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Stand-Up Comic Makes Science Funny
Hugh Pickens writes "The San Fransisco Chronicle is running a story about Brian Malow, a stand-up comedian who has showcased his science-centric stand-up humor for more than a decade in comedy clubs, at conventions and for corporate clients across the country. Fortunately, club patrons don't need a degree in quantum mechanics to appreciate one-liners like 'I used to be an astronomer, but I got stuck on the day shift,' 'I just started reading, "The Origin of Species." Don't tell me how it ends!' or that he 'attended a magnet school for bipolar students.' While his show is very rational and based on hard science, Malow cleverly infuses it with an abstract or surreal comic twist."
Hugh Pickens continues: "Like observing that whenever his mother would lose weight, his father would gain weight, and then linking the two by a fundamental law of nature. 'It was like the Conservation of Mass within our family,' says Malow, adding that 'fat can neither be created nor destroyed.' Last year Malow performed for colleagues at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena. 'We found his humor delightfully nerdy, and he fitted right in,' said Kevin Grazier, who is a planetary scientist and author. 'It's one thing to make people laugh when they're sitting in a darkened club room, with a few drinks in them. It takes real talent to be funny in the afternoon, in a work environment.' Malow's interest in science and nature also extends to his passion for insects, with Web site InsectPaparazzi, and he has even discovered a species of fly. 'Of course, I found it in Golden Gate Park,' he says. 'So it may have just been a tourist.'"
"How much for a drink?"
The bartender replied, "For you, no charge."
Is this comedian unionized?
Nope, he's just really positive. :P
'We found his humor delightfully nerdy, and he fitted right in,' said Kevin Grazier, who is a planetary scientist and author.
Ugh, really? It's hard to keep feeling superior to the artsies when other scientists are using words like 'fitted' in this context.
'I just started reading, "The Origin of Species." Don't tell me how it ends!
Turns out the zebra did it.
Punchline: Yo mamma's fat.
I like to place meaningful quotes in my sig, so people will know that I know what meaningful quotes are.
Q: Why did the mathematician have complex numbers on his telephone?
So he could call all his imaginary friends.
Whenever I've gotten a speeding ticket, I've thought about arguing with the Judge that the cop was lying on the ticket. He noted both where I was and how fast I was going, and since he can only measure one of those things, he's clearly lying about the other.
-"Those who fought today will die tommorow."-
Pull harder, mom. I miss you.
Does having a witty signature really indicate normality?
Remember, Math and alcohol don't mix. Please don't drink and derive!
Fascism starts when the efficiency of the government becomes more important than the rights of the people.
A: Wait, I can explain Everything! It's not what it looks like!
-- Subvert the dominant paradigm. Repeat as desired. http://ownlifeful.com/
I completely agree. No matter how many times I've told people my signature was part of a larger cmd.exe prank, I was hiding the fact that I accidentally used that code for the real cmd.exe back when I was on the Microsoft NT team. It got me fired, because after the code shipped and users were complaining about freezing batch files, I was fired and since then I have burned my copy of The C Programming Language and started my own company.
My company is devoted to abandoning C, and we write device drivers in pure Java. We are also working on an operating system, codenamed "pleasework", coded from the ground up in java - we already have a GUI and everything, and are now just getting the BIOS and bootstrapping code to work, where we seem to have some trouble. Sadly, my company will be filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy pretty soon, and truth be known none of our Java device drivers have worked, and our OS team members keep leaving, saying the project is "impossible", although some tell me to use JNI, which is nothing but C again.
If things don't get better, I'll have to start another company, maybe this time writing drivers in Perl, but I completely agree - C should never be used, not in userland apps, drivers, operating systems, bootstrappers, or anything.
</sarcasm>
You're pretty fly for a science guy
He's so hot he's exothermic!
All comments are properties and trademarks of the voices in my head. Not like I'm gonna claim them.
Sometimes it's cringe-inducing. But I liked Sheldon's variation on rock/paper/scissors. To make it more interesting there were five choices, the two additional being lizard and Spock. For example, lizard poisons Spock; Spock disproves paper; etc.
But, I wanted socialized health insurance!
You mean he regurgitates the same material and then laps it back up after the audience has had a reaction?
Every mans' island needs an ocean; choose your ocean carefully.
It takes real talent to be funny in the afternoon, in a work environment.
I disagree. Slashdotters submit hilarious stuff from "work" most afternoons.
I agree, and they get modded Insightful!
Ernie Cline's "Nerd Porn Auteur".
O lord, bless this thy holy hand grenade, that with it thou mayest blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy.
Hey, I was an frickin' art major and I know that that magnets have poles.
This ain't rocket surgery.
My kids and I use the "Jesus/Ninja/Robot" variant.
In fact, the mere act of opening the box will determine the state of the cat, although in this case there were three determinate states the cat could be in: these being Alive, Dead, and Bloody Furious.