Craig Shoemaker has had a career in show business, spanning over four decades as a stand up comedian, actor, author, writer and producer. He was named Comedian of the Year at The American Comedy Awards on ABC and garnered two NATAS Emmy awards. His 90-minute stand-up special, Daditude, aired prime time on SHOWTIME Network and was on the front page on Netflix for several months.

Craig Shoemaker has performed comedy for four US Presidents, four solo comedy TV specials, won Standup Comedian of the Year at the American Comedy Awards, appeared on Broadway, is a two-time NATAS Emmy Award winner, a WGA scribe, an award-winning TV/Film producer, and best-selling author of a novel and two children’s books. Craig is a prominent speaker and coach; the founder and creator of Winning With Humor live events, one-on-one coaching, and training system. Craig has written, produced, and starred in two Universal feature films, Totally Baked, and The LoveMaster. He has recurred two times on Parks & Recreation, and has guest starred in such film and TV productions as Pleasantville, Scream 2, Fuller House and Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Craig is the producer/creator/host of the Amazon Prime shows, The Wolf Pac and Comedy Kitchen.

Shoemaker has been included on the IMDB “Top 100 Stand Up Comics” list and had one of the top 20 stand up specials of all time on Comedy Central. Based on his nonprofit foundation Laughter Heals, Craig has spoken all over the world, including his acclaimed TED Talk in Ojai, CA.

Craig founded Winning With Laughter, Craig Shoemaker’s Winning with Laughter live events, one-on-one coaching and training system will help bridge gaps in the boardroom, break room, and the living room. Science has proven that laughter is indeed the best medicine. Winning with Laughter’s proven methods will give you insights how to reboot and transform from the inside out!

Craig also Founded Laughter Worx wherein he and his team help companies crack the code on workplace engagement, productivity, and well-being. Powered by their signature blend of neuroscience, laughter, and mindfulness, their live workshops and digital tools are designed to help teams ditch stress, boost focus, and actually enjoy work (crazy concept, right?).

Awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013 by the American Guitar Society, Jack Sanders’ performances have included the Sitka Summer Music Festival, Kapalua Music Festival of Hawaii, Arrowhead Bach Festival, and solo appearances with numerous orchestras, including the Illinois Chamber Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Santa Fe, Modesto Symphony, Orange County Chamber Orchestra and South Coast Symphony.  Sanders’ final concert while a faculty member at Pomona College was To the Edge of Dream by Toru Takemitsu with the Pomona College Orchestra under the direction of Prof. Eric Lindholm.  In addition, he has performed with the St. Petersburg, Colorado, and Angeles String Quartets, the vocal group I Cantori, and the contemporary chamber ensemble XTET. Radio appearances have included NPR’s nationally broadcast “West Coast Live.”

As a Piatigorsky Foundation artist since 2005, Sanders performs throughout the United States, usually two or three tours each year.  In the 2024 season, he concertized in Georgia, Eastern and Western Texas, Montana and Idaho.

In 1984 Jack Sanders formed a duo with violinist Clayton Haslop which appeared at two Guitar Foundation of America Festivals, Merkin Hall in New York, the Oregon Bach Festival and concerts from Hawaii and Alaska to Maine. The Haslop/Sanders Duo toured for the California Arts Council, and a 1988 tour of China included the Shanghai Conservatory, where Mr. Sanders was the first U.S. guitarist to appear after the Cultural Revolution. The Duo has recorded for Centaur Records and Townhall Records. A solo recording by Mr. Sanders featuring the Preludes of Ponce, Villa-Lobos and Carlevaro was released by Townhall Records in the Spring of 2000.

Mr. Sanders has also performed with oboist Allan Vogel and flutist Janice Tipton as the Valencia Trio which appeared at the International Music Festival of Costa Rica and the Sedona Chamber Music Festival.

Equally at home performing music of all periods, he gave the American premiere of Micio Mamiya’s Sacred Spells for Guitar. Works written for him include Anthony Plog’s Animial Ditties for Guitar and Narrator, Karl Kohn’s Soliloquy, Tripartita, Concords (violin/guitar), Colla Voce (viola/guitar), and Frank Campo’s Two Studies (trumpet/guitar) which he has recorded for Crystal Records. In 1996 he gave the first performances of Las Folios D’Espana, a concerto by Louis Moyse and in January, 1999 he gave the U.S. premiere of Raymond Luedeke’s Elemental Dances with the Colorado String Quartet. In 2005, Mr. Sanders gave the premier performances of Music in Four Sharps for guitar and string quartet by Ian Krouse.

An accomplished luthier, Mr. Sanders builds classical and flamenco guitars, as well as historic reproductions of vihuelas, baroque guitars and 19th Century instruments. Sanders historic instrument copies have been commissioned by Yale University, San Francisco Conservatory, USC, UCLA, CSU Dominguez Hills, Columbus State University and others. A faculty member of Pomona College from 1980-2022, he has also taught guitar-building courses at California Institute of the Arts and Pomona College. He received his BFA and MFA degrees from California Institute of the Arts and has served on the Board of Directors of the Guitar Foundation of America.