Humorist & radio show host Horace J. Digby's introduction:

"Jim Richardson's background spans nearly four decades in keynote speaking, theater, public speaking, Stand-Up Comedy Workshops,

plus: coaching speakers and performers.

"Jim holds a Masters Degree in Fine Arts from Carnegie-Mellon University's renowned Drama Department in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,

Bachelors Degree in English and Minor in Television & Film Direction, plus a Masters Degree in Creative Writing, San Francisco State University.

He was awarded “The NDEA Fellowship in Playwriting” at C-MU, and has conducted Ph.D. Studies and Research at both C-MU and Harvard Universities.

"Jim Richardson not only talks the talk, but he walks the walk.

He has given hundreds of speeches, classes, seminars and consulting sessions.

"Jim has created over 1,050 pages of workbooks and 21 hours of recorded audio for his "Home Study Program" that summarizes his live Workshops.

"He has written over 200 stage, film and stand-up comedy reviews for the San Francisco Sunday Datebook Examiner-Chronicle and other publications, produced comedy shows at hundreds of professional comedy venues, and created the first college-level, for-credit Stand-Up Comedy course in America.

"His private clients include competition winning stand-up comedians, Emmy award winning television personalities, actors, and leaders in fields such as religion, law, politics and business.

"From 1981 through 1983, Jim had the invaluable experience of conducting weekend 'Comedy Marathon Contests' for beginning comedians.

Jim organized and led a total of 48 of these four-hour-long contests, one every six weeks.

"Each Comedy Marathon consisted of:

A main 'Five-Minute Monologue Contest' allowing judges to spread points

between five Writing and five Performance categories, another first in the USA.

"All previous contests had, then as now, favored performing over writing by as much as seven out of eight categories.

"Comedy Marathon contestants could now be rated for their intelligence and taste!

"Plus, to further develop his student's skill set, all the Comedy Marathons featured four “Mini-Contests,” three to five minutes each, on a specific topic: Improvisation, Impressions, Topical Monologue, etc., with different topics rotating each month. No comedy event, either before or since, even remotely resembles these Comedy Marathons as a viable training ground for emerging stand-up comics.

"To be one of the six judges at each Comedy Marathon, all judges had to earn a living as a professional writer and/or performer.

Jim invited top radio, television and print media professionals from San Francisco and California's North Coast.

"To prepare them for all five contests, Jim's students were required to create 19 minutes of new, original material every six weeks.

"Comedians came from a wide area to compete, but when the dust cleared,

Jim Richardson's students won 47 out of 48 competitions,

giving convincing proof that Jim's academic approach to developing comics

was faster, better, more efficient, and ultimately more successful

for the comics and the audience,

than the traditional

open mic system.

"There was something special about Jim Richardson's coaching,

and as word spread, professional comedians began hiring Jim as their coach.

"Jim Richardson's coaching, consultations and prepared teaching materials

go a long way to train you in professional arts:

how to create the needed variety of techniques for both writing and performing unique material.

"Jim Richardson's web site is loaded with tips, tutorials, techniques,

and tricks of the trade not only for comedians,

but for any public speaker who needs to give presentations that extra count.

"I've been a professional presenter for years,

and the six hours I've spent with Jim Richardson's web site (so far)

has been one of the most valuable learning experiences of my career."

— HORACE J. DIGBY, Writer, Filmmaker and Broadcast Host

Winner of "The RobertBenchley Society Award For Humor."