Ian Harris is a comedian, director, and

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

trainer. He owns a Los Angeles-based MMA training center called "Fight Science", named for the unique fighting style that he created. He integrates

skepticism Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the pe ...

and

critical thinking Critical thinking is the analysis of available facts, evidence, observations, and arguments to form a judgement. The subject is complex; several different definitions exist, which generally include the rational, skeptical, and unbiased analysis ...

into his comedy.

Career

Comedy

In the year 1992, Ian moved to Los Angeles from Santa Cruz, California, with a friend. There they wrote the script ''Armaghetto'', which they unsuccessfully tried to sell. Shortly after his arrival in Los Angeles he was asked, after an audition, to close the show ''Annex Sunday Night'' at the comedy club '' The Ice House''. After that he toured the U.S. performing at comedy shows. He often appeared in the comedy club

Punch Line A punch line (a. k. a. punch-line or punchline) concludes a joke; it is intended to make people laugh. It is the third and final part of the typical joke structure. It follows the introductory framing of the joke and the narrative which sets up ...

. In 2000 he moved back to Los Angeles, where he earned a reputation for being brash and irreverent in his comedy. However, in 2006 he stopped doing stand-up comedy and touring, because of his production work and the birth of his daughter in 2005. In 2011 Harris came back to stand-up comedy, integrating skepticism and critical thinking into his act: "I’m a comedian. That’s what I am at my core." He has made fun of

Vaccine controversies Vaccine hesitancy is a delay in acceptance, or refusal, of vaccines despite the availability of vaccine services and supporting evidence. The term covers refusals to vaccinate, delaying vaccines, accepting vaccines but remaining uncertain abou ...

, glucose intolerance, politics, religions, and the

homeopathic Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a dise ...

“cold preventer”

Airborne Airborne or Airborn may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Airborne'' (1962 film), a 1962 American film directed by James Landis * ''Airborne'' (1993 film), a comedy–drama film * ''Airborne'' (1998 film), an action film sta ...

. Six months after his comeback, Harris toured with comedians Jason Relser and Maurice Northup, doing a secular comedy show ''The Evolution of Comedy Tour''. Harris directed a few comedy specials, including one by

Dwayne Perkins Dwayne Perkins (born March 21, 1971) is an American stand-up comedian from Brooklyn, New York, currently residing in Los Angeles. He has made appearances on '' Conan'', Comedy Central, and as a regular correspondent on ''The Jay Leno Show''. In ...

, which was bought directly by Netflix. On December 21, 2012, he recorded his own comedy special ''Ian Harris: Critical & Thinking''. Harris' second hour TV special "ExtraOrdinary" was released Dec 12, 2017, by

Adam Carolla Adam Carolla (born May 27, 1964) is an American radio personality, comedian, actor and podcaster. He hosts '' The Adam Carolla Show'', a talk show distributed as a podcast which set the record as the "most downloaded podcast" as judged by ''Guin ...

's Chassy Media and is available on video-on-demand platforms. It was produced with Netflix in mind, but due to policy changes in the company's comedy division they did not pick it up. It was recorded in 2016 at the Rio Theatre in his home town of Santa Cruz (California). Ian is also a regular contributing writer for ''

US Weekly ''Us Weekly'' is a weekly celebrity and entertainment magazine based in New York City. ''Us Weekly'' was founded in 1977 by The New York Times Company, who sold it in 1980. It was acquired by Wenner Media in 1986, and sold to American Media Inc ...

'' magazine's Fashion Police. Harris has performed his comedy act at several atheist and skeptical events: *2017 American Atheists National Conference *2012 Ascent of Atheism Convention in Denver *2013

American Humanist Association The American Humanist Association (AHA) is a non-profit organization in the United States that advances secular humanism. The American Humanist Association was founded in 1941 and currently provides legal assistance to defend the constitutiona ...

National Convention in San Diego *2013 CFI Summit in Tacoma, Washington In 2014 he hosted a

Sunday Assembly Sunday Assembly is a non-religious gathering co-founded by Sanderson Jones and Pippa Evans in January 2013 in London, England. The gathering is mostly for non-religious people who want a similar communal experience to a religious church, thoug ...

in Los Angeles and in 2013 he performed for ''Atheists United''. Since 2015, Harris has been taking his comedy show to Atlanta's

DragonCon Dragon Con (previously Dragon*Con and sometimes DragonCon) is a North American multigenre convention, founded in 1987, which takes place annually over the Labor Day weekend in Atlanta, Georgia. , the convention draws attendance of over 80,000, fe ...

, as part of the Skeptrack speaker roster. In the Summer of 2017, Harris was added as a part-time co-host of Dogma Debate podcast with David Smalley. Like comedian

Bill Maher William Maher (; born January 20, 1956) is an American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is known for the HBO political talk show ''Real Time with Bill Maher'' (2003–present) and the similar la ...

before him, he enjoys going to socially

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

areas in the united States. “There’s 10-20% that are starving for anything. They’re constantly surrounded by Jesus, nativity scenes, the right-wing propaganda is in full effect, it’s like

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

year-round. So when he (Maher) goes into town, those 10%, they all buy a ticket. While you go to LA, with 13 million people just like you, they don’t give a shit.”

Comedy achievements

In the year 2001 he was on the Top 100 Comedians list of the ''Entertainment Business Journal'', and he was a semi-finalist in ''

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...

's'' Laugh Riots Competition. ''Backstage West'' called him Top Character Comedian in Town, and he was a finalist in the San Francisco Comedy Competition. Comedy awards and events: *1995 Finalist Cal State Chico Comedy Competition *1998 Finalist UCSF Comedy Competition *2000 Finalist San Francisco International Comedy Competition *2001 Semi-finalist Comedy Central Laugh Riots Competition *2013 Ventura Comedy Festival

Film

After some years of comedy, Ian wrote and directed his first movie ''It Burns When I Laugh'' which won Best Feature Film at the Seattle Underground Film Festival. This film was presented in festivals, where it had a moderate success, then it was distributed on home video. Ian directed some other movies, short movies and music videos, and in 2013, he began to direct comedy specials for other fellow comedians.

Voice-over

In 2003 Ian began performing

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-Diegetic#Film sound and music, diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, th ...

s in a commercial for Universal Orlando Resorts that aired on the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

of the same year. Since then he has performed voice-over for commercials, television shows, network promos, video games and animation. Clients have included DirecTV, Lays Potato Chips, Full Tilt Poker, Round Table Pizza and the networks Disney XD, Bravo and Fuel. Ian was the narrator for Fuse's Mad Genius, Pepsi/Twitter Live for Now and Scripps Top 3 of Everything. He also does some voice over on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

MMA

Ian began boxing at age six. He wrestled for two and a half years and trained

Kenpo Karate American Kenpo Karate (), also known as Ed Parker's Kenpo Karate, American Kenpo and Kenpo Karate, is an all-inclusive system of martial arts based on ancient martial arts methods applied to solve modern-day violent scenarios using logic and practi ...

Wing Chun Wing Chun (Chinese: 詠春 or 咏春, lit. "singing spring"), sometimes spelled Ving Tsun, is a concept-based fighting art, form of Nanquan (martial art), Southern Chinese kung fu and close-quarters system of self-defense. In Mandarin, it is ...

and

Japanese Jujutsu Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

for nine years. He also trained from 1992 to 2005 with

Richard Bustillo Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong ...

, a

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...

student. With him, Ian trained

Jeet Kune Do Jeet Kune Do is a primarily wing chun kung fu inspired eclectic martial arts philosophy heavily influenced and adapted by the Taoist personal life philosophy and experiences of martial artist Bruce Lee. Overview and philosophy Jeet Kune ...

and

Muay Thai Muay Thai ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterised ...

. In 1996 he also began to train

Brazilian jiu-jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

with Claudio Franca. He began training other fighters in 2003. Ian has been featured in Tapout Magazine and Grappling Magazine teaching techniques and was showcased in the book MMA Lessons, a collection of the best MMA techniques from Tapout Magazine. Ian coined his MMA fighting style Fight Science. In August 2017, Ian, along with three of his former students, opened an MMA training center in Los Angeles. They named it "Fight Science," after the style Ian created.

Critical thinking

Harris has been contributing a comedy essay focusing on critical thinking to the ''

Skeptical Inquirer ''Skeptical Inquirer'' is a bimonthly American general-audience magazine published by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) with the subtitle: ''The Magazine for Science and Reason''. Mission statement and goals Daniel Loxton, writing in ...

'' magazine in 2017-2018 in a column called ''The Last Laugh''.

Awards

Film Awards and Accolades: *Official Selection, 2007 Newport Beach Film Festival *Official Selection, 2007 Del Rey Beach Film Festival *Best Short Nominee, 2007 Swansea Bay Film Festival *Official Selection, 2006 Montreal Just For Laughs Comedy Festival *Best Feature Film, Seattle Underground Film Festival *Best Director, 2005 48 Hour Film Project, Los Angeles *Best Use of Genre: 2005 48 Hour Film Project, Los Angeles *Official Selection, 2005 Dances with Films Film Festival *Official Selection, 2005 Best of LA Shorts Festival *Audience Choice, 2004 48 Hour Film Project, Los Angeles *Best Music, 2004 48 Hour Film Project, Los Angeles *Finalist, 2003 Fade-In Magazine Short Film Awards *Best Film, 2003 Zephyr Short Film Festival, Los Angeles *Audience Choice Award, 2002 Colfax Film Festival *Official Selection, 2003 Cal State Fullerton Call to Arts Festival

Filmography

Director

* "Dwayne Perkins: Take Note" (2016) hour comedy special *"Ty Barnett: Issues" (2013) hour comedy special *"Bryan Kellen: Ballet Komedico" (2013) Hour Comedy Special *“Pashittu” Short Film (2006) *“The Cult” Television Pilot (2006) *“Booking Tacoma” Feature Film (2004) *“It Burns When I Laugh” Feature Film (2003) *“Silver Patriot: The Final Chapter” Short Film (2005) *“The Paul Decca Story” Short Film (2004) *“Ring Tone Blues” Short Film (2004) *“Dual” Short Film (2002) *“A.P.U. Art, Pot & Underwear” Short Film (2003)

Music videos

*“Darkest Days” Good Riddance, 2006 Fat Wreck Chords *“Smoother than You” Danny Hamilton, 2005 Koala Records *“Dance of Shiva” OUTLIE, 2004 Porterhouse Records *“You Burn Me Up” The Haywoods, 2000 Wormtone Records

Personal life

Ian was born and grew up in Santa Cruz, California, USA. He attended San Lorenzo Valley High School. He was interested in stand-up comedy, writing short stories, boxing, martial arts and surfing. “I grew up in the 80s (…) in Santa Cruz, in this kind of

hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...

counter-culture, with punk rock, which was huge in the

Bay area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gov ...

back in the 80s. (…) I’ve been an atheist my own life. My act is kind of punk rocky.” As a consequence, he tends to attract crowds of a certain age, the same older, white, educated people he meets at

secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on Secularity, secular, Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the Separation of church and state, separation of relig ...

conventions. “These are the college professors, not the students. They’re the ones who know who I am and who appreciate what I do. It’s very funny to me that this is the crowd. It’s a hip crowd though!” Harris believes people within the secular movement should respect the range of political opinions of its members. “We’re so splintered. Atheism is not a belief, it’s just a lack of belief in God. Everybody gets to atheism in a different way. (…) This guy might be kind of conservative, he may be a “lower taxes” guy. (...) It doesn't mean that he's not an atheist. (we're always straw-manning people in their own community, because they're easy targets. (...) But all they're doing is splintering their own community.” He lives with his wife Jeaninne and their daughter Bella in Los Angeles, California, USA.

References

External links

* *
Extended Interview from Sensibly Speaking Podcast - December 2017
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Ian Patrick 1971 births Living people American male comedians American male mixed martial artists 21st-century American comedians