A Q & A With Conover

Adam Conover is coming to campus on May 4, courtesy of SCOPE. Conover is known for his show on TruTV, titled Adam Ruins Everything. In September, his show was added to Netflix so it is available to stream for students who want to get familiar with him before he comes to campus.

The Charger Bulletin interviewed Conover about his career and what to expect when we see him live.

Q: What can people expect to see at your live shows?

A: “Well, I am known from Adam Ruins Everything for doing, sort of information comedy and mind-blowing facts and stuff like that. Adam Ruins Everything is very narrowly focused on common misconceptions. This is a little bit broader, I have been doing a lot of reading about these incredible creatures in biology, these parasites that can control their host’s mind, and I’m sort of using that as a metaphor to talk about different things in American life, different cultural parasites that control our minds in ways that are much deeper than we’d expect. The show is ultimately about if it’s possible to have free will, and what we can say about the possibility of free will in our own lives that despite the fact that we think we are in control of our actions and behavior, there are undeniably certain forces that are exerting their control over us, and what that means for us and what we can do about it.”

“I describe what I do as liberal arts comedy.”

Q: Have you noticed an increase in audience since your show was added to Netflix?

A: “I certainly have noticed that increase in a big way! It found a whole new audience a lot more people are talking about the show on Twitter. A lot of people are just discovering the show for the first time because of Netflix. At the same time I really love being on TruTV, they’re a great network and they really support us and I am really glad they were able to make a deal to have the show be on Netflix so that more people can see it. The cool thing as that we are hoping it will bring more people to watch new episodes, on TruTV when they start coming out.”

Q: Where do you see yourself going in your future with comedy?

A: “Well I would love to do Adam Ruins Everything as long as TruTV will have us do it. It’s a very fun show to do, but a hard show to make and an expensive show to make. I hope we continue with TruTV for a long time though. The live shows I am working on now is me trying to figure out, this will be the next stage of my career I think. Doing live shows like this and really combining almost like the best college lecture you’ve ever had plus comedy. Going out to people directly on the road and trying to expand their minds and help them think of new ideas in new ways. Just having that one on one connection.”

Don’t miss the opportunity to experience this unique form of live comedy on campus at the Beckerman Recreation Center, doors open at 7:30 p.m. on May 4.