"If Josh Kornbluth weren't so darn funny you might weep. For those who have yet to see the popular Bay Area performer, close your eyes and imagine a seriously balding Jewish Spalding Gray. Now conjure up an image of a younger Woody Allen - only more neurotic, if such a thing is possible. Mix them together and you begin to get the picture..."  -- Suzanne Weiss, Culture Vulture

In his comic monologue The Mathematics of Change, Josh Kornbluth recounts his terrifying experiences as a would-be math whiz at Princeton University.  Having been promised by his math-teacher father that he'll become "the greatest mathematician who ever lived," Josh immediately "hits the wall" at freshman calculus.  By the end of this hilarious, nerve-wracking adventure, much chalk will have been broken, hazardous work-study jobs will have been lost, and the physics department's pet catfish, Enrico, won't be the only one in deep water.  Whether you love math or fear it like the plague, "The Mathematics of Change" will take you to the absolute limit -- and beyond.


The Mathematics of Change is supported by The Z Space Studio, San Francisco

Photo by Mark Leialoha

Josh Kornbluth was raised in New York City, then worked as a copy editor at a series of alternative newspapers before moving to San Francisco on May 11, 1987. While supporting himself as a temp (at his peak he typed better than 80 words per minute, with very few errors), he performed at open mikes around the Bay Area and was completely miserable. Then, in 1989, he opened his first autobiographical monologue, "Josh Kornbluth's Daily World," at Enrico Banducci's hungry id in North Beach. Since then he has created and performed several more solo shows, including "Haiku Tunnel," "The Mathematics of Change," "Red Diaper Baby," "Ben Franklin: Unplugged," and "Love & Taxes." He has also appeared in several films: the back of his head was seen briefly in "Searching for Bobby Fischer"; the front of his head (and little else) was seen for a minute or two in Francis Ford Coppola's "Jack," in which he played the pivotal character of "Cigarette Pack Man"; in addition, he had slightly more extensive parts in Lynn Hershman Leeson's "Teknolust" (he was seduced by Tilda Swinton) and Jonathan Parker's "Bartleby" (no seductions whatsoever). In 2001 a feature-film version of "Haiku Tunnel," starring Josh and co-directed by Josh and his brother Jacob, was selected for the Sundance Film Festival and then released nationally by Sony Pictures Classics; it is now available on video and DVD, and is priced to move. In 2002 Josh collaborated with the San Francisco Mime Troupe on their summer show, "Mr. Smith Goes to Obscuristan." And this past year -- on May Day, no less! -- a concert film of "Red Diaper Baby," directed by Doug Pray, debuted on the Sundance Channel; it will be available on DVD in the near future. Josh will be seen in three upcoming feature films: "Strange Culture," "Faith," and "The Darwin Awards." A book titled "Red Diaper Baby," collecting three of Josh's early monologues, has just come out in a second edition. Currently the host of an interview program on KQED-TV, cleverly titled "The Josh Kornbluth Show," Josh lives in Berkeley with his wife and son. His website is at www.joshkornbluth.com.