On this episode of Women in Motion, Lee Kantor is joined by Dani Klein Modisett, CEO and founder of Laughter on Call. Dani shares her journey from comedian to entrepreneur, inspired by her mother’s battle with Alzheimer’s. Her organization uses laughter to foster connection and well-being, particularly in healthcare and corporate settings. Dani discusses the challenges and successes of adapting her services during the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing the importance of humor in leadership and team dynamics.
Dani Klein Modisett is the Founder/CEO of the award-winning company bringing comic relief to those facing Alzheimer’s, Laughter On Call.
LOC was launched to help her mother who became depressed facing the disease. In the ensuing 6 years the company has grown to help all people feeling isolated.
To date it has trained thousands of caregivers and worked with over 600 companies around the world including META, Amazon, Capital One, Bristol Myers and FEMA.
LOC has been featured in The Washington Post, The London Times, The NY Times and AARP Magazine. Dani is also a comedian/actor and author of the books, “Afterbirth: stories you won’t read in a parenting magazine (St. Martin’s Press) “Take My Spouse, Please.” (Penguin Random House) a part-memoir, part how-to for creating shared laughter to keep your marriage happy and healthy.
Dani taught Stand-Up at UCLA for 10 years and has coached keynote speakers, business leaders, and Congressional candidates to use more humor in their communication. She has been a keynote speaker at Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, Dartmouth Entrepreneur Forum, CALA, ICAA and UCLA. 
She has run workshops at Stanford, MIT, Columbia, Duke’s Fuqua and Harvard Business School where Laughter On Call is currently a case study.
Her writing has appeared in AARP, NY Times, LA Times, Parents Magazine and many websites. Her many podcast appearances include Stanford’s “When I’m 64,” and “The Tony Robbins Podcast.”
Before becoming an entrepreneur, Dani was an actor who appeared on Broadway and many TV shows including “Law & Order,” “The Lottery,” and “Las Vegas,” for NBC. She was listed in Forbes 50>50 in 2023.
Connect with Dani on LinkedIn and Facebook.
Music Provided by M PATH MUSIC
This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix
TRANSCRIPT
Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios, it’s time for Women In Motion. Brought to you by WBEC-West. Join forces. Succeed together. Now, here’s your host.
Lee Kantor: Lee Kantor here, another episode of Women In Motion and this is going to be a good one. But before we get started, it’s important to recognize our sponsor, WBEC-West. Without them, we couldn’t be sharing these important stories. Today on Women In Motion, we have Dani Klein Modisett, and she is the CEO and Founder of Laughter On Call. Welcome.
Dani Klein Modisett: Thank you so much. What a treat to be here, Lee. Thank you.
Lee Kantor: Well, I am so excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us about Laughter On Call. How are you serving folks?
Dani Klein Modisett: Oh, great. So, our whole mission is to break barriers and build bonds one laugh at a time. So, just to explain what that means, we’re all about collaborative interaction with a focus on human connection. We actually launched in the healthcare space because the company was created when my mother had Alzheimer’s. I know, hard to believe, but, yes, she did.
Dani Klein Modisett: And, really, I was a comedian for 20 years and taught stand-up at UCLA for ten. But when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, she became depressed and I couldn’t make her laugh. And I felt really guilty about it because I’d moved to Los Angeles. And I had the idea to hire a comedian, not her daughter, to make her laugh, and it worked. So, we kind of have grown from there. I hired the comedian and my mother started eating again and joining in her community. And I was like, “Oh, wow. This really has to be everywhere.” So, that’s how we launched.
Dani Klein Modisett: We were working with people in the senior world, with people with Alzheimer’s. And then, I started training caregivers in simple comedian’s tools to create connection. And then, COVID hit, so we had to move virtual to keep even seeing our people because seniors were the most vulnerable population. And I created something called Lunchtime Laughter, and it met Monday through Friday from 12:00 to 12:30. It was open to the public, and very quickly, perfectly lucid people were showing up who were feeling isolated in a global pandemic, and wanted to feel connection and the unique experience that laughter delivers of dopamine and endorphins and connection.
Dani Klein Modisett: And so, from there, I started talking to people in HR who were also dealing with isolation, which, of course, we were uniquely qualified to help with. And now, we’re all over the place, Lee. We’re all around the world helping. We continue to help seniors, absolutely, that’s in our soul. And we also work with corporations for team building and morale boosting and bringing more collaboration and creativity. And we’ve worked with over 600 companies, so including Microsoft and Amazon and Capital One. Everybody needs to laugh.
Lee Kantor: So, now, can you talk a little bit about the journey from being a comedian? Like was your intention when you started was to be primarily a professional comedian and use comedy as, you know, kind of your livelihood?
Dani Klein Modisett: Oh, interesting. You mean in my life?
Lee Kantor: In your life prior to the business.
Dani Klein Modisett: Oh, awesome question. Yes. So, I was actually an actor back when you called it actress. And some of you may recognize me from Law and Order. And I did a couple of Broadway tours, and then I came to LA and I was doing TV, and they stick you in a trailer, and I was like, “I want live”. So, I took a class at UCLA in stand-up. It was a present from a boyfriend, frankly. And I loved it. And so, that’s where the comedian – because I was working as a waitress and people were like, “You’re so funny, why are you working as a waitress?” And I was like, “I don’t know.” So, I started doing stand-up, so that’s where the stand-up piece of me developed.
Dani Klein Modisett: And then, I had children. I didn’t want to be in clubs. So, I started writing books, articles and books, and I wrote a book about laughter and marriage called Take My Spouse, Please, which actually is about staying. It sounds like it’s not, but it is. It’s about using the principles and tools of comedy to have a happier marriage. And so, it’s all kind of grown out of that.
Dani Klein Modisett: So, yes, my mission, even unconsciously as a kid, was to help people by getting them to laugh together so we can feel connected to each other. So, yeah, that’s the backstory.
Lee Kantor: So then, at some point you saw the value of making people laugh, and then it sounds like you’ve almost taken a scientific approach of, hey, there’s a way to leverage laughter to help people, not at a club necessarily, or on a stage, but to help people laugh in maybe nontraditional laughing environments.
Dani Klein Modisett: Exactly. No, that’s exactly right. And there is science behind it. I myself am not a scientist, but I do rely on all the studies that are done about the benefits, physical and mental, of laughter itself. Again, something that I took for granted. I know that you feel better after you laugh, but I didn’t understand the specifics, which are feel good hormones are released, there’s an endorphin release, serotonin uptick, dopamine is released, and more oxygen to all the organs too.
Dani Klein Modisett: So, there’s a reason why you feel better. People feel better when they laugh, and that’s just the physical aspect. Mentally, we feel a sense of connection immediately. Like you trust people when you laugh with them, and you feel a sense of belonging, and it breaks through isolation. And then, in terms of this cognitive decline, it’s great help with agitation.
Dani Klein Modisett: So, yes, it was like I had this instinct as a human and then realized that there were lots of studies, ever growing studies about the value of laughter and the healing power. I don’t like to use healing with Alzheimer’s because we’re not there, obviously, in any arena are we healing. But in terms of mitigating the isolation that that disease brings, it’s very, very valuable.
Lee Kantor: So, when you hired the comedian for your mother and you saw the benefits, you know, viscerally and right before your eyes, is that where kind of a light bulb went off and said, hey, maybe there’s a business here, maybe I can offer this to other organizations? Because the transition from, wow, that was a nice thing I did for my mom to now you have a business, like you said, with hundreds of companies that have experienced what you offer.
Dani Klein Modisett: Right. So great. So, actually, the business moment really was the moment when I saw my mother laugh with the comedian. And because I know that there’s an exponentially growing number of families and people facing Alzheimer’s, and I could see that comedians were uniquely gifted to create this connection. So, actually, it was in that moment that I was like, “Oh, gosh. I’m going to have to do this because this could employ comedians and make a difference in people’s lives.”
Dani Klein Modisett: So, I think the interesting or the unexpected evolution was that how relevant – I never could have anticipated that we’d have a global pandemic and that isolation would become this global problem, like feelings of isolation, so I didn’t know at the time that that’s where we were going. But, absolutely, having had the experience of isolation from illness, it was highly transferable to the isolation that people were feeling and continue to feel, frankly, loneliness being a very big issue to be a solution, I think, is the word you use. Yes, a solution.
Lee Kantor: So then, once you had this happen, did you go to the place where your mom was and say, “Hey, we should do this regularly”? Or how did you start, you know, kind of getting into sales mode to make this an offering and a service and how did that kind of evolve?
Dani Klein Modisett: That’s such a great question because I did actually go to where my mother was. That’s where I taught my first caregiver workshop. Because I had a few comedians working – and I don’t mind mentioning their name because I really love this company, Silverado. They’re all about turning fear into love, which was so on point for me because people are so afraid of the illness and they really believe in bringing love – and so they asked me, they’re like, “Wait a minute. We’re seeing what the comedians are doing, can you come up with training for our staff to create a culture where it’s okay to laugh and there’s levity and connection?”
Dani Klein Modisett: And so, I took my course from UCLA and I adapted it, and so that became something that I absolutely am in sales mode, I guess you would say. So, it’s eight tools for self-care and creating connection through all stages of cognition. So that definitely became a specific service that I still teach everywhere. I teach families. I teach communities. I teach hospitals. So, other than the one-on-one, that was the initial service offering.
Dani Klein Modisett: And then, as we’ve grown into the corporate space, we have multiple offerings like Laughter for Leadership, Yes, And Solution for Team Building. There’s a number of services that we offer depending on what a company needs.
Lee Kantor: And so, now, what does the sales conversation look like when you’re talking to an organization? What’s the pain they’re having right before they are like, “Oh. I better call Dani and her team”?
Dani Klein Modisett: Oh. So, one of the biggest challenges post-COVID is that we’re still in hybrid environments, so that’s a big one. So, you have people that maybe never even see each other. And we’ve done a lot of work internationally, in fact, with teams in India and teams in Ireland, and three people in Wisconsin, I always say because everybody has somebody in Wisconsin. And the idea that you can bring these people together to laugh, to create connection, because once people laugh together, they’re that much more comfortable reaching out to each other and sharing ideas, and so that’s a big one.
Dani Klein Modisett: There’s generational challenges in businesses because you have millennials and you have older people and younger. And so, being able to create human connection regardless of your status, regardless of your culture or gender, we really span across any culture that needs to create a stronger culture of collaboration. A lot of C words, but collaboration, innovation, team building, morale boosting. We’ve kicked off a lot of all hands events where people want to feel excited about the future and working together. That’s what we’re able to deliver.
Lee Kantor: And you don’t get pushback with, “Oh, comedy? This is work. This is serious.” Like there’s no —
Dani Klein Modisett: Oh, absolutely, Lee. And more than getting pushback about that, which we have gotten occasionally, it’s, “Oh. I won’t be taken seriously as a leader if I make people laugh.” And there are studies simply that’s not true. Leaders with a sense of humor are 27 percent more motivating than not. So, leaders who can access humor – but let me be very clear about this, it’s not any humor, it’s not aggressive humor, it’s not sarcasm. We travel specifically in affiliative humor.
Dani Klein Modisett: So, anyone who wants a little scholarly insight, you can look up affiliative humor, but it’s very much like the word it’s derived from. So, it’s about affiliation. It’s humor that makes people feel good. So, there’s no putdown humor. It’s really about kind of poking fun at the human condition, like where we all meet as humans. And that’s a really important distinction. We make that at the top of anything we do. We are a laughing with company, never a laughing at company. We even have like a move on phrase, if somebody says something in an interactive improv exercise and somebody throws something out snarky, we will say, “Okay. New choice. New choice. Let’s move on.”
Dani Klein Modisett: So, we really are invested in everybody feeling safe and seen and heard. That’s the value of what we’re delivering.
Lee Kantor: Now, is that a training challenge on your part to get comedians to follow the rules like that? Because, you know, comedians aren’t exactly follow the rules kind of people.
Dani Klein Modisett: Oh, my goodness. You are right, except there is a big distinction between stand-up comedians and improv comedians. So, as we’ve established, I came from stand-up, and some of the improv rules were a big adjustment to me, which, one of them is like make your partner look good. That’s like an improv rule, which is like, I don’t know, I never felt that way backstage at a comedy. I’m doing stand-up. So, I love that one, building on each other’s ideas, Yes, And is a really big principle.
Dani Klein Modisett: So, in answer to your question, I hire mostly improv people now because, also, we’re working internationally and working in cognitive decline. So, the comedy, we don’t come in and entertain. I mean, we will. We just did an event where we will if that’s what the client wants. But really it’s about engaging people. So, pop culture references and cynical side jokes, that’s not going to achieve what we want.
Dani Klein Modisett: But the improv tools are really, really valuable, like accepting imperfection, saying Yes, And, these kinds of tools. Which literally that is a phrase, Yes, And, you’re saying those words. And what it really says is I hear you and have you thought about this? So, getting people who have that kind of experience that’s so generous and expansive and actually yields identifiable results in corporate cultures, those are the people that work for me.
Dani Klein Modisett: So, once in a while at stand-up will approach and they have to have a very special background. If they had a grandparent with Alzheimer’s or worked for a senior community, it’s a certain type of personality that is drawn to comedy that is generous and kind, and those are the comedians. So, I do train. Obviously, there’s training for sure. But out of the gate, your approach has to be one of kindness and generosity.
Lee Kantor: So, now you have this community of comedians that you give side hustles to help?
Dani Klein Modisett: Yes. Are you finding that funny? I heard you laugh.
Lee Kantor: Well, I mean, I think it’s great because, I mean, it’s a very difficult industry to break into.
Dani Klein Modisett: Exactly. Well, that was that moment with my mother where I was like, “Wait a minute. I could actually employ a lot of people who need work.” So, yes, the answer is yes. We have people all over the country. We have people in Canada. And it’s really fantastic. We run them through the training, we tell them all the principles, and then they’re on their own. We work virtually and in-person.
Dani Klein Modisett: So, for instance, this week we were in SoHo in New York City, and simultaneously at a senior community in Los Angeles, which is so heartwarming. I have like a head of senior, Nikki Ghisel. She’s a brilliant comedian and the best of what we do. So, we have things running simultaneously.
Lee Kantor: So, why was it important for you to become part of the WBEC-West community?
Dani Klein Modisett: Oh, my goodness. That was such a stroke of luck. That was crazy. I was looking to get the WOSB certification, and then stumbled on WBENC and the whole world of WBENC, and I love it. I’m a huge fan. I was a speaker at the national conference for WBENC last year and I’ve done many, many of their workshops. And I just think it’s an amazing alternate universe of passionate women with crazy ideas like mine, who are committed and really want to learn, and really want to get either their product or their service out in the world. So, it’s so wonderful to have like-minded women and the infrastructure that WBEC-West supports, and all the WBENC organizations around the country. Yeah, it was a wonderful stroke of luck. Love it.
Lee Kantor: So, is there a story you can share about your work that maybe illustrates the power of this type of training and this type of interaction with corporations or the seniors? You don’t have to name the name of the company, but maybe talk about why.
Dani Klein Modisett: I have a great story. I have a great story. But I do have to say the F word in order for the story to land.
Lee Kantor: You have to? I don’t know if that’s going to work.
Dani Klein Modisett: Oh, okay. Then, I don’t have to. Can I say eff?
Lee Kantor: Yes.
Dani Klein Modisett: Okay. Okay. I’ll say eff and it’s just as funny. Okay. So, the point is that I had an investor. I was very fortunate to have an investor to launch. And then, her money people changed and so I had to go and meet with them. And at the time, we were not profitable so that was going to be – it wasn’t an easy conversation to have. I was anxious about it.
Dani Klein Modisett: So, this is when we first went virtual, and this was early in COVID. People really didn’t know how to use Zoom like we all do now. And it was a Happier Hour. That’s one of our services is something called a Happier Hour, and it’s highly interactive, super fun. There’s a warm-up at the top. We introduce this is going to be silly. And we’re doing an event for, like, maybe 100.
Dani Klein Modisett: And so, this woman comes on and she has like a beer, because it’s a Happier Hour so they were drinking. And she just looks around and she’s like, “What in the actual eff is this?” And everyone started laughing and they were like like, “Sarah, you’re not muted. You’re not muted.” And so, it was really, really funny. I thought it was really funny. I think that’s like found art. Some of my people were a little concerned, but I thought it was super, super funny.
Dani Klein Modisett: So, meeting with the financial people, I tell them the story, full committed — fully committed and they start laughing because it’s funny, because it was human error. And then, they started to tell me about the challenges they were having in their company and how hard it was to get people to come into the office, and the absence of mentorship and their concerns about the future of the company because of this.
Dani Klein Modisett: And I think that was the most brilliant example of what’s possible when you get people laughing. Like it was a little bit cold in the room, and then I told that story, and suddenly we all laughed together. We had an experience of accepting imperfection and human frailty and then the doors were open.
Dani Klein Modisett: And there’s this belief that, you know, if you want to get people listening, get them laughing first. And I just think that was such an amazing example of that. So, that’s one of my favorite stories about the use of laughter.
Lee Kantor: So, what do you need more of? How can we help you? Do you need more clients? Do you need more funding? Do you need more comedians? What do you need?
Dani Klein Modisett: Oh, thank you for asking. We just need more clients. Like, we’ve been really boosting our lead situation because we have wonderful testimonials, we have video, we have wonderful programing that really makes a difference. And we just need more people to know about us, so that’s what I’ve been focused on. So, if you know anyone who needs some collaboration, having any tension or transitioning, maybe hybrid, you know, a lot of companies even gave up their commercial space, so anybody in that circumstance.
Dani Klein Modisett: And then, I do a lot of coaching also. Just personally, I do a lot of executive coaching, leadership, laughter for leadership, people who want to be more approachable, have their ideas land more fully and have some courage to present some vulnerability, because that’s a big tool for leadership, to be able to presence your vulnerability in a crafted way. So, yeah, that’s what we’re available for and super eager and all of that.
Lee Kantor: So, if somebody is interested in learning more, what’s the website? What’s the best way to connect?
Dani Klein Modisett: Oh, the best way to connect is to go to laughteroncall.com or @laughteroncall on all social media. And you can also reach me, Dani, D-A-N-I, @laughteroncall.com and @danikleinmodisett on all social, and we will get right back to you.
Lee Kantor: Well, Dani, thank you so much for sharing your story today. You’re doing such important work and we appreciate you.
Dani Klein Modisett: Thank you, Lee. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.
Lee Kantor: All right. This is Lee Kantor, we’ll see you all next time on Women In Motion.
