Travels from Arizona, USA
Chris Bliss's speaking fee falls within range: $10,000 to $15,000
The Washington Post says that, “If you’re looking to laugh and think, you can’t do much better than Chris Bliss.” Following in the footsteps of the great American satirists, Chris delivers thought-provoking humor that takes a wry and simultaneously affectionate and critical look at modern America.
Chris was one of the first-ever YouTube celebrities; he was a show opener for a range of international stars, including Erik Clapton and Michael Jackson, and his act would finish with his “Amazing Juggling Finale.” When this was posted on YouTube it quickly went viral and to date has been downloaded 80 million times.
Since those days Chris has become one of America’s most popular stand-up comedians and has branched out into keynote speaking, exploring how comedy disrupts our conventional perspectives and can be used for better communication.
In addition to his professional work, Chris is the founder of the Bill of Rights Monument Project (MyBillOfRights.org), which he began when he discovered that no monument to the founding document of the USA existed anywhere in the country. Seven years of hard work culminated in the dedication of the Bill of Rights Monument at the Arizona Capitol, and Chris is now working on an endowment to bring the Bill of Rights to every state in the union.
Speaker, comedian, and Bill of Rights proponent Chris Bliss delivers intelligent and timely commentary about our world, in the tradition of American satire from Mark Twain to Jon Stewart. Jay Leno, who featured Chris repeatedly on the Tonight Show, has called him “one of the brightest comedians around,” with the Washington Post adding that “if you’re looking to laugh, you can’t do much better than Chris Bliss.”
Chris was also one of the first surprise stars of the YouTube era, when his “Amazing Juggling Finale” video went viral to the tune of over 80,000,000 downloads. The video reprises the signature piece of his early career as an internationally acclaimed variety act, when he toured with superstars from Eric Clapton to Michael Jackson. Its internet fans included Ringo Star, who posted the video on his personal website, and Fatboy Slim, who asked Chris to star in his music video “Old Pair of Jeans”, and then invited him to perform the song live with the Paul Shaffer Band on the Late Show with David Letterman.
More recently, Chris branched out from traditional stand-up to deliver his first TED talk, “Comedy Is Translation”, which has been viewed by over half a million people on TED.com. Invitations followed to speak at Images and Voices of Hope (IVOH.org), an annual summit of thought leaders from across the media spectrum that explores the impact of media messaging on societies worldwide, and Chicago Ideas Week, a citywide event dedicated to “igniting change to positively impact our world”, that in it’s first two years has featured luminaries from Bill Clinton to Tom Brokaw.
Chris subsequently developed a full length keynote of the same title, which he debuted at the Louisville IdeaFestival in the fall of 2013. The talk explores how and why comedy works so well at overcoming our engrained perspectives, and how we can apply those lessons to be more effective communicators.
In the midst of all of this, Chris also launched the Bill of Rights Monument Project at MyBillOfRights.org, a nonprofit dedicated to creating monuments of the Bill of Rights across America. He started the project after discovering there wasn’t a single monument to this cornerstone of our individual rights and liberties. That all changed on December 15, 2012, with dedication of the Bill of Rights Monument at the Arizona Capitol, a historic first for the State and the nation.
The dedication garnered coverage in both the New York Times and USA Today. Culminating seven years of hard work, Chris is now building on that success to organize a national endowment to bring the Bill of Rights to all fifty State Capitols.
The through line connecting all these dots is Chris’s passion for communication. Whether it’s his unique approach to juggling as a musical art, his scathingly funny comedy about the absurdities of our modern world, or his commitment to spreading awareness of our founding principles, Chris Bliss is continually searching for new approaches to old conventions, and fresh ways of expressing them. The result is entertaining and original presentations that are as refreshing as they are captivating.
One thing is certain. To paraphrase his write-up in the Washington Post, if you’re looking to laugh and think, you can’t do better than Chris Bliss.
Chris Bliss shares his profound insights into the art of communication in this TED talk titled Comedy is Translation. Quoting Gregory Rabassa, he says, “‘every act of communication is an actual translation.’ Now maybe that's been obvious to you for a long time, but for me, as often as I had encountered that inherent difficulty on a daily basis, I had never seen the challenge of communication so crystalline a light."
Explaining why it is so important to him, he says, “Ever since I can remember thinking consciously about these things, communication has been my central passion. Even as a child, I can remember thinking that the thing I wanted most in life was to understand everything, and then to communicate it to everyone else."
He shares the frustration of not being able to properly communicate: “Every time I set out to share some great truth with a soon to be grateful recipient, it had the opposite effect. Interestingly, when your opening line in communication is, ‘Listen up, because I'm about to drop some serious knowledge on you…’ it's amazing how quickly you will discover both ice and the firing squad."
Chris provides intelligent and original stand-up comedy which not only entertains his audiences, but gets them thinking as well. Using lessons gained from his experience learning to juggle, Chris demonstrates how a passion for excellence, combined with basic skills, will produce something extraordinary.
Chris also offers individual or team-based juggling classes that provide lessons about learning, teamwork and some of the requirements for success. Chris ends his stand-up performances with a reprise of his “Amazing Juggling Finale” – which never fails to delight.
In addition, Chris is an experienced moderator at corporate events, making sure that a meeting’s goals and takeaways are creatively reinforced.
Two Of The Best Energizing your attendees is the key to a successful meeting. Chris′s refreshingly intelligent and original comedy, followed by his “amazing juggling finale”, is guaranteed to bring the house down and send your attendees out buzzing and engaged.
Commitment To Excellence Telling the story of his successful but questionable quest to become the world′s most famous juggler ("a claim to fame as unimpressive as it is difficult to refute") Chris uses his incredible finale to demonstrate the power that mastering the basics has when combined with each individual′s passion for excellence. Depending on your conference schedule, this program can be augmented with interactive juggling classes for attendees either before or after the presentation.
Moderator/Facilitator Intelligence. Preparation. Personality. Along with his comprehensive knowledge of the structure and objectives of corporate events, these are what make Chris Bliss a dynamic choice for your client’s next conference. Whether facilitating the flow of executive presentations, moderating panel discussions, or ensuring that your meeting′s goals and takeaways are creatively reinforced throughout, Chris brings his years of public communications experience to bear in working with your advance team to cover the essential details.
As the voice of your meeting, Chris′s ability to deliver focused and disciplined messaging in a memorable way makes him an effective host for all your critical sessions. As a nationally recognized headline comedian, he can also provide an engaging keynote to open or close your conference. Toss in Chris’s amazing juggling finale, seen by tens of millions on the internet, wherever you need one last exclamation point; and you’ve got a triple threat addition to your conference from a single source talent.
Mastering the Basics In addition to his on stage duties, Chris Bliss also offers a program at no additional fee where your attendees can learn basic juggling. The program length is one hour, and can be offered multiple times throughout the day to accommodate attendee schedules and be available for the maximum number in your group. Chris then selects the best students from each class, who are called up to join him on stage before his finale to demonstrate the secret of “juggling” the nonstop complexity of today’s workplace.
Other Suggested Topics:
“If you′re looking to laugh, you can′t do much better than Chris Bliss.”Washington Post
“Physicians are hard to please, but Chris did a great job! And his finale was spectacular!”St. Anne Mercy Hospital
“One of the best…worth a special trip.” Las Vegas Review-Journal
“A master of high-IQ stand-up with a razor-sharp edge.” Montreal Gazette
“Edgy, hard-hitting, very often laugh-out-loud funny.” City Pages – Minneapolis
“Intelligent and scathingly funny. He captured us all.” Orange County Register
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