In this Q&A with EVG, she discusses the transition from the lab to the stage and the role of humor in science.
Growing up, were you a class-clown type or more of a laid-back observer with a knack for a well-placed zinger? Or maybe none of the above!
None of the above. I was an enormous goody-two-shoes growing up. I was the kind of kid who attended my own parent-teacher conferences instead of taking the day off because I wanted to hear the compliments, which, in retrospect, was psychotic.
I liked to invent my own holidays and would call my classmates on their landlines and ask them to dress up for me, which they usually did not. But I would be funny in my own way — aka in a controlled setting, like at a talent show — and I wish I'd seen as a kid that being funny and easygoing and getting good grades were not mutually exclusive!
So, how did you first come to use humor to enhance your work as a research scientist?
Humor is the easiest way to get people to like you, and I figured that out at a young age.
When I was working as a research scientist at a sperm bank, I felt like a lot of the participants felt extremely awkward about having to interact with me before and after, which is very fair. Humor was the easiest way to make them feel at ease and make my own job easier. I found that it also helped me connect with coworkers and supervisors and get people to help me out like it would in any job!
As an undergrad and grad student, I also had many times when I had to recruit people to a study or try to speak with people for interviews for reports, and humor was always the fastest way to earn trust. Scientists aren't really known for their humor, so it was relatively easy to become the "funny" one at the lab. I actually wrote a little article about this topic
here!
Was there a specific moment or situation where you realized humor could play a role in your scientific work?
I remember during one of my first clinical visits with a sperm bank participant, he was concerned that the female scientists were going to use his sperm to bear his offspring without his knowledge. Usually, I'd give a long speech about medical ethics and why that would be illegal, but this tended to confuse everyone more. One day, I just said, "Don't flatter yourself," and I got a huge laugh, and the matter was settled. So I gave myself to try jokes from there on out.
Were you concerned that using humor in that role could diminish your credibility as a researcher?
I think there's always the concern that anything lighthearted could take away from the seriousness of a topic. But just like in stand-up, it's all about knowing your audience.
For example, when publishing in peer-reviewed journals or giving a presentation to the head of a lab department, I kept everything super professional. But if I got to speak in front of just my coworkers or was interviewed for a non-academic publication, I let myself loosen up. It's the same with comedy — I take an audit of the crowd when I first get on stage; are they young? Old? Locals? Tourists? Parents? And then I try to tailor the material to what I think they'll like, and I'm always ready with other jokes in case what I'm giving them isn't landing. So, I think it's just about knowing your audience!
Was there a particular event or realization that made you make the leap into comedy full-time?
Let's just say it wasn't totally my choice, and you'll have to come to "EGG" to see why I'm not a scientist anymore.
But generally speaking, I just felt like all my life, I secretly wanted to be a comedian. I remember so clearly in high school, someone asking me what I wanted to do after graduation, and I said, "Well, if I could be ANYTHING, I'd be a comedian, but I'm going to college to become a medical researcher." It felt so natural to say that, like, Yes, duh, I want to be a comedian, but I assumed that it would be a thing I always yearned for from a distance, like the way people dream about going to outer space.
It wasn't until I got older that I realized 1) not everyone secretly wishes they were a stand-up comedian; in fact, that sounds like a nightmare to most people, and 2) you can break into it just like you can at any job, I just didn't know how.
So once I did my first open mic, when I'd already finished my masters and was starting at my lab, I was like, WHOA, I didn't know life could feel like that. It felt like all my nerve endings were exposed for the first time. And then I just became totally addicted, and I've been doing comedy every single day since then. It's all I think about.
As I got deeper and deeper into the comedy scene in NYC, the more I felt like that was the "true" me and that the Sarah at work was a muted version. It feels so amazing to just be fully myself all the time now.
Stand-up also gave me a chance to really stand on my own two legs, not hide behind a fancy university or hospital, but just be rawly myself, share my thoughts with the world, and make people laugh.
I'll never get sick of that feeling. I feel like I'm now squeezing every drop out of life. This isn't to say that I don't love/miss science; that's why I'm so happy I have this show! "EGG" allows me to combine my love of writing and performance with scientific exploration.
