Malcolm Kushner

America’s Favorite Humor Consultant

is an internationally acclaimed expert on humor and communication.   His message is simple and powerful. Everyone can use humor to gain a competitive edge. A popular speaker at corporate and association meetings, he has entertained and educated thousands of managers, executives and professionals around the world.  He has keynoted everywhere from the Inc. 500 Conference to meetings held by IBM, Aetna, SONY, Bank of America, AT&T, American Bar Association, American Medical Association and U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Author

Kushner is an award-winning author of more than ten books. These include Public Speaking for Dummies (Wiley Books) and Presentations for Dummies (Wiley Books) which has sold over 100,000 copies. His first book, The Light Touch: How to Use Humor for Business Success (Simon & Schuster), a main selection of the MacMillan Business Book Club, was translated into five languages and is still considered the seminal book on humor in business. His latest book is Comebacks for Lawyer Jokes: The Restatement of Retorts, the world’s first book with jokes that actually make lawyers look good.

Expert

An expert on presidential humor, Kushner was a co-creator of a humor exhibit that appeared for many years at The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. His book about President Reagan’s humor has been a best seller on Amazon. Kushner also narrated Leading with Laughter, a six piece audio set of quips and anecdotes featuring recordings of Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Ford, Carter, Reagan and Bush. He has lectured about presidential humor in corporate and academic settings including the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. and the Infosys Leadership Institute in India. Here is a link to Kushner speaking about presidential humor on National Public Radio.

Quotable

Frequently interviewed by the media, Kushner has been profiled in Time, USA Today, The New York Times, The Washington Post and numerous other publications. His television and radio appearances include CNN, C-SPAN, “Fox & Friends,” National Public Radio, CNBC and “Voice of America.” The Wall Street Journal has called him “irrepressible.” Kushner is also the creator of the widely quoted “Cost of Laughing Index” — a price index of the 16 leading humor indicators in America. The annual Index has been featured on “Good Morning America”, The Tonight Show and the front page of The Wall Street Journal. The Index has appeared in news media around the world and has its own entry in Wikipedia.

Smart

A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo, Kushner holds a B.A. in Speech-Communication. He also earned an M.A. in Communication from the University of Southern California and a J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Prior to becoming a humor consultant, Kushner served as a staff attorney for the California Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board.  He also practiced law with an international corporate law firm.