Punchlines and Public Speaking: Teaching Communications Through Comedy

Imagine you're standing on stage staring blindly at bright lights, equipped only with a microphone and your wit, and facing an audience who may, or may not, find you hilarious.

For many, that's a nightmare scenario akin to showing up to class in your underwear. For Vito DiMaio, adjunct communications professor, that's a Tuesday night. And a good one at that.

DiMaio, outside of teaching, is a stand-up comedian. He performs sets at venues around the region from the Spokane Comedy Club to Coeur d'Alene. It started as a bit of a pipe dream, says DiMaio. He dragged his daughter, a Gonzaga alum, to countless shows, sitting in the audience and imagining himself on stage. Finally, she delivered an ultimatum: "Dad, if you don't sign up for an open mic soon, I'm going to stop coming!"

So, he signed up, and knew immediately he'd either tell no one, in case he "bombed," or he'd tell everyone and "really put the pressure on."

DiMaio went with the latter, packing the house with friends, family and even students, whom he offered extra credit to attend. To his benefit, yes, but also to theirs.

"I tell my students on the very first day of class we're going to do things outside of their comfort zone, but that it will help them grow," says DiMaio, who teaches Communication and Speech. "So, I wanted them to see me, as their professor, getting outside of my comfort zone and doing something I'm not 100% comfortable with."

Two years later, he's built an assignment into his curriculum around the principles of comedy and how they relate to communications, encouraging students to write reflections on what they observe at clean comedy nights – verbal and nonverbal communication, delivery style, confidence, credibility and handling nerves during public speaking.

He's inspired several students to step on stage as well.

Ian Stoddard ('28) watched DiMaio perform for extra credit and left with an itch to give it a try. He likened his first time to exposure therapy, facing his fear head-on and wondering: What's the worst that could happen?

"And then I bombed," laughs Stoddard. "But I still liked it, and so I just kept doing it, and I get better and better each time."

Bombing, when the audience doesn't react to the material, is just a part of the experience.

"You can do the same material to different audiences, and one will love it, and the other will hate it," DiMaio explains. "You just can't worry about it." Though, he says, everyone has a different approach to the uncomfortable silence.

"I lean into it," Stoddard says, and he and DiMaio chuckle. "I'll sit with it until they laugh, which is sometimes awkward. But really, if a joke doesn't land, I don't take it personally. We're constantly learning from the experience."

"Forget about the word failure," DiMaio agrees. "Think of it as feedback. That joke bombed – it's not failure, it's feedback."

It may be an inevitable moment for all stand-up comics, but there are ways to avoid it.

"The more you prepare, the less anxious you'll be," DiMaio says and outlines some other principles that can apply to the rest of life as well: pay attention to your body language, make eye contact, and just be yourself.

Stoddard is a math major and pursuing his teaching certificate. It's these same concepts that he says already make him feel more prepared to stand in front of a classroom one day. And it helps to have a role model in DiMaio, too.

"It's so cool to have a mentor like Vito that cares about me," says Stoddard. "Not just as a student, like making sure I'm turning in my work and getting good grades, but also just as a friend."

At the beginning of each semester, DiMaio has his students outline a vision of what they want their lives to look like. He then advises them to try and do something every day that moves the needle a little closer to that vision.

"Create the life you want to live," he says simply. "I did my first open mic at 59 years old. Don't wait until you're 59 to do the things you want to do. Do it now, don't hesitate.

"I promise it's going to go better than you think it will."