Neuroscientist Dr. Heather Berlin And Rapper Baba Brinkman Bring A New Show To The Edinburgh Fringe

Can we learn to control our impulses before they control us? Conversely, and perhaps even more importantly: can we learn to let them flow when it really matters? Parts of your brain give you impulses and desires, whilst other parts of the same mysterious organ slam on the brakes, based on your long-term goals and society's expectations. Living a productive life in modern society necessitates the regulation of a lot of impulses. But then creativity and spontaneity sometimes require us to let them off the leash. So, which is better?

The unlikely married couple, neuroscientist Dr. Heather Berlin and rapper Baba Brinkman, follow their sell-out Edinburgh Fringe hit Off the Top with another dose of cerebral humour and neuroscientific experiments in freestyle rapping, this time unpacking the fascinating science of self-control.

Baba is a bit better at the impulses, especially when it's time to show off his freestyle skills. Heather is a bit better at the control side of things (as her multiple science degrees attest). Yet, for some reason, she couldn't resist being seduced by a science rapper named Baba. Together, their natural and infectious onstage chemistry powers Impulse Control: as informative as a Ted Talk, but twice as entertaining, this is your brain on love, comedy and freestyle rhymes.

Heather (aka Dr. Heather Berlin, D.Phil., M.P.H.) is a cognitive neuroscientist and professor of psychiatry at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, as well as a science communicator and TV presenter. She hosts Startalk Allstars with Neil DeGrasse Tyson and hosted Superhuman Showdown on the Discovery Channel and Science Goes to the Movies on PBS. She also appears in Chelsea Does on Netflix, the new Bill Nye documentary, and on the BBC, History Channel, National Geographic, and TEDx. She is the recipient of numerous honours including the Young Investigator Award from the American Neuropsychiatric Association, the Young Investigator Award from the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder, and the Clifford Yorke Prize from the International Neuropsychoanalysis Society. She received her D.Phil. from the University of Oxford and Master of Public Health from Harvard University.

Baba Brinkman is a rap artist, science communicator, and award-winning playwright based in New York. He is best known for his "Rap Guide" series, including guides to Evolution, Human Nature, Business, Wilderness, Religion, Medicine, Climate Change, and Consciousness. Back by popular demand, you can catch the 'Best Of' at Gilded Balloon from 15 - 26 August*. Additionally, he has pioneered the genre of "lit-hop" or literary hip-hop, with rap adaptations of Beowulf, Gilgamesh, and Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Baba is a Scotsman Fringe First Award winner for Exceptional New Writing, and a two-time Drama Desk Award Nominee, for "Outstanding Solo Performance" and "Unique Theatrical Experience". He has performed live on MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show and shared stages with science luminaries including Stephen Hawking and Neil deGrasse Tyson. He is also a winner of the National Center for Science Education's Friend of Darwin Award for his efforts to popularize evolutionary biology.

Neuroscientist Dr. Heather Berlin And Rapper Baba Brinkman perform Impulse Control at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival from 4th - 25th August. For tickets and more information: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/impulse-control

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