Comedy and Improv
“Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.”
— Victor Borge
Not exactly a typical hobby for a mathematics professor and college administrator, but believe me, it can be just as challenging! I’ve been performing stand-up and improv comedy since the 1980’s.
- Here’s a Story Collider podcast where I give a monolog on being a math comedian.
- This article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution also featured my work in this space.
- Back in 1996, I was interviewed by Scott Simon on NPR’s Weekend edition on why there is no Nobel Prize in Mathematics. This was just meant to be a fun conversation, not carefully researched. There are many more definitive explanations
- I’ve published research about humor, but these are dry academic papers and not very funny. See details on my Professional page.
- And if you’re a glutton for punishment, you can sit through an hour of math jokes which I presented at a conference in 2010, or check out my youtube channel.
More recently I’ve taught classes for STEM professionals to improve their communication and public speaking skills by teaching them the basics of stand-up comedy. You should sign up for the next one! I have been teaching these through Science for Georgia.
I’ve also spent some time creating April Fool’s Jokes that occasionally get a little attention.
New Orleans Comedy
When I lived in New Orleans in the 1990’s I was fortunate to be involved with some very talented performers , some of whom you may know (like Ken Jeong). We did regular stand up comedy shows with Comedy Gumbo, a local comedian network I started, and also with Brown!, a local improv group I was in for many years.