Scientist turned stand-up comedian Ben Miller fronts new comedy tour “Stand-Up Science Presents: Volcano” with a Bozeman performance this month. Last Best Comedy will host the comic on Wednesday, February 26th. The show begins at 7pm.
What happens when a comedian walks into a volcano? In February 2023, Ben Miller was the artist in residence at Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, the first stand-up comedian ever selected. The program typically selects painters, poets, Grammy-nominated musicians, you know, real artists. But somehow a silly joke boy managed to secure this coveted spot.
photo by Gabriel Miller
He spent the entire month on the Big Island, exploring the national park, learning from volcanologists, entomologists, archeologists and local Hawaiians about the science, culture and history of Hawai’i. Almost every night, he gazed into the fires of Kīlauea, the burning lava lake in Halemaʻumaʻu crater and also wrote some jokes. Incredibly grateful for the opportunity provided to him by the National Parks Arts Foundation, Miller decided to take this comedic residency very seriously and turn it into an hour of stand-up comedy.
Building off his experience with his previous science comedy hour that had a 50-city tour across the US and Europe as well as a completely sold out 23-show run at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, ‘Stand-Up Science Presents: Volcano’ continues to develop Miller’s nerdy yet approachable style. This multimedia science comedy hour drills deep to the core, delivering explosive laughs with fire-tested jokes.
Advance general admission tickets are $20 with two-person table reservations available at www.lastbestcomedy.com. The venue is located at 321 E Main St. •
