NORM LAVIOLETTE
Comedy, Culture Building, and Entrepreneurship
Norm Laviolette is an entrepreneur, producer, and creative strategist, best known as the Founder and CEO of Improv Asylum, one of the country’s premier comedy theater companies.
What began as a single stage in Boston’s North End has grown under his leadership into a nationally recognized entertainment brand, spanning live performance, corporate training, and custom experiences for organizations around the world.
Norm’s work lives at a unique intersection: the fast-paced, unscripted energy of improv comedy and the structured insight of modern business thinking. His approach blends the interactive humor of an improv show with the clarity and substance of a TED-style talk, creating experiences that are as engaging as they are actionable.
As an active entrepreneur, Norm leads a portfolio of companies—including Improv Asylum, Laugh Boston, Asylum NYC, and Lil Chuck—that connect the live entertainment industry with cutting-edge communication, leadership, and collaboration strategies. His work translates the principles of improvisation into practical tools for today’s workplace.
He has partnered with leading global organizations such as Google, Amazon, and Procter & Gamble, helping teams strengthen communication, navigate uncertainty, and build more adaptive, human-centered cultures.
A sought-after keynote speaker and advisor, Norm is known for turning spontaneity into strategy. His presentations challenge conventional thinking while equipping audiences with real-world frameworks they can immediately apply.
At the core of his work is a simple idea: the skills that make great performers—listening, adaptability, presence—are the same skills that drive great leaders and organizations.
Businesses
Norm is the CEO and co-founder of Improv Asylum—but that’s just the beginning. Over the past two decades, he’s built a portfolio of venues, events, and companies that connect live entertainment with real-world impact.
Team Building
Improv isn’t just about making people laugh (though we do plenty of that). It’s about making people better. Better communicators. Better collaborators. Better at thinking on their feet when the Wi-Fi crashes mid-presentation.
Thought Leadership
The Art of Making Sh!t Up combines the lessons Norm has learned from years performing and presenting to thousands of people to demonstrate how improv comedy has helped others found and grow several multimillion-dollar companies.
Asylum Team Building
At Asylum Team Building, we take the principles of improv—quick thinking, adaptability, teamwork — and apply them to the workplace. We don’t waste time with trust falls or icebreakers everyone’s already done a thousand times. Instead, we help teams ditch the fear of failure, embrace creativity, and actually listen to each other (which, let’s be honest, is half the battle).
Asylum Events
Whether you’re planning a corporate party, private show, or custom celebration, we provide the venues, entertainment, and event support to make it spectacular. Asylum Events is the perfect solution to help plan the perfect outing. If you’re looking to plan an event in Boston, we’re going to be your favorite event planner / venue / entertainment booker / best friend.
About Me
Hi, I’m Norm Laviolette.
I’m an entrepreneur, producer, and speaker who’s spent the last couple decades building stages, scaling businesses, and figuring out how a room full of strangers can become a connected audience in under five minutes.
I founded Improv Asylum and grew it into a collection of live entertainment brands that don’t just put on shows—they create shared experiences. Along the way, I realized something: the same skills that make great performers—listening, adaptability, trust—are the exact skills most organizations struggle to teach.
So I built companies around that idea.
Today, my work sits at the intersection of comedy and communication, helping teams and leaders operate with more clarity, creativity, and confidence—whether they’re on stage, in a boardroom, or somewhere in between.
I host the podcast Beyond the Norm, where I talk with entrepreneurs and creatives about what it actually takes to build something that lasts (and what usually breaks along the way).
I’ve spoken to audiences around the world, blending the interactive energy of an improv show with the substance of a keynote—because people don’t learn much when they’re bored.
I also coach girls softball, which is the fastest way I know to stay humble and be reminded that culture, trust, and showing up for your team aren’t just business ideas—they’re daily habits.
At the end of the day, I believe laughter is serious business. It’s how people connect, how teams build trust, and how ideas actually stick.
And if you can get a room to laugh together, you can get them to do just about anything.
Testimonials
At HBS, we work with the Asylum frequently and they support our programs with high level executives from global organizations.
Improv is a key part of a curriculum that teaches strategies, processes, and changes in culture that are required to be more innovative.
The lessons learned organically carried from them in the morning into our afternoon without them. We broke up into smaller teams to workshop/brainstorm and the level of mutual support and encouragement was beyond anything we had seen.
It was GREAT
There was lots of laughter and smiles! I think the team really appreciated everything and saw the point of teamwork and communication!