Two Bears Walk Into a Bar…. A Quest to Communicate Climate Change Ends in Puppets and Sketches and Songs

Like most colleagues, I struggle to connect with a broad audience about my research. And after years of falling short, I decided to do something about it. So I took a comedy class. And then another. And another. Pretty soon I met a talented director, writer and actor named Rani O'Brien and together we created the Lollygaggers—a sketch comedy musical about climate change for kids of all ages. For 16 weeks in 2014, The Lollygaggers ran in the Second City Studio Theater on Hollywood Blvd, brining laughs and lessons on climate change to a wide audience using puppets, characters and songs. This presentation will focus on how climate change and comedy can unite, how the Lollygaggers came to be, and will include a song from the show.