LENNY DAVE
An Entertaining Comedy Historian,
Humorist & Professional Speaker
About the Speaker
Lenny Dave, a nationally-recognized Comedy Historian, serves on the Advisory Board of the
new Borscht Belt Museum in Ellenville, NY (in the Catskill Mountains). Lenny's professional efforts now join with many other talented individuals (and some very familiar names) who are
all dedicated to preserving and sustaining the comedic, culinary and cultural legacy of such a
special moment in time in such a very special place; “The Borscht Belt.”
Enjoy this article published by Tribune Media Services and sent out nationwide across the newswire: https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2024/03/08/whats-with-jews-and-comedy-borscht-belt-themed-show-to-chronicle-beloved-catskills-comedy-circuit/
Lenny is the first (and only) speaker to ever perform in both the Red Skelton Entertainment Series and also at the Oliver Hardy Festival, sustaining the legacies of two comedy legends,
Red Skelton and Laurel & Hardy.
In a recent podcast now available on Spotify, Lenny shared stories about his life's work as a Comedy Historian and a practitioner of the positive power of humor in the healing process.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1NMbHOCkPPmv0Auwr7pI1s?si=8s24i73ORc--XzwB6kt3-g
Even though Lenny is not a doctor, he has been known to perform successful surgery on the human spirit! Lenny is Past President of AATH - the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor. His background in the field of creative communications, combined with his talent as a humorous and informative speaker/entertainer, has enabled Lenny to skillfully serve a diverse client base over the past 35 years.
Often requested as a "coach" for aspiring and existing speakers, Lenny shares his professional expertise and decades of speaking experience to speed up the learning curve for enthusiastic people with important messages to share. Emphasizing that there is no such thing as an overnight success, Lenny believes that there are, however, countless examples of "overnight successes many years in the making."
Lenny is co-author of "Infinite Inspirations" and "Let Your Leadership Speak." He has also contributed to "Culinary Improvisation," a tasty, new college textbook.
Twice nominated as "Speaker of the Year," Lenny is the recipient of 14 showcases
from NACA and APCA, the two leading campus entertainment organizations.
Born and raised in Cincinnati, Lenny is a proud graduate of Walnut Hills High School and Miami University (Oxford, Ohio). He credits one of his favorite college professors, Dr. Bob Vogel, for opening his eyes to seeing the joy and fun one can have in pursuing his/her passion. Humor, laughter and positive emotional experiences are powerfully necessary tools to be used in creating meaningful learning and living outcomes.
The philosopher Henry David Thoreau once observed, "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation." Nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to Lenny's life, as he has come to realize a "dream-come-true" not once... but three times!
First: Growing up with baseball in his blood, Lenny's very first job after college was in the Cincinnati Reds front office. For two seasons at the end of the "Big Red Machine" era, he interviewed players, co-produced post-season highlight films and broadcast the daily "Cincinnati Reds Report."
Next: Having seriously researched the lives and careers of "The Marx Brothers" (and Harpo Marx in particular), Lenny was invited to spend a memorable, nostalgic day with Mrs. Harpo Marx and her son, Bill, out in Palm Springs, California.
Last but certainly not least... having
derived life-long inspiration from
America's space program, Lenny had
the opportunity to meet Apollo 11's
Neil Armstrong, the first astronaut to
set foot on the moon.
As if all of that is not interesting
enough... even though Lenny is not
yet listed in the Guinness Book of
World Records, he is believed to be
the only professional speaker in the
world who has also caught 14 foul
balls at Major League Baseball games!
