Leighann Lord

Leighann Lord is an American comedian, writer, and actress. She performs stand-up comedy, has appeared on Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, and is a former co-host (with Neil deGrasse Tyson) of the Star Talk Radio podcast.[1][2] As of April 2020, Lord became a co-host for Center for Inquiry's Point of Inquiry podcast.[3] She is a fellow with the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.

Leighann Lord
Leighann Lord wearing a t-shirt reading "Star Wars #1 Fan"
Leighann Lord at DragonCon in 2018
Born
South Jamaica, Queens, New York City
EducationB.A. Baruch College (1989)
Occupation(s)Comedian, writer, actress
Known forStar Talk Radio

Early life and education

Leighann Lord was born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens in New York City, and was raised by her West Indian parents. She attributes her interest in comedy to both her cultural heritage and to looking for a way to avoid being teased as a child. She reports "People started to laugh with me and not at me. I was an 11-year-old sixth-grader with a game plan that led me in the right direction."[4] She attended Baruch College at the City University of New York where she studied journalism, creative writing and theater with an interest in show business;[4] in 1989, she graduated magna cum laude with a BA in journalism and creative writing.[5]

Career

After college, Lord worked for five years in corporate communications for Chemical Bank, but retained an interest in show business, and eventually started performing at stand-up comedy clubs.[4]

She has performed stand-up on Lifetime's "Girls Night Out," HBO's "Def Comedy Jam" and Comedy Central's "Premium Blend", and she won the "Hilarious Housewives Contest" on ABC's "The View."[4][6] She cites as comedic influences including George Carlin, Marsha Warfield, Carol Burnett and Bertice Berry.[4]

In addition to performing her own material, Lord was a writer for The Chris Rock Show and writes the syndicated humor column "The Urban Erma".[6]

In 2014, Lord published Dict Jokes: Alternate Definitions for Words You've Probably Never Heard of But Will Definitely Never Forget.

In February 2015, Lord featured on Star Talk Radio with Neil deGrasse Tyson in the episode "From Warp Drives to Cloaking Devices: Star Trek Cosmic Queries Sunday".[7]

Lord is associated with African Americans for Humanism, which ran a 2012 media campaign including billboards depicting Lord and other contemporary activists and organizers alongside historically prominent African American humanists Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, and Frederick Douglass.[8]

Lord was the emcee at the 2019 skeptical convention, CSICon, in Las Vegas, Nevada.[9] She used her "light touch" to ask "provocative questions like 'What if Adam was made from Eve's rib?'"[10]

As of 2022, Lord is a fellow with the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.[11]

Books
  • Leighann Lord’s Big Book of Book Titles: When You Don’t Have Time to Read a Whole F**king Book
  • Leighann Lord's Dict Jokes: ALTernate DEFinitions for Words You’ve Probably Never Heard of But Will Definitely Never Forget (2014)
  • Leighann Lord's Dict Jokes: More ALTernate DEFinitions for Words You've Probably Never Heard of But Will Definitely Never Forget (2014)
  • The Great Spanx Experiment: The Urban Erma's Best Humor Essays of 2011 (2014)
  • I Wish Facebook Had a Hate Button: The Urban Erma's Best Humor Essays of 2012 (2014)
  • Happy Black Men: The Urban Erma's Best Humor Essays of 2013 (2014)
  • Real Women Do It Standing Up: Stories From the Career of a Very Funny Lady (2016)

Awards

Lord was voted "Most Thought Provoking Black Female Comic" at the 4th annual Black Comedy Awards. She was also nominated for Best Play and Best Director for her one-woman show The Full Swanky at the Riant Theatre Women's Play Festival.[6]

  • Lord dressed as Ida B. Wells at Dragon Con in 2018
    Lord dressed as Ida B. Wells at Dragon Con in 2018
  • Lord presenting at Dragon Con in 2018
    Lord presenting at Dragon Con in 2018

References
  1. " "About Leighann Lord: Star Talk Co-Host". Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  2. "Cosmic Queries: Star Trek". Curved Light Productions. 2015-02-22. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
  3. "Comedian Leighman Lord Joins Points of Inquiry Podcast as New Co-host". Center for Inquiry. 9 April 2020. Archived from the original on 9 April 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  4. Barker, Cyril Josh (2011-02-10). "A 'Lord' of laughs". New York Amsterdam News. 102 (6): 5. ISSN 0028-7121.
  5. "Baruch College Alumni Events Reunion". Baruch College. 2014. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
  6. "Biography – Leighann Lord". Entertainers Resource Directory. 2012. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
  7. "From Warp Drives to Cloaking Devices: Star Trek Cosmic Queries Sunday". Star Talk Radio. 2015-02-21. Retrieved 2018-03-20.
  8. "Announcing the We Are AAH Campaign". aahumanism.net. Archived from the original on 3 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  9. Gerbic, Susan (13 September 2019). "Meet CSICon 2019 Emcee Leighann Lord". Skeptical Inquirer. Skeptical Inquirer. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  10. Frazier, Kendrick (2020). "From Fantasyland America to the Fabric of Space and Time". Skeptical Inquirer. Committee for Skeptical Inquirer. 44 (2): 9.
  11. "Committee for Skeptical Inquiry Elects 14 New Fellows from Six Countries". Skeptical Inquirer. 1 February 2022. Archived from the original on 17 September 2022. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
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