Comedian Ian Harris likes to call his upcoming double-bill show at 191 Toole this weekend the clash of the science nerds.
No, he is not a decorated medical researcher out to find the cure for cancer, and co-headliner Jamie Kilstein isn’t about to redefine some molecular structure of an atom — whatever that means — and revolutionize the universe.
But the pair share a love for science-based truth in the world and find humor — deep, belly-laughing humor — in the excuses drummed up by science skeptics.
Take climate control deniers.
At the end of his set on Sunday, Dec. 15, Harris will slip into his best impersonations — everyone from Gilbert Gottfried, Christopher Walken, John Malkovich, Gary Busey and, yes, Donald Trump — to take the climate change deniers head on.
“On the one hand they’ll say, ‘Whoa, we have to make sure the science is sound.’ And the next thing you hear from the same (deniers) is that the hurricane was caused by God punishing us because of gay people,” the 48-year-old father of one said. “Well I don’t want to take your word on science when you think a hurricane was caused by gay people. I don’t think you understand science.”
Harris is sharing the stage with his buddy Kilstein, a recent Tucson transplant who cut his comedy teeth in Los Angeles and New York. Kilstein has a daily podcast that explores the headlines in “funny, short digestible” bites, according to his bio, and when he’s not drumming up ha-ha’s he holes up in a Tucson jiujitsu gym training would-be competitors.
His day job is similar to Harris, who runs a Los Angeles mixed martial arts studio he co-owns. Harris, who used to compete in mixed martial arts, now trains MMA fighters.
We couldn’t reach Kilstein, but Harris said he believes this might be his friend’s first big Tucson show.
This is an encore of sorts for Harris, whose last Tucson appearance was a year or two ago, when he headlined Laffs. It was on that very same stage that he made his first ever paid comedy appearance back in 1994, emceeing a show with bigger named headliners.
Since then, Harris has done a handful of Tucson shows including his “Divided Comedy Tour” at the Rialto Theatre in 2016 with Ty Barnett.
“I love Tucson and I try to come there every year or every couple of years,” he said.
Sunday’s show also features Albuquerque comedian Ron Swallow, who Harris described as the biggest nerd among the trio. He might be onto something; Swallow co-hosts a podcast called “Nerd Goat.”
“The three of us doing the show is like three headliners doing a show together,” Harris said. “It’s pretty cool and it’s really going to be fun for us.”
