About Me

Drew_08

Creativity as an Artist

 

I was a stand-up comedian for over a decade. I studied creativity to learn how to break away from the over 100,000 other comedians working today. The results were extraordinary. I went from doing open-mic gigs in front of a few people to becoming an opener for Kyle Cease (ranked #1 Comedy Central special of 2008). I gained artistic success, created a fan-base, and loved every moment of it. And that’s when I entered the second phase of my creative life…

 

Creativity as an Entrepreneur

 

I launched CreativeStandUp.com as a way of teaching young comedians how to take their natural abilities and apply them with greater levels of creativity. I decided from the very beginning that I’d rebel against the old, tired ways of training comedians and develop something entirely new. My belief was that nobody gets into stand-up comedy to be like everyone else, and that the same should apply to my business. The strategy paid off. I quickly became known as “the creativity guy” in stand-up comedy. Instead of struggling to persuade potential customers that my company was best suited to help them achieve artistic success, I had people pursuing me. After finding initial success, I decided to come out with my second product, Creativity For Comedians. For the second time, I rebelled against long-held beliefs about how comedy should be taught. On paper, it never should have worked… a comedy-training program that doesn’t even mention how to write a punch line. During this period, I embarked on the third stage of my journey into creativity…

 

Creativity as a Scientist and Creativity Trainer

 

In 2014, I received my Master’s in Creativity and Innovation from Drexel University, the top creativity program in the world. Throughout the program, I studied past and current theories of creativity from various perspectives: historical, psychological, economic, etc. I developed two of my own scientific theories during this time.

 

The first explored how some creatives manage to live lives of abundance and happiness while others struggled.

 

The second was a theory of creative people at the highest levels throughout history. The significance of the new theory was that it was both descriptive and prescriptive. It was descriptive because it accurately described how high-achievers made their impact… but it was prescriptive because it was the first theory that could truly be broken down and taught to others. In short, it is the closest thing to a “formula for creative success” that has ever existed. Perhaps most significantly, the theory was built to align with the most current theories offered by creativity researchers. As such, it is not simply an opinion on how to achieve success. It is a thoroughly researched pathway supported by scientifically verifiable data.

 

Why I Chose Creativity

 

What fascinated me the most was how creativity could be applied to every situation to achieve any type of result a person was after. While “how to be successful” strategies come and go with the times, creativity has always provided a direct path toward every type of success: power, money, significance, contribution, etc.

 

I’ve devoted my life to creativity because creativity is the only pathway towards significance. How can a person hope to impact the world without changing it in some way? And how can someone change the world by doing what everyone else is doing? Throughout every stage of my creative life, I’ve found that creativity provides me with a pathway to excellence. The more I understand creativity, the more I am able to take actions that lead me to my desired outcomes.

 

Success isn’t the result of putting your head down and working harder than everyone else. It’s about taking a step back and understanding the big picture. It’s about understanding the “rules of the game” so well, that you know which ones you must break. There is nothing stronger than a creative person who understands their industry, is motivated to achieve, and has the ability to think beyond what currently is and see what can be.

 

Regardless of your industry, I challenge readers to move beyond their current life, their currently industry, and their current limitations and seek to create something new for the world to see.

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