The Best Office Christmas Party Ideas—All Roads Lead to Comedy
Start a new tradition for the next holiday season. Get people into the holiday spirit by introducing something new to mark the occasion. Hire a comedian as part of your entertainment—it’s one of the most fun office Christmas party ideas you are likely to come across.
From helping host Christmas party games to providing live entertainment, a comedian can complement any number of holiday festivities.
But hiring a comedian to host your office Christmas party is about more than just entertainment: it’s about giving your employees something to anticipate.
And giving your staff something to look forward to can make all the difference in their performance. After all, employees need more than just money to feel motivated. They need a sense of purpose, but they also need positive experiences to feel fulfilled.
Furthermore, several of the options we will discuss are budget-conscious, so you can still have a great time without going into the red.
Read on to discover how you can help make your corporate Christmas party far less sedate and far more fun.
Why Include Comedy in Your Office Christmas Party?
People can use some cheer around the holiday season. And not for the reason you might think. You have probably heard the oft-repeated chestnut that people are more depressed—even suicidal—around the holidays. Fortunately, this is largely a myth.
Okay, so why do people need cheer around the holidays?
Because adding cheer makes something feel like more of an occasion. And what are most holidays if not constructions—days we tell ourselves are special to make them less arbitrary, and to make a “Thursday” more than just a “Thursday”? If this seems somewhat oblique, let’s put it another way.
If you are from a culture different from America and you come for your first visit, imagine how you view one of our holidays. To someone from a completely different background, Thanksgiving is just a Thursday. Or, think of it this way: If you are an American and go abroad, what do you think Thanksgiving is like in a different country? Spoiler: It’s just another Thursday.
Which is why having a comedian perform at your next holiday event, is one of the best ways to help change a Thursday for some people into something really special.
Accoutrements help: the seasonal emblems—hot cocoa, Christmas trees, Santa Claus, Santa hats, and stockings. The iconic red and white of candy canes hanging from Christmas trees. All these symbols help create the feeling that our regular programming has been interrupted. The week, the month, has something special to announce.
And a comedian performing for us—perhaps also hosting office Christmas party games—also signifies something special. For most companies, it is not often we get someone who is hired to just make us laugh.
That is not a regular Thursday.
Office Christmas Party Ideas: Music and Gifts
Before we get into office Christmas party games, we will discuss a few ideas that fall into the Christmas spirit through music, but also the tradition of giving and receiving gifts.
We will also incorporate some ideas for how, at the same time, you can also raise money for a good cause. Read on!
Karaoke
Long a staple of after-work parties, karaoke doesn’t require much in the way of set-up—chiefly a karaoke machine—but you could also just get a karaoke microphone and connect it to a television.
With a comedian at the helm, shepherding singer to singer and perhaps adding a touch of light-hearted color commentary, karaoke can bring a lively energy to your event.
Best used when the party is in full swing or towards the end of the night, rather than as an icebreaker, karaoke can be a chance for soome to enjoy silly fun and for others an opportunity to unspool their passion and talent for singing.
Karaoke also has the benefit of letting the participants decide how they wish to celebrate the holiday, they can sing Christmas-themed music, from Mariah Carey to Michael Bublé, but they can also do Rage Against the Machine, if they wish.
Secret Santa
Most people are familiar with the concept of Secret Santa: after agreeing upon a maximum amount of money everyone spends, participants are assigned a coworker to get a gift for, which is often presented in front of a group.
A comedian can help sustain and invigorate the energy, putting a spin on the classic gift-giving game. As the emcee, they can keep things moving while, again, adding bits of humor. A lighthearted joke here and there can go a long way when dealing with stodgy traditions.
As far as office Christmas party ideas go, this one has had legs for years.
But why not give it a little “oomph” this year? Let a comedian energize and humorize the proceedings in the way only a professional comedian knows how.
Raffles
If your office is looking to give back, hosting a raffle is always a solid choice. The office can either purchase gifts that everyone bids on, or staff can choose to volunteer various services, such as singing lessons, accounting help, etc.
Your comedic host can help gently rib the contestants and/or the prizes, ensuring the raffle can be a blast even when people don’t win. After all, a party is always about having fun, is it not?
Moreover, holding a raffle can give staff an annual tradition to look forward to. Giving your staff something to count down to is a great way to boost morale and productivity.
Throwing a raffle is truly one of the best ideas for your office Christmas party that allows you to give back and have fun.
Office Christmas Party Games
Office parties can be something of a mixed blessing. Even for those who love their jobs, it is nice to be able to step away from work for a bit and relax. But you are still at work, so relaxing tends to come with some stringent terms and conditions. You are still at work, after all, and your behavior is subject to review.
It can get yet more complicated by the fact that some people lean more secular. They’re not as comfortable with Christmas-themed decorations and expressions of Christmas well-wishing.
Yet other people would be thrilled with Christmas carols played from December first until practically March—although it is usually more about festivity than dogma.
And if you are the boss, finding office Christmas party ideas for large groups can present a bit of a headache—not to mention the price tag on entertaining a large group, which can quickly prove costly.
However, there are plenty of office Christmas party games that won’t have you laying off half your staff or potentially alienating them.
It starts with a comedian.
Ugly Christmas Sweater Contests
The Ugly Christmas Sweater contest started somewhere between 2001 and 2002 in Vancouver, Canada. However, the tradition of purposely wearing an “ugly” (read: garish in its flamboyance) sweater has only exploded over the last couple of decades.
Now, the tradition has spread to fun runs, church events, and, of course, the office.
And when it comes to office Christmas party ideas for large groups, this activity works especially well. In fact, an Ugly Christmas Sweater contest is a perfect example of the more, the merrier, as every additional contestant represents another opportunity for playful levity.
Thus it is also a good opportunity for a comedian. A comedian is used to keeping things moving and engaging with an audience, finding just the right moment to make people laugh.
An ugly Christmas sweater contest also lends itself to budget-savvy party planners. Your team members provide their own sweaters, and the office can provide a prize of some sort—say a gift card or even an extra vacation day.
As office Christmas party ideas go, it also requires minimal setup. You just need a space for people to show off their sweaters and possibly a microphone so everyone can hear the comic. To play, you can appoint a panel of judges, or people can vote by ballot. Criteria for different winning sweaters can include ‘ugliest sweater,’ ‘most creative,’ ‘most festive,’ and more.
If you’re looking for non-denominational ideas for your office christmas party, an ugly christmas sweater contest is a great way to add something simple and cheap that requires only the barest of setups.
Trivia
Trivia is a classic among office Christmas party ideas—or any office get-together, for that matter. Highly flexible, the trivia options can include anything the office deems suitable.
While this game can be played at a bar or restaurant, this is by no means a necessity. In fact, the money you save by hosting trivia in the office you can roll over to paying a comedian.
As a host, a stand-up comedian is well-versed in finding the humor in the mundane. So even if everyone on your team is, say, less than charismatic, the comedian will excel at propping them up and keeping the game as enjoyable as possible.
If you have an especially big staff, even better. Trivia is another great option in terms of office Christmas party ideas for large groups, as the more teams that compete, the greater the sense of excitement.
That is, the more people you’re competing against, the greater the tension, as there are more people to beat or lose to.
But if your team leans more on the creative side, the following option is less about knowledge and relies more on your staff’s ability to express themselves.
Charades
Charades is another cost-effective—yet highly engaging—addition to the list of office Christmas party games. It also requires very little setup. Frankly, you just need enough open space for team members to act out the given word.
To refresh your memory: staff are divided into groups (usually in pods of four to eight members). A stack of words is created, either by staff or the comedian, then a time limit is agreed upon—generally one minute. Points are awarded for every correctly guessed word, and when the time limit is up, the next team goes.
The beauty of the game is that you’re limited only by your imagination. The words can pertain to Christmas movies, other aspects of pop culture, or any other subject matter your office deems suitable.
A lively, fast-paced game, charades can also benefit from having a stand-up comedian. The comedian keeps the proceedings flowing smoothly, adding nuggets of humor whenever possible.
With nearly zero setup and no cost, charades is one of the most economical office Christmas party ideas.
Find the Best Christmas Party Entertainers for Hire in Five Simple Steps
If you have never booked a comedian for your office, rest assured the process could not be easier. So when it comes time to think of ideas for your office Christmas party, we are confident that unlike other industries, booking a comedian is straightforward. See below for the five easy steps to securing a comedian for your next office party.
Here's How It Works
Call (407) 728-9035 or fill out the form below!
Call, email, or fill out the contact form below to tell us more about your event, including details like:
- Venue
- Price range
- Event date and time
- The type of entertainer/entertainment you'd like
Upon receiveing your event details, we’ll send you video links from our extensive roster of comedians for your review.
Select the comedian you'd like to perform at your event.
Sign a simple one-page contract.
Enjoy the show!
Book Any Comedy Style for Any Event
Hiring a comedian to enliven your office Christmas party games, or just the party itself, means finding the right comedian for the occasion. The type of humor you might enjoy in your living room might not be what you want at the office. People have different sensibilities, and “outrageous” may not be the style you are looking for. No worries—we have over 2,000 comedians for you to choose from. From clean to nightclub acts, there is sure to be someone just right for your party.
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Office Christmas party ideas can be as secular as you like, reflecting changing tastes in culture. And the office Christmas party games you can enjoy, from trivia to ugly Christmas sweater contests, can bring people together with a healthy amount of friendly competition and laughter.
However, if you really want to make the event special, you can sprinkle in a comedian. They are truly the salt of any dish, as a healthy amount of comedy can improve any event—especially one that’s supposed to be celebratory like a Christmas party.
At Hire a Comedian, we have been enhancing Christmas parties, college events, and religious get-togethers for decades. It’s fair to say we know how to bring the funny. Contact us today; we would love to make your next event unforgettable.