January 29, 2014

Google Logo Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm

Many Comedians Walk into a Psychiatrist's Office

Comedians score higher than uncreative types, and even higher than actors, on a range of psychotic traits. Karen Hopkin reports

 

Illustration of a Bohr atom model spinning around the words Science Quickly with various science and medicine related icons around the text

Join Our Community of Science Lovers!

On supporting science journalism

If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.

Have you ever gone to see some comedian and thought, man, that guy is nuts!
 
[Comedian Patton Oswalt:] “So in my head, I’m like, well I’m clearly going to be being chased by mutants on motorcycles.”
 
Well, you may have hit the nail on the head. Because new research finds that comedians show high levels of psychotic personality traits. The study appears in The British Journal of Psychiatry. [Victoria Ando, Gordon Claridge and Ken Clark, Psychotic traits in comedians]
 
Creativity is often associated with mental health issues. Think Edgar Allan Poe, Vincent Van Gogh, Michael Jackson. But what about comedians?
 
Psychologists gave more than 500 funnymen a personality test that assesses traits associated with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. And they found that the comics score higher than uncreative types, and even higher than actors, on a range of psychotic traits, including fear of intimacy, impulsive behavior, difficulty focusing and a belief in the paranormal.
 
The data doesn’t mean that all comedians are cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. But these psychotic tendencies may actually help promote lateral thinking and an ability to connect far-fetched ideas to come up with comical conclusions.
 
[Oswalt:] “That abiding belief in the coming Road Warrior wasteland, that’s the reason I tried to go off my meds.”

—Karen Hopkin

[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]
 

It’s Time to Stand Up for Science

If you enjoyed this article, I’d like to ask for your support. Scientific American has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.

I’ve been a Scientific American subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.

If you subscribe to Scientific American, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.

In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can't-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world's best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.

There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you’ll support us in that mission.

Thank you,

David M. Ewalt, Editor in Chief, Scientific American

Subscribe
Many Comedians Walk into a Psychiatrist's Office