Episode Description
Overview:
Dive into the inspiring story of Brandon Follick ’15 Sci, who seamlessly navigates careers in biochemistry and comedy. Discover how his scientific background fuels his humor, the challenges of balancing these worlds, and his advice for scholars pursuing creative paths.
In this episode, you’ll here about
- Brandon's journey to Penn State and his early interests in science and comedy
- How biochemistry has shaped his understanding of human health and storytelling
- The parallels between scientific research and comedic creation, including writing and improvisation
- His experience working in biotech startups and the lessons learned about enterprise and innovation
- The evolution of comedy as a tool for social critique and the importance of punching up
- How platforms like YouTube and social media democratize content creation and talent discovery
- The role of mentorship in STEM and arts, and the importance of paying it forward
- Brandon’s creative process, balancing authenticity with ethical boundaries in comedy
- Practical advice for scholars considering unconventional careers in arts and startups
- How his childhood experience with Judge Judy influences his comedic perspective
This episode is great for any Scholar interested in career paths in either STEM or the arts, and especially for Scholars looking to navigate and balance multiple interests.
Guest Bio:
Brandon Follick ’15 Science is an entrepreneurial scientist comedian and writer in New York City. He has written for humor websites such as The Onion, The New Yorker, McSweeney’s, and Reductress, including Reductress’s recent book How To Stay Productive When the World is Ending, named one of Vulture’s Best Comedy Books of 2023. He is a writer and actor on Going Down with Ella Yurman, a trans-led public access late night show from the team that produced Late Stage Live, which is about to return from hiatus. He has performed standup and sketch in national and international comedy festivals, including New York Comedy Fest, Edinburgh Fringe, and Philly SketchFest. He produces a writing workshop series alongside The Onion to help create career opportunities for emerging comedy writers from backgrounds historically-excluded in comedy. He currently teaches Humor & Satire Writing at the Brooklyn Comedy Collective.
During the day, he works as a Senior Administrative Business Partner for Legal and Therapeutics at Schrödinger, a drug discovery and research enterprise. He was previously a Project Manager and Research Associate at Kallyope in New York City, an early-stage biotech startup exploring the gut-brain axis, where he assisted with the Research & Development of small-molecule therapeutics. Before joining Kallyope in 2016, he was a research assistant in Marcia Haigis’s lab at Harvard Medical School.
He earned his B.S. in Biology with Honors in Biochemistry from Penn State in 2015.
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Credits & Notes:
This show is hosted and produced by Sean Goheen '11 Lib (Schreyer), '23g Bus. It was edited by Riya Agarwal '28. The artwork was created by Isabella Gasparraj '28. The sound effect is “Chinese Gong,” accessed via SoundBible used under Creative Commons License.
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