Pat Treuer recalls an incident from his childhood that laid the groundwork for his career in comedy. And decades later, he has something to fess up to: It was a stolen zinger.
"My first set had a punchline I stole from a cartoon," Treuer admits. "It was the line, 'Fire in the hole,' that I had heard on TV. All the adults around me were talking about cigarettes, and I just had this image of smoke coming out of someone's mouth. I said that line, and all the adults started laughing hysterically. I just remember how good that felt."
This early taste of making people laugh planted the seed for a successful career in comedy. Treuer was raised by his single mother in Colorado, who encouraged him to speak up. His mother had grown up in an era when children were expected to be seen but not heard, which she despised, so she would take Treuer on outings with adults and expect him to contribute to the conversation.
"I would just observe all the adults around me, take note of what they would laugh at and come up with jokes," Treuer says. "My mom and I would watch standup comedy together; she was the one who introduced me to Richard Pryor." He notes that because his mother was artificially inseminated, his grandfather, who was an excellent storyteller, served as his father figure, which had a significant impact on his comedic aspirations.
"Whenever I was around him, my grandfather was always telling a story or a joke, and I noticed he had a positive influence on others," Treuer says. "I remember being in awe of that. I thought, 'This is what I want to do.' In many ways, it feels like comedy was instilled in me from a young age."
When he was 23, he performed his first set at Comedy Works' New Talent Night. At the time, first-time performers were given two minutes for their act, which Treuer describes as "the greatest two minutes of my life by far." He was inspired by his spirited first performance and decided to enter the prestigious New Faces Competition; however, his second performance did not go as well as his first.
"I didn't know at the time that you had to stick to a five-minute time limit, so I went way past my time," Treuer says. "I was having so much fun, and all my friends thought I was going to advance. I had a good set, but then I was disqualified, and I remember I broke down in tears; I was inconsolable. After that, I lost momentum." Treuer tried to get back on stage one more time following his setback during the New Faces Competition, but he bombed hard.
"It was a huge hit to the ego," he admits. "I'd never experienced anything like that before — the shame that I felt and not understanding how to process the emotions involved in this pursuit that was going to happen many more times. I thought I was going to be great every time, which was quite oblivious, but I just quit and went back to what I thought I was supposed to do: the corporate world."
This resulted in a twelve-year hiatus from comedy as Treuer worked as an international sales manager. While he is grateful that his job allows him to travel the world on the company's dime, he says that "deep down, I was extremely unhappy." He decided to quit his job and move to Chicago to take improv classes at Second City.
"I thought Saturday Night Live was going to be the way for me, but then I realized, no, I am an only child, and I enjoy all the attention," he says. "Also, it was kind of told to me that you get an eight-week run with an improv team, and if you do well, they select people to be a part of their regular cast. I was one of two classmates who did not make it. I was like, 'You should listen to this, Pat. This is a sign to go on your own and concentrate on standup. I had set a goal of 500 shows per year and completed 481 in fourteen months, which made me very happy."
Treuer was encouraged by a friend to start his own show, so he began hosting regular charity events in the back of a Denver Broncos bar in Wrigley. His approach was novel; the shows featured a diverse lineup of comedians performing a traditional standup set in the first act, followed by a roundtable discussion with the audience in the second act, which quickly gained popularity.
He quickly noticed that he was getting a lot of repeat customers and realized that this could attract a larger audience, so he decided to combine his corporate experience with his love of comedy to create Treuer Laughs. The company was founded in 2019 with the aim of providing clean, diverse comedy shows for businesses.
"I was trying to sell comedy services to corporate groups, but constantly people were saying, ‘Comedy is way too risky,' which was incredibly disappointing," Treuer says. But his persistence paid off, and in January 2020, Treuer Laughs booked its first corporate show. Then came the pandemic, which halted live performances and brought Treuer back to Colorado. 
"Since I had filmed all these clips of comedians, we were sending out emails saying that we were sharing one free laugh a day to help people get through the dark times," Treuer explains. "Two people replied to the emails, saying, 'Hey Pat, we have all these boring meetings. Is there any way you could bring some comedians to our board meetings on Zoom?' I was hesitant at first, but my wife persuaded me to do it, and our first few shows were a huge success."
This made Treuer wonder if people were interested in Zoom comedy. To test his hypothesis, he launched a Google Ads campaign using the phrase "Zoom comedy," and within 24 hours, he received numerous responses. "It was just one of those proverbial once-in-a-lifetime moments," Treuer says. "I called a friend who works in SEO, and he helped me design a better campaign that targeted searches for 'zoom comedy' and 'virtual comedy,' and it took off."
Treuer Laughs has performed more than 400 shows for over 200,000 people and is able to be booked for live comedy, virtual comedy and trivia comedy. Treuer experimented with selling virtual event tickets, but the revenue stream never materialized. However, in an effort to get the work he was doing in front of a larger audience, Treuer began working on another passion project: Of the Comics.
Over the past two years, Treuer has filmed seven comedy specials, including two in Denver, releasing them in short clips on YouTube for free. The channel, which is dedicated to elevating the platforms of comics on the rise, quickly gained traction, amassing 535,000 subscribers in just three months. He recently released four clean comedy specials in their entirety on YouTube and is holding three not-clean specials for later release, possibly in 2025.
Treuer has also been releasing clips from his own standup special online and plans to drop a thirty-minute special in November. In addition to these projects, he is an active member of the local comedy scene, performing regularly around town. He has been running a private room at the Clayton Hotel & Members Club in Cherry Creek since November 2023, and public shows began in June. He's also collaborating with Dude, IDK Studios on a series called "Let’s Whine About Dating," set to film live in October and be released online in mid-December.
Treuer's rise from a young boy amusing adults with cartoon punchlines to a successful comedian and entrepreneur demonstrates his willingness to embrace change. As he poignantly puts it, "Things might seem scary, but if you just take a chance and maybe start small, you'll find that when you get to the other side of things, it's not nearly as scary as it was before you started."
Learn more at treuerlaughs.com.
"My first set had a punchline I stole from a cartoon," Treuer admits. "It was the line, 'Fire in the hole,' that I had heard on TV. All the adults around me were talking about cigarettes, and I just had this image of smoke coming out of someone's mouth. I said that line, and all the adults started laughing hysterically. I just remember how good that felt."
This early taste of making people laugh planted the seed for a successful career in comedy. Treuer was raised by his single mother in Colorado, who encouraged him to speak up. His mother had grown up in an era when children were expected to be seen but not heard, which she despised, so she would take Treuer on outings with adults and expect him to contribute to the conversation.
"I would just observe all the adults around me, take note of what they would laugh at and come up with jokes," Treuer says. "My mom and I would watch standup comedy together; she was the one who introduced me to Richard Pryor." He notes that because his mother was artificially inseminated, his grandfather, who was an excellent storyteller, served as his father figure, which had a significant impact on his comedic aspirations.
"Whenever I was around him, my grandfather was always telling a story or a joke, and I noticed he had a positive influence on others," Treuer says. "I remember being in awe of that. I thought, 'This is what I want to do.' In many ways, it feels like comedy was instilled in me from a young age."
Pat Treuer took a twelve-year hiatus from comedy following a disastrous bomb before returning to the industry.
Courtesy of Of the Comics
"I didn't know at the time that you had to stick to a five-minute time limit, so I went way past my time," Treuer says. "I was having so much fun, and all my friends thought I was going to advance. I had a good set, but then I was disqualified, and I remember I broke down in tears; I was inconsolable. After that, I lost momentum." Treuer tried to get back on stage one more time following his setback during the New Faces Competition, but he bombed hard.
"It was a huge hit to the ego," he admits. "I'd never experienced anything like that before — the shame that I felt and not understanding how to process the emotions involved in this pursuit that was going to happen many more times. I thought I was going to be great every time, which was quite oblivious, but I just quit and went back to what I thought I was supposed to do: the corporate world."
This resulted in a twelve-year hiatus from comedy as Treuer worked as an international sales manager. While he is grateful that his job allows him to travel the world on the company's dime, he says that "deep down, I was extremely unhappy." He decided to quit his job and move to Chicago to take improv classes at Second City.
"I thought Saturday Night Live was going to be the way for me, but then I realized, no, I am an only child, and I enjoy all the attention," he says. "Also, it was kind of told to me that you get an eight-week run with an improv team, and if you do well, they select people to be a part of their regular cast. I was one of two classmates who did not make it. I was like, 'You should listen to this, Pat. This is a sign to go on your own and concentrate on standup. I had set a goal of 500 shows per year and completed 481 in fourteen months, which made me very happy."
Treuer was encouraged by a friend to start his own show, so he began hosting regular charity events in the back of a Denver Broncos bar in Wrigley. His approach was novel; the shows featured a diverse lineup of comedians performing a traditional standup set in the first act, followed by a roundtable discussion with the audience in the second act, which quickly gained popularity.
He quickly noticed that he was getting a lot of repeat customers and realized that this could attract a larger audience, so he decided to combine his corporate experience with his love of comedy to create Treuer Laughs. The company was founded in 2019 with the aim of providing clean, diverse comedy shows for businesses.
"I was trying to sell comedy services to corporate groups, but constantly people were saying, ‘Comedy is way too risky,' which was incredibly disappointing," Treuer says. But his persistence paid off, and in January 2020, Treuer Laughs booked its first corporate show. Then came the pandemic, which halted live performances and brought Treuer back to Colorado.
In an effort to get the work he was doing in front of a larger audience, Pat Treuer began working on a passion project: Of the Comics.
Courtesy of Of the Comics
"Since I had filmed all these clips of comedians, we were sending out emails saying that we were sharing one free laugh a day to help people get through the dark times," Treuer explains. "Two people replied to the emails, saying, 'Hey Pat, we have all these boring meetings. Is there any way you could bring some comedians to our board meetings on Zoom?' I was hesitant at first, but my wife persuaded me to do it, and our first few shows were a huge success."
This made Treuer wonder if people were interested in Zoom comedy. To test his hypothesis, he launched a Google Ads campaign using the phrase "Zoom comedy," and within 24 hours, he received numerous responses. "It was just one of those proverbial once-in-a-lifetime moments," Treuer says. "I called a friend who works in SEO, and he helped me design a better campaign that targeted searches for 'zoom comedy' and 'virtual comedy,' and it took off."
Treuer Laughs has performed more than 400 shows for over 200,000 people and is able to be booked for live comedy, virtual comedy and trivia comedy. Treuer experimented with selling virtual event tickets, but the revenue stream never materialized. However, in an effort to get the work he was doing in front of a larger audience, Treuer began working on another passion project: Of the Comics.
"Things might seem scary, but if you just take a chance and maybe start small, you'll find that when you get to the other side of things, it's not nearly as scary as it was before you started," says Pat Treuer.
Courtesy of Of the Comics
Treuer has also been releasing clips from his own standup special online and plans to drop a thirty-minute special in November. In addition to these projects, he is an active member of the local comedy scene, performing regularly around town. He has been running a private room at the Clayton Hotel & Members Club in Cherry Creek since November 2023, and public shows began in June. He's also collaborating with Dude, IDK Studios on a series called "Let’s Whine About Dating," set to film live in October and be released online in mid-December.
Treuer's rise from a young boy amusing adults with cartoon punchlines to a successful comedian and entrepreneur demonstrates his willingness to embrace change. As he poignantly puts it, "Things might seem scary, but if you just take a chance and maybe start small, you'll find that when you get to the other side of things, it's not nearly as scary as it was before you started."
Learn more at treuerlaughs.com.
