Boston Magazine

Funny Business

Public-speaking champ Darren LaCroix has made a business out of a talent for cracking wise to crowds.

By STEVE ALMOND

DARREN LACROIX STANDS before two dozen members of the Quannapowitt Toastmasters Club in North Quincy and offers a startling confession.

"I was not funny in high school." he announces. "In fact, I was voted least likely to ever be funny."

The crowd, of course, finds this howlingly funny. Which is a good thing because Rule No.1 of the Gospel of Darren LaCroix reads: No matter what you think, you can be funny. Rule No.2: As long as you're willing to make mistakes.

LaCroix, 35, has moonlighted for years as a standup comedian and,more recently, as a public speaker. Last summer, he beat out more than 25,000 competitors from 14 countries to become the first person from New England to win Toastmasters International's World Championship of Public Speaking.

Now, at long last, he's doing these things full time. LaCroix has quit his day job as a salesman at Bose to run the Humor Institute (motto: "Got Humor?") from his home in Auburn. He commands $3,500 per keynote address. His book, Laugh & Get Rich: How to Profit from Humor in Any Business, cowritten with fellow speaker Rick Segel, was published two years ago. LaCroix is also rapidly building a list of consulting clients, folks like Fredrick Marckini, CEO of Arlington-based search engine positioning firm iProspect.

"In this business environment, it's all about getting your message out," Marckini says. "And who better to teach us than the world champion of speakers? We paid Darren $100 an hour to help train our staff, and I consider that a steal. The impact he made was astounding."

Back in 1992, LaCroix was just a young man with a closeted passion for shtick and a business degree from Bryant College in Rhode Island. He'd already tried to launch a Subway sandwich shop franchise. "I took a $60,000 debt," he notes blithely, "and doubled it."

LaCroix decided to become a comic. Eventually, to the relief of his parents, he realized that standup comedy was not his calling. Instead, he found himself gravitating toward public speaking. "It was the perfect marriage of my passion for business and humor. I actually love speaking to corporate groups because I can relate to their frustrations."

With his bright, open face and thinning blond hair, LaCroix bears a passing resemblance to the actor Anthony Edwards. As a speaker, though, his style is one of a kind. He bounds from one side of the room to the other, cracking jokes (usually at his own expense) and always, always, exhorting his listeners. "You can't be afraid to pursue your dreams, "he tells them. "Even if you fall, you fall forward."

By the end of LaCroix's hour long oration in North Quincy, club president Michael Myers rises to give him a standing ovation. Other members many of them people who still tremble when called upon to speak gather around to coo their praise.

LaCroix stays long past the appointed end of the meeting. Then he hurries off to his car. He'll be speaking to another Toast Masters chapter the next day, this one at the Bay State Correctional Center. "A captive audience," he says, unable to resist an impish grin. "I love it."

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