I first came across this idea at an educational event by OpenStrategy – a learning community for planners based in London. I was speaking to the brilliant Mark Pollard, founder of US creative agency Mighty Jungle after this presentation on how to become more insightful – essentially becoming great at noticing things. For those who are interested OpenStrategy actually recorded the whole session here, which is definitely worth looking at, if you have time – if not, there’s a great written summary here.
One of the things he mentions and I later spoke to him in more detail was this idea of standup comedians being a great source of insight into human behaviour. Standup comedians are very insightful people – they have to be. After all their entire careers hinge on their ability not only to notice really deep human truths that are emotionally resonant and relatable to their audiences but to make them funny. Sometimes they are not ‘just’ funny. They’re funny and creepy, funny and cringeworthy, bittersweet, or darkly humorous. I’m a member of another account planning group that featured prominent people that mentioned that they actively attended standup shows to discover creative ways to express these insights. I’ve always been a fan of standup shows – Netflix gives me unprecedented access to them. I don’t watch lots of TV, but when I do I think it’s time for me to dedicate more time to looking at standup comedian’s shows but with my planner hat on.