Join cognitive psychologist Greg Bryant and scientist turned comedian Tim Lee for an evening of laughter. Half comedy show and half science talk, this month’s Being Human explores the science behind why we laugh.
Greg BryantGreg Bryant received a PhD in cognitive psychology from UC Santa Cruz. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at UCLA in biological anthropology and is currently an associate professor at UCLA in the Department of Communication Studies. He is interested broadly in the evolution of human vocal communication and social behavior. In his research he has examined a variety of vocal phenomena both within and across cultures including vocal emotions, infant-directed speech, laughter, verbal irony, and music cognition. This empirical work is complemented by his longstanding interest in playing and recording music in a variety of styles.
Tim LeeTim Lee wasn't supposed to be a comedian. A biologist by training, he graduated magna cum laude from UC San Diego with honors in biology. He went on to complete his PhD at UC Davis. He spent years developing simulation and analytical models of population dynamics before he discovered that this bored him to tears. When he tried comedy for the first time the tears stopped.