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Comedy writer Peter Gwinn ’93 delivered Carleton’s convocation on Friday, April 10, from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m. in Skinner Chapel. His address is titled, “How to Be a Comedian When Nothing is Funny.”
Gwinn worked as one of the original writers on The Colbert Report, which was awarded two Emmys (and eight Emmy nominations), three Writers Guild Awards (and six WGA nominations), and two Peabody Awards during his time on the show. Gwinn also wrote for Alpha House, a TV show about four Republican senators who share a Washington, D.C. house rental.
Beyond his work with television, Gwinn has written a variety of stage comedy shows that have been performed at UCB Theater, The Second City, and the iO Theater. His stage plays and musicals include Oh! Those Midsummer Nights!; The Story of a Story (The Untold Story), which revived the Jeff Awards in 2016 when it was nominated for Best New Work; Twist Your Dickens; Listen, Kid…; and Moulin Scrooge! Gwinn also appeared on the Netflix show Easy in 2017.
Gwinn currently writes for the NPR comedy news quiz, Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! Listen for his name — always with a funny tagline — in the end credits every weekend.
Aside from his written work, Gwinn is also celebrated for his work as an improv comedian and improv coach at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York and the iO Theater and Home Comedy Theaters in Chicago. Over the course of his career, he has performed with and/or instructed a long list of comedians, including Amy Poehler, Seth Meyers, Jason Sudeikis, Chris Gethard, Amber Ruffin, Rachel Dratch, and Zach Woods. Gwinn also founded the internationally celebrated comedy group Baby Wants Candy, which has consistently sold out its runs at Edinburgh Fringe Festival and has been named a New York Times critics’ pick.
Gwinn also enjoys creating and solving puzzles. He won the Midwest Division at the 2019 American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, he is a regular contributor to AVCX Trivia, and he helped write the 2022 MIT Mystery Hunt with Team Palindrome.
Learn more about Carleton Convos at go.carleton.edu/convocations
