Ronald P. Culberson is the Patch Adams of business consulting. Like the doctor whose character Robin Williams portrayed in a recent movie, the former social worker inserts humor into his consulting business, called Funsulting etc.

"People need to balance humor with serious things and not take life too seriously," Mr. Culberson, of Herndon, said. "The serious stuff we have to do, but you can have fun in life and still be serious."

Mr. Culberson teaches employees how to use humor to gain a different perspective and see more options, with an aim to increase creativity and improve health. About half of his business is public speaking and keynote addresses related to humor; the other half is more traditional consulting, such as team building and communicating. He charges for speaking engagements in the metro area and more for outside travel.

Last year, he had 105 speaking engagements with 70 different clients, from government agencies to large companies. Most companies that use his services are large, such as the cereal maker Kellogg Co. and the International Finance Corp.

As a child, Mr. Culberson showed off his comedic tendencies by running through the living room of his parents' home in front of guests dressed in funny costumes. He enjoyed humor, but knew he didn't want to be a standup comedian. So he researched the psychological value of humor in college and graduate school, writing his master's thesis on the relationship between humor and depression.

After college, he worked as a social worker and senior manager at Hospice of Northern Virginia for 10 years, where he inserted humor into his daily work. In 1996, he started his consulting business, making humor the centerpiece of his service.

The name, Funsulting, came to him easily and explains his business, he said.

Mr. Culberson works alone from a home office, complete with dancing Elvis clock and a picture of him as the comaster of ceremonies at a hospice event with actor Tony Randall. Mr. Culberson's wife, an engineer with IBM Corp., helped support the family as he got the business on its feet, but he was surprised by how quickly the business became successful. He has doubled his revenues, which he would not reveal, since he started the company

Most of his first clients were contacts from his previous jobs. Now many of his clients come to him by word of mouth or his Web site and are scattered across the country.

Lisa Rochlin of the National Cancer Institute hired Mr. Culberson to speak at the Cancer Information Service's national meeting last April. He spoke about the importance of incorporating humor into daily work, which is important for people who deal with cancer daily, she said. Mr. Culberson takes the time to understand his audience, and the audience notices, she said.

"He received a standing ovation," she said. "There was not a dry eye in the house from laughter."

Mr. Culberson was so well received he is speaking again at the institute this month.

Because marketing and finance are not Mr. Culberson's strengths, he has hired another speaker as a mentor to help him run his business.

Humorous toys Mr. Culberson gives to his audiences caught on so well he sells them at conferences and workshops he speaks at for $1 each. The toys range from lapel pins with funny faces and wiggling arms to happy-faced squeeze balls. He also sells books related to humor.

Adding humor to the work-place does not take time or money, Mr. Culberson said.

One way to have fun in the workplace is to collect cartoons and look at them when you are having a bad day. Or have everyone in the office collect cartoons and have a contest each month with a prize for the person who finds the funniest one, Mr. Culberson suggests.

Another way is to sing a presentation. Mr. Culberson once sang a presentation to the theme song of TV's "Gilligan's Island." The meeting was more productive than others because people were listening to what he was saying, he said.

Company: Funsulting etc. Business: Humorous business consulting Founder: Ronald P. Culberson Location: 665 Old Hunt Way, Herndon Employees: 1 Initial investment: $1,000 1998 revenues: Declined to say 1999 projected revenues: 60 percent growth over 1998.