Humor Consultant Is Laughing His Way to Fame and Fortune

Ex-”Gong Show” contestant Malcom Kushner turns chuckles to cash--lots of it--as a corporate humor consultant, even helping out the tax man.

Humor is essential for executives and can be a problem-solver for people who hate to speak in public, says Kushner, 32, who put his law degree away to start his new business three years ago.

“Even if you don’t think the world needs a humor consultant, you’ll agree we can use one less attorney,” he said.

But he has having no trouble peddling his services.

He expects a six-figure income in 1985, including among his clients the Internal Revenue Service, the San Francisco Police Department and the University of Santa Clara business school.

Kushner counsels groups and individuals and writes speeches and brochures on how to use humor to advantage.

“Anyone who has a sense of humor can develop it--and I never met a person who didn’t have a sense of humor,” said Kushner, who performed a “trained plant” act on one of the first “Gong Show” episode.

President Reagan may be well adept at using humor but does not always use it well, Kushner believes.

“I think Reagan’s much-publicized joke about destroying Russia was a big mistake,” he said. “I use Reagan to make the point with my clients that the goal isn’t to be hilarious but to communicate the fact that you have a sense of humor. Then people are more willing to listen to you and that’s an invaluable management tool.”

As a better example of using humor, Kushner tells of police being called to a house to defuse a family fight.

“The policewoman sees a TV being thrown out the second-story window,” he said. “She knocks on the door.”

“‘Who is it?”

“Now she knows if she says ‘police,’ the guy’s going to go crazy. So instead, she answers, ‘TV repairman.’ The guy starts laughing and opens the door.”