We’ve officially entered May, which means the countdown is on: six months until the end of the course, six months until I re-enter reality, and six months until I deliver my final project, a data visualisation show.

In preparation, I’ve started doing something slightly unexpected: taking a comedy course. Why? Because in my experience, comedians are some of the best storytellers out there. They can shift the mood of a room on a dime, keep audiences engaged from start to finish, and earn their trust almost instantly. There’s actually academic research to back this up. Comedy is a powerful tool to make audiences more open and receptive to your message.

And in the world of data viz, where things can quickly feel like information overload, building trust and holding attention is everything, especially since audience retention is a key metric for my final major project.

Now, in theory, the idea sounds simple enough: just make ’em laugh. Toss in a cute joke or two, and boom, instant engagement. But yeah… no. Turns out making people laugh on purpose is really hard. I’ve been on stage twice now, and let me tell you it’s a very different beast from just being casually funny in conversation. This kind of funny is a skill one I’m definitely still learning.

Also: “this will be harder than I thought” is exactly what I’ve been thinking about the Aurora Showcase, where I’m trying to combine projection mapping with OpenCV, but that’s a whole other post…