# Karl Coryat

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{{short description|American writer, comedian, and musician|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{COI|date=January 2020}}
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'''Karl Coryat''' is an American writer, comedian, and musician.

==''Jeopardy!'' contestant==
In 1996, he was a two-day champion on the television [game show](/source/game_show) ''[Jeopardy!](/source/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](/source/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](/source/Tim_Rice-Oxley) used the method to write songs for the [Keane](/source/Keane_(band)) album ''[Strangeland](/source/Strangeland_(album))'',<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](/source/Jez_Williams), guitarist for British band [Doves](/source/Doves_(band)), has cited the book as inspiration for their 2009 album ''[Kingdom of Rust](/source/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](/source/Hal_Leonard_Corporation)). As a [music journalist](/source/Music_journalism), he has interviewed [Prince](/source/Prince_(musician)),<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](/source/Sting_(musician)), [Geddy Lee](/source/Geddy_Lee), [Flea](/source/Flea_(musician)), [Brian Wilson](/source/Brian_Wilson), [Les Claypool](/source/Les_Claypool), and others for ''[Bass Player](/source/Bass_Player_(magazine))'' magazine.{{cn|date=October 2025}}

As a [multi-instrumentalist](/source/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](/source/Foundational_Questions_Institute) and ''[Scientific American](/source/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](/source/John_Archibald_Wheeler), [Carlo Rovelli](/source/Carlo_Rovelli), and [Bob Coecke](/source/Bob_Coecke), the essay calls for a generalization of [quantum mechanics](/source/quantum_mechanics) that incorporates informational legacy or context into quantum measurements, which might ultimately lead to a description of an "[it from bit](/source/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](/source/biocentric_universe) theory of [Robert Lanza](/source/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](/source/9%2F11_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](/source/Brunswick_School) and the [University of California, Berkeley](/source/University_of_California%2C_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}}
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{{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

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Karl Coryat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Coryat) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Coryat?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.