S2 E1 How do you solve a problem like Kelli Dunham?

Comedicine

In this episode, Sarah talks to Kelli Dunham, who is a nurse, comedian, author, LGBTQ+ leader, educator, performer, author, caregiver, and storyteller, and maybe I’m missing something because she is so many things! However, despite outward appearances, she is not a gym teacher or a 12-year-old boy. Kelli was also an aspiring nun at one point, but her “insufficient docility” made this career choice a bad fit. I guess they call it a convent for a reason. (It’s conventional.) She started telling jokes to her dairy cows as a kid in Wisconsin and found that they were sometimes better audience members than the comedy bros she encountered at open mics when she first started doing comedy. Kelli found other places to explore stand-up and storytelling, like conferences for health care professionals, Pride events, workplaces, The Moth, and the Edinburgh Fringe. Through being a natural caregiver and her own life experiences, Kelli takes her comedy where no one else dares to go. Her most recent one-person show is Second Helping: Two Dead Girlfriends, Dead Funny. And yes, it is about her two partners who died, but it’s really about how to ask for help. Kelli believes that “laughing is a revolutionary gesture” which is the coolest quote ever. How do you solve a problem like Kelli Dunham? How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?

kellidunham.com
https://www.instagram.com/kellidunham/
https://www.tiktok.com/@kellidunham
https://www.youtube.com/c/KelliDunham/featured

00:03 Introducing Kelli Dunham and her many niches!
01:38 Kelli’s insufficient docility holds her back from #conventlife
05:56 Goodbye habit. Hello stethoscope!
06:33 Kelli’s super cool career as a community nurse (niche #1)
09:38 Milking the jokes with dairy cows as audience members
11:54 Finding more niches in the search for safe comedy spaces (niche #2)
14:37 Laughing in the face of death at the Edinburgh Fringe (niche #3)
22:22 Help me help you help others (Some pretty amazing tips on how to help others)
27:09 Pet loss and human loss, both are very sad but they are not the same thing
29:01 Laughter at the of Life (niche #5)
30:06 How accepting offers of humor from patients helps them feel better (niche #6)
36:28 Promoting LGBTQ+ Health and Inclusivity by treating people like people (niche #7)
43:15 Kelli’s tips

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Your host, Dr Sarah Boston
Dr Sarah Boston is a veterinary surgical oncologist (cancer surgeon for dogs and cats), cancer survivor (ironic, right?), bestselling author, actor and stand up comedian. She is a 2023 graduate of the Humber College Comedy Performance and Writing Program. She is the 2023 recipient of the Tim Sims Encouragement Fund Award, which recognizes and supports promising comedic performers in the early stages of their career She is also the recipient of the Award for Academic Excellence from Humber College because she is a nerd in all aspects of her life.
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