Probably Science

Dr. Peter McGraw (twitter.com/petermcgraw) heads the Humor Research Lab (HuRL) at UC Boulder, and he joins Matt, Andy and returning guest Baron Vaughn (twitter.com/barvonblaq) for a special episode devoted entirely to the science of why things are funny. Peter's Benign Violation Theory is a robust, empirically testable explanation of humor in all its forms, and it's the basis of Peter and Joel War...

Probably Science completes the Austin Stories trifecta this week with comedian/writer guest Laura House (twitter.com/imlaurahouse), who joins Matt and Andy in discussing: Valley celebrity encounters! Pissing off Jamie Foxx! Chili competitions! Drinking and guns! Shooting pesky mink! Russell Crowe's crappy Twitter feed! Getting an adult ego check from your parents! Making your own bullets! Detecing...

Pride of Australia Wil Anderson (twitter.com/wilanderson) delivers in a big way this week as he joins Matt and Andy this week to get to the bottom of: US/Australia alliances! The unavoidable presence of Yahoo Serious! Ned Kelly's branding prowess! Ozploitation! Adding a new color to Australia's temperature charts! Climate change denial! Karl Kruszelnicki's study of belly button fluff! Being laughe...

Comedians Dan Telfer (twitter.com/dantelfer) and Hannah Gansen (twitter.com/hannahgansen) join Matt and Andy this week to chat about: Getting a fake baby at age 18! Brussel Sprouts! Bobak Ferdowski, the NASA mohawk guy! Making origami cranes as astronaut training! Shoulder hair! The tiger quoll! Blowing up dollhouses! Fingers and toes wrinkle underwater for better grip! Debunking ridiculous lesson...

As promised, Jesse Case (twitter.com/jessecase) brings the first installment of Probably History, in which he, Jack Robichaud (twitter.com/jackrobichaud), Richard Bain (twitter.com/dickbain) and Andy Wood (twitter.com/andytwood) discuss the history of Christmas. Enjoy, and be on the lookout for a new episode of Probably Science next week!

Matt and Brooks are still out of town, so Andy sat down with Jesse Case this week for a special holiday bonus episode that's light on science, but heavy on the discussion of World War II bunker dogs, Jelly Bellies, porn, hospice situations, home videos from the 1980s, Beatles fandom, sleep-eating roommates and failed attempts to reach subglacial lakes. Enjoy, and we'll be back soon with full episo...

Troy Conrad (troyconrad.net) is a comedian, writer, director and producer, and he's the man behind the hilarious improvised standup comedy show Set List. He joins Matt, Andy and Jesse Case on this week's episode to talk about: Breaking Bad spoilers! Improvised debate! House/career dysmorphia! Hot tub clothing regulations! Comedy Jesus! Troy's Scientology experience! Probably History! Religions wit...

Matt, Brooks, and Andy celebrate the 50th episode of Probably Science with their first repeat guest! Kyle Kinane, fresh on the heels of his Comedy Central special "Whiskey Icarus," sat down with the ProbSci crew to talk about: Brooks's love woes! Convincing housekeeping to let you watch a space jump! Free Jacuzzi! Public boners! Peeing in the shower! The cotton gin! Young Einstein! The deadliest b...

Comedian Tom Sibley (twitter.com/TheTomSibley) joins Matt, Brooks, and Andy to talk about: Advent calendars! Alternate endings to The Grey! Tom's secret robot teacher! Being sent to the bathroom during science class! Throwing your milk in a locker! Almost Live! Deep Blue Sea! Brooks travels to Hawaii! Matt's close encounter with a pod of killer whales! Instagram-iquette! Robotic snakes! Matt puts...

Comic/actress Marianne Sierk (@MarianneSierk) of Tru TV and the upcoming reboot of Best Week Ever joins Matt, Andy and Jesse Case this week to discuss: The surplus of exposition in Lincoln! Impressions of Breaking Bad characters! Historical spoilers! The downside of co-education! Marianne's wiccan phase! The OCD nature of religion! D'Nealian and mumblety-peg! Finding your mother's diaphragm! Insec...

Comedian and actor TJ Miller (twitter.com/nottjmiller) hosts Comedy Central's new show Mash Up, co-hosts the hilarious podcast Cashing In with TJ Miller, and has been a scene-stealer in movies and TV shows too numerous to mention. Matt, Brooks, and Andy venture to his loft this week to talk about: Being a fan of high school theater productions! Andy and Matt's competing Movember 'staches! Dad teac...

Comedian Taylor Williamson (taylorwilliamson.com) of Last Comic Standing joins Matt and Andy this week to talk about: Election results! Bad presidential impressions! The historic Alex Theatre! Jeopardy! Novelizations of Jim Carrey movies! Acid rain experiments! Fake anti-Semitism! Beakman's World! Grapple forks and rock buckets! Watching Simon Pegg movies with subtitles! Show-off sharks! Aladdin s...

Actor/comedian and host of the Travel Tales podcast Mike Siegel (funnymike.com) joins Matt, Brooks and Andy on a lovely November afternoon to discuss: Favorite Boogie Nights scenes! Brooks Skywalker! Matt's Movember mustache! The Iowa wrestling legacy! Pick-up grappling! The unifying power of soccer! Mike's scientist parents! The venomous, egg-laying, otter-footed, beaver-tailed, duck-billed platy...

Writer/comedian Chip Pope (Austin Stories, Beavis & Butthead, Last Comic Standing) joins Andy, Brooks, and Jesse Case (twitter.com/jessecase) for this week's Probably Science, with a spook-tacularly unnecessary intro courtesy of the built-in effects on the mixing board. Topics discussed include: Working with Mike Judge! Luke and Owen Wilson: Actually brothers? The upcoming Probably History spinoff...

Comedians Josh Cheney (twitter.com/JoshCheenee) and Dax Jordan (twitter.com/DaxJordan) join Andy and Brooks this week to talk about: King Tuff vs. Pearl Jam! The Hot House comedy show! Josh's role as Professor Kelp on The Homework Show! Dax vs. Josh in Weird Al fandom! Watching Armageddon and grabbing boobs! Celery-based science fair projects! Dax's disappointing attempt at crossbreeding carrots!...

Emery Emery, host of the podcasts The Ardent Atheist (ardentatheist.com) and Skeptically Yours (skepticallyyours.net), makes his first Probably Science appearance with a full cast of Matt, Andy, and Brooks to talk about: The origin of Probably Science! Andy putting his foot in his mouth on Emery's podcast! Neil Young burying the Skynyrd hatchet! Blowing up a rat with 8 M-80s! The Bogdanov Affair!...

The gang's all here! Pride of Portland and recent Los Angeles transplant Richard Bain joins Matt, Brooks, and Andy to talk about: Scaring Dave Chappelle! The greatness of Undeclared! Matt and Andy trying to convince Richard and Brooks to vote! Brooks gets his tattoo covered to host Comedy Central's upcoming Retro Weekend! The aphrodisiac effects of Troll 2! What if Hitler was into troll dolls? Blo...

Matt and Brooks are out of town, so we're bringing you a lost episode with Hampton Yount (hamptonyount.com) recorded in December of 2011. Enjoy this glimpse into the not-to-distant past... A simpler time... A time when we only had one microphone. Seriously, though, it's a good episode, even if the science stories are a bit out of date. Enjoy!

Andy Haynes (imandyhaynes.com) came up in the Pacific Northwest comedy scene before making his mark on Fallon and Conan, and he joins Brooks, Andy, and guest co-hosts Auggie Smith (auggiesmith.com) and Alice Wetterlund (alicewetterlund.com) to talk about: Getting the star treatment for late night sets! Andy Richter's cartoonist brother-in-law Tony Millionaire! The sobering effects of the Bridgetow...

You've seen the very funny Mark Agee (twitter.com/MarkAgee) on Last Comic Standing, and he makes his Probably Science debut this week, joining Andy and a fresh-off-the-plane Matt Kirshen to talk about: Performering at  the Edinburgh Fringe Festival! Taking Brooks's grown-up appliances! Living in comedian squalor! Putting a wrench in the works of conversations! Nash equilibria! Game theory! Why do...

LA-based comedy team Power Violence (facebook.com/powerviolencecomedy) host one of the best weekly comedy shows in town, and they're now Brooks's roommates as well. Andy and Brooks do an on-site recording at the new residence to talk with Whitmer, Rodney, Budd, and Clay about: The magic of Andrew WK! Living down the street from Booger from Revenge of the Nerds!  Hurricane preparedness! Setting you...

Comedian Shane Mauss (shanemauss.com), as seen on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Conan, joins Brooks and Andy on a lovely Labor Day weekend afternoon to discuss: Summer surfing! Comedy about time travel! Evolutionary psychology, A.K.A. science about dicks! Wisconsin's extreme drinking claims! Michio Kaku, the less-optimistic Ray Kurzweil! Dumbing-down the science portions of your standup act! Blowing up m...

Baron Vaughn (baronvaughn.com) of Fairly Legal, Conan, and Fallon makes his first Probably Science appearance as he helps Brooks, Andy, and guest co-host Jesse Case figure out: Ways to straighten teeth! Which parts of Des Moines are New Jack City! 50 Shades of Dorian Gray! Oppenheimer/Bhagavad Gita quotes! OJ Simpson chase memories! Super-fertility causing miscarriage! Brooks scares off Mumford &...

It looks like Summer Country has drawn to a premature close, and we bring Julian McCullough, co-host of the upcoming E! show Love You Mean It with Whitney Cummings, along to help us come to terms with that. Auggie Smith also guest co-hosts, helping Brooks and Andy get to the bottom of: Lies told on This American Life! Hitting on girls in chemistry class! Andy recants his anti-Cornell statements! J...

As seen on Last Comic Standing and Girls Behaving Badly, comedian Kira Soltanovich (kiracomedy.com) joins Matt, Andy, and guest host Auggie Smith to talk about: Shift workers are at risk for heart attacks! Heckles worse than "Too soon!" Siphoning out the contents of Rod Stewart's stomach! Auto-erotic self-asphyxiation! Fixing the hellmouth hot tub! The mysteries of Branson, Missouri! What does Per...