Not Coming To The Clubs Near You: a Science Comedian

I’ve noted before that efforts – at least in the U.S. – to combine science and comedy have focused much more on bringing the funny than incorporating science.  Hopping across the Atlantic, we can see in the U.K. more of an effort to include more science content into humor (or rather, humour).  As the Guardian notes, neuroscientist and stand-up comedian Dean Burnett gets work doing comedy sets for scientific conferences.

Now, if there is someone able to do the same thing in the U.S. or in other countries, I’d love to hear about it.  But the only thing I’ve seen at a conference that comes close is a presentation by the Annals of Improbable Research (AIR) about Ig-Nobel winning research.  It’s a far cry from some of Burnett’s jokes from the Guardian piece, as Burnett is creating the funny, while AIR is acknowledging the found humor in some research.

Of course, humor is subjective, so your mileage may vary.