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Everything’s Funny with Helen Keaney is a comedy podcast about the people, stories and experiences behind the laughs.
After more than 30 years in stand-up comedy, and twelve years as a host on HSN, Helen Keaney sits down with fellow comedians, performers and people throughout the comedy industry for funny, candid conversations about life onstage and behind the scenes.
From breaking into stand-up to navigating show business, this podcast is for anyone who's ever wondered, "What would a life of stand up comedy be like?" Helen uses her 30 years of experience to share tips she's learned, and talks with people she admires not just for what they’ve accomplished, but for who they are along the way.
Part comedy podcast, part inside look at the entertainment industry and part conversation between friends, Everything’s Funny With Helen Keaney celebrates the craft of comedy, the people who make it happen and the idea that, eventually, just about everything can be funny.
00;00;02;29 - 00;00;04;25
Helen Keaney
Welcome to the pod. My name is Helen Keaney.
00;00;04;25 - 00;00;24;14
Helen Keaney
I'm so excited. You guys are listening. Whether you're driving or you're on your treadmill or you're just, chilling out. We've got a really fun episode today. I thought you guys would be interested in the industry side of stand up comedy. Everything's funny. Is is a business. It's a business of comedy. And there's a lot, a lot behind the scenes that goes on.
00;00;24;14 - 00;00;34;25
Helen Keaney
And I've got a real true expert, somebody that sort of been in and out of my career for a few decades. It's kind of a crazy story of how we reconnected. We'll tell that during the pod, but we're going to jump right in. So here we go.
00;00;34;25 - 00;00;49;25
Theme Song:
People are funny. Trees are funny. Birds are funny. Bees are funny. Everything's funny with Halle and Kenan. Everything's funny with Helen Keaney.
00;00;49;28 - 00;01;10;18
Helen Keaney
Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Susan Haber. Yay! Yes! I'm so glad you're on the pod, Susan. You've been a part of my life and career for a long, long time. But I'd love for you to tell the story of how you and I reconnected fairly recently. Fairly recently.
00;01;10;20 - 00;01;32;26
Susan Haber
So crazy. I can't even believe it. Yeah. So, Yeah. So I was, visiting, as I do often visiting the set, Byron Allen's, comics, at least because I have a client working on the show. And so I go over there because I love to laugh, you know, once a week. So I go over there and I'm watching the show and.
00;01;32;26 - 00;01;53;14
Susan Haber
Wait a minute, there's this really funny woman, and wait. She looks super familiar, you know, because I came in the middle, so I didn't, you know, I didn't see the interrupt. And and then you. I realized it was you and how long it's been. I can't believe how long. Forever. Forever and ever. But you were always one of my favorite people.
00;01;53;14 - 00;02;14;14
Susan Haber
And, you know, just whatever this you lost touch, you know? Oh, you were at HSN, you know, you were doing your doing your thing forever. And and there we were and I oh, I know I haven't. I stopped you you when you finish I stopped as you're walking out and I said what are you like I know you are.
00;02;14;14 - 00;02;16;09
Susan Haber
You did I say are you Helen Keaney?
00;02;16;10 - 00;02;27;28
Helen Keaney
You were held up your phone in your contacts. Right. And and it was my name and my foot, my same phone number that I have to this day. I. You said, is this you? Yes, you.
00;02;28;00 - 00;02;32;24
Susan Haber
Yes. I had all your contact information because I have it from forever.
00;02;32;27 - 00;02;39;28
Helen Keaney
Yeah. And we had we I stayed after the taping and we had lunch together. And your client Darren, who's very funny, talented producer on the show.
00;02;40;01 - 00;02;40;08
Susan Haber
Yeah.
00;02;40;11 - 00;03;04;04
Helen Keaney
And, and then we've been talking ever since and I'm so grateful you've done this podcast. You're doing it today because everybody I know wants to know the inside things of show business. And I feel like it's changed so much over the years, like it's changed so much. You're somebody who has pivoted with show business the way I feel like I've.
00;03;04;06 - 00;03;12;27
Helen Keaney
I've pivoted to tell us about how you went from an agent to a manager, and now you're dealing with brands and tell us how that happened.
00;03;12;29 - 00;03;33;27
Susan Haber
Well, I kind of done all that. All the way through. So I, was let's see, I start. Well, I started out at ICM, right. And I was there. That was 30 years ago. And then I became an agent, at a boutique agency in town called revel. And that's when I met you. It was Abrams.
00;03;33;27 - 00;04;03;02
Susan Haber
Rubell off in Lawrence at the time. Okay. Yeah. And, Right. And that's when we started working together. That was Richard Lawrence's house, and, we started working together, so I was there six years, so I ran the hosting department there. So as, as the rep is representing, experts and hosts and personalities and, you know, we really hadn't started doing, branding yet, but I kind of brought that in with, Pennington.
00;04;03;08 - 00;04;07;05
Susan Haber
So anyway, so doing that, so, well, let's.
00;04;07;05 - 00;04;22;12
Helen Keaney
Let's talk about Ty Pennington because here's somebody who's not an actor. He's the guy that you basically brought to him that deal with Sears, which was this huge deal that that kind of thing did really exist until you did that.
00;04;22;14 - 00;04;44;10
Susan Haber
Did not so well. So to back it up, when I was at ICM, I was a floater for six months. So going from dust to dust when, you know, and I can even back it up further, I was, I was acting in this town, okay, having a great time, but not making a lot of money and wanted to get out of a marriage that was not good.
00;04;44;12 - 00;05;12;21
Susan Haber
And I had a daughter who was nine, and I thought, like, what can I do? Okay. And my all my friends said to me, you should be an agent. And I was like, okay, yeah, I'll just go be an agent. Like I had to do that. And so I got the idea in my head to go to a temp agency in Beverly Hills, and I said, you know, hello.
00;05;12;23 - 00;05;33;10
Susan Haber
Would you please set meetings with all the top agencies in town for me? And she said, yes, I will. I was like, okay. So I met with all the agencies and, they all turned me down except for one. And I always say it only takes one little thing to happen in your life, for your whole life to change, right?
00;05;33;13 - 00;05;51;08
Susan Haber
Yeah. So, and so she, set this, meeting, and I met this woman at ICM who had been there, like, three weeks. They weren't training her very well. She needed a friend. We hit it off and she said, come on in, I'll make you a floater. So I was like, okay, I didn't really know what that was, but I did it.
00;05;51;13 - 00;06;21;01
Susan Haber
And so I started going from desk to desk when an assistant was out sick or, or on vacation. And one of those, well, three of those days, I worked for a man who ran the TV department, and he represented Katie Kirk, Connie Chung, Larry King, Jay Leno, Susie Orman, all people being themselves on TV, and we didn't know it at the time, but that really was the beginning of unscripted slash reality TV.
00;06;21;03 - 00;06;46;27
Susan Haber
And so we worked with them and them I, I actually, after three years and I was like diligent for those three. Well, I first I floated okay. And then I kept going. I wanted to work for Alan, this this wonderful man, the head of the TV department. And then I, I kept going back to him because I was floating for a long time.
00;06;46;28 - 00;06;55;17
Susan Haber
Then I kept going back to him and saying, I want to work for you or for you. And he said, well, that's great, but I have two sisters. You're never leaving. And then one of his assistants left. And.
00;06;55;20 - 00;06;57;01
Helen Keaney
Never say never.
00;06;57;03 - 00;07;17;28
Susan Haber
Never say never. And he put me on his desk. And that that was a coup. That was a big, big thing. I got flowers from everybody was like, you're working for this man who's, like, powerful, right? And even when I was floating, I was working on the deaths of agents that were representing the Julia Roberts of the world and the Tom Cruise's of the world.
00;07;17;28 - 00;07;36;13
Susan Haber
It was like, amazing. Okay. And but it was really, really hard because I, like, hardly knew how to use a computer. Right. And I was like, answering phones and sending emails to all these people and, you know, and then just when I was getting it, I'd go to the next desk and like, feel stupid again.
00;07;36;20 - 00;08;00;25
Susan Haber
But anyway, so I wound up working for al, and he put me on his desk, and I for three years, just listened to every conversation, read every contract, just like learning curve like that. Okay? And then at that point I said, I need to find out if I'm going to be promoted. So I went to the, the very head of like, the whole floor and asked if I was going to be promoted.
00;08;00;25 - 00;08;26;14
Susan Haber
And he said, probably not. So I said, okay, so now I needed to I knew I needed to go find a find a spot. And an agent came to me and said, this other man was looking for an agent to I want to put my resume into the hat. And I didn't really have a resume, but I faked resume, and, and I went meeting this lovely man who ran this agency, which is where I met you.
00;08;26;16 - 00;08;52;28
Susan Haber
So I started there, and I remember the night before I started saying to myself, like, do I know what I'm doing? Like, I've never done it. I've seen it done for a long time, but I've never done it myself. The next day I started and this man gave me an office and assistant, 50 working clients, because I replaced somebody that had left him in the lurch.
00;08;53;05 - 00;09;22;04
Susan Haber
And he was trying to do this all himself. 50 working class and a credit card. So for two years, I took the entire community out to breakfast, lunch, dinner and drinks. And I met everybody. And I didn't take them out to sell them. We didn't. I wasn't selling them. I just got to know everybody. And we all became friends because it is a lovely group of people that make TV, and we became friends.
00;09;22;06 - 00;09;30;21
Susan Haber
And, you know, you want to do business with your friends. Yeah. So that's kind of how it how it all started. And it was so and so.
00;09;30;21 - 00;09;52;00
Helen Keaney
Now you're working as a manager and doing a lot of brand deals because the industry has completely shifted. You and I were talking like in the old days, in the before time when they invented the wheel, like you would. You're a comedian like myself who also hosts on TV. You would audition for like, a show on Game Show Network or Entertainment Television or the Food Network.
00;09;52;00 - 00;09;57;21
Helen Keaney
They're looking for a host, but they want somebody funny that those kind of jobs don't really even exist anymore.
00;09;57;23 - 00;10;17;20
Susan Haber
No. They do. But, you know, the type changing thing was, so, you know, my assistant came into me one day and said, have you seen this guy named Ty Pennington? He's on a show called Trading Spaces on TLC. And I'm like, kind of, let me go look. And I went and looked, and I came back and I said, oh, let's let's find him.
00;10;17;20 - 00;10;40;23
Susan Haber
He's cute. And we did. We found him, in Atlanta, Georgia. And I called him up and said, hi, I'm an Asian. I want to represent you. But all the big agencies had seen him and he was coming back to meet everybody. So, he did, and he met with me. They wound up signing with me because he knew he would get lost to those agencies, and I would give him the care and attention he needed.
00;10;40;25 - 00;11;09;04
Susan Haber
And so he wanted to do a sort of trading spaces on speed. Right. And so, I took him out to meet all the production companies, and we wound up doing a deal with Endemol, which is one of the biggest ones. And we developed Extreme Makeover Home Edition, and we sold it to ABC. But at the time, that, that show was being sponsored by Sears.
00;11;09;04 - 00;11;28;26
Susan Haber
So I think series was throwing in like $1 million an episode. Okay. So, I said to Ty, you know, let's go to Sears. If they want to do like, a deal with you so you can, you know, a brand deal or something. He's like, oh, okay. So I went to them and they said yes. I asked and they said yes.
00;11;28;29 - 00;11;33;22
Susan Haber
So I went I get negotiate a multimillion dollar deal for him. And he just you.
00;11;33;23 - 00;11;56;19
Helen Keaney
Created an opportunity for your client, and it's not like you sent him on an audition. You thought this would be a nice partnership as long as they're there and you made that happen. And I feel like a lot of people on my end of the table who are actors, comedians and everything, they don't realize that on your end of the table that you have to make things happen, just like we've got to make things happen.
00;11;56;21 - 00;12;17;16
Susan Haber
Absolutely. I mean, if you don't ask, if you don't tell people they don't know, you know, Mario Lopez, he was like, when I got Mario, he was on a daytime talk show, a Dick Clark and Danny Bonaduce called the other half, but he didn't want it. He wanted to be doing, primetime TV. So, but nobody knows.
00;12;17;16 - 00;12;37;24
Susan Haber
I mean, you know, NBC, none of the networks know he wanted to do network primetime. And so I went to NBC and said, Mario wants to do primetime. And they said, oh, okay. And then we got him, hosting job on several primetime shows. So I caught selling. I'm a seller. That's what I am at heart is a seller.
00;12;37;26 - 00;12;43;13
Susan Haber
And you people have to know what you what you have and everybody, let me.
00;12;43;13 - 00;13;06;01
Helen Keaney
Ask you this. Have you ever I mean, I know, I know who you are and, you know, everybody knows you. Did you ever have a position as an agent where, like, somebody mailed you the resume? In the old days, we would mail it or physically drop it off. These are the old days. Or now, I guess they email things like that, and have somebody walk in the room and you meeting an actor or a host for the first time, and then you're deciding.
00;13;06;01 - 00;13;12;29
Helen Keaney
And that moment in that office, did you is that a very rare interaction, or did that happened?
00;13;13;02 - 00;13;35;23
Susan Haber
Well, I mean, oh, you know, the people that I met were kind of like remarkable in some way, like, I want to say known, but they weren't known yet, but they did something sort of remarkable. But I always knew within seconds of walking out into the, lobby to get them, if they were, if they had it. And so let me.
00;13;35;25 - 00;13;45;00
Helen Keaney
Let me just drill down on that moment. Did anybody ever do something in that 10s that made you go, this person is never going to be in showbiz?
00;13;45;03 - 00;13;46;12
Susan Haber
Yes.
00;13;46;14 - 00;13;51;08
Helen Keaney
Okay. Now we're getting what did they like? I want to hear about that.
00;13;51;11 - 00;13;53;00
Susan Haber
I can't tell you.
00;13;53;03 - 00;13;57;23
Helen Keaney
But I don't. I don't name names, but like, I know just a fiber.
00;13;57;25 - 00;14;17;23
Susan Haber
You have no idea of the things that people do. So, this particular guy that I'm thinking about, what? Like in the first five minutes, I actually met him at a restaurant. Okay. We were going to have, like, a coffee, and then I'm at a restaurant, and the first five minutes, he started channeling somebody right at the table in the restaurant.
00;14;17;28 - 00;14;36;25
Susan Haber
Okay. I mean, you know, people, but I don't put I actually don't put that down. I actually have told people that many times like, you know, go tap dance on the conference table, go do what you need to do to get the gig. I don't really put that down. Right. You're not judging somebody.
00;14;36;25 - 00;14;42;06
Helen Keaney
You just got a vibe that they were channeling somebody that wasn't going to be represented by you.
00;14;42;08 - 00;15;04;22
Susan Haber
Yeah, this. Yeah. This person was just not real. I think it was like a funny thing, but. But generally I always tell people, yeah, because when you think you're being big, you're not really being big enough. So I always tell people to do it, be over the top, just be over the top. It doesn't matter. Everybody knows. We all know that we can bring you down, but we don't know that we can bring you up.
00;15;04;24 - 00;15;07;14
Susan Haber
So you got to be over the top. Yeah, yeah.
00;15;07;17 - 00;15;25;26
Helen Keaney
I feel like all social media is like that now. Everybody who's way, way over and does like the most outrageous or the most incendiary or, you know, clickbaity thing is the person who's getting the eyeballs because it's all about eyeballs, right? Isn't that the name of the game these days?
00;15;25;29 - 00;15;46;24
Susan Haber
It is. But it's also I mean, it depends on what area you're in, right? Because it doesn't have to be like how many views. It really doesn't have to be that, because it depends on what you know, what the area is. But yeah, you do have to you got to stand out. You know, you got to not be afraid, to be, you know, to be bold.
00;15;46;24 - 00;16;02;18
Susan Haber
And, you know, really, those are the people we listen to because they're interesting. They're fun. You know, we want to watch them. I always say, and, you know, somebody was normal. We really wouldn't want to watch TV or on streaming or. Yeah, people have to be a little bit outrageous these days.
00;16;02;18 - 00;16;23;09
Helen Keaney
I think you're 100% right. And, you know, I will say that, I've tons of all my friends are like, comedians, basically is my inner circle. And I think all of us have a don't have a very clear picture of what an actual like. What does an agent do all day? What do you think is the biggest misconception with what artists think about what agents do?
00;16;23;12 - 00;16;45;14
Susan Haber
Oh, that's so funny. I mean, what I do is I talk to people all day. That's what I do. Right. You know, it's a producers and and production companies and talent and that's really what I do or and you know, and go and meet people and have meals with them and all that. Because really everything is about relationships, right?
00;16;45;17 - 00;16;47;11
Susan Haber
All of it. Yeah. Yeah.
00;16;47;14 - 00;16;59;13
Helen Keaney
So, you know, I think you I went to LA to go to the premiere party of, Comics Unleashed, where they were celebrating, moving to the 1130 timeslot. I actually brought my daughter and,
00;16;59;15 - 00;17;00;27
Susan Haber
I so we were there together.
00;17;00;27 - 00;17;18;13
Helen Keaney
And we were there together. And you. I just brought that up because you were like, that guy is the head of this. You should talk to him. That guy is the that. And you knew, like, all these, like, people that were kind of invisible to me. Like, I would have no idea who this guy, this guy that you knew everybody and who everybody was.
00;17;18;13 - 00;17;19;14
Susan Haber
Oh, yeah.
00;17;19;17 - 00;17;21;14
Helen Keaney
I was very impressed with that.
00;17;21;16 - 00;17;37;25
Susan Haber
Oh, you're so cute. Thank you. I'm going tonight. I'm going to see a comedy show at, the last actually, I'm going to see I mean, it's like Chelsea Handler day, and it's like it's, Jay Leno. It's like, you know, there's like eight of them. Tiffany Haddish is like everybody.
00;17;37;28 - 00;17;40;27
Helen Keaney
And you helped Chelsea get her start, didn't you?
00;17;41;00 - 00;18;04;12
Susan Haber
I started Chelsea, yeah. I mean, Chelsea was funny, right? But I, I recognize, Chelsea like, blew me away the first time I saw her real, you know, because you're her manager. I was an agent, and her manager sent over her reel and said, you just take a look at this, and I pop that in the VCR at the time, and I started laughing.
00;18;04;13 - 00;18;33;10
Susan Haber
I'm a really tough comedy customer, and, I pop that in the VCR, and I just was like, oh my God, she is awesome. Yeah, it was like amazing. It was different. She was bold and gutsy and fabulous. Really, really fabulous. Yeah. So I got her first TV show called Girls Behaving Badly. And we sold the first book and yeah, it was, you know, it was great.
00;18;33;10 - 00;18;34;22
Susan Haber
She's so talented.
00;18;34;22 - 00;18;48;24
Helen Keaney
I recently heard her talking, on social media about the selling of her first book and how that was really the thing that kind of changed her, how she felt about feeling stable. Like, economically. And it was like a huge deal for her.
00;18;48;26 - 00;18;56;26
Susan Haber
Yeah. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. All those all those things. And now she's like, fabulous, you know, but, you.
00;18;56;26 - 00;19;15;22
Helen Keaney
Know, I think for me, I think I personally have misinterpreted what an agent does for a huge chunk of my career. I thought that, oh, I got an agent, I got signed with this person and that person. So now I sit there and I wait by the phone for the phone to ring. Oh, or in the old days, I would wait for my pager to buzz and then I'd find a payphone.
00;19;15;26 - 00;19;33;28
Helen Keaney
That's how long I've been to find it, right? The old days. And it did. It kind of, I will say, like, if you're an actress that does commercials, it does kind of work that way. Where your phone rings, you go to an audition, you do. You are literally waiting for the phone to ring. But I feel like nowadays, if you're waiting for the phone to ring, it's never going to ring.
00;19;33;29 - 00;19;52;20
Helen Keaney
Oh yeah, like that. Is that waiting for the phone to ring doesn't exist. And I think that pivot happened in the industry and in my defense, I was working full time in TV, so I didn't need to be paying attention because I was working. But when I came out of that long term job, it was really very stark to me how different everything was.
00;19;52;22 - 00;20;11;19
Susan Haber
Oh, it's so different. Completely different. Yeah. You have to be you have to be out there whether you're an agent or you don't have an agent. Whatever you're doing, you know, doing a podcast. Happy. Yeah, yeah. Doing your podcast is just fabulous. Doing your social media. You do have to do all that. Your social media, you know, everything that you're doing.
00;20;11;22 - 00;20;19;02
Susan Haber
People visibility. That's what I preach. Visibility. I mean, that is the number one most important.
00;20;19;04 - 00;20;41;29
Helen Keaney
So let me talk about this. You on your Instagram do videos that I feel like everybody should follow you on Instagram and watch those videos. If you have any interest at all in not only actors, comedians, artists like real estate agents, lawyers like any human being who wants to have more attention to their business, I feel like can get a lot out of your videos.
00;20;41;29 - 00;20;52;27
Helen Keaney
Because I know you also like, have clients that aren't necessarily in the entertainment industry that you help grow their business by teaching them these things.
00;20;52;29 - 00;21;21;00
Susan Haber
Well, so yeah. So I'll, I'll back up for a second. So, being an agent, it was it's nobody was. So when you're an agent in Hollywood, you're always not allowed to have a website, okay? It's taboo. No. Agencies have websites. Nobody. Not one. Okay. Nobody advertises. Presumably, if you found me or them, you know, you had to dig really deep.
00;21;21;02 - 00;21;42;01
Susan Haber
Everything that I, you know, all the people that came to me, the talent that came to movie was from, you know, referrals, okay. Lawyers and friends, and they're everywhere in the business. Okay. So I never had a website. And for a long time, you know, I was kind of bummed out about that, as, you know, as social media started coming about.
00;21;42;01 - 00;22;06;20
Susan Haber
But I felt like it just wasn't it wasn't okay. It wasn't cool to do that. And then I started representing influencers. Okay. And I thought to myself, like, I not only do I need my own, but I need to understand their struggles and what they go through and all that. So, you know, five years ago I started an Instagram channel, I put up some videos and I took them down because it just didn't feel right, okay?
00;22;06;20 - 00;22;27;07
Susan Haber
It just it didn't feel right. And then two years ago, I said, screw it, I'm doing this. And I got into it and, because it's a different time, it's just a different time. And, and if you don't have a presence, and social media, it's not okay. I mean, you just have to. So I started hearing.
00;22;27;12 - 00;22;31;11
Helen Keaney
You were saying it's it's true for everybody, right? Not just everybody's.
00;22;31;13 - 00;22;47;12
Susan Haber
Oh. Oh, yeah. Well, people used to come to me challenge is to come to me. And I'd say they, oh, they come to me and pitch me a show. And I'd say, well, what are your like five favorite shows on TV? And then they would say to me, oh, well, I don't really watch TV. In fact, I don't even have a TV.
00;22;47;12 - 00;23;10;14
Susan Haber
And I'm like, how can you come to me and tell me what you think should be on TV? If you have no idea what's on TV? So you have to be educated. It's it's a business, right? And so, so now I post almost every day on TikTok, Instagram. I have YouTube, long form YouTube, short form. I have a community.
00;23;10;16 - 00;23;22;07
Susan Haber
I have just, you know, and I love it. But also I feel like I'm just, you know, communicating with my industry and my people. And it's great.
00;23;22;12 - 00;23;43;18
Helen Keaney
And you're getting the experience from there. And I actually had, this has happened a couple times. Meta. Facebook reached out to me and said, we recognize you as a creator. We'd like to give you like a half hour phone call and give you some tips. They they actually called me coincidentally today. And, they always they've I've talked to them before.
00;23;43;19 - 00;24;03;10
Helen Keaney
They've called me every time. Like I start, you know, like doing a lot of videos and reels and it starts, you know, they, they're a whole business is having people create stuff. If people stop creating stuff, they wouldn't make any money, so they have to encourage. But the guy on the phone told me to drop like 8 to 10 videos a week.
00;24;03;17 - 00;24;06;29
Helen Keaney
And that sounded so excessive to me. What do you think about that?
00;24;07;01 - 00;24;27;15
Susan Haber
I think it's great. I yeah, I have clients, I you know, I obviously live in their clients. I mean, it's a lot of work. It's their full time jobs. But they post 3 to 4 times a day videos 3 to 4 times a day. Longform YouTube, you know.
00;24;27;18 - 00;24;29;06
Helen Keaney
3 to 4 times a day.
00;24;29;08 - 00;24;31;10
Susan Haber
A day.
00;24;31;12 - 00;24;37;25
Helen Keaney
And what what are they doing in these videos? Is it just like I took out the garbage? I had a coffee.
00;24;37;27 - 00;24;40;15
Susan Haber
It depends on what they do. If their beauty or, you know.
00;24;40;16 - 00;24;41;17
Helen Keaney
Oh, I see.
00;24;41;20 - 00;25;07;09
Susan Haber
Whatever. But they're posting, they are active and it's kind of what's happening right now. I don't know what the future is going to bring, but the other thing, you know, I started doing, and I know a lot of my clients are doing is, writing, as a writing on, what's the applicant think of the app right now?
00;25;07;09 - 00;25;31;11
Susan Haber
Substack. Substack. Yeah. And Substack. And that's been a really great way to for people to get known. You know, that's been really, really good. And what a I'm looking at what other apps have been really strong. The Substack is a good one. It's it's really good. And yeah. And then the ones I mentioned, yeah, that's, that's.
00;25;31;13 - 00;26;00;27
Helen Keaney
That's crazy, you know, and, and the other thing that you and I have talked about is, which I feel like has changed is sort of the ageism of show business. And I think because there really aren't any gatekeepers anymore, there's less people saying, you can't do this. You can't do that. When I was 35, I had an agent who was a, dropped me from the roster because he said I had aged out and there was no anything that slaps.
00;26;01;00 - 00;26;33;14
Helen Keaney
Yeah, that that agent is became left the business and but yeah, years later. But but when I was dropped at that age and I was like 35, I think about I don't even remember what, I don't remember anything about being 45, let alone 35. But yeah, it's so that would I feel like that would never happen nowadays, because if you're in your 40s or 50 or 60 or 70s, your 80s, you post and your community can find you, right?
00;26;33;14 - 00;26;40;22
Helen Keaney
Don't you do I don't want to, you know, lead you. But do you don't want to lead the witness. But do you feel as if that's changed? Because I do.
00;26;40;25 - 00;27;01;07
Susan Haber
There's no ageism. You can be any age. It's all about your interests and, you know, your area of expertise or whatever it is, what you have to say. But absolutely, you can be any age I and I do, but I've always actually thought that. I can't believe that person did that to you because I wanted to like, go smack, smack.
00;27;01;07 - 00;27;02;11
Susan Haber
But.
00;27;02;13 - 00;27;03;00
Helen Keaney
That's the truth.
00;27;03;03 - 00;27;04;10
Susan Haber
I've never done that, you know.
00;27;04;10 - 00;27;07;11
Helen Keaney
Because it it's too, you know, it's a person, you know.
00;27;07;13 - 00;27;12;27
Susan Haber
Oh, I do know who it is. Yeah. Because you said that I do. I think I might know. Yeah.
00;27;13;00 - 00;27;28;23
Helen Keaney
Well, yeah. And you know what? What you think of at the time, I mean, at the time I thought, oh, okay, this is a, an area where I can't work anymore. The thing I always liked about standup is I would see people of all ages doing it. You know, George Burns, you know, I remember seeing, you know, who's no longer with us.
00;27;28;23 - 00;27;44;10
Helen Keaney
But I remember, you know, it's it's something that wasn't really it wasn't defined by, you know, physical limitations. I said to my husband the other day, if I couldn't, if tomorrow I couldn't walk, I could be, I could it wouldn't change my career whatsoever. That's how you get.
00;27;44;13 - 00;27;48;03
Susan Haber
You know, you can be you can be anything.
00;27;48;09 - 00;27;53;08
Helen Keaney
Yeah. It doesn't matter as long as this part of me works like the brain. Yeah. The talking. Yes.
00;27;53;13 - 00;27;57;23
Susan Haber
And the great. You can do comedy for the rest of your life forever. It's.
00;27;57;26 - 00;28;03;22
Helen Keaney
I can just wheel me in. I'll. Yes. And dirty jokes. And then you can wheel me out the back.
00;28;03;24 - 00;28;11;27
Susan Haber
Of the ramp at the ramp. Well, I mean, I really I love that shape. Whatever. It's like all of the time, everywhere I go, I see.
00;28;11;29 - 00;28;19;28
Helen Keaney
Every Sunday he's at the Hermosa Beach. Comedy magic. Yep. Every frickin Sunday. He loves it. He doesn't need the money.
00;28;20;00 - 00;28;24;00
Susan Haber
Never. He definitely doesn't need the right. We used to represent him when I was like, yeah.
00;28;24;02 - 00;28;24;16
Helen Keaney
I know.
00;28;24;16 - 00;28;31;11
Susan Haber
That even back then, what we were, you know what he was getting? Just to do Atlantic City or whatever for a night.
00;28;31;11 - 00;28;36;18
Helen Keaney
What was he getting like, I can't is it a secret? But it's.
00;28;36;20 - 00;28;37;16
Susan Haber
But yeah, but.
00;28;37;16 - 00;28;56;25
Helen Keaney
I can tell you that I did a I did a corporate job. I was hired to be the host, and then they had a comedian do, like 15 minutes, and, Sheryl Crow was the musical act. And I know what the comedian got because my manager booked corporate stuff and he got a hundred grand. This is in the mid 90s.
00;28;56;25 - 00;29;14;02
Helen Keaney
Everybody okay? You got 100 grand to do 15 minutes. He was somebody who had been on Saturday Night Live and was a very good comedian. But it was it was like it was like 15, 20 minutes. And I feel like that all that corporate stuff was really big for a long time. And it's kind of died down these days.
00;29;14;04 - 00;29;18;27
Susan Haber
Yeah, it kind of has. Yeah. What is Sheryl Crow get?
00;29;18;29 - 00;29;22;06
Helen Keaney
I think she got I think she got 250.
00;29;22;09 - 00;29;22;25
Susan Haber
Okay.
00;29;22;28 - 00;29;43;11
Helen Keaney
Maybe 350. It was in that it was around there. It was it was extraordinarily more. She was incredibly hot, incredibly hot. But it was around then. I mean, it was a lot. And this was a pharmaceutical company meeting. Oh, wow. I think I got I think I got 20 grand. And for me that was like, like eye poppingly huge amount of money.
00;29;43;14 - 00;29;48;07
Helen Keaney
Yeah. But I was I was the host that I worked for for days and I, I worked for I.
00;29;48;09 - 00;29;49;03
Susan Haber
Know what you're asked.
00;29;49;05 - 00;30;07;02
Helen Keaney
I worked, I worked my ass. I had to do a lot of writing for it as well, you know, like I wrote all the stuff and but but, I don't think those jobs exists anymore because there was sort of a lot of scandal around how much money the pharmaceutical companies were paying for these big lavish meetings.
00;30;07;05 - 00;30;27;10
Susan Haber
Yeah, I have a friend who's in that business, and I don't think it's the same anymore either. It's interesting. They used to pay, like, tons of money. Tons of money. But, yeah, I don't think that happens anymore. And I also think, that corporate now they use their own people because everybody's used to being on camera now.
00;30;27;10 - 00;30;36;13
Susan Haber
Right. So like, if there's going to be a big event or whatever, they, they grab their own VPNs or, you know, all that and have them talk.
00;30;36;13 - 00;30;59;25
Helen Keaney
Yeah, I think that I think that's really true for a lot of different industries. Like I was a host on the shopping channel for many, many years, and we would all want like if a new product came in, we wouldn't want them to hire an actress or something to represent the product. We'd want the CEO of the company or the inventor, or we would want the genuine person because we felt like it had more authenticity, which I think which I think it does.
00;30;59;29 - 00;31;04;22
Susan Haber
I mean, that totally does. Oh, I think it's fabulous. Yeah. That's. Yeah.
00;31;04;22 - 00;31;08;11
Helen Keaney
So were you ever based anywhere else or were you always in Los Angeles?
00;31;08;14 - 00;31;12;17
Susan Haber
Yeah. I've always been right where I am. Here. Beverly Hills, right in the center of Beverly Hills.
00;31;12;18 - 00;31;13;28
Helen Keaney
All right. Fancy.
00;31;14;01 - 00;31;21;14
Susan Haber
Yeah, it's been great. It's been great. And I see I was is down the block, so. Yeah, I'm. And you know what?
00;31;21;16 - 00;31;29;26
Helen Keaney
What are the big ones like ICM and William Morris? I feel like they're they're representing creators more so than looking for movie stars and starlets. Right.
00;31;30;01 - 00;31;35;16
Susan Haber
Well, first of all I seen is out of business because it was brought by CAA recently, not that long ago.
00;31;35;17 - 00;31;44;00
Helen Keaney
Do you know what I actually didn't even know that. And ICM was my agent for like four years. I was with a stand up comedy show that was touring and they booked us. I didn't even know that.
00;31;44;03 - 00;31;46;19
Susan Haber
Who was your agent?
00;31;46;22 - 00;32;09;06
Helen Keaney
Rick Messina was our manager. He's a company manager. For those who don't, he manages Tim Allen and Drew Carey. He manage the blond moms. We toured together and we had an agent at ICM who booked us. And I have to be honest, I don't even know the name of the person who booked us because we had a producer and then a manager on top of it, and it was so many layers from where I was as the I just went where people pointed.
00;32;09;08 - 00;32;31;12
Susan Haber
Yeah, gotcha. Totally, totally get it. But so yeah, so ICM doesn't exist. CAA bought that. And then now it's WME, William Morris Endeavor. So they're not two separate companies anymore. They're all one company, you know. Then there's Gersh, there's Uta, there's, you know, they're it's all shrinking.
00;32;31;14 - 00;32;35;17
Helen Keaney
Is are there little boutique agencies anymore?
00;32;35;19 - 00;32;39;02
Susan Haber
Well, I mean, I'm a boutique agency of one.
00;32;39;04 - 00;32;41;19
Helen Keaney
But you're a manager more like now, right?
00;32;41;22 - 00;32;49;24
Susan Haber
Well, I'm an agent. I'm licensed by the state of California. Yeah, I have to two separate companies. But I am an agent, and I've always been an agent.
00;32;49;25 - 00;32;53;04
Helen Keaney
Oh, okay. So are you, SAG agent? Everything.
00;32;53;06 - 00;33;16;03
Susan Haber
I'm all that. Yeah. Okay. Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah. But, Yeah, it's it's just different, but it's different. But it's the same. It's just right now the entertainment industry is to have, you know, it's it's people are, you know, not, you know, getting jobs like they used to. I think it'll come back. It is coming back actually.
00;33;16;05 - 00;33;24;08
Susan Haber
I just was reading like today, like we're going to have a huge blockbuster summer of movies.
00;33;24;08 - 00;33;49;28
Helen Keaney
That is 100% true with Spider-Man and, The Odyssey and. Yeah, what does that Acme versus coyote? I just, I just went and saw it in the movie theater. It was really fun. But it's like the biggest pre-COVID numbers, billions and all. So I think they're trying to get a big tax break back to the U.S for doing the production in the U.S they are.
00;33;50;01 - 00;33;53;20
Susan Haber
We won't talk about who's doing that, but,
00;33;53;22 - 00;33;54;27
Helen Keaney
Somebody else.
00;33;54;29 - 00;34;12;02
Susan Haber
Yeah. Somebody doesn't matter that. Yeah. But they're trying to bring more money into that so that we can continue and build Hollywood again. I mean, Covid was tough. You know, Covid killed itself. I continued to work during Covid, but, you know, it was hard. Everything was on zoom.
00;34;12;04 - 00;34;15;24
Helen Keaney
What did you what did you do? Tell me about what that was like for you?
00;34;15;26 - 00;34;31;27
Susan Haber
I mean, we did shows on zoom. I'm. People still needed to be entertained. So we did shows on zoom. I mean, we stopped for a little while, but, you know, I still did brand deals, and, Yeah, kept going the whole time.
00;34;31;27 - 00;34;37;22
Helen Keaney
Did you start noticing during Covid how the shift went towards social media?
00;34;37;24 - 00;34;43;23
Susan Haber
Was it during Covid? Was it not before? I guess it wasn't before, maybe.
00;34;43;23 - 00;34;46;25
Helen Keaney
I think that's what everybody was at home on their phones. And that's.
00;34;46;25 - 00;34;47;16
Susan Haber
Where yeah.
00;34;47;16 - 00;34;49;04
Helen Keaney
Influencers blew up.
00;34;49;06 - 00;34;52;27
Susan Haber
Well, I mean there was that. Do you remember Quibi? Quibi I.
00;34;52;27 - 00;34;56;15
Helen Keaney
Do, yeah. That's no longer a thing, right? I know that's.
00;34;56;15 - 00;35;21;15
Susan Haber
Right. That wasn't the thing. And that was smart. It was, I forgot which big TV executive, and it was smart because it was like, you know, bite size entertainment. And it was fine during. Oh, no, what I know Covid killed it. It was they started right before Covid and then Covid killed them because we were we didn't we had plenty of time to watch everything.
00;35;21;15 - 00;35;24;24
Susan Haber
So we didn't care about bite size. We just wanted to watch content.
00;35;24;26 - 00;35;27;20
Helen Keaney
Right. We wanted to watch Tiger King.
00;35;27;23 - 00;35;36;05
Susan Haber
Yes. Oh yeah. That was that was feelings. Yeah. It was cute. Yeah, I was really good. But my gosh.
00;35;36;08 - 00;35;54;05
Helen Keaney
So this is this hour is like flying by. We only have like about ten more minutes left in our the pod. The pod is is there. I would kind of like you to give some advice to people that are in the business for a long time and sticking to their old ways. What would you say to them?
00;35;54;07 - 00;36;23;12
Susan Haber
Oh, absolutely. So, you know, I work now, you know, because I spent my career sort of pushing people up and make, you know, people say, what did you do? I push people, make them famous, you know, in whatever way they need, whatever is, you know, right for them and their expertise or whatever it is. So what I've done recently, I still do that and I work in Hollywood, but I, I've been doing for 30 years and I decided it's time to give back, pay it forward.
00;36;23;14 - 00;36;50;22
Susan Haber
And I decided to take everything that I know and help women. Okay. Women in business. Okay, so what I'm doing or what I've been doing lately is working with women that either want to start a business, grow a business, pivot. A lot of people are pivoting right now reinventing themselves. Right. And so I'm helping them do that. And by that, making money.
00;36;50;25 - 00;37;12;22
Susan Haber
Everybody needs to make money. I mean, that's what we want to do and be successful and make money. Okay. So so I have two actually three things that I really push okay. So one of them is visible and you've got to be visible I'm that's very important. The second thing is that like if you ask somebody like what do you want to be known for?
00;37;12;22 - 00;37;28;16
Susan Haber
What do you know for I don't want to hear a lot of different things because then I don't know what to do. I don't know what to buy your product. I don't know where to put you on a show. I don't know why or do anything. So I teach women to sort of I do this funnel thing, but funnel to figure out what your brand is.
00;37;28;16 - 00;37;55;29
Susan Haber
So I'm helping women figure out what their brand is. That really is super specific way because the tendency is to always be big. And I do this and I do that, and I do that and that nobody knows what to do with you. So I'm teaching them to do that. But I think the most important part of all of it is I am working with women so that they understand everybody is always hiding behind their brand.
00;37;56;04 - 00;38;20;26
Susan Haber
Okay, so here's the company, you know, I'll give you an example. Rihanna. Okay. I don't buy Fenty. I buy Rihanna. Okay. And anything that Rihanna would be selling and it doesn't matter. She can close that Fenty and she can open ten more companies. I'll buy it because it's real. Okay? And and I don't buy goop.
00;38;20;28 - 00;38;49;01
Susan Haber
Okay. I buy with I'm in love with Gwyneth. Okay. So Gwyneth is the brand and not that company. The company is the Viacom, but Gwyneth is the brand. Okay. And the same with Oprah and Martha Stewart and all of these people. And this is what I help women do. And this is what really grows their business. It's easy to hide behind the brand, but that's not what you want to do.
00;38;49;03 - 00;39;11;02
Susan Haber
People think, oh, I don't, I don't, I don't want to bring the attention to media. You have to bring the attention to you. You have to be big. You're the brand. So that's why I'm helping women develop is themselves and showing the world that they are the brand. I want everybody to fall in love with my clients so that they'll buy anything that my clients are selling.
00;39;11;04 - 00;39;11;24
Susan Haber
You know, that makes.
00;39;11;29 - 00;39;23;19
Helen Keaney
That makes total sense. If somebody is watching this, Susan, and they were like, wait a minute, you're talking to me like I that's I need that 100%. How would they get in touch with you in order to get some of your wisdom and expertise?
00;39;23;25 - 00;39;57;25
Susan Haber
Yes. So they can go to the Haber breakthrough.com. That's what I call it. That's my vehicle, my brand isn't it. But my vehicle is the Haber breakthrough.com. And on there I have packages. I have all kinds of information about what I do. And I also just started a community so they can join a community. Okay. And it's, you know, it's and be with other women and I am in that community all the time.
00;39;57;27 - 00;40;20;00
Susan Haber
So they can communicate with me that way. So there's, that's that's the way to do it. Or go to Haber breakthrough.com. I never had that before. I never had a way of doing that. And really connecting with, with people and women especially. I pick women because I know what I went through coming up. I got stories. So I picked women and I want to support them.
00;40;20;00 - 00;40;24;13
Susan Haber
And that's how to find me. The Haber breakthrough.com.
00;40;24;15 - 00;40;55;23
Helen Keaney
All right. Well, I so appreciate that I ran into you that day because I got to say that you had encouraged me to feel comfortable coming back, you know, out of a very comfortable job that I just could sit back and kick back. And the paycheck came every two weeks. I'd have do anything to like coming out and, you know, doing touring stand up full time and doing this podcast literally came out of our serendipitous meeting of going, you saying that visibility was number one thing.
00;40;55;26 - 00;40;57;28
Helen Keaney
So you were encouraged me to do that.
00;40;58;01 - 00;41;19;26
Susan Haber
Well, and I just have to say before we go, I have always loved you. I think you're funny as hell, and I love watching you make me laugh every single time. And I think you're very, very talented. I give you kudos for starting this podcast. It's wonderful. And I'm just I'm so happy for you and I'm really appreciative that you invited me on.
00;41;20;02 - 00;41;21;04
Susan Haber
So thank you.
00;41;21;07 - 00;41;39;29
Helen Keaney
Oh, of course I you are. You are. I think everything that represented like what I want this podcast to be about, especially your origin story of being like, you know, I've got this child I need to support. I'm an actress. I'm not making enough money. How about agent? It was just a word to you. But instead of going, I can't do that.
00;41;39;29 - 00;41;59;25
Helen Keaney
You just walked in and said, I want to do that. Who wants to do? Who wants me to do that? Who wants to do it like you? That that moment right there is the moment that everybody needs to take away from this episode and apply it to their own life. And, and, and it's it's you. Here's my, here's my in conclusion, you don't get if you don't ask.
00;41;59;27 - 00;42;07;11
Susan Haber
You don't get on your ass. And you know what? If you don't try and you never know and you never know, you got nothing to lose, right?
00;42;07;13 - 00;42;08;28
Helen Keaney
Somebody's got to do it.
00;42;09;00 - 00;42;12;10
Susan Haber
Somebody's got to do it. And we're going to it.
00;42;12;13 - 00;42;27;09
Helen Keaney
We're going to do it, and we did it. Thank you so much Susan Haber. Amazing. Amazing woman. Inspirational. Please follow her on Instagram. Her videos are fabulous. Join her community. And, everybody listen. Why not give it a try? Give it a.
00;42;27;09 - 00;42;48;19
Susan Haber
Try. Thank you. Take care.
00;42;48;22 - 00;42;56;07
Unknown
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh.
00;42;56;09 - 00;43;02;06
Unknown
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh. Do do do do do do do do.