Merlin | Building Community through Laughter: Comedy & the Good Life

2026 public philosophy program

Building Community through Laughter

An interactive public philosophy program that explores the relationship between comedy, community, and the good life.

selective focus photography of buddha bust decor

PROGRAM SYNOPSIS

A live comedy performance & post-show talk-back with professional comedian and philosopher Rodney Norman.

Sunday, June 7th 2026 (6:30pm-9:00pmish)

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Comedy, Community & the Good life

Featuring a live performance by professional comedian and philosopher, Rodney Norman, and a post-performance talk-back, our “Building Community through Laughter” program examines comedy, community, and the good life.

In both the performance and conversation, and through Rodney’s delightfully disarming vulnerability and storytelling ability, audience members will be invited to consider themes like love, courage, freedom, justice, community, and more through the lens of comedy.

In the process, we’ll learn about some of the philosophical inspirations behind Rodney’s work, creative process & style, the source of his joy, and his view on the relationship between comedy and the good life, and why the arts & humanities matter.

Inspired by a serendipitous meeting with visiting artist and philosopher, Rodney Norman, who shared our vision about the importance of community & the ability of comedy to help foster and strengthen it, we designed our “Building Community through Laughter” program. A closing act to our Art as Transformation project (which examines what makes for a good life and how art is connected to this), our Building Community through Laughter project examines this same question through the lens of comedy.

Laughter without a tinge of philosophy is but a sneeze of humor. Genuine humor is replete with wisdom.
— mark Twain, Quoted in Mark twain and i

ABOUT RODNEY NORMAN

Rodney Norman is a stand-up comedian, philosopher, motivational speaker, actor, writer, photographer, and all-around hilarious human & bringer of joy and good vibes. Known for his hilariously unassuming and often dead-pan style of humor, he began his career at 4-years old (with a love of acting) and his professional stand-up career in 1998. Winner of the Rhode Island Comedy Festival, a featured comedian in the Boston Comedy Festival, and performer at WiseGuys Comedy Club in Las Vegas and elsewhere, Rodney’s humor blends clean, family-friendly comedy with deep thoughts, and is rife with philosophical wisdom.

Other Cool Stuff About Rodney

Holds a B.S. in Philosophy from Utah Valley University, a background that heavily influences his comedic material and motivational speaking engagements.
Before his full-time comedy career, Rodney did carpentry work and served as a Field Radio Operator in the United States Marine Corps.
One of his most well-known characters, based loosely on his grandfather and comedic legend Foster Brooks, is “Leonard McCrunstky,” often referred to as the “world’s most worst motivational speaker.”
In 2010, Rodney did a commercial produced by the Salt Lake County Storm Water Coalition promoting environmental awareness in Salt Lake City called “We All Live Downstream.”

Event Venue & Community Conversation Facilitators

We’re working on logistics for our venue and will update our website with details soon. The comedy show and post-performance talk-back session wil be in the same venue spot, and (the latter) facilitated by community philosophers Marisa Diaz-Waian & Mitch Conway. Our event is scheduled for Sunday, June 7th (6:30pm – 9:00pmish).

Venue Space Information Coming Soon

Program Director/Co-Facilitator – Marisa Diaz-Waian, Community Philosopher & Founder/Director of Merlin CCC
Program Co-Facilitator – Mitch Conway, Educator & Community Philosopher, Merlin CCC

Marisa Diaz-Waian

Marisa Diaz-Waian is a community philosopher and generalist by nature, training, and practice. She has an MA in Philosophy from San Diego State University and an interest in ethics, ancient philosophy, humor, and “fuzzy” topics at the intersection of philosophy and psychology. As founder & director of Merlin CCC — a Helena-based public philosophy non-profit — her work focuses on philosophy in the community, frequently with an interdisciplinary, environmental, and intergenerational bent. Marisa serves on the academic advisory board for The Philosophy Learning & Teaching Organization (PLATO), has been a speaker for Humanities Montana, and is a facilitator/organizer for numerous activities in her community. She has also authored several published academic and public-philosphy facing works, including her chapters “Original Gangsta'” in Dave Chapelle and Philosophy: When Keeping it Wrong Gets Real (Open Universe: 2021), “Philosophy in and By the Community” in Intentional Disruption: Expanding Access to Philosophy (Vernon Press: 2021), and “Talking Shop: Invitations to a Philosophical Life” (American Association of Philosophy Teachers Studies in Pedagogy: Philosophy as a Way of Life, Vol. 6: 2021), and was featured in an American Philosophical Association Philosophy as a Way of Life interview series by Jeremy Bendik-Keymer via “Philosophy, Like Love, is for Everyone.”

Mitch Conway

Mitchell Conway is an educator and Community Philosopher at Merlin CCC. A student of philosophy, a theater maker, and a teacher who cares ardently about empowering young learners, his work often interweaves education, story, and inquiry. He has a Masters degree in Philosophy & Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and he trained at the Institute for the Advanced of Philosophy for Children. In addition to serving on the Academic Advisory Committee for The Philosophy Learning and Teaching Organization (PLATO), he is also on the Editorial Board for the journal Questions.

Our “Building Community through Laughter” program offers community members an opportunity to laugh, heal, learn, think together & be inspired. As Mark Twain said: “The true and lasting genius of humor must be antiseptic.” At a time when tensions are high and civil discourse is low, we see our project as an important kind of medicine & vital contribution to the health and vitality of our community.
Marisa diaz-waian, merlin ccc founder & Director