What's So Funny About...?

On this episode of "What's So Funny About...?" we talk with Charlie Harmony. Charlie is a comedian, actor, and all-around creative force known for blending sharp wit with heart. With a background in theater and a soul rooted in stand-up, Charlie brings audiences into his world with stories that are both wildly hilarious and deeply human. Whether he’s lighting up the screen or the stage, Charlie’s performances are marked by emotional honesty, disarming charm, and a knack for finding punchlines in life’s most unexpected moments.

Equal parts vulnerability and edge, Charlie’s comedy explores everything from relationships and identity to the weird beauty of just trying to grow up without losing your mind. His magnetic stage presence has earned him fans across comedy clubs, indie films, and digital platforms alike. Simply put: Charlie Harmony doesn’t just tell jokes—he builds connection.

When he’s not performing, Charlie’s probably writing, people-watching, or trying to convince someone that his dog is his emotional support animal (even though we all know it’s the other way around).

Follow him on Instagram at @yah.im.charlie.harmony and catch him wherever laughter is being served with a side of soul. The Liberation Comedy Project is being incubated by Mediators Foundation and managed by YOUnify.

On this episode of "What's So Funny About...?" we talk with David Perdue. David is an Atlanta comedian who has been featured on Comedy Central,FuseTV, EPIX, & Kevin Hart’s LOL Network. David is also an actor appearing in "Love Is..." on OWN and "Bobcat Goldthwait"s Misfits and Monsters" on truTV. David co-hosts the feel good news podcast “What’s Good Atlanta” on Atlanta’s NPR member station WABE. In 2022 David was selected as an Arts & Social Justice Fellow at Emory University where he spent a semester as a professor teaching students about the power of humor all while making his love for cardigans make way more sense. In 2022 David also became a member of the first Climate Comedy Cohort created & directed by Generation180 & the Center for Media & Social Impact’s Good Laugh Initiative. David co-founded “Comedy & Conversation” a live show combining comedians with subject matter experts using humor to engage audiences & have impactful conversations around difficult topics such as food insecurity, local politics, mental health just to name a few. As you can see David is many things but most importantly he is NOT a former US Senator.

David has also been the resident comedian for the We Go On Tour that takes an intimate look at grief's role in our lives.

The Liberation Comedy Project is being incubated by Mediators Foundation and managed by YOUnify .

This is a special episode of What's So Funny About...? where I talk to my cousin Shawn. In this episode, we get into what life was like for us growing up, why sometimes Black people have to laugh to keep from crying, and how the path is not always indicative of the destination.

The Liberation Comedy Project is being incubated by Mediators Foundation (https://www.mediatorsfoundation.org/) and managed by YOUnify (https://www.younify.org/).

In this episode, of the "What's So Funny About...?" Podcast, brought to you by the Liberation Comedy Project, we talk to Jeremy Sherman, self proclaimed psychoproctologist and comedic provocateur. Jeremy Sherman, PhD, is a cradle-to-grave researcher, meaning from the origins of life to our grave situation, which he argues is a product of the anxious human desire for seen-the-light last-word absolutes in all their diverse and competing revelations and manifestations. He calls himself an ironic romanticynic, romantic meaning the dream of happily ever after that lives in all of us but can't be met in reality, where all we get is the struggle for existence and our iffy educated guesswork that sometimes goes ironically wrong.

These days, Sherman is most active on his YouTube channel, Trying Beings, which means all of us trying to thrive and the people who try your patience. He's written over 1000 blog articles for Psychology Today under the titles Ambigamy Insights for the deeply romantic and deeply wary, and Jerkology; What makes some people tick like time bombs. The Psych Today editor calls his offerings "Mind candy for people who aren't afraid to think."

Much of his recent research has been in a field he has coined as "Psychoproctology," a light name for a serious subject in which one shouldn't take one's efforts too seriously. It's the careful diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of tempting absolutist tendencies.

Sherman has been the primary research partner with Harvard/Berkeley biologists for thirty years. Terrence Deacon on how life emerged from chemistry. His book on that research is Neither Ghost Nor Machine: The Emergence and Nature of Selves (Columbia University Press). His most recent book is called, "What's Up with A**holes?: How to spot and stop them without becoming one."

The Liberation Comedy Project is being incubated by Mediators Foundation (https://www.mediatorsfoundation.org/) and managed by YOUnify (https://www.younify.org/).

In this episode, of the "What's So Funny About...?" Podcast, brought to you by the Liberation Comedy Project, we talk to comedian and activist, Steve Bhaerman

Steve Bhaerman is an internationally known author, humorist, and workshop leader. For the past 35 years, he has written and performed as Swami Beyondananda, the "Cosmic Comic." Swami's comedy has been called "irreverently uplifting" and has been described both as "comedy disguised as wisdom" and "wisdom disguised as comedy."

As the Swami, Steve is the author of Driving Your Own Karma (1989), When You See a Sacred Cow, Milk It For All It's Worth (1993), Duck Soup for the Soul (1999) and Swami for Precedent: A 7-Step Plan to Heal the Body Politic and Cure Electile Dysfunction (2004).

You can learn more about Steve's work here.

In this special episode of the "What's So Funny About...?" Podcast, Alternative Comics, we talk with Alan Jenkins and Gan Golan, creators of the graphic novel 1/6.

Alan Jenkins is a multimedia writer, Harvard Law School Professor, human rights advocate, recovering Supreme Court litigator, and producer and editor of the social justice superhero Helvetika Bold! He is a Co-Founder and former President of The Opportunity Agenda, and has appeared widely in print and broadcast media, including CNN, MSNBC, the Hollywood Reporter, Fox News, the New York Times, and the Washington Post.

Gan Golan is a NY Times bestselling author, artist and activist known for  'Goodnight Bush' and the critically-acclaimed 'The Adventures of Unemployed Man'. He’s designed Rock Music posters for Erykah Badu, Queen Latifah, Willie Nelson, Nick Cave and Henry Rollins and his Ben Harper poster is considered one of the greatest music posters of all time.

Together this Dynamic duo are the creators of 1/6 , a graphic novel that explores what might have been if the events of January 6th went according to plan.

You can find out more about 1/6 and get your copies at https://onesixcomicsstore.com/

In this special episode of the "What's So Funny About...?" Podcast, IrReverent: Spirituality, Comedy, and the Body Politic, brought to you by the Liberation Comedy Project, we talk with Benjamin-Shalom Rodriguez and Rev. Barbara Ann Michaels.

Benjamin-Shalom Rodriguez (he/they) is a queer, Mexican-Israeli-American writer, director, and comedian. Ben's currently developing his half-hour animated comedy, Jesus Versus Zeus, with Sony and completed  season 2 of Stoned Breakups, which he created and hosts. He’s also an educator and filmmaker mentor with Edward James Olmos’ Latino Film Institute/Youth Cinema Project, where they teach students from underfunded schools how to make short films, and a charter member of the queer Latinx writers collective, The Clubhouse.

Benjamin is also the director of America's Next Top Immigrant (https://danceswithfilms.com/americas-next-top-immigrant/) and can be followed on Instagram at @lolohgosh and lologosh.

She founded the House of Holy Humor, a secular congregation for the humor arts. All faiths and atheists are welcome. Love, art, and humor are her trifecta of tools for emotional well-being. House of Holy Humor delivers playfully serious participatory arts experiences that further love, connection, and healing internationally, often through collaboration with organizations.

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Her background includes using audience-interactive art and performance to further community and corporate missions at events from galas to trade shows to festivals and parties.

She also had a 20 year career as an arts educator in theater and improvisation for adults and youth, amplifying their leadership skills through self-expression and collaboration.

As an ordained interfaith minister, she was a wedding officiant for 10 years, specializing in creative ceremonies, including costume and helicopter weddings, for over 550 couples. She performed some of the first legal LGBTQ weddings in New York State.

Her definition of a fulfilling life is people finding, giving, and being appreciated for their gifts to humanity - all people seen, heard, celebrated, and connected. She acts for a win-win world.

In this episode, of the "What's So Funny About...?" Podcast, brought to you by the Liberation Comedy Project, we talk to Nick Marx co-author of That's Not Funny: How the Right Makes Comedy Work for Them

Nick Marx is an Associate Professor of film and media studies, specializing in media studies, media industries, digital media, and American politics and culture.  He is author or co-editor of several books, including Sketch Comedy: Identity, Reflexivity, and American Television (Indiana University Press, 2019), The Comedy Studies Reader (University of Texas Press, 2018), and Saturday Night Live and American TV (Indiana University Press, 2013).  His peer-reviewed research has appeared in The Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, Communication, Culture & Critique, Television and New Media, Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, and in the anthologies From Networks to Netflix: A Guide to Changing Channels (Routledge, 2022) and How to Watch Television (New York University Press, 2013).

Nick's most recent book project is That's Not Funny: How the Right Makes Comedy Work For Them (University of California Press, 2022), which analyzes the cultural influence and economic clout of libertarian and conservative comedians like Joe Rogan, Tim Allen, and Fox News' Greg Gutfeld. You can read an excerpt of the book at New York magazine, and you can follow Nick on Twitter (@marxnick).

The Liberation Comedy Project is being incubated by Mediators Foundation (https://www.mediatorsfoundation.org/) and managed by YOUnify

In this episode, of the "What's So Funny About...?" Podcast, brought to you by the Liberation Comedy Project, we talk to comedian and activist, Philip Ogren.

Philip lives in Boulder Colorado where he is a housing advocate, political activist, and stand-up comedian.  He also hosts a podcast Sharing Boulder which imagines a more inclusive, affordable, climate-friendly Boulder through the lens of housing and transportation policy and land use reform.  

The Liberation Comedy Project is being incubated by Mediators Foundation (https://www.mediatorsfoundation.org/) and managed by YOUnify

In this episode, of the "What's So Funny About...?" Podcast, brought to you by the Liberation Comedy Project, we talk to comedian, Robin Johnson. After more than 20 years of military service, Lieutenant Colonel Johnson, USA, Ret., discovered her new mission in improving people, organizations, and communities with humor. Lieutenant Colonel Johnson is a:

Robin Johnson is breaking new ground with her work and is a powerful of example of what is possible when a person chooses to use their talents to serve others.

IG: @heal.arious

LI: https://www.linkedin.com/company/healarious

The Liberation Comedy Project is being incubated by Mediators Foundation (https://www.mediatorsfoundation.org/) and managed by YOUnify (https://www.younify.org/).