Did I Waste My PhD on Comedy?

Thoughts on Academia and Stand-Up Comedy (Things That Matter #31)

When people hear I have a PhD, they often find creative ways to ask why I’d waste it on comedy. Lol. The underlying assumption is they think academia and stand-up are opposites. They think one’s serious while the other’s silly or they think one’s about discovering truth while the other’s about getting laughs. The truth is: they’re two sides of the same coin. Let me explain.

Academic research trained me to spot gaps. Here’s how it works: 1) you read pretty much everything important ever written on a topic; 2) you find what’s missing; and, 3) you fill that hole with new insight. Comedy does this, too! When I’m writing jokes, I seek to find the gap between what people say and what they do, between what they believe and what’s actually true, between expectation and reality. That gap is, as I’ve suggested on this site before, where the heart of joke lives.

What about a thesis or dissertation defense? Well, the whole point of that is others asking you what truth you’ve discovered that no one else has seen. That’s why a punchline pretty much asks the same question. It just gets answered with laughter instead of men in fancy gowns handing you a degree.

My point is: my PhD taught me to analyze. It taught me to analyze words and assumptions and ask questions like “What do people take for granted?” Or: “What goes unquestioned here?” Stand-up comedy requires the exact same skill. Literally, I examine everyday situations and ask why people do this thing this way or that way. The question basically forms the backbone of my setup. The answer forms my punchline.

In academia, when I’m researching, I form a hypothesis and test it. I gather data, revise my theory, and test again. Comedy works identically. I write a joke, test it on stage, analyze the response, and rewrite based on what I learned. The audience is my peer review as it were. The laugh is my data point. If a joke bombs, I don’t blame the crowd. I revise my hypothesis and try again.

Both disciplines, academics and comedy, teach us to look at the obvious and see something everyone missed. That’s precisely why my academic training makes me a better comedian than if I personally lacked it. I know how to research a topic thoroughly, find what’s been overlooked, and present it in a way that changes how people think about it, even if only slightly. Likewise, my comedy training makes me a better scholar. I know how to take complex ideas and make them accessible without dumbing them down.

So, nah, I didn’t waste my PhD on comedy. I’m using every bit of it. The only difference is the venue. Instead of a conference center, I’m in a comedy club. Instead of a dissertation committee, I’m facing a crowd. Instead of citations, I’m delivering punchlines.

I’m still doing the same kind of work. I’m finding truth in the gaps and sharing it with people. Academics discover truth and write papers about it. I do that, too. But as a comedian, I also discover truth and make people laugh about it. Both matter. Both change minds. Both require the same critical thinking muscles. So, from my perspective, the PhD wasn’t wasted, it was preparation.

JOKE WRITING COURSE: By the way, if you have any interest at all in learning about your persona, how to write some jokes, or doing stand-up comedy, check out my online joke writing course, “The Joke Writer’s Lab,” HERE.