Emily Levine

Emily Levine (October 20, 1944 – February 3, 2019) was an American humorist, writer, actress and public speaker who lectured on science and the human condition. Levine has been recognized as a philosopher comic. "In her celebrated career, Levine has been part of an improv comedy group, written for television sitcoms, done stand-up comedy, and wrote and performed an Emmy-winning series of commercial satire segments for television." She has earned the greatest praise for her one-woman shows, "Myself, Myself, I'll Do It Myself" and "Common Sense". Levine eventually settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in order to attend Harvard University. While at Harvard, Levine began to act alongside fellow students such as John Lithgow. Levine graduated cum laude from Harvard University earning a degree in English and Social Relations. After graduating, Levine moved to Rome and found a job dubbing Spaghetti Westerns.

On returning to Brooklyn, Levine decided to put her personable skills to use and taught autistic children. Levine explained, "I was naturally good because of my performing abilities. At the same time, I didn't want to turn the classroom into my own personal stage." "She 'raps' about all aspects of human dynamics—like being somebody, money, or lack of it, power, violence, love ... Emily refers to her presentation as an 'obscene overture,' but actually her slightly censorable innuendoes are balanced perfectly by her soft-peddled, hard hitting facts of life." Levine continued to work on her stand-up routines, incorporating her intellect and humor in a more refined and professional manner.

The 1970s proved to be a difficult time period for several female comedians. "Once, in the mid 1970's at New York's Improvisation, Emily Levine found her time slot threatened when a stripper in the audience stood and began to perform impromptu, inspiring another woman, a rank amateur at stripping, to join her on stage." "Another comedienne and I were watching this," remarked Levine "and we're going nuts. Because these are our time spots going down the drain. Suddenly, we looked at each other ... and within seconds we were in the restroom. We took off our tops and went on the stage and told jokes."

In the 1980s, Levine became a television writer and producer, working on shows such as Designing Women, Love & War and Dangerous Minds. Levine was a radio commentator for WNYC in New York.

Using her clever, intellectually relevant humor, Levine created and produced pilots for new situation comedies for CBS, NBC, ABC and HBO. Levine continued writing for television throughout the later half of the 1980s. Her talent as a writer and producer began attracting the eyes of several large companies including The Walt Disney Company. In 1992, Levine performed at a ceremony in which the Jessie Bernard Award recipients were awarded. In the mid-1990s, Levine began to experience a strange array of symptoms including mental fog, osteoarthritis, and a curious lack of interest in activities that she used to enjoy. These symptoms had a negative impact on Levine's career. In 2007, Levine was finally diagnosed with a tumor on her pituitary gland. After getting her tumor removed, Levine felt compelled to continue her career in comedy, but with a twist; Levine began lecturing on the human condition and its relation to science.

2007–2019 "After working in improv, stand-up, and sitcoms, she discovered quantum entanglement and chaos dynamics and somehow found a way to build comedy acts around science—and offer them, loaded with advice and social commentary, to corporate audiences." Once she realized that she was a natural at giving humorous lectures, Levine began to perform at conferences and large events. Levine spoke periodically at TED conferences, earning her immense recognition within the TED community. Levine spoke at an environmental awards conference in 2013 sponsored by Elbaz Family Foundation, Rolling Stone magazine, and One PacificCoast Bank, and others. In 2015, Levine spoke at a conference held by the University of California, Berkeley in which she spoke about the human condition.

Levine received praise for her unique lecturing style. Levine's love of science led her to begin creating a film called Emily @ the Edge of Chaos. In order to create the authentically scientific content of her show, Levine worked with "EST science advisor and physicist Gabriel Cwilich". The show description promised to "take you on an explosive, thought-provoking and hilarious ride through several paradigm shifts: from Newton's rational universe through quantum physics, chaos and complexity theory. You'll never feel the same way about phase transitions again and you'll finally understand how WIMPs can be action heroes."

Death Levine spent her final years in a rural home in California with her daughter, Abigail Sims. She died at her home in Inverness, California, on February 3, 2019. Levine was confined to her bed for less than a week, she didn't experience pain, she was able to communicate her wishes and continue being her hilarious, quick-witted, grateful self. Levine's daughter Abigail Sims continues to run Levine's website "Emily's Universe".