MAINE PUBLIC • October 28, 2026
On a recent evening in Waldoboro, comedian Forrest Shaw is doing a stand-up routine. The classic advice for a budding comedian is "write what you know." For Shaw, that would be science. While he's been in the comedy biz for 15 years now, he's only recently tapped into his climate background for material. “I was a marine biologist for almost a decade and a half, and I saw firsthand how difficult it was to get people to be emotionally connected to habitat destruction or climate change or plastic pollution," he said. He felt the planet was doomed. He was surprised to find that writing and performing this show has changed his mind. “It's crazy to think that in making this show that I thought would be depressing, I would have more hope," he said. "I'm excited to tell people that."