Adam Christing
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Adam Christing is an American
comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...
, author, and
motivational speaker A motivational speaker is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep talk. Motivational speakers ca ...
from La Mirada, California. He is the founder and president of Clean Comedians, an organization composed of comedians, speakers, and entertainers who refrain from using objectionable material and profanity during their performances. Christing has written three books: ''Comedy Comes Clean'', ''Comedy Comes Clean 2'', and ''Your Life is a Joke''. He also wrote, produced, and directed the 2008 mockumentary '' Change Your Life!''. He has appeared on numerous radio and television programs including ''
Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Para ...
'', and '' NBC Nightly News.'' He has also appeared in print publications including ''
Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...
'', '' USA Today'', and '' The New York Times''.


Early life and education

Christing was born in Los Angeles, California and has lived in Southern California for much of his life. He began performing magic tricks at the age of 9 and gained membership into Hollywood's Magic Castle at age 17. He earned a bachelor's degree in
public speaking Public speaking, also called oratory or oration, has traditionally meant the act of speaking face to face to a live audience. Today it includes any form of speaking (formally and informally) to an audience, including pre-recorded speech deliver ...
from
Biola University Biola University () is a private, nondenominational, evangelical Christian university in La Mirada, California. It was founded in 1908 as the Bible Institute of Los Angeles. It has over 150 programs of study in nine schools offering bachelor's, ...
in Los Angeles, and was named to the university's Alumni Hall of Fame. In 1987, Christing was mentioned in a '' Los Angeles Times'' piece for successfully preventing a theft. The genesis of Christing's idea for Clean Comedians is briefly profiled in the book ''Life Is a Series of Presentations''.


Career

Christing founded Clean Comedians in 1990. as a response to the rise in prominence of frequently profane comedians like Andrew Dice Clay and Howard Stern. By 1992, the group consisted of around 20 entertainers, including
impersonator An impersonator is someone who imitates or copies the behavior or actions of another. There are many reasons for impersonating someone: *Entertainment: An entertainer impersonates a celebrity, generally for entertainment, and makes fun of ...
and fellow Biola University alumnus
Steve Bridges Stephen Lynn Bridges (May 22, 1963 – March 3, 2012) was an American comedian, impressionist, and actor who was known for his impressions of politicians, television characters and broadcasters including Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama ...
. Members of the group primarily performed (and continue to perform) for corporate events, association gatherings, religious groups, educational and fundraising events. Christing was able to capitalize on the "clean and funny" image by releasing two books: ''Comedy Comes Clean'' in 1996 and ''Comedy Comes Clean 2'' in 1997, both published by
Three Rivers Press Three Rivers Press is the trade paperback imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House. It publishes original paperback titles as well as paperback reprints of books issued initially in hardcover by the other Crown imprints ...
. In 2005, Christing turned his attention to
self-help Self-help or self-improvement is a self-guided improvement''APA Dictionary of Physicology'', 1st ed., Gary R. VandenBos, ed., Washington: American Psychological Association, 2007.—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a subst ...
and life coaching by selling Clean Comedians and founding TheMeaningOfLife.com. The website offered various "empowerment" DVDs and life coaching sessions designed to help people engage in a spiritual "life transformation." The site also hosted a contest that awarded $10,000 to the entrant who could provide the "most profound" statement of the meaning of life in under 25 words. In 2008 Christing
produced Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...
,
wrote Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols. Writing systems do not themselves constitute h ...
, and directed a mockumentary-style comedy film called '' Change Your Life!'', starring
Tony Plana José Antonio Plana (born April 19, 1952) is a Cuban actor and director. He is known for playing Betty Suarez's father, Ignacio Suarez, on the ABC television show ''Ugly Betty'' and for voicing Manuel "Manny" Calavera in the video game ''Grim ...
. In 2012, Christing returned to the helm of Clean Comedians. In 2013, he released ''Your Life Is A Joke: 12 Ways to Go from Ha Ha to AHA!'', a humorous self-help book. Christing has been named among the top five "after-dinner" speakers in the United States and was profiled in a cover story of ''The Funny Paper'', a magazine that showcases wholesome performing artists. He is often hired as a master of ceremonies for non-profit groups and companies like Johnson & Johnson, Choice Hotels, and The Ritz Carlton. Since making ''Change Your Life!'', Christing has written and directed a historical documentary and a number of identity and parody videos for companies like HP and Insperity. He has given over 4,000 live speeches and performances throughout his career.


Filmography

* 2008, '' Change Your Life!'', writer and producer


Bibliography


References


External links


Adam Christing's official website

Clean Comedians

Official website for ''Change Your Life!''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christing, Adam People from Los Angeles American impressionists (entertainers) American stand-up comedians Biola University alumni Living people 1964 births Comedians from California 21st-century American comedians