Work is a Joke: Toss the business cards and grab a mic; new comedy show says your job ain’t that serious
August 5, 2026 | Nikki Overfelt Chifalu
Jessie Jacob, Work is a Joke; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News
Comedy can be a more powerful connection tool than networking, said Jessie Jacob, emphasizing the contrast between a well-placed joke when meeting another professional and a standard question like “So what do you do?”
“If anyone asks you that, we should just turn it into a drinking game,” joked Jacob, founder of the new event series Work is a Joke, debuting 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 6 at the DISTRKCT. “We hide behind our employers. We hide behind the logo that pays our paycheck. Just ask something else like, ‘What are you building? What are you creating? What are you excited about? What are you obsessed about learning right now?’ So that we’re not being thrown into a box.”
Work is a Joke was developed as an interactive comedy experience — part stand-up show, part social experiment, and part excuse to laugh to keep from crying — exploring the absurdity of modern work, said Jacob, a longtime Kansas City startup community builder and HR professional.
“Imagine if 1 Million Cups, Creative Mornings, Drunk Pitch Competition, and Kill Tony had an event baby,” she explained of the event.
Click here to purchase tickets to Work is a Joke.
“I want people to come and just connect with other humans and leave your sales pitches and your business cards over there,” Jacob said, “Let’s use comedy to connect all of us in a different way.”
“Oftentimes we go to a networking event and we’re waiting for someone to pitch us or sell us,” she continued. “And I think the best connections happen when you’re genuinely getting to know someone as a human and then letting that seed grow from there.”
Click here to follow Work is a Joke on Instagram.
‘No bombing here’
Thursday’s event is expected to open with seven, one-minute workplace stand-up sets from brave volunteers, Jacob said, teasing an assist from one of her friends — keynote speaker and leadership development professional who will help get things started.
Jessie Jacob, Work is a Joke
“I was like, ‘Do you want to do a minute of stand-up comedy and come and tell some silly stories?’” Jacob recalled. “And she’s like, ‘That sounds terrifying. I’m in.’ I was like, ‘Yes, that’s the energy I’m looking for.’”
“She’s trying something totally different and is totally getting out of her comfort zone,” Jacob continued. “And I want to celebrate those people. We’re gonna cheer. I’ve been jokingly saying, ‘No bombing here.’ We’re celebrating courage over comedy.”
A Shark Tank-style improv game — where volunteers will pitch a made-up company to the audience/investors, where confidence matters more than preparation — also is planned, along with an opportunity to pitch an attendee’s unemployed friend or friend’s new venture to the audience.
A headshot session and workplace confessions also are on the agenda.
“My hope is there’s this sense of: it is just a job, other people are going through the same corporate BS that I am too, and we can laugh about it,” Jacob explained. “Then I also met some interesting people who are doing cool, dope things, and that you feel like you’re in a safe place to try something different, be a little courageous, and to dream about having other passions or other interests.”
The DISTRKCT — founded by Joseph Macklin, the multi-platinum, Grammy award-nominated music producer, songwriter, engineer, and vocal arranger known as Jo Blaq — is the perfect spot to host the comedy event, Jacob noted.
“The thing that I appreciate about the DISTRKCT and what Joe Blaq is building is he created a creator studio and almost like a co-working spot for the ultra creatives that are into music and art,” she said. “So this venue feels like a good spot for the environment and the culture that we’re trying to build through the experience.”
View this post on Instagram
Laughter at scale
Jacob’s inspiration for Work is a Joke comes not only from her love comedy shows, but also her experience the past five years building the largest global HR community with tech company Culture Amp, she shared.
“The whole mission was to create a better world of work,” she noted. “I’ve taken a lot of improv classes and done a lot of improv comedy stuff at work through the last few years like, ‘How do we allow ourselves to use improv techniques in the workplace?’ So all of that is playing in the background of how I think about some of this stuff.”
During that time, Jacob envisioned hosting an online stand-up comedy roast on human resources and workplace culture, she continued, and convinced a comedian friend to co-host two online roasts with her.
“It was a total hit,” Jacob explained. “People were like, ‘This is so fun! When are you doing more of these?’ We had over 500 people registered for each of these events. I was like, ‘Oh shit! People love this.’”
Then when she parted ways with Culture Amp in June, Jacob said, she knew it was the perfect time to see how a similar live event would be received.
“I want people to come and laugh about work and realize we’re more than our jobs,” Jacob noted, “but in a productive way.”
Now that the first Work is a Joke event has arrived in Kansas City, she said, Jacob already has contacts through her previous global community reaching out about sponsorship and bringing the comedy event to the Bay Area.
“I’m just like, ‘Let’s just host the first one and get a rep and experiment,’” she explained. “Maybe it’s a bad idea. Maybe we shut it down, or it’s cool and people like it and we keep going.”
“It could either turn into a semi-tour or it could turn into a licensing model where there’s chapter programs like Disrupt HR, 1 Million Cups, or Creative Mornings,” she added.
View this post on Instagram
Fund More Stories
This story was made possible by readers like you. Join them — make a one-time contribution or become a monthly member to sustain our work.
Latest Stories
