E10
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[00:00:00] Andrew Hibel: Hey listeners. I know you'll love this exclusive offer from our friends at TopResume. For a limited time, you'll get 25% off any resume writing package. These packages match you with an industry expert resume writer to craft a resume built to pass the AI applicant filters and impress people on the other side.

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Welcome to the HigherEdJobs Podcast. I'm Andy Hibel, the chief operating officer, and one of the co-founders of HigherEdJobs.

[00:00:36] Kelly Cherwin: And I'm Kelly Cherwin, the director of editorial strategy.

[00:00:40] Andrew Hibel: Well, Kelly doing the podcast has taught me one thing that I have a unique ability to say extremely stupid things. And most guests, I'm not too worried about that, but when you have somebody who's a professional, standup comic as a guest, I'm very nervous about what I might say [00:01:00] today, because it could end up material not only in the podcast, but when he goes on stage, I could be one of his jokes.

[00:01:07] Kelly Cherwin: That kind of makes you famous.

[00:01:10] Andrew Hibel: We're joined today by Harry Teinowitz and trying to provide a, a biography or introduction is quite challenging. But Harry by trade is, is a standup comic. I believe he did it for seven years and then took that career and turned it into an amazingly successful talk radio career first with his partner Spike, uh, for the WGN program, uh, Harry and Spike.

And then, uh, over at ESPN, 1000 here in Chicago, he was a part of the wildly successful Carmen Yuko and Harry Show for how many years was that? Harry?

[00:01:43] Harry Teinowitz: Uh, we did, um, Carmen Yuko and Harry for four years, Mac Yuko and Harry for eight years, Mac, Yuko, and Harry was the first sports radio show to be number one in the afternoons for, uh, am and FM [00:02:00] for a couple of years.

[00:02:01] Andrew Hibel: From there. Harry has actually become a playwright joining forces again with, uh, his, his partner from years before Spike Manon to write a, uh, play called when Harry Met Rehab and to just kind of round out the triple threat, Harry's an actor as well. He got to co-star in the cult classic Mad Magazine Presents Up the Academy and had a couple of lines in Risky Business.

And maybe here, can we start with, what were the lines in Risky Business?

[00:02:30] Harry Teinowitz: Well, risky business. I originally had, um, a part, I was given a part I auditioned and I had a, a very good size, uh, role in the film. And I got, we were starting on Monday and I got a call. I had friends over and I got a call on Friday, you know, about, uh, six o'clock saying that Curtis Armstrong had gotten his theater release, which theater release is it's when, um, you're doing a play.

[00:03:00] And you had asked permission to be dismissed from the play for something that was gonna be more beneficial for your career. And Curtis Armstrong asked for this and he was given this, he was an employee of Broadway and, uh, he, he got the role that I was supposed to have. So I went from being the guy that says “Excellent idea. Joel. Excellent idea.” But I want you to know, I brought about, uh, you know, seven strong years of acting chops to that, to that line. And I have, uh, I have two lines in the package because that director thought I was twice as good as the guy from Up the Academy. And then I've got, uh, one line in Bunny Hunt's movie Return to Me, which is actually a wonderful love story.

That's oh, and then I'm made another movie, um, for television called American
Dream and thus completes the quintessential quintet of Harry films.

[00:03:58] Andrew Hibel: It's kind of interesting having [00:04:00] a, just, and, and maybe starting with the play. Cause I'd recently seen it. I love on the bio in the play. It ends with most importantly, if I can get sober, anyone can maybe just a, a little bit of background on the play.

It's a comedy about going through rehab. How do those two mix?

[00:04:18] Harry Teinowitz: I think comedy mixes with anything, Andy and congratulations for finding the one UN-funny line, but it's from the heart. And, uh, you know, I was, I was driving home one night from the Blackhawks game. And like my character says in the show, there were nights when he would have more shots than the Blackhawks.

And I, uh, didn't think I had a problem. And I was told by my agent that ESPN will not fire me if I go into, uh, rehab and I went into rehab and I didn't really wanna be there. And it's kind of like when a parent tells their kid, hey, lose weight. What kids can listen to [00:05:00] that. I mean, you gotta wanna lose weight to, to lose weight one day.

You just will, or you won't. But, uh, we have, I didn't wanna be there. I wanted no part of. And then, uh, something happened and I decided maybe, you know, I had done, I had done it the other way for about 30 years. Maybe I should try it without any booze. So I decided, um, no, no drinking. And I'm sitting here thinking that it's time to write.

I had little extra time on my hands and I had always wanted to write a script. And I had an idea for a movie that I thought I still think is great. I got about five pages in and I said, why am I making up this, you know, fictitious story when I have a story to tell inside of me, and that's what I've done here with When Harry Met Rehab is I treat the disease because it is a disease.

People die from it. It's not like leukemia. But you can die from, uh, alcoholism. And if [00:06:00] you're an alcoholic and choose to ignore it, you're in big trouble. So I started with rehab going to meetings. I, I didn't even know rehab meant that you go to meetings. I thought it just meant that like you drink in a classier way, you know, like you go from drinking, like, you know, your, uh, Clint Eastwood in a Western to, uh, James Bond.

My lawyer said that if I had just taken an Uber everywhere, I would've been fine, but that's that's wrong. Cause drinking a lot will kill your liver. So, I want to write a play and a big part of these meetings is when you get real and you realize that if, if you're going to have the upper hand on this thing, cause you're never gonna beat it, you know, you're never recovered.

You're always in recovery. So the only way to handle this thing is by being honest, by being, by being completely, uh, truthful, and you gotta make fun of yourself, it's kinda like when you're at a funeral and it's so sad that someone has departed, [00:07:00] but you know, you start telling funny stories about them and everybody feels better.

So I figured out that one of the keys to this meeting and of this program that I'm in is to make fun of the stuff we used to hide. It was stupid that I was doing it and I kept doing it. And I have one story that's goofier than the other story. And I put 'em all together. And the program I'm in, doesn't allow me to talk about, nor would I want to talk about anybody else and what they've done, but, you know, I, I followed just the basic, uh, outline of rehab. I had three roommates, one was my age, two were younger. So that's what I did in the play. And the stuff about me is about 90% true. And the stuff about everybody else is about 10% true. And I just decided that I was gonna, I knew it was gonna get heavy.

So I had to start with a lot of humor right away. And there's comedy throughout it. And when Spike asked me to read it, I had written a one man show and Spike said, this is surprisingly good, which is like a compliment and an [00:08:00] insult in one fell swoop. Only Spike can do that and so we, we rewrote it keeping the same, uh, framework, but just bringing all these other characters to life, we made it as funny as possible, but it's also as serious as possible.

And we have audiences that, well, let's just say they can laugh and cry in a single sound.

[00:08:21] Andrew Hibel: And just to make sure for, for folks who don't know the entire story, the recovery is, as you mentioned ongoing, but I believe it's been a while since you've had your last drink.

[00:08:30] Harry Teinowitz: It's been over well, well, over 10 years, if I don't mess it up, I'll hit 11 in March and, uh, I have not hit the R word yet.

I have a friend that works for little city and, and she's told me what the R word is. And it's an awful word. In alcoholism, the R word is relapse. And for some reason I haven't done that yet. I think the reason I haven't done it is because I'm aware that I haven't done it. This disease could jump up and, and get you at [00:09:00] any point, you gotta be aware of how thin the ice is that you walk down.

I can never say the name of the program because even though today, I have written a play that is, you know, helping a whole bunch of people stay sober, get sober. One woman even told me her daughter checked back in rehab because she saw the show. But if I were to drink right now, if I said, boy, that Kelly, she really took me to task.

It'd just be like, be very bad for my program to, to say, oh look, you know, Harry didn't make it. He drank. But it's not about you drink, so you're out. It's not like, you know, that Squid Game, you don't get killed. If you mess up, once you just get right back on the horse and you keep trying and, you know, there's that there's a room full of people ready to help me.

So I'm in that room ready to help, whoever should walk in.

[00:09:50] Andrew Hibel: I think that's, that's kind of the really cool part of the, the story is not only is it heartfelt and inspirational to inspire others, to confront the same [00:10:00] challenges you were having. It also offered a blueprint about how to use your sense of humor to get it through, really kind of inspired me to think about bringing you on the podcast.

We could bring a whole bunch of business experts out there talking about how to use humor in the workplace, or use humor in your job search, but who's better than to use humor in their lives than a professional comic, but then a comic who's able to take humor and get through one of the life's biggest challenges using humor seems like somebody who could really offer a lot about where humor can be used in other places.

So I'd love to ask you about humor. We work with colleges and universities, faculty, staff, deans, athletic coaches, residence hall directors. Now, those are in places that you're really thinking of as an off-ramp for a standup comedy career, but humor in everyday life throughout the campus is a big part [00:11:00] of everyday life.

Trust me. There's a lot of funny stuff on campus, but how do people use it? If you will indulge, we'd love to get started in a conversation about how to be funny at your job and how to use it in different fashions that make your work more enjoyable and make working with you more enjoyable.

[00:11:19] Harry Teinowitz: The first thing is you have to be a aware that you don't have the right to make fun of, of anyone and everyone until you make fun of yourself. Once you're able to make fun of yourself and laugh at how stupid something is like one time uh, this really cool guy was trying to help me get my microphone clearer for a podcast. And I had to get my 16 year old son to help me. So, you know, I thought since he was coming in here and dropping what he was doing to help me, I would make fun of him first.

You know, are you wearing pants? And then I would just like start making fun of myself being for being so [00:12:00] inept freshman year at the university of Kansas was very hard. It was not, not so much academically. I, I was at Kansas the day they taught math. It was hard. And just, you know, if it's the first time in your life that you're living away from home and you're living on your own.

And I auditioned in high school as a senior at New Trier High School for college judges and a theater that was 1600 seats with a 1600 seat theater in high school. So I'll, I'll never be nervous or scared to audition. And if I'm on Broadway or, or anywhere else, because there's nothing scarier than being like, you know, 14 years old and auditioning in front of all those people in a 1600 seat theater.

That's insane. So I, I, I just think that like, if you don't know how to do something rather than fake it, cuz I am one of the few men that does know how to fake it. I think you gotta be pretty real and why not make fun of yourself? And you know, [00:13:00] you can make fun of whoever you want as long as you're making fun of.

[00:13:03] Kelly Cherwin: So I was gonna ask a question. Obviously we know everything, everything going on in the world right now with COVID we there's a lot of trying times things are stressful. How do people know when to use humor in like an appropriate situation?

[00:13:16] Harry Teinowitz: That's that's a great question. That's the best question I've heard all day. It's by, you know, it's, it's wonderful that somebody has researched this. Um, I, I think that you have to, um, this is where humor plus you need a formula here, humor plus sincerity equals legitimacy if you say, oh, I was just joking. I didn't mean that. Of course. I hope that person's okay. Even though I called them a, you know, selfish **** , you know, I, I think that that's probably bad unless you've established, you know, the fact that two of you are tight.

Um, you know, COVID is awful. You know what? 838,000 people is the last number I've heard innocent people that have just, you know, taken off this planet. It's God awful. You know, I hope people are, you know, listening. I know a lot of people don't VAx I know that there are people that, you know, want to get into arguments over way or not you should vax. I just know that anything that I could do to. Protect my family from, from getting it, I would do. And, uh, you know, I would start with my mom, my, my mom was, uh, getting up there in age and she had some problems with, you know, dementia and Alzheimer's and she could never remember which one of the two that she had, but she basically got COVID.

We found out after she had it, that she had had. She basically slept through it, which is basically like how a lot of us, you know, got through college and stuff like that. It's [00:15:00] like, I can make fun of my mom's cooking growing up because she's my mom, you know? And like my best friend after he'd been over a while and had enough of her dinners, he could make fun of her cooking, you know, Jewish women, you know, either they're the best cooks in the world or they're my mom.

You know, my mom thought that water was a spice, that's really not good for anybody . So, you know, you can make fun of COVID. You can make fun of, you know, if it touches you, you can make fun of that. But you, if you're making fun of, of somebody else that has it, or whatever, you, you've got to establish, you know, how sincere you are and you know, how you feel about that person before, you know, you start to openly, um, Mock them.

[00:15:46] Andrew Hibel: It’s interesting, like knowing your audience is obviously what you're getting at here. How in real time, if you're in a business meeting or you're working with your team, uh, there may be a lot of familiarity. Like it would be working with your team. There [00:16:00] may not be a lot of familiarity. There also might be differences in relationships with members of your team.

How in real time as a professional comic, when you're reading your audience, how do you make those calls on what is the right and appropriate time? And is this the right and appropriate audience to, to say something that you perceive is gonna be funny?

[00:16:21] Harry Teinowitz: Well, you know, everybody's good at something, right?

You know, people say, wait a comment, you know, what I get the most is I don't know how you can walk on stage in front of people and then try to get them to laugh. That's gotta be really, really scary. To me scary would be like a nine to five job where I've got a, like go to a sales meeting and they explain to 'em, you know why this product is so good?

You know, I couldn't do it unless I had humor. I think that a quarterback comes to the line of scrimmage, the better quarterbacks, the, the Tom Bradys, the Aaron Rogers, they can tell right away which guy is gonna be open. They can tell, well, if they're playing the bears, They're [00:17:00] all going to be open, but they can tell right away by looking at a defense in, in a split second, they know, okay, the defense is gonna cover, you know, Adams.

If I send him off to the left. The defense is gonna go that way. So if I drop back and I'm looking to the left, I'm gonna be able to swing it over here to the right. And my guy's gonna run all day, as soon as he catches it, you know, it's simply a matter of just, you know, reading your audience is like for a quarterback reading their defense.

It's like for a businessman reading the room. And I think comedy is great because comedy unites right away, you're able to unite yourself. You don't wanna be the enemy. You don't wanna be like the new person who they've gotta learn how to trust over a series of meetings. Right away, you know, if, if you're joking, if you're funny, if it's sincere, then I think people will join in and go, Hey, you know what?

This guy, this girl they're okay. They're just fun. [00:18:00] Nothing wrong with it, as long as it's fun and, and, you know, and I, I find I can get my answer out and be much more productive if I'm joking around.

[00:18:08] Andrew Hibel: Yeah and relying a little bit on your, your sports expertise. Is it true that when Aaron Rogers goes to the line nowadays, He's also able to read the defense and see whether or not they're immunized as well.

Kelly Cherwin: Oh my gosh.

[00:18:19] Harry Teinowitz: Okay. he can, he can, he can have the it's the damnest thing. And, uh, he's one of the few quarterbacks that I've ever seen in my life that when he calls an audible, he will, because he loves jeopardy so much. He'll call the audible in the form of question, which the bears players will do when their quarterback calls an audible. What is 342 Omaha?

[00:18:42] Kelly Cherwin: Going off the, the quarterback theme? I think we can agree that a quarterback is a, a leader of the team, kind of transitioning over to the leader in the workplace. I wanna read a sta to you and get your thoughts on this. It says research shows that leaders. With any sense of humor are seen as 27% more [00:19:00] motivating and admired than those who don't joke around their employees are 15% more engaged and their teams are more than twice as likely to solve a creativity challenge.

What are your thoughts on that?

[00:19:11] Harry Teinowitz: Well, 38% of me agreed with you on that, uh, 24% of me did not agree with you on that. And, uh, the other 38% of me, um, is just trying to do math in my head. I absolutely think that there is a, I, I think when you're with somebody who's funny when, when you're with somebody who's able to joke around like going back to James Bond.

But you know, like if you're, if you're a kid, the first time you see a James Bond movie, not only is this guy saving the world, but he's got the perfect one liner as he saves it. Our job. I thought you always took your head off to a lady. You know, even in the face of death, he's able to joke around. That's a guy I want on my team.

That's a guy that I want on my [00:20:00] side. I'll go to work with that guy. I trust that guy. If somebody can stay calm under pressure and they can have fun with something that other people would be pulling their hair out over. I, I, I think that's, that's, that's a winner. I think it's a very attractive quality to a boss.

And, you know, there's a difference between someone who has, you know, stayed up all night, trying to get like a tight five minutes on whatever their company does. You have to have just the ability to, to naturally have fun with things. If you can do it in pressure packed situations. I, I think companies, schools, whoever will be very desirous of you.

[00:20:40] Andrew Hibel: I should point in there. We do want to hear from you. So if you have any thoughts on what you think is funny in situations, whether it's in the classroom, when you're teaching or working with students or meeting with alumni, you know, reach out to us at Twitter at, at HigherEdJobs or hit us up on email at podcast@higheredjobs.com.

It's interesting [00:21:00] Harry in that same article, that Harvard business review article that Kelly talked about about those statistics. It also talks about this instance, talking about a salesperson who says, hey, my final offer is X and I'll throw in my pet frog that stupid dad joke can increase the customer's willingness to pay by 18%.

It doesn't even need to be good joke. A stupid dad joke can do that.

[00:21:23] Harry Teinowitz: What you're doing is you're standing out, you're separating yourself from the room and, and, you know, I think that that's a very likable quality. And I think that you're going to find most people will appreciate that. I mean, there's a time not to go for humor.

I've had trouble with that obviously for, for a while. But, but I, I think in general, I worked for my father for, uh, five years in commercial real estate. When people were looking at office buildings and office buildings, it was the three keys of real estate, right. Location, [00:22:00] location, location. But all the buildings are just about the same.

So if I'm a boss and I see three buildings or six buildings, and they're all about the same place, they're all about the same cost. Yeah. If one guy is funny and clever, I'm gonna listen a little more intently to what he's saying. You can get your message across without being offensive. Uh, We were building this building at my dad's company was putting up this building with his partner at 200 West Adams and Adams and Wells and the building that was just to the west, the property, just to the west sold.

And they put up a new office building and there was like 12 feet between our Western wall and their Eastern. And so the first 18 stories or 22 stories were blacked out. And so some guys walking around in our space, looking at this new building, going. [00:23:00] And going, why are we on this floor? I don't want my people to be on a floor where they can't look out the window and I'm like, Hey, do you want your people to be working?

Or do you want 'em to be looking out the window going? I wish I could be at the Cub scheme, but I had an answer ready and I felt it was better to respond, you know, with some form of humor, something to the gist of you don't want your people looking out the window anyways, when they're at work. There's a lot of ways I could dress that up.

And that's what I did. And the entire building was leased.

[00:23:28] Kelly Cherwin: Andy just ran out for a second. So I can, I can say this while he's here, but I came across a quote and it says some days the best part of the job is that the chair spins. Oh, he came back in . So. I, my, my point is I think we all, we all can agree that life is, is stressful at many times, and we have different ways of, you know, coping with it sometimes healthy, sometimes unhealthy, but I think we all can agree that.

Humor can be a good way to cope with it.

[00:23:56] Andrew Hibel: Thank you so much for your time. It was wonderful seeing you [00:24:00] bummed. We didn't get you in person, but we'll figure it out next times.

[00:24:03] Harry Teinowitz: Fans of all of you and Mike, thank you for making me feel, uh, uh, you know, technologically challenged again. excellent. That's my job.

Kelly. The girl on the play that calls her boyfriend way too much is Kelly, So I don't know if you wanna back up on calling your husband or maybe it's just don't call your boyfriend so much.

[00:24:32] Andrew Hibel: Thanks Harry. We'll talk to you soon.

[00:24:35] Harry Teinowitz: All right. If I made just one person laugh today, I didn't do a very good job. Bye Andy. Thank you, Kelly.

[00:24:45] Andrew Hibel: Mike. Are you looking for a great resume? Because for a limited time, our friends at TopResume are giving you 25% off any resume writing package, use code higher ed 25 at top resume.com/resume writing to immediately improve your number [00:25:00] one tool in getting that next great higher ed job. We appreciate your time. Thanks for listening.