{{short description|American writer, comedian, and musician|bot=PearBOT 5}} {{COI|date=January 2020}} {{Infobox artist | honorific_prefix = | name = | honorific_suffix = | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = | baptised = | death_date = | death_place = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | nationality = | education = | alma_mater = | known_for = | notable_works = | style = | movement = | spouse = | partner = | children = | awards = | signature = | signature_type = | signature_size = | signature_alt = | elected = | patrons = | memorials = | website = }}
'''Karl Coryat''' is an American writer, comedian, and musician.
==''Jeopardy!'' contestant== In 1996, he was a two-day champion on the television game show ''Jeopardy!''<ref>{{cite web | title = J! Archive - Season 12 | url = http://www.j-archive.com/showseason.php?season=12 | access-date = December 2, 2012}}</ref> Subsequently, he wrote an online article with advice for prospective ''Jeopardy!'' contestants, which included a method to play along at home, keep score, and gauge one's performance. Enthusiasts of the show, and now even the show itself, refer to this as the "Coryat score".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Pinsker |first1=Joe |title=James Holzhauer Explains the Strategy Behind His Jeopardy Winning Streak |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/04/james-holzhauer-jeopardy-1-million-win-or-lose/587878/ |access-date=29 June 2019 |work=Atlantic magazine |date=April 24, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Barrett |first1=Brian |title=James Holzhauer's Jeopardy! Greatness, in Charts |url=https://www.wired.com/story/james-holzhauer-jeopardy-greatness-charts/ |magazine=Wired |access-date=29 June 2019}}</ref>
Coryat scores ignore all Final Jeopardy! rounds, wrong Daily Doubles, and only count correct Daily Doubles by the answer value.<ref>{{cite web | title = J! Archive - Help | url = https://j-archive.com/help.php#coryatscore | access-date = April 30, 2026}}</ref>
==Music career==
As an early member of the Immersion Composition Society, Coryat is the co-author (along with Nicholas Dobson) of ''The Frustrated Songwriter's Handbook'', which details the method that ICS members use to write a large number of songs quickly. Tim Rice-Oxley used the method to write songs for the Keane album ''Strangeland'',<ref>{{cite news|last=McCormick|first=Neil|title=Keane: we're not excited by macho guitar music|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopmusic/9226878/Keane-were-not-excited-by-macho-guitar-music.html|access-date=December 2, 2012|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=April 25, 2012}}</ref> and Jez Williams, guitarist for British band Doves, has cited the book as inspiration for their 2009 album ''Kingdom of Rust.''<ref>{{Cite news | last = Doyle | first = Tom | title = Doves: Producing Kingdom Of Rust | magazine = Sound on Sound | date = July 2009 | url = http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul09/articles/doves.htm }}</ref> Coryat also wrote ''Guerrilla Home Recording'' and edited ''The Bass Player Book'' (all published by Hal Leonard Corporation). As a music journalist, he has interviewed Prince,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Coryat|first1=Karl|title=His Highness Gets Down|url=http://www.bassplayer.com/news/1174/remembering-prince-his-highness-gets-down-cover-story/57724|website=bassplayer.com|access-date=15 July 2016}}</ref> Sting, Geddy Lee, Flea, Brian Wilson, Les Claypool, and others for ''Bass Player'' magazine.{{cn|date=October 2025}}
As a multi-instrumentalist musician (vocals, bass, guitar, drums, and keyboards), he has been recording music under the name Eddie Current since the 1980s.<ref>{{cite web|title=U.S. Copyright Office Public Catalog|url=http://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?Search_Arg=not-so-original+songs&Search_Code=TALL&PID=ixc4BhDypnVumut2fsuLw9c4oyYF4&SEQ=20141208160400&CNT=25&HIST=1|access-date=8 December 2014}}</ref>
==Other pursuits== Coryat's essay "Toward an Informational Mechanics" was awarded a Judging Panel Discretionary Prize in the 2012 physics essay competition sponsored by the Foundational Questions Institute and ''Scientific American'' magazine.<ref>{{cite web|title=2012 Questioning the Foundations Winning Essays|url=http://fqxi.org/community/essay/winners/2012.1|access-date=2 December 2012}}</ref> Drawing on work by John Archibald Wheeler, Carlo Rovelli, and Bob Coecke, the essay calls for a generalization of quantum mechanics that incorporates informational legacy or context into quantum measurements, which might ultimately lead to a description of an "it from bit" universe with the least possible complexity.<ref>{{cite web|last=Coryat|first=Karl|title=Toward an Informational Mechanics|url=http://www.fqxi.org/community/forum/topic/1286|publisher=fqxi.org|access-date=8 December 2012}}</ref> He has produced video essays on how the biocentric universe theory of Robert Lanza may be the best route to this.<ref>[http://biocentricity.net/ Biocentricity.net]</ref>
As a comedian under the pseudonym Edward Current,<ref>{{cite web|title=Karl Coryat personal web page|url=http://www.pisspoor.com/coryat.html}}</ref> he makes YouTube satires of religious fundamentalism and politics,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Myers|first1=PZ|title=Edward Current must be a highly trained theologian|url=http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/01/19/edward-current-must-be-a-highl/|website=ScienceBlogs|access-date=29 June 2014}}</ref> as well as serious videos demonstrating physics<ref>{{cite web|last1=Mosbergen|first1=Dominique|title=Gravity Explained, In One Simple Video|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/22/what-is-gravity-video_n_5610340.html|website=Huffington Post|access-date=21 November 2014|date=22 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Show Me the Physics video contest winners|url=http://fqxi.org/community/contest/video/winners/2014.2|publisher=fqxi.org|access-date=8 December 2014|archive-date=20 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220022237/http://www.fqxi.org/community/contest/video/winners/2014.2|url-status=dead}}</ref> and criticizing the 9/11 Truth movement.<ref>{{cite web|last=Baron|first=Alexander|title=Can you believe what you see on YouTube?|url=http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/358528|work=Digital Journal|access-date=4 October 2013}}</ref>
== Personal life ==
Coryat attended Brunswick School and the University of California, Berkeley. He lives in Arkansas.{{citation needed|date=October 2025}}
==Bibliography==
* {{cite book| title =The Bass Player Book| year = 1999}} * {{cite book| title =Guerilla Home Recording: How to Get Great Sound from Any Studio| year =2004}} * {{cite book| title =The Frustrated Songwriter's Handbook: A Radical Guide to Cutting Loose, Overcoming Blocks, and Writing the Best Songs of Your Life| year =2006}} * {{cite book| title =The Simplest-Case Scenario: How the Universe May Be Very Different From What We Think It Is| year =2016}}
==References==
<references/>
{{Jeopardy!|state=collapsed}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coryat, Karl}} Category:American male writers Category:American male comedians Category:21st-century American comedians Category:American male musicians Category:American multi-instrumentalists Category:Jeopardy! contestants Category:1965 births Category:Living people Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:Writers from California Category:Musicians from California Category:Comedians from Arkansas Category:YouTubers from Arkansas