Jo Ann Grossman of Kids ‘N Comedy: Five Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Launched My…

Authority Magazine: Jo Ann Grossman of Kids ‘N Comedy: Five Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Launched My Business or Startup -- Listen Share The kid stand-ups had the strongest impact, not just on the audience, but on the kids themselves. Comedy gave them a voice and a stage. It also built confidence. The kid stand-ups had the strongest impact, not just on the audience, but on the kids themselves. Comedy gave them a voice and a stage. It also built confidence. Taking the risk to start a company is a feat few are fully equipped for. Any business owner knows that the first few years in business are anything but glamorous.

Building a successful business takes time, lessons learned, and most importantly, enormous growth as a business owner. What works and what doesn’t when one starts a new business? What are the valuable lessons learned from the “University of Adversity”? As a part of this series, we had the pleasure to interview Jo Ann Grossman. Jo Ann Grossman is the co-founder and director of Kids ‘N Comedy, the New York City-based youth comedy program she launched with her husband, Stu Morden, 30 years ago, where students ages 10 to 18 learn to write and perform their own stand-up, improv and sketch comedy, with each session culminating in a live show at Got

ham Comedy Club. Over three decades, Grossman has developed the program’s instructional approach through classes, workshops and summer intensives, helping thousands of young performers find their voice and confidence on stage. As Kids ‘N Comedy celebrates its 30th anniversary, Grossman continues to lead with the same hands-on, performance-first approach that has defined it since inception. Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series!

Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path? The catalyst for Kids ’N Comedy was in 1989, when my husband, Stu Morden, became part-owner of The West End, a popular Columbia University hangout and jazz club. We had just had our daughter, Emily, and were very much in baby mode. The jazz room in the back sat dark on weekend days, and we noticed more families in the Columbia area. Stu had the idea to host children’s theater on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. When we moved the children’s theater to Stand-Up New York in 1996, the owner at the time, writer and producer-actor Cary Hoffman, wanted to manage kids.

We partnered with him to host kids’ talent shows. The kids were clever, adorable, and genuinely funny. A BBC producer, Cate Copstick, came to do a story on us and quickly saw there was something special beyond traditional children’s entertainment. The kid stand-ups had the strongest impact, not just on the audience, but on the kids themselves. From there, Cate, Stu, and I developed the program. Cate returned to the UK, and Stu and I were off and running. We found that kids and teens ages 11 to 18 had unique perspectives on their lives, families, and the world around them. Comedy gave them a voice and a stage. It also built confidence.

Over time, we wanted to help them hone their craft independently, so we launched workshops that expanded into classes and eventually into a summer camp. Today, we offer all three. Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey? It began with clowns and magicians performing for kids ages 3 to 9 at The West End. We quickly realized that to turn this into a real business, we needed multiple shows running at different venues. We held shows at Lincoln Center Synagogue, The Knitting Factory in TriBeCa, and Stand-Up New York.

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While the insights shared by Jo Ann Grossman are valuable for brand strategy, they reflect common themes in entrepreneurship and branding, making the overall impact moderate and the novelty average.