By day, I’m an ecologist, but by night I’m a comedian! I’ve written and performed stand-up comedy for a few years now, but recently I’ve been incorporating science into my sets as a form of outreach. Here's my Science Slam set from @BritishEcolSoc #BES2019

While climate change is ‘no laughing matter’, acknowledging our discomfort about the subject & incorporating good-natured jokes about being a climate researcher can be a great way to start conversations about global change.

The trick is to find the right balance between communicating key facts and providing light-hearted insight into what it is like to study an often bleak topic. So - how do you go about mining your research for comedy material?

Try the storytelling approach! Do you have a lab or fieldwork story that always makes your friends laugh when you recount it in the pub? If so, you’re already halfway there to making a great comedy routine. Real observations & stories show the fun side of day-to-day science.

Puns - every research group has a resident punster! You can pepper your #scicomm writing or presentations with fun and clever asides - I’m not too brilliant at this, although I gave it a crack at the September 2019 Climate March.

Want to give it a try yourself? Many cities and conferences host ‘Science Slam’ events - science entertainment open mics where you can showcase your research. In the UK you can sign up to perform at Bright Club. http://brightclub.org/ 

I’ll sign off on this thread by calling for YOUR favourite science jokes! Do you have a real zinger you want to share with the world? Reply to showcase your talent.