Replay: Joe Randazzo shares Five Things He's Learned about Getting to the Best Idea, from His Time Leading The Onion
Check out the first five minutes of his recent class.
“It’s rare that creativity by committee ever works, but at The Onion it did, and it worked because we trusted each other and the process. I’ll show you how to navigate the contours of collaboration and how to learn to trust other people… while learning to trust yourself a little bit more.”
– Joe Randazzo, Five Things I’ve Learned about Getting to the Best Idea, from My Time Leading The Onion
On March 6th, Joe Randazzo joined us on Five Things I’ve Learned to share Five Things He’s Learned about cultivating creativity and collaboration – and about all it takes to consistently turn good ideas into great ones.
Joe is a writer, producer, producer of children, and performer who’s led some of nations top comedy organizations, from The Onion to [adult swim.] In his almost 20-year career he’s won an Emmy, a Writers Guild Award, and Trinity College’s Edmund Burke Medal, which is very heavy, and is generally regarded by his peers as one of their industry’s most respected. He’s got two feature films and three TV series in development, and has started drawing and writing poetry for some reason. His book, Funny On Purpose, has helped thousands find their way into the comedy industry, and he’s had the privilege of teaching comedy to students as far flung as New Hampshire and Iraq. He lives in Los Angeles with three kids and two cats.
In Five Things I Learned About Getting to the Best Ideas, Joe pulls back the curtain on the creative engine that powered The Onion during his tenure as editor. Blending sharp insights with behind-the-scenes stories, he breaks down the systems and principles that helped his team sift through hundreds of ideas to find the ones that truly landed. From the discipline of developing a personal creative motto to the messy, necessary art of collaboration (and ruthless editing), Joe offers a candid, often funny exploration of how great ideas take shape—and what to do when they don’t. Whether you’re writing jokes, building a business, or just trying to get unstuck, there’s something here for anyone chasing sharper, stronger ideas.
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