So a stand-up comic, a literary scholar, and a behavioral scientist walk into a lecture hall, and a Western American historian hands them the question, "What’s so funny about pop music?"

Join comic Shane Mauss (From Conan, Jimmy Kimmel, Showtime, Comedy Central, Netflix and host of the science podcast “Here We Are”) and CU professors Adam Bradley (author of The Poetry of Pop and director of the Laboratory for Race and Popular Culture, the RAP Lab) and Peter McGraw (co-author of The Humor Code and director of the Humor Research Lab, HuRL) for an evening of learning and laughter. Why do some subjects shock us in speech but amuse us in song? What makes both Bruce Springsteen and Kanye West laugh? Through a blend of stand-up and science, music and comedy we’ll unlock some of the mysteries of two primal urges: shaking our butt and laughing out loud. This event is sponsored by the Center of the American West and its ongoing Humor Initiative, which explores the value of humor as the equivalent of WD-40 in friction-filled times, in collaboration with the RAP Lab and HuRL.

The Humor Initiative is made possible by the generosity of Bill and Jane Reynolds.