BNW Owner John Sweeney enjoyed the opportunity of a lifetime on March 15, 2011 when he interviewed comedy legend Betty White as part of the Gildas Club Grand Rapids LaughFest.

Betty White Enchants Sold-out LaughFest Audience...

EXCERPT from mlive.com article, March 16, 2011
 

GRAND RAPIDS -- Betty White knows the strength that comes from battling cancer.

Speaking at LaughFest, White told Tuesday night’s sellout audience she learned a lot about her late husband, Allen Ludden, during his year-long fight with the disease before his death in 1981.

“What a class act he was,” White said with a reverence about the “Password” host, whom she met while a guest on the game show — a personal and career highlight, she said.

The thing is: White’s audience of 2,500 in the Steelcase Ballroom at DeVos Place, and another 1,000 gathered in an adjacent room for a simulcast, were thinking the exact same thing about the film and television actress, comedian and recent honorary forest ranger.

White’s performance was a much-anticipated highlight of LaughFest, the 10-day comedy showcase and fundraiser for the 10-year-old Grand Rapids chapter of Gilda’s Club, which offers cancer support programming.

White said she and Ludden read a book about the healing and positive power of laughter, so they committed to making the most of their time left together.

“And we had a wonderful year,” she said. “We didn’t waste one second.”

White was a part of a lineup that also features Bill Cosby, Margaret Cho, Kathleen Madigan and Gabriel Iglesias, among others. The event continues through Sunday.

White — who made clear she is “Betty,” not “Ms. White” — fielded questions from the evening’s master of ceremonies and interviewer, improv comedian John Sweeney, and hit quite a few ad-lib punch lines out to her appreciative audience.

White, who has quite a bit of improvisational training, had a warning for Sweeney after he told her they were about to play a “Password”-like game, highlighting her “youth,” “career” and personal “loves” for the remainder of the show.

“Careful emceeing it. I married the last one,” she quipped to the evening’s first loud bout of laughter.

“I’ve done some research, Betty, and I think I’m a little too old for you,” Sweeney countered to the “almost 89-and-a-half year old” and current “Hot in Cleveland” star.

...Read the entire article on mlive.com here.

You might want to read a bit more and watch the video on Fox17 online here.
 

FOR IMMEDIATE NON-RELEASE

Minneapolis, MN, January 24, 2011 – Four months after winning a Web Marketing Association’s Web Award and 7 months after going live, Brave New Workshop Creative Outreach is pleased to officially launch its new name and website. Months of soul-crushing development, somewhat professional services, and supportive client interviews have yielded a website uniquely branded for the business services side of the oldest comedy theater in the U.S. As such, the site promotes the division’s new name, Brave New Workshop Creative Outreach, and illustrates the division’s new brand, which was defined as being “un-definable” 15 months ago.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For More Information
Contact: Dawn Hopkins, dawn@bravenewworkshop.com, 612-360-3809

INNOVATION CUTS LIKE A KNIFE (literally!)

Minneapolis, MN, November 12, 2010 - In his quirky, never know quite what to expect fashion, Brave New Workshop owner and keynote speaker John Sweeney gave his audience a once in a lifetime, cutting edge experience and ended his tenure as a human knife target. Sweeney who for years has used knife throwing to recap learning points in his innovation-focused keynote speeches and training events, added yet another chapter to the odd and novel life he has created. Last week, while giving a speech to more than 400 people at the Ottawa Centre for Innovation and Research (OCRI) Leadership Conference, the long standing knife throwing routine took an interesting turn, specifically a turn that drove a 12-inch steel bladed knife into the inside of Sweeney’s forearm and out the other side. Reaction by the audience was mixed; some believed Sweeney’s sudden departure from the stage was standard practice and part of the interactive speech they had just experienced and others checked the stage for a severed forearm and called 911. Knife thrower Caleb McEwen, artistic director of the Brave New Workshop and member of the well-known dare devil trio, the Danger Committee, quickly finished the presentation and thanked the audience for a great session.

Special thanks to Peter McDougall for his article, "Surviving the Recession: An Improv Theater Follows Its Own Advice" published on BNET yesterday. The interview with Brave New Workshop owner John Sweeney and subsequent article explores how the improv philosophy of making it up as you go along has helped to keep the BNW growing.

http://www.bnet.com/blog/smb/surviving-the-recession-an-improv-theater-follows-its-own-advice/2112

John Sweeney, Brave New Workshop Creative Outreach, and John Haudan, Chief Executive Officer of Root Learning, discuss how leaders can bring employees who are freaked out by the present economic situation back into the Sanity Station.

In a startling turn of events, keynote speaker and trainer John Sweeney has become the only speaker in the world to accept a bust of his head made entirely from cheese in exchange for services rendered.

The Brave New Workshop (BNW) is pleased to announce that it will once again donate emcee services to the Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services (SMRLS) 2009 Social Justice Uncorked! corporate fundraising event in honor of SMRLS Centennial Year of Quality Client Service.

Take a break from your Twitter addiction and give yourself a five-minute respite from checking Facebook because this is some big time news! The Brave New Workshop (BNW) Corporate Services has been named a Finalist in the Interactive Multimedia category in the 2009 AmericanBusiness Awards and is now going head-to-head with offerings created for NBC and Adobe.