LaughBox

For over forty years, John Johnson (Simply Saint Nick) has been a character actor and historical presenter, notably bringing the role of Santa Claus to life in the most authentic way. His debut on stage (and as Santa no less) was at the age of six in an elementary school production of “Twas the Night Before Christmas.” Since then, John has gone on to study acting with the Alban Arts Academy in Saint Albans, West Virginia. He has also attended classes taught by such artists as Pam Chibora, Leah Turley, Sean Watkins, Adam Bryan, Marlette Carter, and Kelly Strom. He has performed regionally in such shows as “The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe” as Father Christmas (2011), “Miracle on 34th Street” as Kris Kringle (2012), “The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus” as Nicholas (2013), and “Adventures in Santa Claus Land” as Santa (2019). He has also performed the role on local television commercials and on various Christmas specials regionally.

But it isn’t his acting abilities that make Santa John unique. Rather, it is his great faith in Christ – the Reason for the Season. Yes, John has always portrayed the role from the Christian perspective which goes all the way back to Nicholas of Myra (270-343AD). Nicholas was the prototype of the Santa we know and love today. Santa John has studied carefully over his lifetime both the history and the traditions of the character that he portrays. His portrayal emphasizes service to Christ, love, joy, peace, and hope – the bedrocks of the season. Couple these things with the fact that Santa John truly loves children, maintains a jolly demeanor, and a deep love of the role and you have something special in him. The additions of real whiskers, custom tailored suits, and real accessories make Santa John someone to believe in. In 2023, Santa John even wrote a book about his life, his faith, and role as Santa Claus. It is available at Westbow Press, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Christianbooks.com. Click the title to get a copy of “Simply Saint Nick: My Life as a Real-Life Christian Santa Claus.”

Amazon link https://a.co/d/97qKnNo

Interview with the Christian Chronicle, December 2023 https://christianchronicle.org/peace-on-earth-and-goodwill-to-men-christian-santa-professes-christ/

https://simplysaintnick.com/

Marco was born in Chicago but has also lived in Mexico City and San Antonio. He holds two bachelor’s degrees in English and Psychology, as well as a Master of Jurisprudence. With 15 years of experience in the corporate sector, his roles have spanned product management, operations, governance, and call center positions.

In 2011, after the birth of his first daughter, Marco began to feel ill. For nine years, he was told it was anxiety, but nothing seemed to help. It wasn’t until 2020 that he was finally diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. From 2011 to 2022, Marco struggled with agoraphobia, but with the help of medication, therapy, and supportive friends, he was able to overcome these limitations.

During his time at home, Marco began writing a collection of fictional short stories. Originally, he intended to gift the stories to his daughters, the youngest of whom was born in 2013. However, after sharing the stories with friends, he was encouraged to consider publishing them.

In 2023, the stories were published as a novel titled Within Normal Limits. Shortly after its release, the novel became an Amazon Best Seller in the Multiple Sclerosis category.

The novel follows a fictional version of Marco as he navigates struggles with religion, relationships, fatherhood, and connecting with others who are also dealing with their own solitude.

After the publication, Marco began doing readings. Though the book is quite sad, Marco (the author) is not, which led to the readings evolving into comedy routines. This eventually opened the door for Marco to participate in stand-up comedy around town.

Book Synopsis:

This gripping collection of stories tells the story of Marco, a young man diagnosed with multiple sclerosis who must confront the harsh reality of his prognosis. Set against the backdrop of a life being slowly taken away from him, the reader is taken on a journey of strength, courage, and resilience as Marco learns to appreciate the beauty of life. With his relationships pushed to the limit, Marco must find the courage to face his illness and discover the weight of hope.

https://www.wnlmarco.com

https://www.instagram.com/wnlmarco

https://a.co/d/8ITF5BA (Amazon link to purchase, although folks can get it through Target, Barnes and Noble, and a ton of other online retailers).

Since his first open mic in 1999, Marc Yaffee has turned his love of stand up in to a thriving career. Stand up comedy has led Marc to perform in diverse locales far and wide around the globe. Marc’s 20 year comedic career has taken him across four continents, 11 countries and 43 states. 

Marc’s past performance venues includes a tool shed in Iraq, atop a large rock in the Sierra Nevada Mountains for a Tribal celebration, and on board an Alaska Airlines flight to Fairbanks. Whether it’s a Las Vegas showroom, a cruise ship theater, or a tribal gymnasium, Marc Yaffee comes ready to connect with his audiences and deliver all-out laughs.

Marc Yaffee’s Career

Marc Yaffee was the founder and co-star of the Pow Wow Comedy Jam. It featured performers at the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), the National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA), and top tribal casinos across the land. In 2010, Pow Wow Comedy Jam was named NIGA Entertainers of the Year. Additionally, it was also feature that year on the Showtime special Goin’ Native. This was a ground-breaking achievement, as it was the first-ever cable special showcasing an all Native American lineup.

Marc Yaffee’s TV appearances also include; PBS, The Latino Laugh Festival, Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen and FNX Network’s, First Nations Comedy Experience. His comedy special, Marc My Words, is a mainstay on the streaming site Nativeflix.com.

Recently, his new Dry Bar Comedy Special, Mid-Laugh Crisis showcased his “funny, not filthy” comedy style that has earned him a growing appeal among stand-up fans. Additionally, the special recently went viral and has garnered much attention as well.

Marc Yaffee has performed six times overseas for Armed Forces Entertainment. This includes the Pacific, Europe, the Far East and Middle East. He won the Ventura Comedy Festival in 2012 and is a former writer for laugh.com.

Marc’s wide experience has made him a hit with audiences of all types. His fans range from comedy club Millennials to casino showroom Baby Boomers. Marc skewers sacred cows, dissects societal stupidities, and confronts our common frustrations, all with humanity and humor.

Marc’s Podcast “How Does That Happen”

Marc Yaffee created the How Does That Happen Podcast in late 2018. How Does That Happen came about from Marc’c fascination with extreme people. More importantly, it came from those driven to seek out or survive record breaking behaviors that most people would never consider doing, and others many couldn’t imagine existed.

How Does that Happen spotlights not only the craziest record holders but  wannabe-record holders and should-be record holders. Marc Yaffee and his co-host, Dave Mencarelli, interview men and women who’ve claimed some of the most unusual records. Additionally, the podcast highlights people whose “achievements” aren’t in any record books, but in Marc’s opinion, should be.

Examples of guests include a comedian who performed stand-up shows 1002 consecutive nights in a row. Most recently, a female competitive eating champion came to chat. Marc Yaffee has also interviewed a man trying to become the worst rated Uber driver. Marc Yaffee’s How Does That Happen podcast is two extremely regular guys interviewing some not-so-regular people. It’s a ton of fun and we hope you’ll check it out here.

Website: https://laughwithmarc.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaughWithMarcYaffee/

Twitter: https://x.com/MarcYaffee

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marcyaffee/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/MarcYaffee

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcyaffee/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@marcyaffeecomedy

Book Marc for your event! https://laughwithmarc.com/contact-marc-yaffee

Dr. Brad Miller on the Cancer and Comedy Podcast.  

A month after retiring from a 43-year career as a pastor Dr. Brad Miller was diagnosed with cancer.  His reaction was to laugh to keep from crying.  He responded by combining his ministry experience with his doctoral degree in life transformation and his love of comedy to create the Cancer and Comedy Podcast designed to help people impacted by cancer (and other diseases) to heal with hope and humor.  Dr. Brad launched the Cancer and Comedy Podcast in August 2023 and received the Best faith-based Comedy Podcast for 2023 Award by Spark Media. Dr. Brad Miller is available for speaking, consulting and coaching in matters related to leveraging humor and hope in the healing process.  

Dr. Brad Miller

Brad@DrBradMiller.com

https://cancerandcomedy.com/follow

https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertbradleymiller/

https://www.facebook.com/cancerandcomedy

https://www.youtube.com/@CancerandComedy

https://www.facebook.com/bradmiller2000

Blog Post from Senior Living Guide Podcast where I was a guest

https://www.seniorlivingguide.com/i-will-not-let-cancer-define-me/

PodINDY.com is a one day conference on the topic "How to Profit from Podcasting: Amplified with AI" and features presentations by Podcast Hall of Famer Dave Jackson, the author of "Profit From Your Podcast," and Dr. Craig Van Slyke, Technology Professor from Louisiana Tech University, and creator of the "AI Goes to College Podcast."    The live event is 9AM ET November 9, 2024 and virtual tickets which include the replay recordings are available for $27 at PodINDY.com.

As Brad mentioned, here is The Five-Day FREE "Healing through Hope and Humor" Course will Help You Cope with Cancer on Your Terms!

https://cancerandcomedy.com/free

Please share with your friends or anyone in need.

Wolf Brown is a native american stand-up comedy from the village of Bapchule located on the Gila River Indian Community. His style of comedy includes one-liners, story telling, and roasts. Being versatile in both comedy club and reservation humor. He is has become a rising star in the Arizona comedy scene as well as becoming a casino favorite. 

Karyn Buxman, RN, MSN, CSP, CPAE is an international speaker, successful author, master neuroplastician, brain-based coach, and neurohumorist (she lives at the intersection of humor and the brain). Karyn is the global authority on high performance humor and her undertakings include her TEDx talk—How Humor Saved the World. As a neurohumorist, Karyn’s career resides at the intersection of humor and the brain, helping high performers achieve greater influence and optimum health through the art and science of applied humor. Karyn is one of 275 professionals (and one of only 62 women) in the world to be inducted into the Speaker Hall of Fame. Karyn speaks internationally to organizations that grasp the important role that humor plays in business, health, and life. Among her 800+ clients over 35 years are the Mayo Clinic, AARP, NASA, and the Million Dollar Round Table.

Website: https://www.karynbuxman.com/

Chris Palmer is an author, speaker, wildlife filmmaker, conservationist, educator, professor, and grandfather. He dedicated his professional career to conservation but now devotes his life to end-of-life activism. Bloomsbury will publish his 10th book, Achieving a Good Death: A Practical Guide to the End of Life, on October 1, 2024. He is a trained hospice volunteer and founded and runs an aging, death, and dying group for the Bethesda Metro Area Village.

He serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Montgomery Hospice & Prince George’s Hospice (MHI), is vice president of the Board of the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Maryland & Environs (FCAME), and serves on the Advisory Council for the Maryland Office of Cemetery Oversight (OCO). He also serves on the Boards of Final Exit Network, Hemlock Society of San Diego, and Funeral Consumers Alliance. He is on the Bethesda Metro Area Village Board and, until recently, was a Board member of the Green Burial Association of Maryland.

Chris and his wife, Gail Shearer, created and funded the “Finishing Strong Award” with the Washington Area Village Exchange (WAVE) to encourage villages to hold more discussions about end-of-life issues. WAVE is the largest regional village organization in the nation.

He frequently gives presentations and workshops to community groups on aging, death, and dying issues.

Chris is also president of the MacGillivray Freeman Films Educational Foundation, which produces and funds IMAX films on science and conservation issues. MacGillivray Freeman Films is the world’s largest and most successful producer of IMAX films.

For over thirty-five years, he spearheaded the production of more than 300 hours of original programming for prime-time television and the IMAX film industry, which won him and his colleagues many awards, including two Emmys and an Oscar nomination. He has worked with Robert Redford, Paul Newman, Jane Fonda, Ted Turner, and many other celebrities. His IMAX films include Whales, Wolves, Dolphins, Bears, Coral Reef Adventure, and Grand Canyon Adventure.

During his filmmaking career, he swam with dolphins and whales, came face-to-face with sharks and Kodiak bears, camped with wolf packs, and waded hip-deep through Everglade swamps.

His books include Finding Meaning and Success: Living a Fulfilled and Productive Life, published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2021. Proceeds from all of Chris’s books fund scholarships for American University students.

Starting in 2004, Chris served on American University’s full-time faculty as Distinguished Film Producer in Residence until his retirement in 2018. While at AU, he founded and directed the Center for Environmental Filmmaking at the School of Communication. He also created and taught a popular class called Design Your Life for Success.

Chris and his wife, Gail, have lived in Bethesda, Maryland, for nearly 50 years and raised three daughters. They now have nine grandchildren. Chris was a stand-up comic for five years and has advanced degrees from London and Harvard. He has jumped out of helicopters, worked on an Israeli kibbutz, and was a high school boxing champion. Chris is currently learning to juggle, draw, dance, play tennis, and play the piano. He loves standing on his hands for exercise, keeps a daily gratitude journal, and has a 30-page personal mission statement.

More information on Chris:

Chris’s filmmaking career began in 1983 when he founded National Audubon Society Productions, a nonprofit film company and part of the National Audubon Society, which he led as president and CEO for eleven years. In 1994, he founded National Wildlife Productions, a nonprofit multimedia company and part of the National Wildlife Federation, which he led as president and CEO for ten years.

His first two published books were on wildlife filmmaking: Shooting in the Wild in 2010 and Confessions of a Wildlife Filmmaker in 2015. They were followed by Raise Your Kids to Succeed: What Every Parent Should Know in 2017 and Now What, Grad? Your Path to Success After College (First Edition in 2015 and the Second Edition in 2018). In 2019, he wrote College Teaching at its Best: Inspiring Students to be Enthusiastic, Lifelong Learners, and in 2021, he wrote Finding Meaning and Success: Living a Fulfilled and Productive Life. Rowman & Littlefield published his last five books.

His next book, for Bloomsbury Publishing, is Achieving a Good Death. Bethesda Communications Group published Love, Dad in 2018, a 700-page book of his letters to his daughters, and Open Heart: When Open-Heart Surgery Becomes Your Best Option in 2021, a book co-written with his daughter Christina (a family doctor). Chris and Christina have written half a dozen books for children on health-related issues.

Chris gives pro bono presentations and workshops on various topics, including how to live a meaningful and successful life, aging well, achieving a good death, living well to die well, medical aid-in-dying, decluttering and death cleaning, completing advance directives, writing memoirs, composing legacy letters and ethical wills, funeral planning, green ways of body disposition, and hospice care. In 2015, Chris spoke on wildlife filmmaking at TEDxAmericanUniversity. While teaching at AU, he was a stand-up comedian and performed regularly in DC comedy clubs for five years. In 2017, he founded and now directs a group on aging and dying well as part of the Bethesda Metro Area Village, where he serves as a Board member.

Chris was honored with the Frank G. Wells Award from the Environmental Media Association and the Lifetime Achievement Award for Media at the 2009 International Wildlife Film Festival. In 2010, he was honored at the Green Globe Awards in Los Angeles with the Environmental Film Educator of the Decade award. In 2011, he received the IWFF Wildlife Hero of the Year Award for his “determined campaign to reform the wildlife filmmaking industry.” In 2012, he received the Ronald B. Tobias Award for Achievement in Science and Natural History Filmmaking Education. In addition, he received the 2014 University Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching at AU, the 2015 University Film and Video Association Teaching Award, and the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award at the International Wildlife Film Festival.

In his twenty years before becoming a film producer, Chris was an officer in the Royal Navy, an engineer, a business consultant, an energy analyst, an environmental activist, chief energy advisor to a senior U.S. senator, and a political appointee in the Environmental Protection Agency under President Jimmy Carter.

Chris holds a B.S. with First Class Honors in Mechanical Engineering, an M.S. in Ocean Engineering and Naval Architecture from University College London, and a master’s in Public Administration from Harvard University. He was also a Kennedy Scholar and received a Harkness Fellowship.

Born in Hong Kong, Chris grew up in England and immigrated to the United States in 1972. He is married to Gail Shearer and is the father of three grown daughters: Kimberly, Christina, and Jennifer. He and Gail have endowed a scholarship for environmental film students at AU to honor Chris’s parents and encourage the next generation to save the planet.

christopher.n.palmer@gmail.com

www.ChrisPalmerOnline.com

Shelia M. Kennison is Professor of Psychology. She earned her Ph.D. in Psycholinguistics at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and bachelor’s degree in linguistics and psychology from Harvard University. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Psychonomic Society. She has authored numerous works including academic journal articles and a textbook on the development of language. Her psycholinguistic research has focused on sentence processing in English as well as a variety of other languages, including Arabic, Spanish, German, Japanese, Chinese, and Finnish.

Buy her book on Amazon

https://amzn.to/3X4Ytwg

More about Shelia

https://experts.okstate.edu/shelia.kennison

Kyle Edgell started drawing caricatures in a bar.  For fun.  She never considered the talent she had to capture a likeness and connect with people a product to be “sold”…until a life-changing request to draw at a company picnic as entertainment allowed her to gift the drawings to her subjects and be paid for it.  Her insight and ability to encourage others through her art and humor grew into a career that has spanned over 20 years.

Edgell has a gift for presentation that instigates laughter, whether in a homeless shelter or attending conferences at 5 star Resort Hotels.  Her philosophy of life and art has helped her meet the daily and unexpected challenges of cancer, the death of loved ones and ADD.

She now creates multifaceted presentations that incorporate live drawing, speaking, message visualization that will help your team translate obstacles into opportunities.  When optimism is rekindled using humor and creativity it will inspire practical strategies that will energize your corporate culture.

Kyle Edgell is an Artist, Speaker and Entertainer with a little bit of wit. She received her BFA from Syracuse University and lives in Roanoke Virginia. She is a member of the Association for Applied Therapeutic Humor.

https://www.kyleedgell.com/