Leighann Lord is a comedian and co-host of the StarTalk podcast with Neil deGrasse Tyson.

She has performed stand-up on Comedy Central and HBO, has won several awards for her work, and written books including Dict Jokes and Real Women Do It Standing Up.

At the recent American Humanist Association conference in Chicago, I spoke with her about how she went from a corporate job to a comedy stage, why performing at colleges has become tougher for comedians, and why unique outreach to African American atheists is worthwhile.