René Hicks....A Sound Investment In Laughter 

It has been a pleasure working with you these past four years.  While you are always funny, we sincerely appreciate the effort you put into adapting your material for each performance.  You took the time to understand your audience, and you listened to our needs as well.  Once again, your professionalism, candor, humor and intelligence were instrumental in making the show better.  Wendy Lohr, Mgr. of Event Marketing--Marmaxx 

René did a wonderful job for us.  She arrived early enough to attend some of the conference and trade show.  This enabled her to include some of the sights and sounds from the conference in her performance.  In addition, René’s ability to relay her experience as an Accountant added a great deal of relevance to her act.  Our customers thoroughly enjoyed the evening.  René is personable, professional and extremely funny!  Brian Feehely, First VP-Regional Mgr., Cash Management Sales--First Chicago NBD 

My heartfelt thanks for your help in making last night’s Comedy Concert For Children’s Hospital such a success!  You were very generous with your time, both in performing and promoting the show, and you have my undying gratitude.  The feedback I’ve received has been unanimous in praise for you.  Paul Harris, Executive Producer--Paul Harris Comedy Concert For Children’s Hospital 

I am personally expressing the Hospital’s gratefulness to you for performing.  You have volunteered your time and talent to make laughter...a very special medicine.  Howard Silberstein, Director--National Children’s Hospital Foundation 

Our conference participants loved the comedy show and we received rave reviews about your performance.  Thank you for making the evening such an unqualified success.  Penny E. Harrington, Director--National Center for Women & Policing 

FIRST CHICAGO NBD LOVES YOU!  It is rare to come across a comedian that really can relate to and inspire a group like you did.  Both of the performances that you provided for First Chicago NBD were a huge hit.  René, performers who are as professional as you are make my job easy and are more than a pleasure to work with.  I can’t tell you how much your very personal approach paid off to make both our customers and our sales team feel important while having a great time.  CeCe Shearon, Corporate Events Coordinator--First Chicago NBD 

This was the second time you donated your talent to raise funds for the Freddie Mac Foundation's Child and Adolescent Protection Center at Children’s Hospital.  I cannot tell you in words how I feel about you linking your ability to make people laugh about their prejudices and their comfort zones to a social issue that permeates our society today.  Thousands of children and adolescents stream through the emergency department at Children’s Hospital every month.  Some of them from 100 to 150 per month bring with them the story of a horrible pain: someone has hurt them on purpose.  They have been victimized, abused and neglected, or are at risk of victimization.  Hence the importance of lending your talent and time in ensuring that all children are protected from any form of violence, victimization and neglect.  Howard Silberstein, Director--National Children’s Hospital Foundation 

We appreciate your outstanding performance and we also want to thank you for the extra time you took in visiting the UCSF Center of Excellence in Women’s Health and the Women’s Cancer Resource Center.  Your invaluable participation helped make the event a success on every level, and we hope to work with you again in the future. Gary Freund, President, UCSF Board of Directors--UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion 

Once again I’d like to past along our delight with having your participation in the 2001 Chicago Comedy Festival.  I wish only the best for you as you have proven you are a talented and professional performer.  May you be blessed with rewards of which you are most deserving.  Dan Carlson, Festival Producer--Chicago Comedy Festival

From all the kids and staff, thank you for again giving your time and energy to the Inside Out Annual Benefit.  WE LOVE YOU!  Jonathan Zeichner, President--Inside Out 

Everyone here at The John Schreiber Group, would like to thank you for affording us your time, effort and support.  John Schreiber, Executive Producer--John Schreiber Group 

I’d like to introduce:

                     René Hicks

      René Hicks is an internationally known comedian and former CPA, who traded in her accountant’s calculator for a comedian’s microphone and went from balancing credits to accumulating numerous television credits.  René understands the corporate world, as she has paid her dues working as an auditor at one the largest accounting firms in the world--Ernst & Young. “I have worked on audits for some of the top fortune 500 companies and none of them have gone out of business, so I must have been pretty good.”  An accountant, with a sense of humor--that, in itself, is worth the price of admission into the comedy world of René Hicks.  “When I’m on stage and I say that I used to be an accountant, the audience immediately starts laughing--they think it’s a joke!” “Then I snap them back to reality when I start droning on in a monotone about amortization and depreciation.”  She is in demand by the accounting associations of colleges/universities across the country to entertain at their “Wine and Cheese” events.  She is also a perennially favorite at annual Beta Alpha Psi dinners, where prospective accounting graduates, dine and mingle with recruiters from the most prestigious accounting firms and Fortune 500 corporations, as well as representatives from the IRS.  “You can always tell the IRS representatives, because they refuse to wear name tags, they just introduce themselves, by quickly flashing their government issued ID in your face and immediately begin interrogating you about any possible undeclared income for year end, 1997.”  Apparently, ‘97 was a big tax fraud year and they’re still trying to make their necessary quota to get that incentive bonus.”  “I was never requited by the IRS when I was in college, because my 3.3 GPA was too high.  Anything above a 2.0 and you were automatically rejected, as being over qualified.” 

      René understands, firsthand, the importance of laughter as a stress reliever in the  pressurized environment of the business world.  Her personal knowledge of the unique dynamics of the workplace greatly contributes to her appeal as a corporate entertainer.  This  knowledge has enabled René to provide intelligent, laugh-filled entertainment that is  appropriate for the corporate audience.  René always requests information on each company to allow her to “show off” her prolific writing talents in preparing a significant amount of material that specifically relates to that company.  She feels that this makes everyone that works for the company feel like a special part of the show.   “I’ve always tried to make my comedy inclusive--making it comfortable for anyone to come in, relax, share some laughs and have a great time.”  “In the corporate market, I approach my comedy material like inventory.  While some companies may account for inventory using the ‘LIFO’ (Last In First Out) method, I use the ‘LAFE’ (Laughs Appropriate For Everyone) method.”  It’s this type of meticulous preparation that served her well as an accountant and now has Corporate Events Coordinators taking stock of René’s inimitable talents.   

      René, being an African-American woman, who actually has experience as a member of the professional ranks of corporate America, is keenly aware of the heterogeneous make-up of the business world and the inherent complexities this presents.  She takes care, beforehand, to address any concerns from each individual company and is respectful to exclude any subjects that might be deemed sensitive in nature to that particular company.   As a testament to her extensive comedy skills, guideline compliance does not prevent René from accomplishing her goal of always delivering quality entertainment that is not only hilarious, but can help contribute to the break down of barriers that can be the stimulus for cultural/social/gender divisions, within the workplace.  These fractions are often at the root of unnecessary company infighting and dissension that can result in decreased productivity and profitability.  “There’s so much ‘politically correct’ rhetoric about diversity and multiculturalism, with very little result of actually bringing people together on a lasting basis--laughter can bring people together.”  Whether she is making a company laugh about the experiences the employees have in common or making a company laugh about the differences, the message is the same--“We need a lot more laughter in this world and a lot less of the dumb stuff that divides us.”

      I’m sure you’ll want to personally meet this fascinating and extraordinarily talented performer at your company’s next  social event.