Science comedian Brian Malow has worked at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences for four years and is now taking a turn in his career to pursue his new freelance projects." />
Contributed by John Gilbey
Science comedian Brian Malow has worked at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences for four years and is now taking a turn in his career to pursue his new freelance projects.
With a love for science since childhood, it was only natural that Brian Malow would poke fun at what he liked the most. Proclaiming himself as “The Earth’s Premier Science Comedian,” he has performed for multiple audiences including comedy shows, radio broadcasting and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.
Describing himself as a “science geek,” Malow said he has always known he wanted to do something creative. He first enrolled in a pre-med school, but then he decided to go to a TV-production graduate school and started making videos. Easing into comedy, he found a love for it — so much so that he became a stand-up comedian.
His comedic adventure first began 10 years ago, when he decided to launch his own website. From videos for Time Magazine, to radio broadcasting with the famous astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, to performances in front of Apple or Microsoft engineers, Malow has opened a new breach in the science world.
“I do love science, and it is important to me that people appreciate it; I want them to see how cool it is,” Malow said.
Malow says it is with enthusiasm and passion that he opens science to a broader audience, including those more hesitant of the subject.
“He gives people an opportunity to laugh about science instead of being intimidated by it,” said Michelle Trautwein, an entomologist at the California Academy of Sciences.
Beyond comedy, Malow said he works to create bridges between the general audience and the world of scientists by training scientists to be better speakers.
The primary method of communicating science includes being clear and knowing your audience, according to Malow. He said that with those two concepts, scientists will enhance their ability to communicate about scientific subjects with a larger audience.
“Working with Brian helped me improve my public speaking by miles,” Trautwein said. “As scientists, I think we often focus on details and accuracy, even when speaking to public audiences. Brian made me realize how important it is instead to connect with the audience, engage with them and give them something that piques their interests.”
From Malow’s point of view, “science is all about curiosity” but can be a hard subject to get into. However, with science being an essential part of everyday lives, there’s no harm in gaining a clearer perspective of the matter, according to Malow.
Malow’s end goal is to show people that science is not necessarily hard or boring, but that you can have fun speaking about science. Malow* explained that while some jokes are just to entertain, they can also introduce deeper subjects as well as spark new discoveries on concepts about science.
Margaret Lowman, director of global initiatives at the Institute for Biodiversity Science and Sustainability at the California Academy of Sciences, said she admires how Malow “touches everyone — from a shy kindergarten kid to a gray-haired retired professor, Brian had a wit and a charm and great wisdom.”
After working at the museum for four years, he is now in the process of becoming a full-time performer. On Friday, he is leaving the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences to pursue his career in science communication, with plans to publish a book and perform in comedy shows about science.
Eager about sharing with an ever-increasing audience, Malow said he is now ready to commit fully to his new projects. Among them, he would like to write a book about his work in creating connections between scientists and the general audience.
“There is something in me that likes to teach, and you might learn something from a joke, but my first purpose is to entertain,” Malow said.
To begin this journey, Malow said he plans to stay in Raleigh to perform more at comedy clubs and be on stage, including at Goodnights Comedy Club. For now, his latest sketches are available on his YouTube channel, sciencecomedian.
*The Technician originally incorrectly wrote Marlow