After traveling the world and meeting people at the front-lines of comedy, Joel Warner and I were curious about gender differences in humor: So where did this notion that men are funnier than women come from? Maybe it’s simply because comedy, from the vaudeville scene of the early 20th century
The depressed and drunk comedian is a common stereotype within the entertainment business. Joel Warner and I investigate the phenomena in this Slate article: So then why do so many people assume successful comics are troubled? Maybe the problem isn’t with the comics, it’s with the act of creating comedy.
I recently had a great talk about comedy and business with Brian Carter. Brian is a marketer, comedian, and author (of The Cowbell Principle). . See more about Brian and the interview here.
Joel Warner and I delve into the history of stand-up comedy in this Slate article. It’s an odd sort of entertainment. There’s no narrative structure, no plot, backstory, sets, editors, or producers. It’s comedy boiled down to basics: a comedian and an audience, where you either score a laugh or
Joel Warner and I look into how the comedy world deals with joke stealing: With all of this joke borrowing going on, what’s an aggrieved comedian to do? Does anyone actually own a joke, after all? What legal recourse, if any, does that owner have when some hack swipes his
Can a chuckle be a catalyst for a revolution? Joel Warner and I take a look at whether humor is a thermometer or a thermostat: Let’s consider the case of Serbia in 1999. The small Balkan state was in its 10th year in the autocratic grip of President Slobodan Milošević.
The nice people at ESPN’s 538 site came to Boulder to look at our research examining how to make people funnier. I hope to have more results soon. In the meantime, come to our Humor Hackfest (5/12), which is part of Boulder Startup Week.
The University of Colorado did a nice profile about my research. Here it is:
Welcome back to another episode of “Aging Single,” where Peter McGraw explores the intricacies of aging, retiring, and dying solo. This time, in episode
Welcome to the final episode of I’M NOT JOKING. Comedian JD Lopez returns from Episode 1 to debrief and reflect on Peter’s experience building
