 straight blockbuster hits. They don’t have cubicles, they have Tiki huts. They have an Olympic-size pool. Could you imagine that they would need your services to help them loosen up at all?
AC: Well, I think what you’re saying is, environment is key. It’s key for anyone, I believe. If you’re in what I would call a “Yes and” environment as opposed to a “No but” environment, that is a huge difference in productivity. A “No but” environment is one of negative reinforcement. You’re at a meeting and you’re like, “Hey, what about this idea?” and someone goes, “Oh, well, here’s why we can’t do it, because of this, this, this, and this.” Nothing flows in that kind of environment whereas a “Yes and” environment is really one of understanding and appreciation of everyone there. I believe creativity and productivity do not work in an environment filled with judgment. [They work] in an environment that’s filled with acceptance, connection, and a sense of building something great together. And it sounds like Pixar has that. They create that fun for people. They create those opportunities for people to let off steam because the truth is, if you’re just sitting at your computer all day, you’re not going to be productive. You need to move around. That’s going to create oxygen. That’s going to create a sense of mental clarity.
PK: It’s a movie studio so we were kind of expecting that. But what about a place that sells office supplies, like Ricky Gervais’s The Office? I mean, how mind-numbingly boring is that going to be after awhile? When you encounter a situation like that where the actual business itself doesn’t really lend itself to a whole lot of creativity—what do you do then?
AC: No matter what you are doing, and it can be even accounting, you’re dealing with human beings. When you’re dealing with human beings, you’re dealing with human emotion. I think in the corporate world emotion has no place. I mean the [stock] market is what? A testament of how people are feeling. So no matter what, you’re dealing with human emotions. So your ability to put yourself in the best emotional state has a direct consequence to your productivity. If you can’t find the purpose in what you’re doing then you’re not going to be connected to it. I’m not a numbers person. I’m definitely a right-brain person. I hate doing bills. But if I just said, “You know, I hate doing bills; I’m going to just focus on that,” then I would never do my bills and I would get kicked out of my apartment. My car would be gone. My phone line will be cut off.
PK: But then you’d be happy, right? You could sleep at night. You wouldn’t have anything to worry about.
AC: Exactly. I could sleep great on the street.
PK: In a box.
AC: Exactly. My box would be the most luxury box there is. But I say to myself, “Okay, how can I juice this up for myself? How can I make this kind of fun for myself?” I think, “You know what? By taking care of this bill, by being financially independent, whatever it is, I associate myself [with] the bigger picture, [with] the feeling of okay, my credit is going to be good . . .” That’s going to help me be in a place where I want to have a family, whatever. It’s like I can give more opportunities to my kids. Otherwise, I’m thinking this is the most boring thing in the world. I would rather be writing a movie or speaking at an event or coaching someone than doing this.
PK: What’s the first thing that you do when you go into a business? Do you give a presentation? Sit in on meetings?
AC: Well, my style is very different. I get all the desks out of the room. I ask people to sit in chairs in a circle so we change up the pattern. My first job is to build a supportive and creative community in that room so the people are not focused on, “Oh, this is the right thing to do. This is the wrong thing to do. Will someone judge me?” People learn best when they’re moving, when they have emotion associated [with] learning, when they’re having fun. If I ask you to remember something from your childhood, most people would probably not remember some algebra equation but they’ll remember the lines to Vanilla Ice’s “Ice, Ice, Baby.” For whatever reason, there’s fun associated with it. As a kid to remember algebra equations, I started rapping every equation to the tune of “Ice, Ice, Baby.”
PK: You did not.
AC: I did! And I remembered it and I got A’s.
PK: That is great advice. Have you ever met Vanilla Ice? Does he know you’re doing this?
AC: No, and if he’s listening to this, please don’t sue me.
PK: “Ice, ice, baby.” It sounds like a mantra.
AC: Exactly. That and the Backstreet Boys, so easy to use.
PK: What do you use from them that helps?
AC: The song “I Want It That Way.”
PK: How does that go? I forgot.
AC: I’ll just give you my little version here. “Tell me why, ain’t nothing but a heartache. Tell me why, ain’t nothing but a mistake. I tell you why. I never wanna hear you say. I want it that way.”
PK: Wow.
AC: Something like that.
PK: I feel you, man. That was really good. So you started singing it like that in front of groups to get people to . . .?
AC: No. That’s in private.
PK: Are you going to try out for American Idol?
AC: American Idol. Love it.
PK: You would be good.
AC: Really, I’ll be rich. I would definitely continue the lineage of Indian people on that show who have little vocal talent but a lot of charisma.
PK: What about some of the traditional sort of ice-breaker methods that a lot of businesses resort to, like go-cart races and paintball wars and crap like that. Do you think that those things work?
AC: They can, but in my workshops I get all that fun but at a much lower cost and without things that actually hurt you.
PK: The dry cleaning bill is not as large after you come, I guess.
AC: Exactly, exactly. I just get them to move around. I do some kind of improv games, some comedy exercises, some stuff that I’ve created from my life as a standup comedian, stuff that I’ve created from life writing on shows for Fox and for BBC. It becomes a trigger for them. How many times have you been to a lecture or workshop or something where you go, “Oh that’s great”? And then you never use that piece of information. The emotion of laughter is so powerful. You associate that and they go, “Ah.” When they’re with their kids the next time, or they’re in a meeting, they bring back the principle of “Yes, I am,” because I’ve linked that level of pleasure to this learning in their brain.
PK: Do you also employ your gibberish therapy?
AC: Yes, gibberish is an incredible tool. Most corporate people look at me like, “You’re crazy! What the hell are you doing? Why are you speaking this made-up language?” And people say, “Someone’s going to make fun of you.” But here’s the power of gibberish. First of all, communication is what? Thirty-nine percent how you say something, 55 percent body language. If you just strip out the words, most of us don’t really express what we mean. We use language but there’s so much subtext, so much emotion underneath. What gibberish does is allow you to really understand another human being and only then can you influence them. If you judge someone, you’ve lost your power to influence them.
PK: So gibberish sort of ramps up the body language quotient.
AC: It gets the body language and it develops a sense of EQ, emotional intelligence, so two people can express really what they feel about something without using words to hurt the other person. Laughter almost is to me . . . a Trojan horse. It’s the way of getting people to learn. It’s not the end result in itself. My goal is to help people create a life of laughter to release stress but it’s really to move them to look at the power of laughter.
PK: Wow, that’s pretty deep. You’re a pretty deep guy, man.
AC: Well, maybe it’s my Indian heritage. We get way too deep about stuff.
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For more Kilduff, go to thekilduff-file.blogspot.com.
Age: Oh God, here we go. On Facebook, I am 33.
Astrological sign: I’m a Cancer but that’s my star sign so I always say I’m a Cancerian.
Birthplace: London
First real job: I was a tour guide/page for NBC so I was a page on Saturday Night Live. I basically had a job that Kenny has on 30 Rock. I wore that obnoxious suit with a peacock badge and would walk around and kind of open the door to Saturday Night Live.
Planet I’d emigrate to: That planet in Avatar was pretty cool. I would definitely hang out with those people, fly on dragons, hang out under a tree that can make me feel better in a second.
Extinct species would you like to be reincarnated as? T-Rex because I could make money from movie royalties. I mean he was in Jurassic Park; he must be sitting in a place right now in Beverly Hills chilling. You’re always going to be in the movies. They’re always going to need you for something.
Website: lolworld.net
