Eyeworld Daily News

EW SHOW DAILY 56 B y day, Bryan Crum, MD, is a general ophthalmolo- gist, treating many cataract and lid cases. By night and by weekend, he is an amateur comedian, performing improvisational skits with an im- prov comedy troop. The two practices—medicine, comedy—are in harmony in Dr. Crum's life, because the one helps the other, he said. "All of medicine tends to be pretty serious, and my patients enjoy the fact that occasionally, I will lighten the atmosphere by having a joke or a comeback to something that they're talking about," said Dr. Crum, Shasta Eye Medical Group, Redding, Calif. "It's certainly something I have to be careful with in that if they are feeling serious or anxious, I don't make light of things, but usually I can read when a patient is going to be OK with that sort of interaction." "I think a lot of my patients appreciate it, especially ones who have known me for a while and know that I can be a very serious doctor when it's time to take care of their eyes, but then I can also help them have fun," he said. How he started Dr. Crum said he alternated between being seen as a comedian and an athlete in school, but decided to pursue medicine. Five years ago, he became interested in improv comedy through the television show Whose Line Is It Anyway? "Several people told me, 'You would be right for that kind of thing.' I found out that there was a group in my town that did improv comedy, and I went and auditioned for them and was cast in the group," he said. He workshops with the group, known as the Redding Improv Players, once a week; once a month, the group hosts a performance. At those performances, a host chooses five members from their group of about 12 to perform "games" with particular scenarios in front of an audience. No one knows who will perform from month to month, which heightens the excitement when selected, Dr. Crum said. "There's a delicious anticipation and anxiety that comes with stand- ing on the stage and not knowing if you're going to completely bomb or get a huge reaction. Not knowing that really keeps the excitement of the performance up," he said. He said to participate in improv comedy, a person has to be willing to commit to the idea of taking part in a spontaneous experience, where anything might happen. "As you do it more and more often, you find that you look stupid less and less often, but I still get plenty of chances to say, 'Well, that was dumb,'" he said. Sunday, April 27, 2014 IN OTHER NEWS LENSTAR LS 900 Improving outcomes. Olsen Formula on Board Measured lens thickness and the innovative concept of the C-constant of the on-board Olsen IOL calculation formula for premium IOL power prediction with the LENSTAR. T-Cone Toric Platform The optional T-Cone complements LENSTAR's measurement pallet with true Placido-Topography of the central cornea and a powerful toric IOL planner EyeSuite IOL Toric Planner The optional IOL toric planner allows optimisation of the inci- sion location and planning of the surgery on real eye images to reach advanced refractive results. www.haag-streit.com See us at ASCRS '14 Booth #333 Doctor practices humor in improv comedy group by Erin L. Boyle EyeWorld Editor

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