July 11th, 2024 doors 6pm, show 7pm at River Arts District Brewing Co.
Pre-sale tickets $10, door $15 (cash preferred, Venmo etc. available). Get your pre-sale tickets here: https://events.humanitix.com/nerd-nite-asheville-july
Meet your presenters for July’s Nerd Nite:
Cris Bettis
Fun with Pole Arms!
Ever been to a party and everybody is talking about how much better runkas are than fauchards at taking down the bourgeois elite and you are just out of your element? Or maybe you said something like, “swords are the best weapons ever” and everybody rolled their eyes at you? Well, don’t you worry, we’ll help you fix your faux pas! Join us as we talk about the different types of polearms, what they do, why there are so many varieties and why they are so very awesome.
Cris is a lifelong nerd, computer scientist, avid gamer, archer and artist. He likes spending his free time painting nerf blasters and cooking.
Instagram: @cbspropshop
Anna Diemer
The Science of Gender Affirming Voice Training
Gender-affirming care is vital to the wellness of transgender people, and having a voice that aligns with one’s gender presentation can be a significant part of that care. Trans voice teacher Anna Diemer is here to explain the science behind why we perceive voices the way we do and the how-tos of voice training. And yes, we will be making sounds together!
Anna Diemer (they/them) is a voice teacher, Singing Voice Specialist, PAVA-Recognized Vocologist, and professional soprano based in Asheville, NC. Their private studio consists primarily of avocational adult singers, many of whom present with a vocal pathology, and members of the LGBTQ+ community training their voices in times of transition. When they’re not in the voice studio, Anna enjoys cooking, reading fantasy novels, and gaming on their Switch. Insta and Facebook: @diemervoicestudio Website: diemervoicestudio.com
James L. Fuller
Infanticide and the Weirder Side of Natural Selection
Fact: baby monkeys are frickin’ adorable. Also Fact: adaptive behaviors are shaped by natural selection, which requires passing genes on to the next generation. So … why is infanticide (killing young of one’s own species) a thing? We’ll take a look at the not-so-cute side of primate behavior and learn how an evolutionary perspective can make sense of some very odd things.* * NOTE: Though this topic might be a bit unsettling, the presentation will not be gruesome or graphic (just good ol’ fashioned science!).
Dr. Fuller is an evolutionary biologist and behavioral ecologist, specializing in African primates. For nearly three decades, he has researched the social, mating, and communication systems of great apes and monkeys, with long term field studies in Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda. He is a member of the New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, an adjunct professor at Columbia University and also Mars Hill University, and is profoundly mediocre at playing the ukulele.
With your host, Von
Von’s Star Trek mini feature:
Welcome to Risa: The Star Trek Pleasure Planet
It’s vacation season, and time for you to learn about the Star Trek universe’s favorite retreat, Risa. With technologically climate controlled weather calibrated to perfection, and scantily clad locals offering Jamaharon, it’s the perfect destination for relaxation–for everyone except Worf, who briefly joined a terrorist group on Risa to protest his girlfriend having fun. But the water was still warm, and the air still smelled sweet. All that is ours is yours!
Von (they/them) is a local performer known for their radioactive style, political commentary, and inability to shut up about Star Trek. A lifelong nerd of both science and theater, they were an avid lover of Nerd Nite in Los Angeles before moving to Asheville and starting the local Nerd Nite Chapter.
Von claims this show for the Romulan Empire. (IG: @von.infinity)