Karl Coryat
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Karl Coryat is an American writer, comedian, and musician.
Jeopardy! contestant
[edit]In 1996, he was a two-day champion on the television game show Jeopardy![1] Subsequently, he wrote an online article with advice for prospective Jeopardy! contestants, which included a method to play along at home, keep score, and gauge one's performance. Enthusiasts of the show, and now even the show itself, refer to this as the "Coryat score".[2][3]
Coryat scores ignore all Final Jeopardy! rounds, wrong Daily Doubles, and only count correct Daily Doubles by the answer value.
Music career
[edit]As an early member of the Immersion Composition Society, Coryat is the co-author (along with Nicholas Dobson) of The Frustrated Songwriter's Handbook, which details the method that ICS members use to write a large number of songs quickly. Tim Rice-Oxley used the method to write songs for the Keane album Strangeland,[4] and Jez Williams, guitarist for British band Doves, has cited the book as inspiration for their 2009 album Kingdom of Rust.[5] Coryat also wrote Guerrilla Home Recording and edited The Bass Player Book (all published by Hal Leonard Corporation). As a music journalist, he has interviewed Prince,[6] Sting, Geddy Lee, Flea, Brian Wilson, Les Claypool, and others for Bass Player magazine.
As a multi-instrumentalist musician (vocals, bass, guitar, drums, and keyboards), he has been recording music under the name Eddie Current since the 1980s.[7]
Other pursuits
[edit]Coryat's essay "Toward an Informational Mechanics" was awarded a Judging Panel Discretionary Prize in the 2012 physics essay competition sponsored by the Foundational Questions Institute and Scientific American magazine.[8] Drawing on work by John Archibald Wheeler, Carlo Rovelli, and Bob Coecke, the essay calls for a generalization of quantum mechanics that incorporates informational legacy or context into quantum measurements, which might ultimately lead to a description of an "it from bit" universe with the least possible complexity.[9] He has produced video essays on how the biocentric universe theory of Robert Lanza may be the best route to this.[10]
As a comedian under the pseudonym Edward Current,[11] he makes YouTube satires of religious fundamentalism and politics,[12] as well as serious videos demonstrating physics[13][14] and criticizing the 9/11 Truth movement.[15]
Personal life
[edit]Coryat attended Brunswick School and the University of California, Berkeley. He lives in Arkansas.
Bibliography
[edit]- The Bass Player Book. 1999.
- Guerilla Home Recording: How to Get Great Sound from Any Studio. 2004.
- The Frustrated Songwriter's Handbook: A Radical Guide to Cutting Loose, Overcoming Blocks, and Writing the Best Songs of Your Life. 2006.
- The Simplest-Case Scenario: How the Universe May Be Very Different From What We Think It Is. 2016.
References
[edit]- ^ "J! Archive - Season 12". Retrieved December 2, 2012.
- ^ Pinsker, Joe (April 24, 2019). "James Holzhauer Explains the Strategy Behind His Jeopardy Winning Streak". Atlantic magazine. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
- ^ Barrett, Brian. "James Holzhauer's Jeopardy! Greatness, in Charts". Wired. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
- ^ McCormick, Neil (April 25, 2012). "Keane: we're not excited by macho guitar music". The Telegraph. Retrieved December 2, 2012.
- ^ Doyle, Tom (July 2009). "Doves: Producing Kingdom Of Rust". Sound on Sound.
- ^ Coryat, Karl. "His Highness Gets Down". bassplayer.com. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
- ^ "U.S. Copyright Office Public Catalog". Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- ^ "2012 Questioning the Foundations Winning Essays". Retrieved 2 December 2012.
- ^ Coryat, Karl. "Toward an Informational Mechanics". fqxi.org. Retrieved 8 December 2012.
- ^ Biocentricity.net
- ^ "Karl Coryat personal web page".
- ^ Myers, PZ. "Edward Current must be a highly trained theologian". ScienceBlogs. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
- ^ Mosbergen, Dominique (22 July 2014). "Gravity Explained, In One Simple Video". Huffington Post. Retrieved 21 November 2014.
- ^ "Show Me the Physics video contest winners". fqxi.org. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
- ^ Baron, Alexander. "Can you believe what you see on YouTube?". Digital Journal. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
- American male writers
- American male comedians
- 21st-century American comedians
- American male musicians
- American multi-instrumentalists
- Contestants on American game shows
- 1965 births
- Living people
- University of California, Berkeley alumni
- Writers from California
- Musicians from California
- Comedians from Arkansas
- YouTubers from Arkansas