Wade Jackson

Wade Jackson (born 30 March 1973) is a New Zealand improvisational comedian, actor, clinical hypnotherapist, author and keynote speaker. He is most well known in New Zealand as the creator of The Improv Bandits and as the co-creator of JOLT Challenge, a 9 week self intelligence training program that is licensed by Mind Warriors International and run throughout the corporate and public sector in New Zealand.

Early life
Jackson was born to Don and Kaye Jackson in Auckland, New Zealand, on 30 March 1973.

Education
Jackson attended Auckland Grammar school (1986–1991) and graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Arts in Japanese and English in 1996. He gained a post graduate Diploma in Drama in 1997. In 1992, he traveled to Aomori, Japan as an exchange student and attended Too Gijuku High School. Jackson is currently a postgraduate student at AUT studying towards his PhD in Health Science Career.

Comedy
Jackson got into comedy as a University student and started doing improv, sketch and stand up comedy in 1994. He was president of the Comedy and Improv Club in 1996 and founded The Improv Bandits the following year. Jackson won the individual Maestro International Show in Calgary Canada in 2000 and has also performed improv comedy theater in the UK.

The Improv Bandits performed in Melbourne (Australia), Leuven Belgium, Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal (Canada), Chicago, Austin, Los Angeles and New York (USA) and won the Chicago Improv Festival’s inaugural Super Cage Match at the ImprovOlympic in 2002

Jackson, Tony Gilbert and Jason Webb from the Improv Bandits were asked to audition for the US TV show Whose Line Is It Anyway at the Big Stinkin’ Improv and Sketch Comedy in Austin, Texas (1999).

In 2000, The Improv Bandits returned to Los Angeles where Warner Brothers produced The Improv Bandits show at the HBO Warner BrothersTV workspace in Los Angeles.

The Improv Bandits have performed four times at the invitation only Chicago Improv Festival and in 2002 opened for Colin Mochrie’s All Star show at the Athenaeum Theater.

The Improv Bandits also perform in the New Zealand International Comedy Festival every year since 1998. They performed at the NZ Comedy Festival Gala in 2004, 2008, and in 2009 alongside Wayne Brady from Whose Line Is It Anyway.

Producer
In the early nineties, improv in New Zealand became heavily popularized in part due to the global phenomenon of Keith Johnstone's theatresports. However in the following years, improv theater became a victim of its own success. Performance improv became competitive and stagnated and lost credibility within the theater community. As its audience slowly began to disperse, many of New Zealand's major improvisers left the tradition. In 1997, The Improv Bandits sought to reinvent local improv by pitching themseves as a subversive new force performing improv 'without safety nets'. In 2001 Jackson opened New Zealand's only dedicated improv theatre; The Covert Theatre in Auckland which operated from 2001 – 2005. It was a 50-seat venue with a fully licenced bar with weekly improv shows.

In 2001, Jackson won the New Zealand International Comedy Festival’s Most Courageous Producer award producing eleven shows in the festival. The Covert Theater won the Best Achievement award.

In March 29, 2011 Jackson produced Christchurch Earthquake Comedy Fundraiser raising $100,000 for Red Cross. It featured top New Zealand comedians such as | Mike King, Ewen Gilmour, Brendhan Lovegrove and Dai Henwood.

Mind Warriors International
At present, Jackson is co-owner of Mind Warriors International with Steve Hill. Mind Warriors International are the creators of JOLT Challenge, a 9 week Self Intelligence training program that explores the awareness of your thoughts, emotions, behaviors and capabilities. It is endorsed by management thinkers such as the late Dr. Stephen Covey and Dr. Edward de Bono. JOLT Challenge has been run in Telecom, KPMG, Westpac, Frucor, BNZ, Sky City, Global Women Leadership Program, Potentia, CanTeen, IAG Australia and the Singapore Armed Forces.

In 2010, JOLT Challenge was highly commended in the Learning and Development Innovation Award at the NZATD Education Trust Training. That same year, Mind Warriors International was a finalist in the NZ Unlimited Investment Challenge.

Author
As well as JOLT Challenge(Star books, Random House, 2009) Jackson has also authored the book Stories at Work (Pindar Publishing, 2011). He is currently writing his third book.

Hypnotherapist
Jackson is a registered Clinical Hypnotherapist with a Diploma in Advanced Clinical Hypnotherapy and in 2007 studied with the late master hypnotherapist Gil Boyne. He is a certified Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) practitioner and has studied Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) and Shiatsu, the Japanese acupuncture massage based on Tradition Chinese Medicine. He is on the committee for the New Zealand Association of professional hypnotherapists and presented at the New Zealand Association of NLP and New Zealand Association of Professional Hypnotherapists Conference in June 2011. His clinic is currently based in St Benedicts Healthcare Centre in Newton, Auckland.

Keynote speaker
Jackson combines the art of improvisation with the science of psychology, neuroscience and best business practices to create practical and effective change techniques for individuals, teams and organisations. He presents on 4 main topics around improving performance: Organisational Storytelling, Collaborative Creativity , , Resilience & Wellness, Mind-Body Power. As a consultant and keynote speaker, Wade has worked with CEOs, senior executive teams, Universities, Militaries and not-for-profit organisations.

He is also an honorary lecturer in Organisational Behaviour at the AUT University, Faculty of Business and Law and a faculty member of the NZ Institute of Management.

Personal life
Jackson is married to Evie Ashton and they live with their daughter Sabina, son Axel, and two dogs Sophie and Scamp.

Charity
Jackson supports the charity organisation Foundation of Youth Development and CanTeen and was an ambassador for New Zealand Men’s Health Week 2011