A Comedian and A Philosopher Walk Into A Bar: Rabbi Brad Levenberg and Reverend Lyn Pace

The Alliance Theatre is partnering with the Center for Ethics at Emory University to present a series of post-show dialogues after select performances of EVERYBODY. Hosted by Atlanta-based comics David Perdue, Lace Larrabee, and Katherine Blanford, each dialogue invites a guest philosopher to talk about the meaning of life, our relationship to death, and everything in-between.  

Join us at the North Alcove Bar for some seriously funny conversation with theologians and interfaith leaders, ethicists and philosophers, therapists and love gurus. The drinking is optional. The laughing is not.

Thursday, SEP 22, 2022 // Following the 7:30pm performance, North Alcove Bar, 2nd Floor 

Comedian Baron Vaughn talks with Rabbi Dr. Brad Levenberg (Temple Sinai), Reverend Dr. Lyn Pace (Chaplain, Oxford College), and Dr. Geshe Lobsang Negi. 

This conversation is free for Everybody ticket holders – get tickets now.

With an undeniable ability to construct and produce remarkable performances, actor/writer/comedian Baron Vaughn is a skilled talent both on and off the stage, as well as in front of and behind the camera. He can be seen acting alongside Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin on Netflix’s Grace & Frankie in the role of “Bud” currently in its sixth season. He is the voice of "Tom Servo" in the new Mystery Science Theater 3000 (The Return and The Gauntlet) also streaming on Netflix. He has made a very personal documentary for the Fusion Network called Fatherless directed by Dawn Porter. He's the co-creator and co-host of the acclaimed Comedy Central showcase variety series The New Negroes with Baron Vaughn and Open Mike Eagle and the series Call & Response with Blavity and Funny or Die. He is also the host of Syfy Wire’s The Great Debate premiering June 18 on SYFY.  

Baron has performed stand-up comedy for 18 years. He has 2 comedy recordings Raised by Cable and Blaxistential Crisis both streaming on all platforms. He’s performed on Comedy Central in his own Half Hour, and The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail. He’s also appeared on HBO's 2 Dope Queens, Showtime's SXSW Comedy, and TBS’ Conan (twice). On top of headlining major clubs and colleges all over the US, Baron has performed at the Just for Laughs (Montreal), Life Is Beautiful (Las Vegas), and the New York Comedy Festival among others. Baron and Open Mike have also toured the live version of The New Negroes to many festivals, clubs and theaters across the country. 

Rabbi Dr. Brad Levenberg is one of the Senior Rabbis of Temple Sinai in Sandy Springs. He serves at present on the boards of the Anti-Defamation League and Neranena and he co-chairs the AJC’s Black-Jewish Coalition. He serves as immediate past chair of the Sandy Springs Interfaith Clergy Association and presently co-chairs the film evaluation committee for the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival. In May, 2021, he completed his doctorate from Antioch University in Leadership and Change where he published a dissertation titled Applying the present to the past: The experiences of five civil rights rabbis in context of contemporary leadership theory. He is married to Rebecca Levenberg, a defender of the arts through her work at the Woodruff Art’s Center as the Director of Foundations and Grants, and is the parent of Ilana, Evan, and Schnitzel the dog.

The Rev. Dr. Lyn Pace is originally from South Carolina and joined Oxford College of Emory University as college chaplain in 2009. He facilitates the work of the eleven religious and spiritual life clubs at Oxford College, assists with leadership programs, offers care and counsel for the college community, and teaches courses on understanding community as well as contemplative practices and social justice. From 2012-2016 he served on the city council in Oxford, Georgia. With the project, Understanding Community: Engaging Oxford College Students in Loving God's World, he completed his Doctor of Ministry degree from Candler School of Theology in May 2017. Dr. Pace likes to help students engage in meaning making as well as how they understand community both on and off campus. He is married to Ami Hernández, and they have a nine-year-old son, Sam, as well as Callie (a cat) and Barnaby (an Irishdoodle). They all make their home in Oxford, Georgia.

Dr. Geshe Lobsang Negi is Executive Director of the Center for Contemplative Science and Compassion-Based Ethics at Emory University. Dr. Negi was born in Kinnaur, a remote Himalayan region adjoining Tibet. A former monk of 27 years, he began his monastic training at The Institute of Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamasala, India and continued his education at Drepung Loseling Monastery in south India, where in 1994 he received the Geshe Lharampa degree. Dr. Negi completed his Ph.D. at Emory University in 1999; his interdisciplinary dissertation centered on traditional Buddhist and contemporary Western approaches to emotions and their impact on wellness. Over the past two decades, Dr. Negi has been a pioneer of compassion training programs for adults and children, and he has contributed to the development and burgeoning of compassion science through his research initiatives and collaborations.