November 4 2017
by Neel Desai, M.D.
Brad Nieder is a former Emergency Physician who is now a full time Certified Speaking Professional and comedian based in Denver, Colorado (USA). His stage name is “The Healthy Humorist” and has been compared to being the “Jerry Seinfeld of healthcare”. Dr. Nieder’s comedy styles were influenced by many comedians, from watching the “Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson to “Late Night” with David Letterman, to memorizing HBO specials by George Carlin (including the dirty words, as described on Dr. Nieder’s website, but he only does “clean” material now). Dr. Nieder started down his unconventional track in medicine by dabbling in various creative endeavors. He wrote funny pieces for his high school newspaper, and went on to be a a founding member of an improvisational troupe while an undergraduate student at Stanford University. During medical school at the University of Colorado, Dr. Nieder performed standup comedy clubs throughout the Denver area. Dr. Nieder obtained his medical license, completed his internship, and then decided to leave clinical medicine to pursue his current unconventional career in medicine.
As Dr. Nieder recalls on his Healthy Humorist website, he “realized there was a serious nationwide shortage of funny doctors”. He then began delivering his unique brand of healthcare humor to numerous audiences over the last 15 years and around the country. Audiences have included physicians, nurses, bankers, teachers, and people from all types of different industries. Dr. Nieder earned his CSP (Certified Speaking Professional) designation in 2011. He has co-authored a book (Humor Me), made a CD (A House Call in San Francisco), and released 2 DVDs (The Healthy Humorist in Orlando: Laughter is the Best Medicine and Big Doc on Campus).
