Tim Minchin uses comedy to open a door to rationalism. Kat Austen, CultureLab editor (Image: Cameron Tandy/Newspix/Rex Features) With his heavy eyeliner and quirky act, comedian and musician Tim Minchin considers himself a "gateway drug" to science, philosophy and rationalism Your comedy is often about scepticism and rationalism - why?
Any understanding of science I have is reverse-engineered from my suspicion about belief systems: I don't think this medicine works, and how can I prove that to myself? Over the last 10 years I educated myself in science and stats a little bit. What made you such a fan of science? With so much information out there, how do you decide who or what to trust? So, what makes a good authority?
Are you on a mission for science? So you use comedy as a back door to introduce your ideas? Which of your songs has had the biggest impact? Storm, [a song about a dinner party encounter with someone who believes in pseudoscience] is one of my gateway videos in the US. Listen to Tim's answers to some of your reader questions: August 08, 2012 - Chris Rock - The Daily Show With Jon Stewart - Full Episode Video.
Chris Rock On The Funny Business Of Finding Success. Hide captionChris Rock stars as Julie Delpy's boyfriend in 2 Days in New York.
Delpy directed the film, a follow-up to her 2007 romantic comedy 2 Days in Paris. Walter Thomson/Magnolia Pictures. An Anthropologist Walks Into A Bar And Asks, 'Why Is This Joke Funny?' : Shots - Health Blog. Hide caption Amateur comedian Robert Lynch takes the mic at the Metropolitan Room in New York City on July 21.
Lynch is also an evolutionary anthropologist who is studying what laughter reveals about us. Melanie Burford for NPR Hide caption Megan Lutz, left, and Justin Chun react to Lynch's standup routine. When we laugh at a joke, Lynch hypothesizes, we are often revealing our unconscious attitudes. Melanie Burford/NPR Hide caption Lynch performs to a full house at the Metropolitan Room in Manhattan, N.Y. He says people all over the world want their friends and romantic partners to share their sense of humor. Morgan Harris - Hot Topics Daniel Tosh s Rape Joke The View. Only Joking: What's So Funny About Making People Laugh? (9781592402359): Jimmy Carr, Lucy Greeves. Jerry Seinfeld Hits The Web, Still Talking About Nothing.
Hide captionJerry Seinfeld is premiering a Web-only series Thursday called Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. The new show features fellow comedians like Larry David, Ricky Gervais and Michael Richards. John Shearer/Invision for David Lynch Foundation/AP Images Jerry Seinfeld is premiering a Web-only series Thursday called Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.
The new show features fellow comedians like Larry David, Ricky Gervais and Michael Richards. Jerry Seinfeld's new series is called Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, and the promos promise exactly that. But the next act from the man behind the most popular sitcom on television won't be on television. Morgan Harris - Jerry Seinfeld on How to Write a Joke. Louis C.K. - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - 07/16. Eugene Levy - Interview - Eugene Levy Stays Smart, Even In The Cheapest Gag. Hide captionIn Madea's Witness Protection, George Needleman (Eugene Levy, center) is put in witness protection with Madea (Tyler Perry, right) after he discovers he's the fall man for a Ponzi scheme.
KC Bailey/Lionsgate George Needleman is the chief bean counter of an investment bank who, in Madea's Witness Protection, is too consumed with family problems to realize he's being set up to take the fall for a Ponzi scheme. When he grasps what's going on, he's placed in witness protection — at Madea's house. Tyler Perry, who wrote and directed the movie, plays Madea, as well as most other members of her family. Needleman, the latest fussy, funny, bushy-eyebrowed, precise and put-upon man, is portrayed by Eugene Levy. hide captionLevy (left) with some of the noted comedians that were part of Second City in Toronto: (from left, after Levy) Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Rosemary Radcliffe and John Candy.
Photofest. Conan's 'Uphill Climb' To Late-Night Throne. Hide captionConan O'Brien interviews Bruce Willis in a 2005 episode of Late Night With Conan O'Brien.
NBC/Getty Images Conan O'Brien interviews Bruce Willis in a 2005 episode of Late Night With Conan O'Brien. Conan O'Brien has probably had the most unusual career trajectory of any current late-night host. When he joined NBC's Late Night in 1993, replacing David Letterman, he had virtually no on-air experience. He did, however, have comedy-writing chops: O'Brien edited the humor magazine The Harvard Lampoon as a student, then wrote for Saturday Night Live and was a writer and producer for The Simpsons.
Although it took him a while to get comfortable in front of the camera — many critics initially gave him bad reviews — he eventually did so well on Late Night that he became the host of The Tonight Show in 2009, after Jay Leno's ill-fated move to prime time. Interview Highlights On taking over for Letterman "I always knew that this was going to be hard. "This is turning into a therapy session.