by Jen “Lil’ Bit” Schleusner
Comedian, author and professional skeptic Leighann Lord joins Jen for a conversation about comedy, critical thinking, Star Trek and what keeps Dragon Con surprising after all these years.
For Leighann, Dragon Con is also a birthday celebration. Even after years of attending, she says the convention can still offer something unexpected. Sometimes it is less about being surprised and more about seeing the creativity of fellow attendees and being reminded of what people can create when they’re having a good time.
Listen to the Interview
Finding the Funny
Leighann describes her style as “Thinking Cap Comedy,” but smart comedy comes with a challenge: the audience may not always have the same information she does.
Rather than abandoning an idea, Leighann talks about meeting audiences where they are. If people need a little more context to understand the joke, she finds a way to bring them into it.
There is another rule she follows when tackling serious subjects: she has to find the funny first. If she is still angry about something, she isn’t ready to turn it into comedy.
That humor can also open the door to bigger ideas. A joke may not immediately change someone’s mind, but it can make them more willing to consider another point of view.
Comedy Around the World
Having performed across the United States and around the world, Leighann has learned that some comedy travels better than others.
Sarcasm doesn’t always translate. Neither do complicated concepts that require too much explanation.
Family, relationships, money, parents and kids, however, are much more universal. The comedy comes from the performer’s individual perspective on those familiar parts of life.
And yes, everybody thinks their family is weird.
Skepticism and Asking Questions
Leighann also talks about her path toward skepticism and the importance of questioning your own beliefs.
For her, that process began with asking questions when she was young. Later, meeting people from different backgrounds helped her realize how many people can hold completely different beliefs while being equally convinced they’re right.
Changing someone’s mind directly can be incredibly difficult. Humor, however, can make people a little less defensive and leave them open to reconsidering an idea later.
Star Trek Technology — What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Of course, we couldn’t let a noted Star Trek fan escape without a Trek question.
Which piece of Star Trek technology would humanity find the stupidest possible use for?
Leighann’s answer: transporters.
Forget exploring strange new worlds. We’d use them to show up unannounced at people’s homes and make dating even creepier.
Replicators wouldn’t necessarily fare much better. Give humanity unlimited access to replicated food, and we’d probably spend our time making ice cream sundaes.
As for the technology she’d actually like to have? A medical tricorder — although she’d want everyone to have access to one too.
A Joke Made for Dragon Con
We closed with a question that could only work at Dragon Con: What’s something you can say here that would sound completely strange anywhere else?
Leighann had the perfect example.
Someone once asked her to rate how much of a nerd she is on a scale of one to ten.
Her answer?
42.
At Dragon Con, the audience immediately got the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy reference.
Anywhere else? Maybe not so much.
And that might be one of the best explanations of Dragon Con there is.
Find more about Leighann at VeryFunnyLady.com
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