TED Talks
Rob Reid: The $8 billion iPod
Comic author Rob Reid unveils Copyright Math (TM), a remarkable new field of study based on actual numbers from entertainment industry lawyers and lobbyists.
TED Talks
TED: Why I keep speaking up, even when people mock my accent | Safwat Saleem
Artist Safwat Saleem grew up with a stutter -- but as an independent animator, he decided to do his own voiceovers to give life to his characters. When YouTube commenters started mocking his Pakistani accent, it crushed him, and his...
TED Talks
Randall Munroe: Comics that ask "what if?"
Web cartoonist Randall Munroe answers simple what-if questions ("what if you hit a baseball moving at the speed of light?") using math, physics, logic and deadpan humor. In this charming talk, a reader's question about Google's data...
Crash Course
Dances to Flute Music and Obscene Verse. It's Roman Theater, Everybody: Crash Course Theater #5
Today, Mike Rugnetta takes you from our beginnings in ancient Greek theater, and moves on to the development of Roman theater. Which, it turns out, is A LOT like Greek theater. Because the Romans were real Grecophiles, they modeled their...
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: What's the definition of comedy? Banana. - Addison Anderson
What makes us giggle and guffaw? The inability to define comedy is its very appeal; it is defined by its defiance of definition. Addison Anderson riffs on the philosophy of Henri Bergson and Aristotle to elucidate how a definition draws...
TED Talks
Julia Sweeney: Letting go of God
When two young Mormon missionaries knock on Julia Sweeney's door one day, it touches off a quest to completely rethink her own beliefs, in this excerpt from Sweeney's solo show "Letting Go of God."
TED Talks
AJ Jacobs: My year of living biblically
Author, philosopher, prankster and journalist AJ Jacobs talks about the year he spent living biblically -- following the rules in the Bible as literally as possible.
TED Talks
Liza Donnelly: Drawing on humor for change
New Yorker cartoonist Liza Donnelly shares a portfolio of her wise and funny cartoons about modern life -- and talks about how humor can empower women to change the rules.
TED Talks
Reggie Watts: Beats that defy boxes
Reggie Watts' beats defy boxes. Unplug your logic board and watch as he blends poetry and crosses musical genres in this larger-than-life performance.
TED Talks
Ze Frank: My web playroom
On the web, a new "Friend" may be just a click away, but true connection is harder to find and express. Ze Frank presents a medley of zany Internet toys that require deep participation -- and reward it with something more nourishing....
Crash Course
Greek Comedy, Satyrs, and Aristophanes: Crash Course Theater #4
Get ready for hilarity, because this week, we're diving head first into Greek Comedy. Actually, though, maybe don't get TOO ready for hilarity. Taste in humor has changed a little over the last couple of thousand years. You already know...
TED Talks
Sebastian Wernicke: Lies, damned lies and statistics (about TEDTalks)
In a brilliantly tongue-in-cheek analysis, Sebastian Wernicke turns the tools of statistical analysis on TEDTalks, to come up with a metric for creating "the optimum TEDTalk" based on user ratings. How do you rate it? "Jaw-dropping"?...
TED Talks
TED: Inside the mind of a master procrastinator | Tim urban
Tim urban knows that procrastination doesn't make sense, but he's never been able to shake his habit of waiting until the last minute to get things done. In this hilarious and insightful talk, urban takes us on a journey through YouTube...
TED Talks
TED: The joy of taking out the trash | Aparna Nancherla
Comedian Aparna Nancherla loves to take out the trash. In this funny and sharp meditation on garbage -- "the stuff that our modern, consumerist, carbon-powered culture makes us buy endlessly, and often for no reason" -- she shares...
TED Talks
John Lloyd: An animated tour of the invisible
Gravity. The stars in day. Thoughts. The human genome. Time. Atoms. So much of what really matters in the world is impossible to see. A stunning animation of John Lloyd's classic TEDTalk from 2009, which will make you question what you...
TED Talks
Jill Shargaa: Please, please, people. Let's put the 'awe' back in 'awesome'
Which of the following is awesome: your lunch or the Great Pyramid of Giza? Comedian Jill Shargaa sounds a hilarious call for us to save the word "awesome" for things that truly inspire awe.
TED Talks
The new American Dream | Courtney Martin
For the first time in history, the majority of American parents don't think their kids will be better off than they were. This shouldn't be a cause for alarm, says journalist Courtney Martin. Rather, it's an opportunity to define a new...
TED Talks
John Lloyd: An inventory of the invisible
Nature's mysteries meet tack-sharp wit in this hilarious, 10-minute mix of quips and fun lessons, as comedian, writer and TV man John Lloyd plucks at the substance of several things not seen.
TED Talks
Anthony Veneziale: "Stumbling towards intimacy": An improvised TED Talk
In a hilarious, completely improvised talk, improv master Anthony Veneziale takes to the TED stage for a truly one-of-a-kind performance. Armed with an audience-suggested topic ("stumbling towards intimacy") and a deck of slides he's...
TED Talks
TED: A funny look at the unintended consequences of technology | Chuck Nice
Technology should work for us, but what happens when it doesn't? Comedian Chuck Nice explores the unintended consequences of technological advancement and human interaction -- with hilarious results.
TED-Ed
TED-Ed: How to make a sad story funny | Jodie Houlston-Lau
It may seem counterintuitive, but comedy is often key to a serious story. As a writer, you need your audience to experience a range of emotions, no matter what your genre. Comic relief is a tried-and-true way of creating the varied...
TED Talks
Bob Mankoff: Anatomy of a New Yorker cartoon
The New Yorker receives around 1,000 cartoons each week; it only publishes about 17 of them. In this hilarious, fast-paced, and insightful talk, the magazine's longstanding cartoon editor and self-proclaimed "humor analyst" Bob Mankoff...
Crash Course
Hrotsvitha, Hildegard, and the Nun who Resurrected Theater: Crash Course Theater #9
When last we saw Theater, it was just making its way back in the West, by sneaking a little drama into the Easter mass. In today's episode, we're talking about Hrotsvitha, the cool 10th century nun from Lower Saxony who was maybe the...
Crash Course
England's Sentimental Theater: Crash Course Theater #26
This week, we're headed back to England to learn about Sentimental Comedies. They weren't that funny, but they were definitely sentimental. The people of England were shaking off the Restoration hangover, and bawdy plays no longer had a...