Communication as Translation

Chris Bliss is an American comedian who majored in comparative literature before turning to juggling and comedy. To begin, Chris Bliss quotes Gregory Rabassa's 'If this be treason' in stating: "every act of communication is an act of translation." Bliss links this basic understanding when he discusses his interest of understanding knowledge and communicating it to others from a very early age. Chris Bliss describes comedy as something that travels on a distinct wavelength, "somewhere between poetry and lies" on an arbitrary spectrum. In essence, Bliss says he turned to comedy in order to better communicate the ideas that he was gaining.

In this highly interesting talk, Chris Bliss relates Tina Fey's Sarah Palin impersonation as an effective vehicle for communicating the lack of seriousness of Palin, and her routine, which used lines from the vice presidential candidate's speeches verbatim, succeeded more so than any political pundit because of it. Bliss intriguingly likens comedy to the philosopher's stone and may have you reconsidering your perspective on the power of satire.