You Don't Have to Be Boring to Be a Professional

On the roller coaster of life, there are very few things of which I am an expert.  I have stated before that I know a little about a lot and a lot about little.  But the one thing that I do know with absolute certainty is that to get through the ups and downs and twirls of life's ride, one MUST have a sense of humor.
I am a sarcastic individual.  I would say I'm witty, but that's a bit egocentric as I believe in order to be witty or drop-dead funny, one has to be intelligent.  Some of the best comedians are smarter than many CEOs of Fortune 500 companies. 
Take, for instance, John Stewart.  Not only does he have one-liners that can cause soda to come out one's nose, but he combines his humor with his political knowledge to fill a niche that very few can.  Professional comedians are just that - professionals.  It is their business to be funny. 
So, I find it fascinating when people who don't understand my business call me unprofessional because I actually try to insert humor into stressful situations.  I am a professional.  I can hang with radio guys, television personalities, old-school reporters or rookie 'journalists'.  I speak their language.  That language does not involve words in which they need a thesaurus to translate.  That language does not involve data and pie charts and ROI speak.  Their language is 10 second soundbites using language so easy a caveman can understand it.
I am a professional.  Throw me into a fire and I will come out smelling like roses...not charred ash.  It takes a certain skill set to be able to keep a level head when everything around you or your business is teetering to the brink.  Some call it 'crisis communications'.  However, I feel that if you take the right approach to any situation, if you have a strategic plan in place, there should be no crisis involved.
Communications is communications.  Talking is talking.  But knowing how to say things, when to say things and where to say things is more than a learned trait.  Like humor, you are born with the ability to read a situation or setting and adapt to it.
I am a professional.  A professional communicator.  A professional problem solver.  A professional money saver.  A professional marketer.  A professional thinker with the professional ability to get from idea to implementation with a snazzy, professional project plan.
I have been called immature, unprofessional, silly, sarcastic and sometimes funny.  So, I may be a bit humorous, but one thing I am not?  A professional comedian.