28 TOASTMASTER June 2011

Q & A WITH TIM LEE

From Science to Stand-Up

Former biologist now works in comedy –with PowerPoint as a stage tool!

Most stand-up comedians minetheir material from subjects

such as relationships, politics andscandal-causing celebrities. But TimLee? He jokes about molecularbonding and nuclear fission. Hewrites punchlines built aroundquantum physics, and he usesPowerPoint as his comedy prop.

Lee is a trained biologist whoearned his Ph.D. at the University ofCalifornia, Davis. He spent years inacademia, developing simulation andanalytical models of populationdynamics before discovering that itbored him. Then something funnyhappened: The scientist turned his pro-fessional sights to stand-up comedy.

First, there was a small careerdetour. After abandoning academia,he worked as a computer program-mer for Charles Schwab. But hestill didn’t feel fulfilled. One nighthe performed at an open-mic com-edy event in a San FranciscoLaundro mat – and was instantlyhooked. Lee soon found thatPowerPoint was a fitting stage toolfor his science-themed act.

He has since found success on

YouTube, with more than 3 millionviews of his videos, and is perform-ing sold-out shows at comedyvenues from New York to San Diego.Lee’s corporate comedy clientsinclude Johnson and Johnson,Genentech and Microsoft.

Here, the stand-up comic an -swers questions from the Toast -master magazine:

When did you know that you wanted to do comedy?After graduate school I was at a point inmy life where I knew what I didn’twant to do. I was bored with thekind of research I was doing. I gavecorporate America a shot and found thework was just as boring – plus, I hadto spend countless hours in meetingslistening to people avoid making deci-sions. I had to try something new tospice up my life. I chose stand-upcomedy. It was painful at first, but Icould deal with honest pain easierthan boredom.

What made you give up a promising career in science to stand up and tell jokes?

At some point you have to have avision for yourself and go for it. If youdon’t, someone else will create thatvision for you and force you to live it.By most people’s standards I shouldhave been happy with where I was,but honestly I wasn’t. When comedycame along, I knew I loved it; I wasn’tgoing to let it slip through my fingers.

Why do you use PowerPoint in your act?My favorite professors would throwgag slides into their presentationsand I decided I would as well. A fewmonths after I started doing stand-upcomedy I found an open mic [event]that had a PowerPoint set-up. I askedthe emcee if I could try some Power -Point science jokes in front of theregular audience. He agreed, and tomy surprise the audience loved it!

What type of people are in your typical audience? I perform everywhere: theaters, comedy clubs, colleges, companyevents. The one thing that my fanshave in common is intellectual curios-ity. They’re generally pretty smartpeople. That keeps me on my toes.

Tim Lee riffs on topics like nuclearfission and quantum physics.

June 2011 TOASTMASTER 29

How do you tailor your material to your audience?I always work clean. I don’t haveto change it up for the corporateaudience or the theater crowd. Idecided early on that I wanted towork clean and I’ve stuck to that.

Do you write all your own jokes?Yes! I like writing almost as muchas performing, so I wouldn’t dreamof having someone do it for me.

How do you pick your topics?I’m not an epiphany comic – i.e.,most of my jokes don’t just cometo me. I usually sit down with atextbook, try to understand a par-ticular topic at a deeper level, thenimagine I have to teach it to a stu-dent. How could I teach it to themhumorously?

Who is a bigger influence on you –comedian Dane Cook or Albert Einstein?It depends on how you look at it.It’s all relative.

It has been said PowerPoint isoverused in corporate presentations.What’s your opinion?PowerPoint is the only form of tor-ture still legal in the United States.But I believe PowerPoint can be usedfor good. I believe that one day thepeople who use PowerPoint willhave a point. I believe that one dayno one will read their slides aloud toan audience that has already readthem in their head. I believe that oneday presenters will check their fig-ures before they present them. Ibelieve that one day people from HRwill join hands with people fromengineering and say, “I understoodwhy we had to sit through that!”

What tips would you offer to engineers and scientists about how to liven up their presentations?No one pays attention to onetopic for more than seven min-utes, so you need to change it upabout every seven minutes. Whatif I can’t explain a topic in seven

minutes? It’s fine to spend sometime talking about one subject,then move on to another, thencome back [to the first subject].The presentation doesn’t have tobe completely linear. In fact, it’smore interesting if it isn’t.

Once you’ve lost the audience,you might as well not be talking,because no one is listening.

Should all speakers open their presentations with a joke?If you are good with jokes, go forit. Jokes are very good at breakingtension and helping people relax.That opens minds a little bit. Ifyou’re not good at telling jokes, abrief personal anecdote will drawthe audience in as well. You’re shar-ing a little bit about yourself, andthat gives them a reason to careabout what you’re saying.

To learn more about Tim Lee, or to contact him, visit powerpointcomedian.com.

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