by Michael Levin
Most people think money is no laughing matter, but don’t tell that to Garrett Gunderson. The founder of Wealth Factory, a highly successful financial consulting firm, and a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, decided that the best way to teach people about money was not through textbooks or dry lectures but instead to make them laugh.
Gunderson is about to embark upon a fifteen-city comedy tour, which he calls “The American Ream Tour.” The idea is to use comedy as the “shock troops” to open people up to a more serious consideration of the role money plays in their lives.
The tour kicks off in Phoenix, Arizona on September 7, and then travels to La Jolla, California, St. Louis, Boston, Washington, DC, and a bunch of other cities until it concludes at the Gotham Comedy Club in Manhattan on November 30.
Tickets for all the dates can be found at garrettgunderson.com/american-ream-tour.
The tour grew out of a one-hour comedy special that Gunderson wrote and produced, somehow, during Covid. All of the talent surrounding Gunderson on the special, including the director, executive producer, lighting director, and editor, are either Emmy winners or Emmy-nominated. Most would not have been available had it not been for the pandemic.
“I want the audience to have guttural laughs with a few gut-punches that let them understand money,” Gunderson says of the special, which he’s trying to sell to Netflix. “Then I want them to get past money myths, take back control of their finances, and simply retain the information I share. Laughter tends to do that.”
Gunderson wrote two-and-a-half hours of material, whittled down to fifty-six minutes of high-powered comedy.
“I would walk my neighborhood and memorize the script,” Gunderson says. “I would make my team walk with me. I would go into an empty room and work from the stage. I would work on the script while on my rowing machine or hiking in Sedona, Arizona with three-by-five cards. This process allowed me to refine and write new tags and new jokes.”
Gunderson credits his editor, Marty Callner, for the high quality of the special.
“Marty spent three days in the booth with me,” Gunderson recalls. “What came out of it is simply amazing. I’m the first artist he has ever let into his editing booth. I think the results are absolutely amazing. Marty taught me about magic moments on stage, how to ad-lib, and how to just go for it even when a line that comes into my head isn’t scripted. I owe everything to him.”
Who’s a fan of Garrett Gunderson, sometimes called the “GQ financial advisor” because of his good looks, beard, and long flowing hair, which set him apart from most of the more traditional members of his field? How about Cindy Crawford?
“Who knew talking about money could be funny!” Crawford exclaims. “I actually laughed out loud!”
You don’t have to be a top model to model your finances after one of the top professionals in the business, and get in a few good laughs while you are learning new ways to achieve financial independence. Get your tickets early for Garrett Gunderson’s American Ream Tour. I can promise you that you’ll laugh all the way to the bank.