“There are all kinds of things that can lead to that same moment when somebody hears about a thing and they just start laughing — and they start wondering about it.” ~ Marc Abrahams

The Ig Nobel Prizes recognize research efforts that make you laugh…and then think.

They celebrate the unusual and honor the imaginative.

They are, in my mind, a delightful and very deliberate celebration of curiosity.

Ig Nobel Prize founder and editor of the magazine Annals of Improbable Research Marc Abrahams joins me to talk about the origins and contributions of this quirky prize. The awards gala is a mix of circus, opera and real Nobel Laureates, orchestrated to cheer on people who have devoted their time and talent to studying things the rest of us…have not…

Whatever you do for work or hobby or whatever, after you’ve been doing it for a few weeks and then a few months and after you’ve been doing it for a few years, the basic idea of it, that’s not surprising to you, that’s just the most ordinary thing in the world to you. And it can be kind of shocking to get reminders of what it looks like to other people.

Listen to Choose to Be Curious #252: The Ig Nobel Prizes: A Curiosity Celebration, with Marc Abrahams

Check out Improbable Research, home of the Ig Nobel Prizes.

The 2006 Ig Nobel Prizes saw not only a cure for intractable hiccups, but also research on woodpeckers and head injury — research that has found its way into the Great High School Football Debates — and a careful study of the word ‘the’. I warn you, once you go down this rabbit hole, there’s no stopping.

Comedian Calvin Evans had it right, “Comedy is about observation.” If you enjoyed this discussion, you might like my C2BC Classic conversation with Calvin and his Second City colleagues and Curiosity, Science and Humor Walk into a Bar…with Kasha Patel.

Curious about amigurumi? Here’s a taste — and here’s the research on yarn types that made me laugh…and then think.

Check out the research on babies and surprise yielding more curious toddlers.

Theme music by Sean Balick; “Rabbit Hole” by Love and Weasel, via Blue Dot Sessions.

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